New Years and Beyond in Tarpon

We drove home for Christmas on December 19th and flew back to Tampa on the 29th.  Our friend Kris picked us up at the airport.  We decided to stay in Tarpon for New Years as there was just to much to see to leave yet.  On New Years Eve we took a trolley to Clearwater beach and bummed around on our bikes. We then boarded the trolley again and stopped in Dunedin ( pronunciation is Dun -ee-din. Clearwater beach sand was a beautiful white and there were lots and lots of people!!  Dunedin is a quieter village on the water with upscale shops and a fresh fish shop where I bought lobster tail and grouper to grill for our New Years Eve dinner.  Then back on the trolley again to head back to Tarpon.  It was a beautiful warm sunny day filled with fun!  A 10 minute ride back to the marina from the sponge docks and a quiet evening on the boat completed our New Years Eve.
On New Years Day I went to mass at the Greek Orthedox cathedral which was a beautiful church and service. Then we tied the kayaks to the dingy, loaded them up with fishing gear and lunch and headed to Anclote Key for the afternoon.  We soon realized that it was much further than we thought and the boat wakes were causing havoc for us sooooooooooo we turned around and headed for a little beach.  We fished and sat in the sun, or at least I did. Tom scrubbed the kayaks.
Our plan was to leave Tarpon on Monday January 2nd But the weather turned ugly with high winds gusting to 35 miles per hour by evening.  It was a good choice to stay as we rocked and rolled all night. the waves on the Gulf were said to be 14footers! In fact the winds broke the bolts that secured one of our bumper holders on the bow of the boat and the force of the wind flattened one of the bumpers we had between our boat and the dock. We will leave on Wednesday when the winds are predicted to calm down and the Bay won't be so rough.

                       I caught this Black Drum off the side of the boat. We had him for dinner that night.         
                                          He was really good!  Also caught a stingray but cut him loose!

                                 The fog started to roll in on the beach at Clearwater but it was a busy beach!

                                                                     Lunch at the beach

                                                The pier at Clearwater is lined with venders

                                                               Downtown Dunedin

Dec 17th - The city of Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs is known as the "Venise of the South" It is hailed as the sponge capital of the world, established in the 1800s by Indians and early settlers. Later Greek immigrants came to the area to continue their traditionally  trade of sponge diving which greatly enriched the area. It is said that Tarpon Springs  has the largest Greek community in the United States.  The original downtown area is filled with antique and resale shops. The "Sponge Docks" area is the tourist area along the river. The streets are lined with Greek restaurant, shops and bakeries.  If you want good old American pizza or a burger you are hard pressed to find it along the Sponge Docks. I enjoyed going in and out of the shops and Tom enjoyed sitting in the sunshine and talking with fellow loopers who came from Clearwater by Trolley.
We rode with our friend Kris to pick up our car in Tampa which made exploring the area easy. Another of our friends Smitty came to spend a day exploring the area with us.  There is lots to see and do in Tarpon!

                                                  Baskets of sponges outside one of the shops

                                  One of the sponge boats along the wall at the sponge docks

December 16th - Our arrival at Tarpon Springs

We broke off from the caravan at about 9:00 am to begin our course into Tarpon.  I was concerned as we had been told not to arrive before 10 am. The sun is still low enough in the sky before ten that it prevents boaters  from seeing the white crab pot markers. Fortunately we choose a course that brought us straight in rather than at an angle. This was definitely a good decision as the sun was still low but off to our starboard corner rather than straight on. OMG the crab pots!  Our fellow boaters definitely did not exaggerate and they were everywhere!!!  Regulations indicate that crab pots are not to be in a navigational channel, BUT, the lines of them came directly to the edge on either side and extended as far as the eye could see!  Until we were in the actual navigational channel on the inside of Anclote Key we really had to rely on our compass and course to keep us in a straight line and free from entanglement in the traps. We were relieved to finally come to markers for both sides of the channel headed for Anclote River and the Tarpon Springs Yacht Club Marina.  When we entered the river I slowed down.  This caused some serious problems as we about got run over!!  Boats were coming from behind passing us on both sides at full throttle. At one point two fishing boats came straight at us. I felt like I was playing chicken because I was not moving over out of the channel!!  The boat coming directly at me cut the other off and passed. You can imagine the wake!  Whatever happened to manners and a slow pass?  Definitely not the norm here.  About a mile in we passed a no wake sign and everyone finally slowed down.  Believe it or not a lady yelled at me from a restaurant to slow down!? That was wild. The Yacht Club is about 4 miles down river just before a low bridge.  It is very quiet.  All in all it took us about an hour and a half from the time we turned until we docked.

Florida's Forgotten Coast

Florida's Forgotten Coast is located along the Gulf of Mexico in the North Florida's panhandle along the Big Bend Scenic Byway. It consists of Apalachicola, St. George Island, Eastpoint, which is a stones through away from Apalach and areas surrounding them.  We visited this area by car and now by boat. They are rich with history and as quaint as can be.  Gone are the tall condo's and hotels seen along the panhandle and in South Florida. What you will find are fishing villages, beautiful old homes, great shops and lots of yummy sea food. 
Apalachicola was established in 1831. Shipping cotton was it's biggest industry and it soon became the third largest port on the Gulf.  By the 1950's the waterfront was lined with brick warehouses used to handle the shipping of cargo for Europe. Now they are quaint shops and resturants. The industry soon turned to lumber from the areas cypress forests and then to oysters and seadfood.  Apalach(as the locals call it) is known as the Oyster capital of the world. Their oysters are known to be the cleanest and healthiest that exist and Tom can attest to their beauty! Apalach and its neighbor Eastpoint make up Franklin County. They harvest more than 90%  of Florida's oysters and 10% of the nationwide supply.  If you enjoy a layed back vacation without the fancy beaches and hotels you may want to check out Apalachicola. They have lots of great events throughout the year and a very active theatre that brings in major plays and concerts.
St. George Island is really a tourist area.  The island is long and consists of many rental houses along with a plantation of very large summer homes for stars.  Once on the island everything is there that you need and you can get around by bike rather than car.  There is a great park at one end of the island for hiking and exploring. We spent a spring break there and really enjoyed it as it never felt crowded, we could walk to the local watering holes, restaurants and shops and we had the gulf on one side and ocean on the other.
Carrabelle is not really an official part of the Forgotten Coast but there is so much history there and it is a quiet sleepy little town so I chose to include it.  The town of Carrabelle was incorporated in 1893.  It had an eclectic beginning which included the production of turpentine, maritime shipping, sponge diving, moonshining and military training.  Carrabelle was the sight of military training for WWII's landing at Normandy.  As we stood by the plaque on the beach commemorating the training sight it wasn't hard to imagine the boats and men charging the shore over and over again in preparation for that historical event. Carrabelle is also the home of the worlds smallest police station.  It was actually used as a police station for years.  The shops there are interesting and the area fun to explore. 

                                              Shrimp boats at dock in Apalachicola

                                                           One of the local eatery's

                                                      The Inn at Apalachicola

                                                   A view of St. George condo rentals

                                               A view of St. George Island from the top of the lighthouse

                                  Worlds smallest police statation in Carrabelle - sorry its sideways

                                                     The training sight on the beach

Dec. 15th Crossing the Gulf

One by one we pulled out of C-Quarters at 1pm in the afternoon to cross the Gulf of Mexico. The first 2-3 hours out were rough enough that holding on to something when standing or moving about, was a necessity. Peanut had a tough time finding a comfortable place to lay. I was a little worried that she was getting sea sick but once I got her off the floor and up on the bench seat she seemed to do much better. Just before sunset the waves settled down to 1-2's. The sunset was beautiful but it also meant darkness was soon to follow. The fact that there were seven of us relieved my anxiety a little. The night was clear and the air crisp. Without the interference of city lights the stars twinkled with an amazing brightness. Without the light of the moon that had not risen the sky and water appeared as one. Was it a star or a boat that we saw on the horizon? We had to use our radar to help us decide more than once.It was almost 9:30, when the moon finally showed himself. It was a half moon that provided a beautiful sheen over the water, a little more light and in turn comfort level. Tom ran out of steam about 11:00. He slept on the bench beside me until about one. I enjoyed rockin to the oldies on my IPod while he slept. I finally laid down about 2 and dosed in and out until almost 4. Tom took another nap from 5-6:30, this time on the futon on the aft deck. A much more comfortable choice. The drone of the diesel engines was my companion and I wondered for a moment what it would be like if I shut them off, what would I hear, how quiet would it really be out here? Would it be peaceful? Would it be erie? I woke Tom up at 6:30 so I could take a few sunrise photos and let him know we would be making a course change soon. The other boats were going on to Clearwater. We were going to leave the caravan at Tarpon Springs. The sun came up like a ball of fire rising up from the water. A sunrise I won't forget because of it's beauty and the the light it brought to eyes that were weary from the strain of traveling all night. It was an amazing 22 hour journey, one that we are glad we did but would not like to make a habit of.
                                    

                                                            Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico

 I had an led light that clipped onto my baseball hat. Used it to check charts and get around the boat in the dark.  It really worked well!

 Peanut was very unsettled. She could not figure out why we were moving and not going to bed. She stayed very close to me the entire night.

                                                  An amazing sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico

Other activities in Carrabelle

Our original plan was one night in Carrabelle then hop to Steinhatchee for the weekend as the weather window to cross to Tarpon Springs would not open until Monday. A discussion with the locals about Steinhatchee and the decision to be in the boat parade on Saturday changed our plan. We would wait until Monday and better weather for the hop to Steinhatchee. As fate would have it the weather window did not open on Monday.  By Tuesday afternoon nine other boats arrived from Apalach. Each morning the discussion over coffee centered on the weather and the "window of opportunity" for crossing and the evenign found us gathered for  appetizers and drinks on the deck. We had now been here 5 days but never felt "stuck ". We had lots of company and there was plenty to see and do. By Tuesday evening the word on the dock was that the "window of opportunity" was now Thursday. This meant our original plan of following the bend and traveling only in the daylight was out the window.  We would have to do an overnight crossing. We spent the next two days double checking systems, coordinating departure times and charts and sightseeing. Our sightseeing included the following;  six of us riding our bikes three miles to the Carrabelle Light House and climbing the 138 steps to the top; riding our bikes to the beach; hiring a shuttle service to take us to St. George Island were we walked around and climbed 98 steps to the top of the St. George Island lighthous; and taking our dingy to check out the backwaters.  Unfortunately the motor conked out and I had to row against the wind and apposing tide flow (not fun) to get us back. Tom and Don finished that day working on the motor!!  By Wednesday evenings social and review meeting there were now 11 boats waiting to cross. Seven of us who traveled about the same speed would go together.  Two boats were gas and would have to make a run to Steinhatchee for fuel and the last two were leaving later in the day because they would run at a faster speed.

                                                   Crooked River Lighthouse in Carrabelle

                                          One of our Looper social hours on the deck of C-Quarters

                 7 lbs of shrimp from the "shrimp lady" at $5.00 per pound - took forever to behead!

                                     The narrow stops to the top of the Crooked River lighthouse

                                   A bear crossing sighn along the beach front road in Carrabelle

                                                       The St. George Island Lighthouse

                                                 The ladder to the very top of the St. George Lighthouse

Dec. 10+ Boat Parade & More at Carrabelle

Friday, our first full day at Carrabelle was sunny but very cool. A group of local gentlemen were standing around a fire barrel and it didn't take Tom long to grab a cup of coffee and join them.  Kim provided details about a boat parade that would take place on Saturday night.  She asked us to participate as the marina needed one more boat to break a tie for the marina with the most boats in the parade. So it was off to the dollar store on our bicycles for decorations. We had a little tree to tie on the bow and a fiber optic tree for the inside but no lights. After several trips to the dollar store and some help from Don and Theresa we were ready!  We finished the day riding our bikes around town and hitting a few of the shops.  The boat parade was a first for us and great fun.  There were 19 boats of different sizes and Tom and I were both impressed with the extensive lights and decorations on some of them.  The celebration after the parade was held at C-Quarters and trophies were given out to the winners. To our surprise, and I think kindness of the judges, we won second place for boats larger than 36 foot.

Our boat lights - you can't see the tree on our roof

The pig with wings tied to our dingy

 Sharing our trophy with friends Don and Theresa who helped us decorate and rode with us in parade