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This has been one of the coolest places I have explored on my boat so far. My gold loop friends John and Sue who have helped me so much along the way with advice and support from Pensacola have been down here since feb 1.  They invited me and my friend Jacob to Schooners for happy hour and dinner where we had a awesome meal and had a birds Eve view of the whole marina.  Sue had her birthday yesterday so happy birthday to her 🙂  I hate to leave but today I am headed to Marathon Yacht Club about 50 miles up the keychain. Jacob flew back to Pensacola yesterday so I am down south Chuggin by myself and my three Diesel engines ☺️

Cruise ships make the town super busy when they are in port

  
Pura and a nice bird

Puras aft

Jacob and I Atlantic side headed back from lunch at Hurricane Hole

7marine 623hp a piece outboards only company in the world that makes this high of a hp outboard

Me and Jacob departed Marco Island after fueling and buying some trolling tackle to pull across the Gulf this night.  (this is Friday evening the 12th)  After one last check of the weather we departed Roses Marina a little before  5pm with a little over a hour and 1/2 till sunset, this looked like our best window to make it down to the Keys because a front was coming through, and going to make the Gulf turbulent for the next few days.  I’m very happy we decided to go straight to Key West, we only had 105 miles and didn’t want to arrive while its still dark and navigate a channel i’ve never been through.  So we pulled the CATERPILLARS back to around 700rpms at 2am with a following wind and sea this was still pushing us around 6mph, still to fast.  I threw the Starboard engine in neutral and only had the Port in gear this reduced our speed to about 4.5-5mph slow enough to get to the GREEN #1 sea buoy by 7AM when it would be enough light to get to safe harbor.  Me and Jacob took shifts standing watch so the other could take a nap this worked well and the 2-3′ following seas were for the most part a smooth comfortable ride.  Having a Hatteras also gives you piece of mind because their construction is much heavier than the other brands.  Hatteras wasnt worried with speed or fuel consumption so they made these boats heavy and very strong.  You sacrifice a little speed but making a night crossing you always have a slight chance of hitting a debris under the surface like a log or ship container, by the way at any given time their are over 15,000 ship containers circling the globe that create hazards to navigation.  long story short Hatters with its solid fiberglass hull would potentially be fine if it came in contact with a big piece of debris as long as i’m not going to fast.  also in the 80’s they didn’t for sure know how long fiberglass would last so they made it extra thick.  come to find out fiberglass doesn’t ever go bad.  unless you have a boat with wood coring which is in between the fiberglass and if it gets water in the coring you will get rot and a soft spot and have major fiberglass work to do.  I think you get my drift.  solid fiberglass boats are the best, period!  Our whole way to Key West we had to keep a constant eye on the Lobster traps and Stone Crab traps that their buoys are a floating prop fouler.  We did hook a buoy with the trolling line and ended up spooling my reel probably around 12am oh well, so we did catch something.  We made it to Northwest Channel by 7am, i hailed the marina on 16 and they weren’t quite ready for us so we took a anchorage just outside the Key West Bight Marina entrance.  Hundreds of other boats were in the mooring field with us, lots of them looked derelict and their were quite a few sunken ones to.  the marina called me at 9am telling me they were ready for Pura Vida, north wind around 15 had a crowd out watching my maneuvering skills.  I was backing in between two nice and new boats so the pressure was on and everyone was impressed how well we got her docked in with the wind and narrow slips.  Always feels so good to be tied up somewhere new, i have met some great people here, other boaters are the best and willing to help you out with anything you need.  The view from the slip is awesome and we are the closest boat to the hotel pool, hot tub, gym, observation deck, and private beach.  We have a great view of the passing boats in Key West Harbor.   Key West Bight marina where all the slips are is surrounded by bars restaurants shops and lots to do, its a great spot to be.  Hanging out by the dingy dock we had lunch and watched all the interesting people come in from their boats in the mooring field, very very entertaining. I will post more pictures later, have a great week!  Pure Vida mon

Watching the sun set and sun rise on the water is one of the most humbling things, it gives you major appreciation for every morning the sun comes up

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We left Cabbage Key on the 12th at 8am, btw they don’t have water available at the docks for the boats but still worth it and i heard if you tip the maintenance man he will bring out their hose and fill your water tank with well water.  There was a dolphin splashing around my boat that morning.  Leaving Cabbage Key we started steaming south we went through Pine Island Sound and saw Sanibel Island where you can find some of the best shells, the light house below is Sanibel light.  After passing Sanibel this marks the end of the GIWW we entered the Gulf through Matanzas Pass for the rest of our ride to Marco Island.  we had roughly 40 miles in the gulf to make it to Marco, on the way we passed Naples.  We arrived at Roses in Marco Island around 2:30 to get fuel and fill the water tank.  i’m getting 2MPG which is very lean compared to other boats.  It sounds bad but its actually pretty efficient for a boat this size.  Here we checked weather and talked to a few seasoned yachters about crossing to Key West tonight.

the pics below show sunrise at Cabbage Key, Sanibel Light, Naples from 3 miles offshore and Roses marina

We returned to the boat last night at Fishermans Wharf in Venice after being in Pensacola for a short visit.  Pura Vida was sure ready to hit the GIWW today, conditions were great.  Sunny with a light north east wind and a little cold but by afternoon it was 70 and still beautiful.  lots of no wake Manatee areas and the dolphin activity on the way here was great, every pod we would come to would follow us for a mile or so and show off then disappear.  Jacob made some great home made guacamole  and fixed a awesome lunch for the ride.  In 1936 Alan Rinehart and Gratia Houghton Rinehart bought the island for $14,500 and invested $125,000 on the amenedities which exist today.   Cabbage Key is One hundred acres of tropical vegetation surround a historic restaurant, inn and cottages. A panoramic view of Pine Island Sound is seen from the front of the restraunt and the marina is pretty well protected. There are no cars here, not even a paved road. You will find winding nature trails, picturesque views, gopher tortoise’s  and a private island feel.  Tomorrow our goal is to get to Marco Island

Feb, 3rd I departed Clearwater Marina at 8am for a 65 mile trip to Venice Fl going through both Tampa and Sarasota Bay, east winds had the gulf looking smooth so I ran outside starting from Clearwater Pass, because the south wind was building I went in at Tampa Pass.  Tampa Bay had some big waves, just like John and Sue my great loop pals had said it would be.  Pura Vida chugged through these 3-4′ waves for about 40 min.  once inside the GIWW from Tampa Bay to Venice it was beautiful, lots of mangroves and manatee zones where you had to go slow.  slow is the best, gives you time to look around you not just ahead of you.  We had 7 bridges to go under, and needed to have 3 bridges open because they were below my 18′ height requirement these bridges open on signal using VHF channel 9.  In Sarasota I actually saw where the tornado’s went through and did some damage to mangroves and totally destroyed homes.  My trip ended up being 70 miles because I went on the gulf side for a couple of hours.  This probably didn’t save me any time it just was nice that I didn’t have to slow down for smaller boats or no wake zones.  I was able to dock at Venice Yacht Club for two nights because the Pensacola Yacht Club is a member of The Florida Council of Yacht Clubs and so is the Venice Yacht Club.  This means I can stay one night free and the other nights 1/2 the price of normal.  No cash is exchanged here they bill it to my PYC account.  Venice Yacht Club rolled out the red carpet it felt like.  everything was ready for my boat upon arrival thanks to the awesome Dock masters Ted and Jim.  I met a bunch of boaters eating dinner at VYC they were all excited to hear about my trip.  Something about Venice Beach from what the locals told me was it’s really easy to find shark teeth on this beach, especially after a big storm, I wonder why this is.  My next three stops are Cabbage Key, Marco Island, and Key West.  VYC sold me a Council of Yacht Clubs book so I can keep in touch with all the right clubs that offer reciprocal privileges.  From here i will go home for a couple days get a few things I need and head back with my friend Jacob so he can ride and assist me to Key West.  Have a great weekend and thanks for reading.

Turtle Cove Marina in Tarpon Springs was a very nice facility. The staff was so friendly and the amenities were nice and new. I met some great people in Tarpon Springs, ate great food and could smell the fresh baked goods as they were cooked in a bakery up the river from the Marina every morning, Hellas Bakery to be exact. Their sweet bread is great. A few slips down from me were two boats the Rhino and BaoBab, I made 5 new friends on those two boats. A veteran looper Lynn, she and her husband Dan did the loop and it took them 12 years to do so and I think that’s so cool. Stopping spots along the way for as long as they wanted. While still running all over the country with their super cool haulers moving goods for people to cover travel expenses and visit friends. She used to live in Pensacola so we had a ton in common. Whitney and Ray were aboard the “Rhino”. A super cool 46′ crab boat that was converted to a trawler. With a single NA8v92. It’s a sweet pilot house trawler. I love the lines. Michelle and Blue on the “Baobab” were awesome to get to know and live on a beautiful pilot house cruiser as well. I really hope I can spend more time hanging out with them when I run into them again down the road.
The trip to Clearwater was short and a beautiful ride. I didn’t go far today only 22 miles, I got a later start leaving because I wanted to leave on a high tide because of some shallow spots in the Marina. The water was super green and felt like home but just on another coastline. Clearwater Beachside Marina is a great facility as well. We were docked by 6pm

We left the Moorings Sunday afternoon around 5pm, “Pura Vida” took the head of the pack followed by “Thanks Dad” “Cocomo” and “Island Gypsy” what  a beautiful evening watching the sunset, during the middle of the night the seas were around 2′ all was smooth.  At 6am we had a call from one of the boats that they were having fuel filter woes, the engine ended up shutting down and the captain wasn’t able to get it to restart after changing fuel filters.   What made this even more interesting was the boat with the fuel problems was also having electronic power issues and was communicating with a handheld Vhf.  the only way to get a TowBoat to respond from that far away around 50 miles offshore was to ask the coast guard for help getting the message to Boat US. I did this for the stranded vessel as their handheld didn’t have the range that my built in vhf has. By 8:40 we were in contact with Tow Boat Us and they were minutes away from the stranded vessel. Sunrise was amazing out their as well. During this whole engine issue that the other boat was having the seas had to be 3-4′ once we were closer to land around 11am it laid down nicely and we had a beautiful ride up the Anclote River. To Tarpon Springs.  Feels amazing to be on the other side.  Life is good.  So are all the people in it. 
Sunrise at The Moorings, Carrabelle Fl taken by Mandi Singer

Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico Salt Pasture   

Route to Tarpon Springs from Carrabelle 
  

First glimpse of the West Coast of Florida 
  

Shallow green water greeted us at about 10 miles offshore  

line of sight to land is 7miles

Anclote River, Tarpon Springs sponge docks ahead 
  

Pura, Coco, and Thanks Dad 

We all tried for a noon crossing but found conditions to be worse than expected.  Anchored untill 4pm off dog island and tried it again.  Still same scenario. Headed back to the Moorings and sitting it out untill Monday/Tuesday most likely. 

The Pura Vida and the two other boats that tried to cross yesterday with us.   

Pura Vida port profile 

The way back in, feeling defeated lol not really 

 
Protected Marina the Moorings is a great staging spot Bc it’s so close to East Pass   

 36 monk trawler.  Getting down 

  
  
 “Thanks Dad” and their dingy  

Anchored behind dog island  
 Dolphin in the Marina 

My stay in apalachicola was incredible, the people I met and places I visited just made it feel like home.  Stopping here for as long as I did really did me good, it reminded me that all people are freaking great. And theirs nothing to be afraid of because everyone is willing to help and lend a hand. The people I met here I will never forget. When your “just passing through” in apalachicola be sure to talk to all the locals.  Their a awesome group of people no different than you or me.  Most of them with amazing stories on how they ended up their I can’t wait to come back and see my friends and listen to live music at the Bowery Station.
Apalachicola bay was pretty today with sunshine and plenty of cold wind, still it was awesome.  Lots of markers were way off so following the gps closely was the only way to really be sure you were in good water.  The dredging operation going on in the bay may have also been why some markets were out. This is a pretty stretch. Wide bays pretty shallow water with dangerous sandbars and oyster beds that will destroy a hull.

Tomorrow is the 177 mile jump to Tarpon Springs. It looks like a good weather window for the next couple days, my friends John and Sue from Pensacola are headed to the keys and are going to cross with us tomorrow since our boats cruise the same speed

Leaving Water Street Marina

Entrance to the Carrabelle River

These are my friends Ted and Sarah in their Katy Krogen Manatee 37 they bought this boat new in 1987 and have been doing the loop ever since. This is their 26th time!!!  It was amazing meeting so many loopers while I was in apalachicola. Ted and Sarah have such a laid back attitude about boating it’s refreshing and shared some amazing stories with me.  When you loop time after time you really learn the water ways like the back of your hand.     Their flybridge has been enclosed so makes great for all weather cruising.  It’s powered by a single d3 Volvo 130 that sips fuel at 1.8gallons per hour

 Their dingy has to be the coolest one I’ve ever seen with a 90hp it can do anything they need and also help their boat maneuver if for any reason with the push bar

A small work tug  sunk while I was staying on scipio creek and I got to see them swap the locked up 6/71’s for a freshly rebuilt pair         

Apalachicola has been a great place, they have been practicing yoga at the marina I am staying at so I have been going to that on Tuesdays. My good friend Louis Hines made a trip down here this past weekend on his Birthday and we explored Scipio creek.
Sunken shrimp boat and two other commercial style boats are abandoned about a 1/2 mile down the creek, probably a hurricane hideout that ended up not being so safe.

 Pura Vidas aft and a nice downeast style cruiser 
Louis at the tiller of the Twin Vida

Flood waters moved some big debris. Tree wedged against a navigational marker   

Scipio creek tributary that goes through turtle Harbour.  Apalachicola River is the fat one then Scipio is the darker narrow one