GULF AND CRYSTAL RIVER November 29, 2008

With Catrina all gassed up and tied down, we decided to take advantage of the good weather to cross the Gulf to Crystal River, Home Sweet Home! This is Friday afternoon and Saturday evening the bad weather should arrive and stay though Monday. Who needs sleep? Cast Off and Away!
Catrina passes under the 98 Bridge, our last bridge, and heads out into Apalachicola Bay at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. While we were getting gas we realized we should have switched from Central to EST. Did anyone wonder why it took us 1 ¾ hours to get gas?

Tom has mapped out our route and put it on the GPS and on his Computer MacEnc program. MacEnc consists of all the NOAA Charts of the US. He has a “cheap” GPS attached to his MAC which adds our position and tracks our movement over the seas. It is a complete navigation program and definitely the 21st century way to go!

Apalachicola Bay is an 8 mile stretch between the town and St. George Island, a thin coastal island. We follow a markered path because the first 5 miles is anywhere from 2 to 5 foot deep and the rest is 10-12 feet. Catrina passes through Government Cut into the Gulf into 15 mph winds. Up go the sails. We move along at 7 mph with two sails and one motor. Our route from Government Cut is a straight shot of 115 miles at 116 degrees to Sea Horse Reef (west of Crystal River), about 30 miles to AIA (the outer marker into Crystal River) and then 7 miles up the River to our Canal. As we sail along the waves and wind increase to 20 mph. We clip along at 9+ mph until 3 a.m. when it starts to drop. Waves hit the starboard bow and splash over the front of the boat. We are on a SW course and the wind is 60 degrees off our starboard bow. That makes it a “tight reach”.

We view another fantastic sunset and watch it dip behind the horizon!

It is totally dark by 6 pm EST and for the next 12 hours. Being away from city lights, we have a million stars to pick from. There are also airplanes, satellites, venus and a few lighted markers. Tom points out the glow in the sky from Tallahassee to the NE and Tampa to the S.
We passed a total of 5 boats. Tom and Debbie take turns on watch. Since we are not paid for this job, it is a volunteer position. When on watch, we check to see that Catrina is following the charted 116 degree course. As the wind increases, the autopilot must be adjusted to keep us on course. Then at 3 a.m. when the wind begins to drop, it must be adjusted back the other way. Another important duty is to periodically look out all windows not just the front ones. We did see five other boats and we had to decide from a distance if they were lighted markers or actual boats. The charts help a lot on find the markers. The red/green lights at the front of the boats helps with direction but is usually not visible until the boat is closer. Catrina being a sailboat has a 50 foot high white light and green/red on the bow and white on the stern. We also have a steaming light halfway of the mast. When approaching another boat or checking for luffs, we put it on. It lights of the sails and makes it easier for everyone not to run into us!

Another way to stay awake is to make and consume food. Debbie made dinner during the afternoon and microwaved it for dinner. We ate a variety of sandwiches and snack bars and our last two apples while on watch. When the eastern sky started to glow, Debbie made oatmeal. She was getting up and Tom was going to bed!

These are not raindrops but drops from waves splashing up on the windows blocking our view of the sunrise!

This was really a very easy, pleasant trip across the Gulf. Before we left Tom called both his son Mark and neighbor Jimmy with our plans. If we do not show up at Crystal River by 5 pm Saturday Jimmy will call the Coast Guard. That’s what friends are for besides all the following things: hauling us places, storing our truck-camper-Macgregor, selling our extra car, adjusting the irrigation system at Debbie’s home, finding Catrina a Marina on Kentucky Lake, watching our homes for six months, collecting our mail, taking our sick outboard motor to be repaired, picking it up and reinstalling it, teaching us how to go through locks, giving us a home for two weeks when Tom had knee surgery, finding a hair salon and chiropractor for Debbie and an Orthopedic doctor for Tom. The list goes on and on and we really appreciate all this special attention. We cannot thank each of you enough.

We have made many new friends and hope to continue these relationships. And most of all we thank our families for understanding that not everyone lives a conventional lifestyle. Some of us are just different and like to change plans on the spur of the moment. But we do keep coming back!

Now for some statistics. We have been away from Crystal River from Mid April to the end of November. During this time we have lived aboard Catrina for 54 days and spent 43 days traveling aboard her. We have covered 2,415 miles from East Tawas MI on Lake Huron to Crystal River FL on the Gulf. Between September 2nd when we moved aboard Catrina to November 29th when we reached home, we have taken time off in MI, IN, KY and FL for 36 days.

We pass Shell Island as we enter the Crystal River and return to our Florida Home! The End.

APALACHICOLA November 28, 2008

After a pleasant night we got up at 7:15 and found it lightly raining. We grabbed our rain jackets and pulled the anchors. If you have wondered how we get two anchors out equally on each end of Catrina, it takes a little team work. First we drop the Bow anchor and let all 225 feet of line out. Second we drop the Stern anchor and let out half of the distance used on the front line as the front person pulls in that much line. And there you are halfway between!



When you pull the anchor out, it is reverse. First you let out all of the bow line which should take the boat back to the Stern anchor. Tom pull sup the Stern Anchor and then motors the boat forward and Debbie pulls in the Bow line. and anchor. However, today she got within 15 feet of the anchor and nothing would budge. Tom drove forward to try to dislodge the anchor which helped a little but it still was stuck. Then Tom muscled the anchor loose and we swished it around in the water to get off all the mud that had held it so tightly! And that is how we got off at 7:45 a.m. in the rain!


We motored along the last 7 miles of East Bay, entered Wetappo Creek for three miles and then took the south prong of the Wetappo Creek, all of which was also called the ICW.



We passed groups of homes along inlets and ox bows.



There are lots of Eagles along this section of the ICW .



We can see activity in a nest.




Twelve miles later we passed the cutoff for Gulf County Canal, a man made passage to the Gulf. We counted 8 fishing boats. Either there are a lot of retired folks around here or everyone took a long Thanksgiving weekend!



We pass a shrimp boat close the Gulf Canal.

The next 8 miles of the ICW are Searcy Creek. Here we can see many ox bows that straighten the river. The canal is narrow enough to make Tom pull to the very side to let a barge pass!


At Mile 335 we reach Lake Wimico, a five mile long shallow “hot dog.” If we do not stay right in the channel, our depth finder beginning beeping at 4 feet. Since Debbie likes to stick to the right side of a canal, she does occasionally get beeped. Tom of the not good ears has not missed it once! He also is quick to catch oversteering. Debbie calls this scenic driving! Poor man has no sense of humor.

There are 11 more miles to Apalachicola and the rivers making up this part are the Jackson River, Salt Creek and Apalachicola River. We cover this 46 miles in 7 ¼ hours.





We search for gas and find two spots at the mouth of the Apalachicola - Scipio Creek and Miller’s. Since we cannot figure how to get back into Scipio and we can drive right up to Miller’s--you guessed which one we picked. It does not look open. Then a man peeks his out of a moored boat and right after that the owner comes down the pier. We gas up and chat. The man (and wife) are very interested in our trip and have many questions. Debbie works on removing bumpers and painters and tying down everything that might bounce off if we have a bumpy trip in the Gulf. Tom fills the 27 gallon tank and 4 more 5 gallon tanks. Now we are ready to sailing across the Gulf if we so decide. You will have to wait until the next chapter to find out!