Great Loop Adventures Aboard Next Chapter: The Big Gulf Crossing

Steinhatchee

Crossing the Gulf of Mexico is one of those Looper hurdles that is met with much angst and deliberation. There are two basic options. The first is you leave Carrabelle at 3pm and travel 170 miles, 22 hours at 8mph and arrive at Tarpon Springs about 11 am the next day. The second is you do the Big Bend Route and make 2-3 stops along the way.

The problem with both routes is that you are way out in the Gulf and if bad weather crops up you have to suck it up and get through it. This time of year the Gulf becomes very unsettled due to cold fronts making their way into the Deep South. The prevailing winds are usually from the North West meaning waves hit your boat on the beam. That means the boat rolls from side to side.

Not good for any length of time. The last group that crossed waited over three weeks to get a decent weather window. A few boats pushed their luck and regretted it. Stories abound of Loopers getting to Tarpon Springs and crying when they get ashore. So we decided to do the Big Bend route as Sue nor I wanted to be up all night nor cry when we arrived. But that meant we would need three good weather windows. So the first opened on Thursday but we missed that one. Luck would have it Friday would be another.

So at 6:30 am in the dark we hauled the anchor and set a 70 mile course for Steinhatchee. One thing I will say is that watching the sunrise while cruising on the water is a sight to behold. King Neptune granted us a beautiful travel day all the way to Steinhatchee Marina. We arrived about 3:00 pm. Steinhatchee is know as the Scallop Capitol of the world. The scallops are the small bay variety that are found in the shallows on sea grass. Reportedly they are delicious. In the summer months the population of 600 swells into the thousands.

Fishing is another big attraction. This time of year they are catching Speckled trout, Puppy Drum and Cobia. The marina we were at was brand new. So there was a few bugs that needed working out but no deal breakers. This is good old fashion old world Florida. The way it was 75 years ago. It’s a place where all the guys wear baseball caps, drive pickups and constantly have a Natty Light in their hand. Tin roofs and double wides are the out number conventional homes 10 to 1. Unpaved sand roads are common off the main road. The local music was that of palm nuts hitting the tin roofs and rolling down. Anyhow Sue and I explored the “area” by bike as there is no real downtown.

We found our way into an American Legion and then learned that there would be a lighted golf cart parade that night. So we collected up a number of other Loopers and went and watched the parade. After we which we went to dinner at a local restaurant.

On Saturday our plan was to leave for Cedar Key but when we got up the winds were forecast to blow pretty good Saturday night into Sunday.

The problem was the anchorage at Cedar Key was unprotected and there was no marina available for larger boats. We scrubbed the trip and planned for a Monday departure. We made the best of it on Saturday and did some chores in the morning and went exploring in the back waters on the dinghy. After stopping at a local watering hole by water we found ourselves on Knot Dreaming’s sundeck. Randy and Julie are wonderful folks from Vancouver Island. After a couple of beverages we made our way back to Next Chapter.

On Sunday we made our way to a local church. These small churches, everybody knows everybody so a new face stands out like Rudolphs nose. You get to shake everybody’s hand including the pastor. It was a good message and fun to be in such a small church. Everybody was so welcoming. Later we took another dinghy ride and hung out on the docks and chatted with other Loopers.

Cedar Key

On Monday morning we slipped out of the marina once again before dawn. The weather was forecast to be very good and fortunately it was. The skies were crystal clear making the Gulf sparkle like a brilliant diamond. The cruise was 55 miles and relatively uneventful until we reached the outer channel. Once we entered we were literally mobbed by pods of dolphin. Did they put on a show!

They seemed to be leading us into the harbor. There is something truly amazing when you are looking at them swimming on the bow wake and they roll over and look you in the eye. Once we were secure on anchor we launched the dinghy.The crew from Knot Dreaming joined us to go explore Sea Horse Island. There is an old Light House and some type of marine research center for Florida State University.

The small bay in the interior was teaming with marine life. Everything from a small shark to rays and schools of snook. After exploring the island we headed to the town. Sue had actually visited Cedar Key with her mom and sister many years ago. Being Monday much of it was closed. We connected up with another group of Loopers and decided to stop and have an small bit at one of the local waterfront restaurants. There ended up being over 12 Looper boats in the small harbor that night. The discussion at the table was, “Would we be able to make the final leg of the Gulf crossing on Tuesday?”

Anclote Key Anchorage

The weather sites were predicting sunny skies with 10 mph winds out of the ESE but would ease thru out the day. That translates into a bit rough to start but improving conditions as the day went on. The cruise was 75 miles to the anchorage so we left even earlier to maximize the daylight hours. We planned on 9 hours but hoped for better.

We had a gorgeous sunrise to the south east as land was over 20 miles away. The dolphin that seemed to lead us into town now seemed to escort us out of town. The cruise started off really nice but conditions deteriorated a bit as the seas picked up. Fortunately we only had to deal with 1-2 waves. We had another challenge to deal with. Crab Traps! There must have been a thousand or more along the whole track to Anclote Key. That meant no snoozing on the helm. In fact we had to alter course more times than I can count to dodge the floats for the traps. I must say that I was pretty spent when we finally dropped the hook and called it a day. The good news was we had conquered the Gulf!