Great Loop: Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs

Sunset during our 20 hour Gulf Crossing- Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs

January 18th-19th, 2022

 Preparations

Every day on the Loop is different.  This helps cultivate your sense of adventure.  Even as experienced boaters, we constantly find ourselves challenged in new ways.  Our 20 hour open water voyage from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs was one of those challenges that you will remember forever.  

My navigator is confident she can guide us to the other side

First of all, the Gulf crossing seems larger than life.  The type of event where you can easily build a "boogie man" that grows in size, proportionate to your  anxiety level.  Many hours are spent in discussions, conversations and musings anticipating "the crossing"   There are so many tasks that must be completed or learned. which puts this in a different category of life experiences.  The decisions you make, and the care you have taken, to prepare yourself and you vessel will determine your success.  Help is a long distance away if you get in trouble.  You are essentially on your own.

Changing the Oil and Filter

There are ways you can mitigate the risks.  The first tactic is to lavish loving attention on your boat.  Examine all your systems to insure they are in good condition and working properly.  We changed the oil and fuel filters, topped off the fuel and water tanks, and pumped out.  Beth prepared snack type items we could grab and eat so we didn't have to prepare a full meal in the kitchen.  We did radio checks with a fellow boater to insure we would have VHF radio communications.  We both carried VHF handhelds as back up.  We also reviewed the boat for items that may take to flight in rough seas.  All such items items were secured.  

An example of weather information.
The red box shows when we expected to be travelling
http://marvsweather.com/mbw/reports1/GoM-16-DAY.html

Weather is also one of the items that looms large.  All boater talk of weather windows.  An example is shown above.  We were looking for a period when the winds and waves would be lowest and from a favorable direction.  Our criteria was winds less that 15mph and waves less than 2 feet.  We became obsessed with checking multiple sources of weather information leading up to our crossing.  We normally check prior to a travel day, but in this case, we kicked it up a notch.

Our Route Plan for the crossing

Route planning was straight forward.  From Carrabelle,  exit into the Gulf.  There is a red buoy #2 which is the starting point and on the far side there will be a red buoy #4 that delineates "You Made It!"  The two are 151 statute apart.  The entire trip with be 170 miles in length

The start - Red Buoy 2

The Route

The Trip

After reading of and listening to stories of "THE CROSSING", we just wanted to get it done and not have it hanging over our heads.  There were multiple boats waiting in Carrabelle for a weather window suitable for the crossing.  Weather reports forecast a possible window 3-4 days hence.  So we held a captains meeting with the nearby Loopers to give us a chance to talk over the situation.  We also could form groups who would sail together, in a "buddy system".  The criteria for forming groups was first, an interest in crossing the say day, similar vessel speed, and the same destination.  We ended up with 4 boats departing on the same day and several that wanted to wait an extra day.  Those that left our day then formed two sub-groups.  Amy Marie and Perfect Choice were headed to Tarpon Springs.  Sea Star and Jackpot were headed to Clearwater.  

Captain Free at the start of the voyage

I asked my Navigator if she was ready....

Perfect Choice, from Santa Rosa California, was our travelling companion

We kept each other awake through the night

Sunset - all is good

The Skipper at Sunset.

At this point we went to 2 hour watches.

The sunset from the rear deck

Jackpot or Sea Star at a distance - Destination Clearwater

We maintained an hourly radio "check-in" to insure all was going well

We use red lights in the cabin after dark.

Helps preserve your night vision

Beth watched movies while "off watch"

Later in the evening she would sleep during her 2 hours off.

About 2am the sea conditions changed

The seas changed from flat to wind waves that of 2 to 4 feet

So we bashed our way to our destination 

In this photo you can see the spray rising from our wave bashing 

It was so nice to finally reach sheltered waters near our destination

I was a happy skipper

Red Channel Marker #4

We made it!

One of the "boogie men" we had heard so much about was crab traps on the approach to Tarpon Springs.  We may have been fortunate as we saw significantly fewer than we expected.  They are feared as there is the danger you can wrap a rope around your prop shaft, stopping the engine.  You then have to get in the water to cut the line free.  The other danger is that your heading into Tarpon Springs has you heading into the rising sun, making the task of spotting the crab traps much more difficult.  For this reason we timed our voyage so we arrived after 10 am, giving the sun time to get higher is the sky.

Relief!  All vessels in both groups make successful, if long, trip to our destination.  A big weight was lifted.  We all felt as if we had stared the Boogie Man down.  Time to celebrate.  So we got a double scoop ice cream upon reaching shore! Mint Moose Track ice cream never tasted so good....

Trip Log