Late to the Party

LATE...that's it in a nutshell.  We've been travelling for 5 days and due to circumstances we didn't control but might have we missed the window to make the direct overnight crossing to Tarpon Springs or possibly a little bit south to Dunedin.  We were fashionably late and that just doesn't cut it when you are talking a 24-26 hour time frame.  Let's just say we continue to learn from our experiences which I guess is what this is all about.

SO...last night we anchored southeast of Carabelle (we got there at 3:00 and it didn't make any sense to go to a marina from dusk to dawn) off of St. George Island the barrier island on the Gulf. It was a beautiful night, calm as can be. This morning it was just as calm and we were mad at ourselves for being such chickens!  Every excuse....it's too late, we won't have a buddy boat, we've been up since 6am can we stay awake until 3pm tomorrow, and yada, yada, yada.  Let's just say it was a huge decision making error and I'm not ashamed to say it...."we screwed up"!

There are so many decisions and so many factors when doing the loop.  After almost 11 months we are just plain TIRED of making decisions, hence here we sit at C Quarters Marina in Carabelle and probably will sit for at least a week while riding out the unsettled conditions and winds that are supposed to start tonight with the approaching cold front  (jeez, again already)!

X marks our anchor spot last night

We did get time to go for a quick hop to the beach. Our first time off the boat since Monday morning and Bob really had to tinkle! He heard "shore time" and he was in the dink in a flash.

And was rewarded with an "aaahhh" moment...  dirt beneath my paws at last!

The beautiful deserted beach of St. George Island

We ended up with only a decent sunset, those low lying clouds were again the culprit.  You think it's going to be spectacular and then they start showing up on the horizon but the colors of the clouds after are a show in themselves.

Twelve boats left yesterday at between 12 and 2 pm. Alas, the next crossing window is nowhere in sight.  Usually it is within 4-5 days but with the current weather forecast there doesn't look to be a possibility for the next 7-10 days. Hopefully that will change over the week. There are two other looper boats at C Quarters, both of whom we've met at other marinas. Chuck on  'Luv n Life' whom we started this journey with in Albany last July and crossed paths again in Petoskey and Daniel and Angela who are from Brazil and are doing the loop on their sailboat and, like us, missed yesterday's crossing. Chuck has been here for a week already with mechanical issues.

I guess those of us at C Quarters will be spending Thanksgiving being thankful we've all made it this far and were blessed with the opportunity to do this trip.  It will surely be one to remember.

 C Quarters Marina Carabelle

MOBILE

We, unfortunately haven't seen much of Mobile. We've been on the boat for only 10 of 24 days.  The marina has a courtesy car which they loan out in two hour increments but it is only available for the 8 hours a day the office is open.  That means four boaters can use the car in a day. Multiply that by the 4 to 8 transient boats that have been in here daily and you get.....a wait to use the car.  We booked it the day we came in for our trips to the airport to pick up the rental to drive to Florida each trip took the entire two hours.  We've been to Wal Mart twice, not that we love Wal Mart but it is the easiest one stop shopping for cruisers when you have limited time to shop.  We were able to procure the car for 3 hours the 2nd day we were here because we were the only transients and we drove to the USS Alabama Memorial Park.  I was able to get some pictures while I waited....

B52 'Calamity Jane' that flew over 100 missions in Vietnam

Blackbird Spy Plane

USS Drum

"Huey" from Vietnam War

This memorial was to the war dogs handled by Alabamians

The MIA bracelet from Vietnam

Vietnam Memorial

Korean War Memorial

 Unfortunately this place would have taken a day to see everything so he missed out on the Airplane Pavilion, the Submarine tour and had to make a mad dash through the ship.  I only got to see the park and take pictures because I didn't tour the ship. Maybe we'll return one day to do it right.

Coming into Mobile from the north on the Mobile River was very interesting. Our son, Kent, had interviewed for a job in Mobile a few years ago and we knew they did commercial ship building here but there is a LOT of action going on in this narrow river which spills into Mobile Bay.

A tug in 'drydock'

                                                       The NEW Navy "starwars" ships

                                     

Mobile Convention Center

Ship Hulls

Mobile is  one of the busiest commercial ports on the Gulf of Mexico

USS Shadwell, retired Navy Research Ship

And my very favorite....back to salt water and the Seagulls, those of you who have been following us for a while know I am afraid of birds...silly I know but none the less true, so why am I so drawn to taking pictures of them...crazy I know.

Back to actually seeing the Coast Guard not just hearing them from stations hundreds of miles away as on the river system.

So today begins the journey across the Panhandle of Florida.  We won't get to see much as we are looking at a possible weather window to cross the Gulf next weekend.  It takes five days to get from Mobile to Carabelle and we would like to get there by Saturday at the latest. It seems like the weather is pretty unsettled everywhere and we are hoping not to get stuck in the Panhandle for the winter!!

Docktails...Mobile....I think there are eight Looper boats here at Turners, two of which we started with in New York.  Some are leaving their boats here to go home for the holidays, some are having work done, and a few of us are continuing on.  It's an ever evolving and revolving group of people who have a common love....boating and adventure!

We just got back to Mobile from an unscheduled trip to Florida.  I had to return to have a medical procedure (which went well) and received the added bonus of being in Tampa for Granddaughter Sydney's sixth birthday...(where has the time gone) and the Barbie "Frozen" (the newest kid flick coming out at Thanksgiving but already being merchandised!!) that her mother Christine made for her.  What a lucky girl...

    We also got to spend time with Grandson Cole...with eyes lit up and ready for CAKE!!

After a few days with them we headed to Naples to 'dog sit' Bob's new best pal...Kingston our Grand dog!  Yes we have Grand ..kids, dogs, and cats, oh also a Hamster that was Sydney's birthday present.  Talk about a diversified family!

Kingston loves to 'chew' (up) little puppies like Bob, this was a rare moment if restraint for him!

 Our trip was not incident free, it wouldn't be up to Merrill standards if there wasn't something to get my anxiety level to hyper level.

We had to rent a car to drive to Tampa, had it for 24 hours and when we turned it in they found a small (think tennis ball) dent under the rear license plate.  It didn't happen when we were in the car and we only stopped at rest stops twice because we were in a time crunch after forgetting that we had to subtract an hour from Central to Eastern time.  So it must have happened in the Marina parking lot the night before we left.  This resulted in an insurance claim because we NEVER opt for the rental companies insurance (live and learn) because we never rent cars (until now).  So now paperwork is my devil.

This year has definitely been a learning curve in our lives in many ways.  The first being if it's not something, it's something else and doing the Great Loop is damned expensive!!  

Medical problems can butt their heads in at any time (one of the reasons we wanted to do the Loop now, who knows what will happen now that we are on the "downhill" fast track) and when you are traveling that presents its own headache....thank God for the genius who invented Advil!! 

 

Knock on wood, Tie A Knot has been behaving this year or we would definitely be headed for "what were you thinking counseling".  Fuel is coming down in price, and even though I am extremely grateful couldn't it have happened in June???  So, we find that life's problems can present some of life's greatest joys and our motto of "tie a knot and hang on" has served us well, for in the end it all comes out in the wash.

It was 65 degrees when we left Tampa yesterday morning and 35 when we woke up in Mobile this morning!  We are headed for the last leg of the trip, the Florida Panhandle (intracoastal waterway) and the dreaded overnight crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs.  This was NOT on my bucket list, in fact it was not on this trip list.  We were going to take the armpit route and hop to several small ports down the west coast to Tarpon Springs.  All was good....THEN we find out that this is probably not an option in our boat with the constant barrage of cold fronts, and the winter time shallow waters in these ports not to mention the lack of dock space.  We could get to Steinhatchee and find not only was the water too shallow to get in, the docks all filled, and no place to anchor because the water is too shallow....  "Beam us up Scottie".... our friends who recommended this route did it in the Spring, a whole other ball game.

So now I have time to stew, fret and make myself nuts, or maybe I'll just take a deep breath, chant Ohm, and have a glass of wine....sounds like a plan.........

Stay tuned.

Columbus to Mobile River

Columbus was a nice Mississippi town that had quite a few antebellum homes.  It came through the Civil War unscathed because the plantations here were commandeered as hospitals. We really enjoyed touring a couple of the homes, all of which are owned privately.  

Rosewood Manor was a lovely home from the early 1800's that you could tour by appointment.  Our 'tour' guide was the maid!  We didn't get much useful information about the home other than her saying "I couldn't live here"...what not want to live in a beautiful plantation home?? You would understand if you had seen the inside!  No photos were allowed but let me tell you I have never seen so many porcelain vases, figurines, dishes, sculptures, silk flowers, etc. in my life in one place....it was so over done it was hard to see the walls.  I told the maid I felt sorry for her since she had to dust.  The owner should seek help from Antique rs anonymous a.s.a.p.  

I SO wish I could have sneaked a photo, it was unreal. In the main parlor inside the front door their were paintings on every wall space and vases and figurines on every surface that had room, not to mention the dried flower arrangements collecting dust everywhere.  The windows were all curtained to keep sun damage to a minimum so it was quite gloomy.  

The bedrooms were bedizened (love that word...look it up) and I couldn't imagine any man getting a good nights sleep in any of them.  

As in all of these homes, the kitchen was an addition.  They originally had separate kitchens away from the house because of fire hazard.  The (new) kitchen was part of the dining room in this house, and although it was granite and stainless the kitchen again was covered with "stuff"!  There was a massive table, covered with vases and dried flowers, a side board that not a speck of food would have fit on ....and china in every nook cranny and wall hanging display cabinets.  Definitely nightmare territory.

After that we were led outdoors to the lovely little chapel, which they rent out for weddings.  It holds 28 people so it would have to be a very small wedding party.  It was very sweet and I was allowed to take a picture.  

We went downtown to the dedication of the rebuilt bridge over the Tom Bigbee River where they had a Blues and Barbecue event going on.  The music was awesome and the barbecue was delish!

After that tour we went out of town to a large plantation 'Whitehall' which was near the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  Now this was more like it.  It had what I call "shabby beauty".  The current owner Robert Snow,who owned an antique store, bought it in 1962 after it had sat vacant and crumbling for 50 years! Talk about crazy!!  He and his now deceased wife and their children have lived in the house for 27 years slowly restoring it.  I told the guide it was too bad the state couldn't help with this landmark and he said "it would help enormously if they'd just give us a tax break"...after seeing the changes in Boldt Castle in the 1000 Islands we know what money can do!

It wasn't hard to look past the peeling paint outside and inside to the beauty it once was. It was built in 1852 for Colonel Young and was a vast cotton plantation. From its dual curving staircases to the period antique furnishings it is a beauty.  We were told how the owners spent years just picking the mud daubers out of the carved plaster crown molding with toothpicks.  The paint was peeling inside and out and in a way it sort of added to the charm of the place.  After 160 years it still has "it".  The owner, now in his late 80's was on site, sitting in the arbor reading the paper.  In the back of the property were the pens where they keep a dozen or so Peacocks.

No inside photographs again though, darn! 

Here is the slide show from Columbus

COLUMBUS SLIDE SHOW

We anchored for three nights after Columbus in increasingly scanty anchorages.  They were getting 

farther apart and in very narrow little creeks.  We used a bow and stern anchor in all the anchorages. We had to really plan our anchorages due to the distance between them and our 8 mph speed so we wouldn't chance getting in after dark. The charts don't give you any depths so you have to rely solely on your depth finder when you get there.  Not something you want to do in a 25' canal in the dark. 

Another Looper Stop...Bobby's Fish Camp....Boondocks, Alabama...

Where you are a captive audience because it is the only "marina"...that moniker used VERY loosely..... and fuel in the 213 miles between Demopolis and Mobile.  The fuel pump was up by the building on the left.  It's like a long distance self serve gas station, with one person monitoring the pump  on shore while the other is pumping the fuel on the boat.  Lots of yelling back and forth.  The dock is a 150' face dock and the owner said they had had up to 14 boats rafted on it.  There were six of us last Tuesday with only one rafted.  The restaurant, located in the main building on the left above, is supposed to be famous for its catfish.  I opted out as the entire place smelled like heart attack on a plate!  

This was the stop we encountered another idiot on a boat.  I won't call them boaters because they are not and hopefully they will tire of the novelty quickly and get off the water!  

The Fish camp, with a small office/store/restaurant....some cabins 
and people living in their travel trailers

That's a million dollar 65' Grand Alaskan rafted to us...what a beautiful yacht!!!

The "Little Loopers"...yes there are three guys doing the loop (in segments) in these two boats...they trailer them to a jump off point, travel to their destination, then rent a car and go back and get the trailers.

Where the Tennessee River had a lush shoreline, lots of fishermen,lots of houses and parks and wide clear waters, the Black Warrior became narrow and twisting. ... The Corp of Engineers didn't do any "straightening here"

......there were very few houses, no towns on the water, more industry, no fishermen, lots of eroding shoreline, interesting for a while but not for 217 miles.  Glad to be in Mobile now...back to nature can get old after a while.  I guess one of the best parts was the last lock!!!, and of course the 8' alligator sunning itself, that made Gary rethink setting an aft anchor off of the swim platform!  

Hence, the stop at Bobby's Fish Camp...although the next day that gator didn't seem quite THAT big when we had to anchor one more time.  :-)

Here are some of the highlights:

Black Warrior River to Mobile River  Slide show

We are now at Turner's Marine Service in Mobile on the Dog River for a break.