Leaving the Keys, Headed for Houston

READY2GO said:

we opted to only stop in Apalachicola long enough to go to the Piggly Wiggly and get some grub. We then continued on with the plan to anchor in Lake Wimica in an area charted at 6' deep so we could get an early start to PC.

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Of all the place where I would never think of anchoring, I think that probably Lake Wimica is at the top of the list! I have been in that narrow channel at times with birds standing in the water very close to me on either side. I don't think they had very long legs, either.

Great account of the trip. Thanks for sharing.

thank you Mike for sharing so interesting pictures and update.

Our first fatality

When we anchored in the East Bay on Monday it was blowing pretty good. We dropped the hook in about 7 1/2 feet of water and I let out some chain, the wind pushed the boat back and took up the slack and I let some more out. I did this several times and then I guess I got a little greedy and let out quite abit. The boat turned sideways and when the chain became tight it pulled on the side of the anchor roller. Unnoticed by me one of the nuts that hold the roller in place had vibrated loose and was gone. When the force of the chain pulled against the side the frame that hold the roller bent and cracked.

I bent it back and put the roller back in. I did not have a nut that big so I used some visegrips to hold the roller in place temporarily. I ordered a new pivoting anchor roller and had it sent 2 day air to Pier 98 marina which is close to where we are anchored. To my surprise it arrived 22 hours later. I put it on today, but had to use whatever bolts I could find onboard. I don't think any of the five are the same, but it will have to do until I can get to a hardware store somewhere.

I think this setup will work much better than the old one. We will see tomorrow when I pull up the anchor. With the previous set up I had to stop the windlass when the anchor reached the roller and then pull it over the roller by hand. A real pain in the butt.

We had thought of leaving here on Saturday and run the outside to Destin. After checking the weather again it looks like now Friday would be the day to cross. The next window would be Tuesday. We talked about it and decided to wait until Tuesday as this is such a nice place, why hurry? We are anchored next to Under the Oaks Park. This is a beautiful place and we need to slow down and enjoy it.




Can you say old and busted?


If nothing else at least it is shinny.


Hope the anchor fits.


Under the Oaks Park


At anchor near Under the Oaks Park

jwnall said:

Of all the place where I would never think of anchoring, I think that probably Lake Wimica is at the top of the list! I have been in that narrow channel at times with birds standing in the water very close to me on either side. I don't think they had very long legs, either.

Great account of the trip. Thanks for sharing.

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John,
In all our travels it has amazed me how accurate the charted depths on our Garmin chart plotters have been. Usually if there is a discrepancy it is deeper than charted. No chart equals local knowledge though. My wife likes to stay in the channel no matter what. It does not matter if the chart says 15' outside of the marker she will not cut the corner and go out of the channel. I was doing that recently as we entered San Carlos Bay. The chart said we had 11' on the outside of the marker so I was cutting the corner to save a little time. I noticed she was looking at her tablet. Hmmm. Then she says that Active Captain said there was a shoal there. I looked down and the depth sounder read 5'. I quickly made a 90° turn back into the channel. I hate it when she is right.

There is a whataburger in Fort Walton across the street from The Boat Marina if you don't want to deal with Destin. Also if you travel the ICW you can anchor out at Spectre Island - south turn at marker 55 just past Hurlburt AFB runway. I just ran the ditch from PC to Fort Walton Sunday - keep an eye out for floating debris as there was some in there pre storm but mostly small stuff. I'll keep an eye out for you if you run inside!

BlindHog said:

There is a whataburger in Fort Walton across the street from The Boat Marina if you don't want to deal with Destin. Also if you travel the ICW you can anchor out at Spectre Island - south turn at marker 55 just past Hurlburt AFB runway. I just ran the ditch from PC to Fort Walton Sunday - keep an eye out for floating debris as there was some in there pre storm but mostly small stuff. I'll keep an eye out for you if you run inside!

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Thanks, I think we will make the inside run tomorrow and anchor just inside Choctawatchee bay and then run to Fort Walton Beach the next day. Looks like we will be running the inside till at least Tuesday.

Forward Canvas

I see a forward canvas "bimini" over your fordeck. Looks like a great idea. First one I have seen. Could you please provide an overview or supplier. We will be heading that way for a extended cruise and this looks to be a great way to create more living space.
+5 on the thread. Ill have to check out your blog.

One word of caution, Destin and Choctawhatchee Bay all the way to Navarre is experiencing a very big Red Tide right now. Dead fish every where and it's very irritating to the eyes and respiratory system since it just popped up from Patricia.

BinkleyBoat said:

I see a forward canvas "bimini" over your fordeck. Looks like a great idea. First one I have seen. Could you please provide an overview or supplier. We will be heading that way for a extended cruise and this looks to be a great way to create more living space.
+5 on the thread. Ill have to check out your blog.

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Thanks BB.

I did a blog about it dated June 10 2012 with some pics if you want to look it up. I made the frame and had a canvas lady make the cover. It cost me about $2K in all, but has proved to be one of the best things we have done to the boat for living in the Keys. Summer would be brutal without it. It does not interfere with driving. The only time I take it down is if the winds are predicted to be over 40 knots. It is attached with zippers. I can take it down in 5 minutes, but takes me about 15 or 20 to put it back up. It will take way more wind the the flybridge bimini. I have seen a couple similar ones but the way they were designed you had to take them down to drive.

BlindHog said:

One word of caution, Destin and Choctawhatchee Bay all the way to Navarre is experiencing a very big Red Tide right now. Dead fish every where and it's very irritating to the eyes and respiratory system since it just popped up from Patricia.

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Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

READY2GO said:

We are comfortably anchored at Dog Island near Apalachicola Florida...

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I`ll bite, why is it called Dog Island?

Dog Island .....take your pick from the 3 listed 'possible' origins.


The island and its two neighbors were discovered by the French in 1536 and named the Dog Islands, because 1) wild dogs were found on them; 2) the islands resemble a crouched dog, or 3) the early ships put their common sailors - known as dogs - on the islands before docking on the mainland so they could not jump ship.

I choose option three


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Haha, me too forklift! Those would have been real hungry dogs and an aerial view would have been difficult in 1536.... you win a free beer when I get to Gulfport in about 10 days

Red Tide will be completely destroyed on Nov. 7th. they will be playing LSU

ulysses said:

red tide will be completely destroyed on nov. 7th. They will be playing lsu

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?????

ulysses said:

Red Tide will be completely destroyed on Nov. 7th. they will be playing LSU

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and this coming from a boater in Alabama!!!!!!

GO TIGERS!

Sorry for the highjack.

dimer2 said:

Dog Island .....take your pick from the 3 listed 'possible' origins.
3) the early ships put their common sailors - known as dogs - on the islands before docking on the mainland so they could not jump ship.

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Somehow I get the feeling that the O.P. of the 'Traveling Companion' thread might benefit from that historical knowledge!

Ragin Cajun: Even worse is that I am a Tulane Grad.

Ah the finest example of modern orange and white architecture known to man.



We met up with Rafe and Annette from Cat Daddy and had a wonderful dinner and time to get to know each other. Rafe is the second Trawler Forum member that we have met on this trip. We met Gordon and Lamora "Off Duty" in Dunedin and had a wonderful time with them as well.

After checking the weather again this morning I decided to go ahead and run the outside over to Destin. It was a very nice run with a little wind and waves but not bad at all. We left about 7:45 am and dropped the hook in Destin harbor about 4:30 pm. 56 nautical miles. We were at the Whataburger within the hour. I like it. Tomorrow we should make Pensacola. Hoping to be in Ocean Springs MS by Tuesday and take a break there for a couple of days. I want to time it so that we cross the Mississippi river on a Sunday.

We took on 125 gallons of diesel at Pier 98 in Panama City which brought us up to exactly where we were when we left Islamorada. A little over 500 miles on 125 gallons. I like it.

The new anchor roller worked out perfect. The anchor came up and stowed perfectly. The lock pin even fits into the slot of the anchor to hold it tight. I love it when a plan comes together.




Sunset in Destin harbor.

The big sand bar just inside the bridge on the west side is real popular on the weekends. I've seen over a hundred boats stacked on it.

dimer2 said:

Haha, me too forklift! Those would have been real hungry dogs and an aerial view would have been difficult in 1536.... you win a free beer when I get to Gulfport in about 10 days

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Ur on Dimer2!! Actually I'm a live a board now as of a month ago. Had to move down to Point Cadet but if have your transient slip set up at Gulfport I'll run down down to see ya. Fixing to PM cell #.


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Would like to meet both of you in Gulfport. Been watching your trip the whole way. Forklift you are full time live aboard now?
Still working on my ride, getting some stainless steel installed as so as the other part comes in.

Thanks Mike, we had a great time meeting you guys. We are anchored at St George Island waiting for parts. Will pick them up Monday in Appalachicola. Hopefully then on to Steinhatchee.

Timetraveler said:

Would like to meet both of you in Gulfport. Been watching your trip the whole way. Forklift you are full time live aboard now?

Still working on my ride, getting some stainless steel installed as so as the other part comes in.

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Timetraveler- I am. I relocated to Point Cadet since they will allow live a boards. And single again. I was thinking of running one of those "cruising female mate" adds in the classifieds- but we all saw how that turned out !!!!!!
Hit me up with contact info in a PM and we'll get together next week if you want.


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Timetraveler said:

Would like to meet both of you in Gulfport. Been watching your trip the whole way. Forklift you are full time live aboard now?
Still working on my ride, getting some stainless steel installed as so as the other part comes in.

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Timetraveler, We are not planning on stopping at Gulfport. but are planning a stop at Ocean Springs. I have to see if they have a slip that will be ok for us. About a week ago the dockmaster thought there would not be a problem. I am going to call him again tomorrow. If not we will likely continue on to New Orleans. We will keep in touch.

Timetraveler we will be in Ocean Springs today and tomorrow if you would like to get together.

Update: We only spent one night in Destin. We left early the next morning (Saturday) before the crazies came out. We had a good run west on the ICW. Not much traffic at all. We anchored near Perdido island Saturday and Sunday nights. Sunday was rainy most of the day and we decided to just stay put. Saturday night was interesting. We were anchored on the north side of the island in 12' of water with 90' of chain out. The winds were blowing 25 out of the south. We set the anchor around 3pm. We noticed on our Drag Queen app that it looked like we were dragging about 2 or 3 feet per hour, but thought that could just be the rode tightening or the accuracy of the app. We decided to start the motor and back down on it just to be sure. We did and ran it up to 1300 rpms. It did not budge at all. So we decided to just keep an eye on Drag Queen and see how things went. At about 10 pm we looked and were 35' from our previously furthest position. I turned on the chart plotter and sure enough we had drug. We started the motor and pulled the anchor and then set the Fortress FX37 with 150' of rode and did not move till we left on Monday. I have never had an anchor that was set that well drag.

Monday we ran to the other side of Mobil Bay and anchored close to Isle Aux Hebres. It was a quiet anchorage with 8' of water and good holding. It was a little rough coming across the bay but not bad. There was quite a bit of barge traffic near the Dolphin island bridge. On Tuesday we had a short day on the calmest water yet and arrived here at Ocean Springs about lunch. Our first slip of the trip. We will be here until Friday morning. I want to time our Mississippi river crossing for this Sunday weather permitting.


Sunrise Destin Harbor


The ditch between Destin and Mobil Bay


Passed this boat and though it was a cool looking boat


You are likely to see anything on the ICW


Never get tired of seeing dolphins off the bow


Sunset at Isle Aux Hebres


Now this is trawler weather

Great pics. Hope to be there soon. Just made a offer on a 44 GSMY - 1980 and hope to have it all sorted by the first of the year. Bones appear to be great and its not a project boat but it needs updating badly. Survey in a couple of weeks - fingers crossed. After we close I will look into your " forward Bimini " that we discussed earlier. If its OK, I will get back to you later to get some additional details about your design. I assume this was your design, maybe not?
Be Safe.

We are anchored near mile 15 by Lake Salvador. Yesterday was a bit of a stressful day. Five years ago when we came down the Mississippi River to New Orleans we dreaded it the whole trip because of all the stories we had read and people telling us we were crazy. It turned out to be very anticlimactic. We were hoping that this trip through would be just as anticlimactic. Although we did not have any real problems it was still a stressful day. We had to wait at the industrial lock about an hour and a half to get locked into the Mississippi. Once four miles down river we had to wait another hour and a half at the Algiers lock to get out of the Mississippi. At least at the industrial lock there were pylons to tie off to. The Algiers lock had nothing to tie off to and signs on the bank saying “Cable Area No Anchoring”. After about 20 minutes of just trying to stay in one place I decided to just barely nose Walkabout into the mud bank. I did and we just sat there still. We could feel the boat rock a little from the river wakes so I knew we were not so stuck that I could not back off of it. We sat there for another hour before being told that it was our turn. Actually they were putting us through ahead of the 15 barges that were waiting to lock through. I put Walkabout into reverse and gave her some throttle thinking she would just slide right off. She did not. I gave her some more throttle, still no movement. We began walking back and forth on deck to try and rock the boat. That is when we noticed she would no longer rock. The wakes had settled us into the mud. Well now I am worried, they are calling us into the lock ahead of 15 barges and we are stuck. I kept increasing throttle until we were at full throttle. After what seemed like an eternity she finally slipped off the bank. I will have to rethink that strategy next time.

We traveled 15 miles west and anchored about 4 pm. It started raining steady about the last 20 minutes of the run. We pulled into the mouth of Lake Salvador and dropped the hook. Glad to be stopped, we started to relax. Just before dark a small east bound sailboat came in and anchored next to us. Not a problem until an hour later when the wind direction changed and then they were almost directly behind us. Noah was predicting 15 to 25 knot winds for the night. We got every bit of that. It howled all night. I could hear the halyard slapping on the sailboat. Although the anchor did not move at all we still did not get much sleep for worrying about how close the sailboat was.

Considering today’s forecast and the fact that good anchorages are not a dime a dozen here we decide to just stay anchored today and have a rest. Tomorrow looks like a better traveling day. Today I will just sit here looking out at the dark clouds listening to the wind generator and drinking coffee.

READY2GO said:

After what seemed like an eternity she finally slipped off the bank. I will have to rethink that strategy next time . . .

Noah was predicting 15 to 25 knot winds for the night. We got every bit of that. It howled all night. I could hear the halyard slapping on the sailboat. Although the anchor did not move at all we still did not get much sleep for worrying about how close the sailboat was . . .

Today I will just sit here looking out at the dark clouds listening to the wind generator and drinking coffee.

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Sure sounds as if you are really into the typical cruising life!

Sometimes I read new posts, where someone is dreaming about a-cruising they shall go, and I think of all the experiences ahead of them.