At long last, after 16 days in Carrabelle, it appeared that the weather was going to cooperate and allow us to cross the Gulf. Our weather forecasting comes from five different sources and they were all in agreement, which is very rare and should have been our first clue of trouble. There was also a full moon which made the tides more extreme than usual, and the currents stronger. Day one of our three-day hop would take us to Steinhatchee. This is a small fishing village with two marinas. One had their docks removed and was not an option. The other had space only at their fuel dock. Since our trip was 84 miles (12 ½ hours), our arrival would be after business hours with no docking assistance.
We left Carrabelle at O-dark-thirty (about 6:20 am) with light wind and clear skies. By 9:30, we had lost sight of land, the seas were calm and there were dolphin playing around the boat. It was a pleasant trip overall, however, quite long. We arrived in Steinhatchee around 7:00 pm, tired and hungry. Alas, no showers, shore power, or restaurants. Oh well, dinner aboard and a good night of sleep.
Day two the plan was Steinhatchee to Cedar Keys to anchor out. Before leaving, I met Captain Sammy Royal, Sea Tow Horseshoe Beach. He was kind to offer local knowledge about shoals and places to anchor at Cedar Keys. We left at about 8:00 am after paying for dockage, topping up fuel and filling the coolers with ice. With a shorter run of 53 miles, and a forecast of 6-8 mph winds, we turned south into the river and then back out into the Gulf. Within two hours, the wind began to build, and we were bucking into a 15-mph head wind and 3-foot seas. This knocked our speed back to about 6 mph and made sailing difficult. The wind came around to the west later in the day, so we hoisted the staysail. This gave us a small speed boost and helped to stabilize the boat. We dropped anchor at 4:45 pm and enjoyed dinner and a beautiful sunset. The wind began to diminish, and we went to bed hopeful of the following day’s forecast of 5 mph wind and 1-foot seas. At about 2:30 am, we awoke to howling wind and a bumpy anchorage.
Day three was to take us from Cedar Keys to Tarpon Springs. When the sun peeked out, the wind had built to 15-20 mph. Not wanting to add 5 miles to our trip by going out of Cedar Keys the way we entered, and against the advice of Captain Sammy, I decided to attempt to cross the shoal into the south channel to exit Cedar Keys. The tide was about 50% and falling, and the wind made the shoal visible on the water. Crossing the shoal required a distance of about 100 feet in water that was only 1 ½ foot deep; our keel is 3’ 9’’. Power up and Yee Haw!! Felt like a farmer cultivating his fields! Success! We made it across and out the south channel.
Things were looking up! That is, until we exited the channel and turned south. Offshore, the wind had built to 20-25 mph and 5-foot waves on the nose. Our normal speed of 6 ½ to 7 mph was now 4 ½ with periods of 2 mph with water crashing over the decks and into the cockpit. At this rate, the 76-mile trip to Tarpon Springs would take 2 days! Fortunately, the wind subsided about 11:00 am and we made Tarpon Springs as the sun was setting. We had reservations at the Tarpon Springs Municipal Marina in the heart of town near the head waters of the Anclote River. It was low tide when we arrived and the current was flowing rapidly, perpendicular to the slip. This set up a small eddy right in front of our slip. As we were entering the slip, the boat suddenly began to spin like a toy in a bathtub drain. We were very entertaining to the outdoor bar patrons as it took three attempts to get nestled into the slip. After a 13-hour run with a two-night reservation, we were looking forward to a layover day.