Second Wind on the Great Loop and Beyond

Sunday, January 14, 2007: Tonight we are resting safely at a marina named Sea Hag in the old Florida fishing town of Steinhatchee. Crossing the upper part of the Gulf today was memorable in every way. Four boats, Inevitable Too, Superior Dream, Grand Finale, and Second Wind heeded Buddy’s advice and off we went at 6:00 a.m. – winding down the curvy, shallow Carrabelle River – in the dark! Somehow Bob and I got behind from the get-go, so let’s just say that although it ended well, this was not my favorite morning. It was a day of firsts: first time to navigate in unfamiliar waters in the dark, first time to have only a foot of water under us in the dark, first time to drive the boat from the lower pilot station, first time for Second Wind to be away from sight of land, first time to hear the Coast Guard issue a general Pon Pon alert because a fishing boat was found drifting in Mobile Bay with no one aboard (turned out to be a false alarm). We were glad to be with our buddy boats in that open water.

After the rocky beginning, though, the day turned out fine. Three of the boats decided to head straight on down to Tarpon Springs, driving on through tonight. The Staggs had had enough dark to last a lifetime, so we peeled off at Steinhatchee, which was the original plan for the whole group. Interestingly enough, Steinhatchee is located off Deadman Bay, a name which hardly inspired confidence. It is truly a fisherman’s paradise, and most of them were out on the Steinhatchee River this Sunday afternoon. Oh, did I mention the hundreds and hundreds of fishing pots that we had to avoid even out in the ocean? Yep, that too. Later we found out that two other boats, Work of Art and Cream Puff left Carrabelle at 7:00 a.m. in daylight this morning, and their crossing was uneventful. They had heard our tense conversations on the radio and were mighty glad they waited ‘til daybreak to start out. We do feel incredibly lucky, though; the Gulf was calmer today than it has been in a month or so. Also we joined fellow Loopers on Work of Art to eat ribs and flounder at a nice restaurant. The restaurant actually sent a car to the marina to pick us up, then brought us back afterward.

So now we’ve made it around the Bend and have finished the most daunting part of the Gulf crossing. We hope the weather holds a few more days so we can get all the way down to Tarpon Springs. After that we shouldn’t have so many winter weather issues. Things to do and people to see!