WEEK 44 - The Final Stretch - St. Petersburg, FL to Vero Beach, FL

This week we end our Great Loop adventure by “crossing our wake,”  returning to the place we started from over 10 months ago. But first we have to get from our boatyard stop in St. Pete to our old home port in Vero Beach. Our stops along the way were at Venice (free dock), Fort Myers Beach (mooring), La Belle (free dock), Clewiston (marina), St. Lucie Lock (cheap dock) and then finally to Vero Beach (marina). We pushed along pretty hard, traveling every day.

It was a big scramble getting the boat put back together, cleaned up, and re-provisioned after all the work they did re-bedding hatches, removing, testing, and re-welding the fresh water tank, and doing major work on both engines, but we got out of there on schedule (if not under budget). After crossing Tampa Bay and going under the Sunshine Skyway bridge, we headed south in the Intracoastal about 50 miles to Venice, where we remembered a free dock we have stayed at before at Higel Marine Park. There we were able to catch up with our friends on Mountain Wave and take Bella for a nice walk on the beach before settling in for a quiet evening.

Preparing for departure from Coastal Marine Yacht Services

We'll have to start out dealing with the tail end of a front but it should clear by noon

The top of the Skyline Bridge is shrouded in fog

Beautiful late afternoon glow on Venice Inlet beach. Photo Credit: Deb from Mountain Wave

A beautiful morning beach walk before departing Venice

The next day was another 60 miles chugging down the intracoastal to Fort Myers Beach. Along the way, we stopped at Cape Haze Marina to fill up on diesel for the very good price of $2.55 per gallon. Proceeding south through Charlotte Harbor, we went right by some of our old favorite spots like Cayo Costa, Cabbage Key, and the Tween Waters Inn. We finally left Charlotte Harbor and the ICW at the Sanibel Bridge, hopping over to Matanzas Pass and Fort Myers Beach. There we picked up the last of the available mooring balls in the harbor ($15 per night) and dinghied over to Barnacle Bills to meet some old friends and soak up some beers.

A tight place to get in and out of but worth it for the fuel price. Jonathan had to back all the way out and spin in our footprint 

Sanibel light house

We had to wait for the Pirate ship to come through the skinny Matanzas pass before we could proceed

Shrimp fleet adjacent to the mooring field

Beers at Bonita Bills with Shannan and Greg 💓

Not a stitch of wind in the mooring field for our departure the next morning

In the morning it was back under the Sanibel Bridge to the start of the Okeechobee Waterway, a 145-mile shortcut between the Florida west coast and the east coast at Stuart. We will go through 5 locks on this route (yea, more locks!) which will lift us up to the lofty elevation of Lake Okeechobee (13 feet or so) and then back down to sea level. This first day we went through one lock and then on to the town of La Belle. La Belle has a great little amenity, a dock right near downtown with about 8 slips with water and electric where you can tie up for free for up to three days. It’s all first come first served, and when we arrived there was one spot left. It looked pretty tight to me, but the guys on the dock said there was plenty of room. Just as our bow was almost touching the dock, we wedged our 15 foot beam between the pilings on either side. No problem, and we were actually sitting very securely right where we wanted to be – we didn’t really even need dock lines, but we rigged some just for appearances. Bella got to go for a couple of nice long walks along the very pretty tree-lined streets, and we had a decent dinner out at the Forrey Grill

Underway to our first lock

After some of the locks on the inland river...piece of cake!

BellaGatto wedged into her slip in Labelle

The bar area has much better ambiance than the dining room at the Forrey Grill

Highway 29 bridge, Labelle, FL

Beautiful oak lined streets

This helps cut down on full time liveaboards monopolizing the dock

The next day was a relatively short 38 miles and two locks to Clewiston and Roland Martins Marina. We have stayed here before, and it’s quite an experience with a big marina/bar/gift shop/hotel/condo complex, all centered on bass fishing. We got settled in in time to take the marina courtesy car to a Mexican grocery for some takeout.

You have to love this part of Florida - built in trailer

Four PDQs pulled in right ahead of us at Roland Martin's

Peaceful evening at Roland Martin's

Getting ready to cross Lake O

Beginning well before dawn the next morning, the sound of bass boats idling by was a gentle alarm clock, and we got up pretty early and shoved off by 7:30 to cross the big lake. The lake crossing is almost 20 miles of open water, and it can get quite nasty on a windy day. We had a very pleasant trip across, sitting back and letting the autopilot drive. Before too long we were going through the Port Mayaca Lock to begin our journey down the St. Lucie Canal. After plodding down the canal for 25 or so miles, we came to the last of the locks, the St. Lucie Lock. Right before the lock, there is a little campground run by the Corps of Engineers that has docking with water and electric. With our Golden Eagle senior discount pass, it was only 15 bucks for the night. The dock was another tight fit, but we got into the last available spot. Our good friends Beth and Jim live nearby in Palm City, and they came out and joined us for drinks and dinner.

'Easy does it' for pulling into this slip

Today is the big day – our last day on the great loop. The day dawned very windy, and we were shoving off at 7:30 to lock down 12 feet through the St. Lucie Lock and make the last 15 miles of the Okeechobee Waterway to mile zero at the St. Lucie Inlet. At the inlet we turned north on to the good old Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Vero Beach. By this time the wind was really honking out of the south and kicking up quite a chop, but it was a following sea for us and we had a nice ride up past Jensen Beach and Fort Pierce. By about two in the afternoon, the marina we left from over 10 months ago was in sight, and our cruising friends on Contentment were there at the fuel dock of the Vero Beach Municipal Marina to mark the occasion. Champagne was popped, and we changed out our white “looping in progress” flag for the yellow “loop completed” flag. We spent the night right next door at the Vero Beach Yacht Club and continued the celebration.

Lock number 156!

Going under the old Roosevelt Bridge

The name of the boat in front of us is Ciao. Fitting as this is our very last lock on the loop.

No more locks or bridges between us and home!

The Jensen Beach sailing school taking advantage of a windy day

Pulling into the fuel dock at the Vero Beach City marina

Our official 'Crossing our Wake' photo taken by Elizabeth on Contentment

Cheers to us! Photo credit: Elizabeth, Contenetment

We retired two white Looper flags. The first one we replaced in April at the Norfolk ACLCA  rendezvous.

What comes next? We will spend a month or so in the area here taking care of business and getting geared up for a couple months in the Bahamas….after that, who knows?

Weeks 39 and 40 - Carrabelle, Florida to St. Petersburg, Florida

We wound up spending another couple of weeks in Carrabelle, including a trip back home to visit the family over Christmas. We returned to Carrabelle the 26^th of December, and by the 28^th there was a decent weather window to cross the Gulf and get back on the loop. Our stops on this leg were Steinhatchee (marina), Crystal River (marina one night and anchor 2 nights), Tarpon Springs (marina), Caladesi Island (marina, 3 nights), Gulfport (marina), and finally St. Pete, where the boat will stay for a couple of weeks at a boatyard to get the motor mounts replaced and a bunch of other minor projects done so we can be all set for the Bahamas.

 The other looper boats that left from Carrabelle on the direct route crossing to Clearwater all reported a long stressful butt-kicking, which made us feel better about our shorter 80-mile trip to Stienhatchee. We left Carrabelle in the pitch black at 6:00 am to make sure we would finish the crossing before dark. The first couple of hours were a little choppy, but the afternoon was glassy flat and a real treat. We pulled into Sea Hag Marina in Stienhatchee by 4:00 pm and watched the fleet of fishing boats come in, just about all with a limit of gag grouper on board – they were cleaning fish well into the night. It was a short walk to a nice dinner at Roy’s and then early to bed, because we had an even longer trip planned for the morning.

Following our bread crumbs out of Carrabelle on the chart plotter

By the time we reached the red sea buoy it was day break

Bella ready for sea

Enjoying the gorgeous conditions in the Gulf while the autopilot keeps us on course

Conditions just kept getting better and better. Still about 30 miles from Steinhatchee

Saturday afternoon on the Steinhatchee river is hopping when the weather is favorable

Panoramic of Sea Hag marina at sunset

Broiled flounder and hush puppies for me and fried chicken for Jonathan at Roy's http://www.roys-restaurant.com/ They provide rides to marina guests!

Ladies room at the Sea Hag. Heated seat and mood lighting in the head head 😎

Another 6:00 am departure, this time 87 miles to Crystal River. We had light winds on the bow all the way and basically just followed the 10 foot depth contour right along the coast (this part of the gulf is really shallow though, so that 10 foot depth contour was like 6-8 miles offshore). Along the way we passed the Suwanee River and Cedar Key and by early afternoon the power plant stacks at Crystal River were coming into view. We spent our first night at Twin Rivers Marina, about 4 or 5 miles up the river from the gulf, because it was hot, muggy, and drizzly so we definitely wanted to plug in and have AC. Other than electricity it was not a great stop, and the next morning we went up the rest of the way to Kings Bay and anchored out, as the weather had turned cooler with an approaching cold front. The big attraction at Crystal River in the winter is manatees. When the water turns cold they move up into the warmer and sparkling clear waters of the local springs, and a sizable industry of tour boats has grown up around taking tourists out to snorkel with the manatees. We got up early and took the dinghy out to search around for a little herd that was not already claimed by the tour boats, and way up a little residential canal we found a friendly group who let us hang around in the water with them for an hour, until we were just about chilled to the bone despite our wet suits. It was really awesome, and a definite highlight of our trip so far. Not so much of a highlight was that evening when we ran the boat’s fresh water tank dry and realized we had no emergency backup supply. So Bella and I took a late night dinghy ride into town to pick up a few gallons of bottled water to tide us over. It was a long walk to and from the store, and water is heavy.

Getting ready to depart for Crystal river

The dawn's early light as we head out the Steinhatchee river

Beautiful sunrise as we head out into the Gulf

Another gorgeous run along the coast in about 10  feet of water. Bella is on high alert for dolphins.

So happy to be back in salt water. Honestly, I think it runs in our veins

Shell island at the mouth of Crystal river

Twin Rivers marina. Yes. When we said 15 foot beam, we meant 15 foot beam!

We were literally wedged into our slip!

I love the iconic salt marshes of this part of Florida

BellaGatto at anchor

Hello you beautiful creatures!

Getting ready to slip into the water

Beautiful mackerel sky. Weather change is coming

Success! Heading back to the boat

View from our anchorage at sunset

A herd of tour boat guests following some manatees

There are tour boats, kayaks, and a variety of other watercraft all over kings bay in search of manatees

The next day it was about 68 miles to Tarpon Springs, again cruising along the coast in shallow water, but still out of sight of land. It was so glassy flat we could see pods of dolphins surfacing a mile away, and Bella made sure she barked at each and every one of them. It had been a long time since we had been to Tarpon Springs, but the ride up the Anclote River and the downtown sponge docks along Dodecanese Boulevard were familiar territory. Lots of new marinas had been built since our last visit, and the city marina had undergone a facelift as well. The ratty old wooden fixed docks have been replaced by brand new floating aluminum ones, but they are built in such an odd way they were pretty difficult to get secured to. Tarpon Springs is a very close-knit Greek enclave, and we happily immersed ourselves in the food and culture (including blowing the budget on decadent Greek desserts at the Hellas Bakery). Opa!

Departing Crystal river to Tarpon Springs

Heading out into the Gulf

A nice escort into to Tarpon Srpings

View from our slip at Tarpon Springs City Marina

Dodecanece street AKA the sponge dock district,  Tarpon Springs

Hella's bakery https://www.hellasbakery.com/ YUMMY!

 The next day was a short 15-mile trip to an old favorite spot, the state park marina at Caladesi Island. It’s a bit tricky and shallow to get to, but when you do you are rewarded with a perfectly sheltered little marina (dockage with electric is just a buck a foot) on an island with nature trails and beaches that are commonly voted in the top 10 in the country. Other than by private boat, the only access to the island is by the state park ferry, so when the last ferry leaves at sunset, you have this whole paradise all to yourself. We wound up staying there for three days, and for the last two days we were joined by our friends Dave and Patty, who ran up from St. Pete in their 30 foot Boston Whaler, the Don’t Panic. The next day the wind was blowing so hard the ferry service was cancelled, but we barely noticed in our little hurricane hole. And again, we had the whole place to ourselves, with long beach walks and great meals from our two galleys.

Bella spots another dolphin

Warning signs at the trail head

Sunset at Caladesi State Park are amazing

Oyster catchers in the surf

Not your typical crowded Florida marina especially this time of year

On the trail

No dogs allowed on the beach

One of 2 17 foot wide slips in the marina

Enjoying sunset

We are about to be hammered

After the storm

On Sunday morning, we got up for a departure at high tide at 8:00 am for the 30 miles to the Gulfport Municipal Marina. Although it was high tide, the strong winds yesterday and the night before had blown a lot of the water right out of the bay and the actual water level was pretty low, so low that BellaGatto had to plow some mud in one spot to get back into the main intracoastal channel (we are a lightweight boat with shallow draft and fully protected running gear so we got away with it….this time). The rest of the trip to Gulfport was uneventful, and we got tied up in time for a late lunch in the very cute and friendly little town. We had not had a chance to do any laundry since way back in Carrabelle, so the evening was spent plugging quarters into the machines and humping clothes back and forth to the boat. Ahhh, the romance of cruising.

Yikes! A bit of a mud trail...

Bella is on high alert for dolphins

Love the vibe in Gulfport. A local described it as Key West for seniors 😂

Clam Bayou nature park adjacent to the marina

We had made an appointment at a boatyard in St. Pete to get new motor mounts and other work done in preparation for the Bahamas and from Gulfport it was just around the tip of the peninsula and then up the bay to Weedon Island and the yard. Along the way we gave the engines a full throttle running test to make sure all was well and that we didn’t have any consequences from our shallow water adventure yesterday. The girls ran right up to full rated rpm and got us up on plane at 17.5 statute mph with no vibration or overheating. It was fun running that speed, as long as you don’t look at the Floscan gauges and see the fuel burn. We got tied up at the yard and began the process of stripping just about all our stuff off the boat so we could provide clear access to both engines (which are under the bunks in the two aft staterooms) and the area under the salon seating where the fresh water plumbing access is.

OMG we're up on a plane going 17+ mph

Tampa Bay

Tampa bay

Bella loves the boat especially on a calm day

Our view from the slip at Coastal Marine Yacht Center where BellaGatto will get some love

The crew got right to work on re-bedding the hatches

So, we are back on land again for the next couple of weeks while the yard dogs have the boat, and then we will head to Ft. Myers and the Okeechobee Waterway and to Stuart, where we will do provisioning and planning for two months in the Bahamas.