Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

On Tuesday, 11/22 we cast off the lines and headed to Apalachicola at first light. We first passed through St. Andrews Bay and entered the East Bay. Between the two, we progressed about 25 miles before entering “the ditch”. Loopers and boaters refer to any man-made portion of the Intracoastal Waterway as the ditch. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW) was completed in 1949. It’s hard to believe this much dirt was moved with the equipment available back then, but it was and is still operating today.

We traveled in this section of the GICW for approximately 20 miles. As we entered Lake Wimico, we saw more evidence of hurricane damage including sunken boats, collapsed houses/fish camps and downed trees. The channel through Lake Wimico was “skinny”. That’s to say it was shallow and the channel was very narrow. This lake is drained by the very short Jackson River. After 4.5 miles, the Jackson River meets the Apalachicola River which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Another five miles down this river led us to our marina in the town of Apalachicola.

In Apalachicola, we docked for the night at Scipio Creek marina. This marina was nothing to write home about. Because we got in late and left early the next morning, we did not get a chance to explore the town, it was a missed opportunity. We were awoken the next morning to the sound of gunshots. It turned out to be duck hunters blasting the feathered creatures just across Scipio creek from us. The wake-up call was a good thing because it allowed us to get underway early. We were in somewhat of a race with other boats heading to Carrabelle. It was a race because there were only a couple of open slips at the C-Quarters Marina and they were doled out on a first come, first serve basis.

The 30 mile trip across Apalachicola bay was uneventful and we arrived at C-Quarters Marina around noon. It was a new moon, which meant larger tides than usual. This was our first real experience with a significant tide. In fact, we had to wait at the fuel dock for several hours because the incoming tide current was so strong it would be difficult for us to stern (back) into the slip. We almost always stern into a slip because it’s easier for us to get on/off the boat and our power cord is not long enough if we bow in. At around 3 pm the tide was slack and getting into the slip was no problem.

There were over 20 boats in Carrabelle waiting to cross the Gulf, so finding company for dinner was not a problem. After a Captain’s meeting at 5 o’clock, at least 16 of us walked down the street to a restaurant and had a great evening getting to know each other and hearing numerous looper tales. When we awoke the next morning, Thanksgiving Day, our boat was sitting on the bottom. Yep, the rudders and propellers were stuck in the mud due to the low tide. By 11 am, the boat was floating again and we were free to depart. Some of the boats at the marina had been waiting over a week for the right weather window in order to cross over to Steinhatchee. Our timing had worked out pretty well because the next day, the weather was perfect for our crossing.

At the Captain’s meeting several groups of boats agreed to make the crossing together. In all there were 13 boats crossing the day after Thanksgiving. The crew of Arabella chose to go with two other boats via the East Pass channel. Since we didn’t want to be stuck on the bottom the next morning, we left C-Quarters Marina and cruised a few miles out to the Dog Island West anchorage. There we dropped the hook and settled in for the night. Other groups of boats chose different anchorages. Some went to Dog Island East and others went even further east to Alligator Point. A handful of boats decided to do the crossing overnight and passed us on their way through the East Pass and into the Gulf. It was a relatively peaceful night for us until about 10 pm when the wind picked up causing waves to hit the boat. We found it hard to sleep until about 1 am when the wind died down and everything got quiet again.

At dawn on Friday morning all three boats picked up their anchors and headed out through the pass. It was choppy with 2’ waves for the first hour or so of our 85 mile journey. By 9 am the wind had died down and the seas went calm – and then the fog rolled in. We were the last of three boats with ½ mile between us. When the fog came in, we couldn’t see the boat in front of us. This continued for the next four hours. With radar and AIS, we knew where the other boats were, but we could not see them. The lead boat, No Rush, noticed a blip on the radar and called on the VHF radio (channel 71) to ask if we saw it. We did and immediately slowed down. I suggested to No Rush that they call on the VHF channel 16 and see if they get a response. Sure enough they got a response. The small blip was a 25’ center console fishing boat 30-40 miles offshore. No Rush passed within 100 yds of this boat in the middle of the Gulf. Without radar, there could have been a collision!

In the early afternoon, the fog lifted and visibility improved dramatically. Just in time, because shortly afterwards, we started seeing crab pots. Crab pots have a small floating buoy attached to them, about the size of a football. If you run over one, the line between the buoy and the crab pot (trap) can get wrapped around your propeller and cause you to have a very bad day. Luckily, we were able to avoid all of them. Later in the afternoon we began to see the other groups of boats converge on the channel leading to Steinhatchee. All 13 boats came into the channel within an hour of each other. It was like a looper boat parade and the marina, which had recently opened, was caught off-guard with that many boats arriving all at once.

The marina staff went out of their way to accommodate as many boats as they could. A couple of boats went further up river to another marina. In all 10 boats pulled into Steinhatchee Marina. After settling in, we all met at the marina bar, toasted our successful crossing, and rehashed all the stories from the trip. Compared to other’s stories about crossing the Gulf, we were thankful ours was relatively drama-free!