We made it across the Gulf safely! Since the last post we moved from Apalachicola, FL to Carrabelle, FL to wait for the weather window. Then crossed toward Tarpon Springs, anchored at Anclote Island, and now are tied to the dock in Tarpon Springs.

We left Apalachicola after a nice breakfast out. It has been a while since we have been able to do that! Left the dock at 9:30am since we were only moving 30 miles in very windy conditions.

We were tied to posts all night, exposed to the wind. The channel was narrow, so the waves were small, but it was tough to get off the wall. The bow thruster was used hard for that one!

The calm weather that evening tied to the posts.

I made it into a picture. Town behind me!

Leaving town the next morning with the wind. Sorry I was a little busy so no pictures pulling away from the posts!

We ran the narrow channel from Apalachicola to Carrabelle in some pretty rough water, but the big girl did great. We ran at 22 MPH so we did not get knocked around. This also meant we pulled into Carrabelle first. That was great as we took on 500 gallons of fuel so we were full for our crossing of the Gulf.

Pulling into the river at Carrabelle, FL.

This was the hardest docking yet, in Carrabelle. There was a 4MPH cross current from the river and the tide going out. Tried to stern in one time and then had to go bow in. Not easy, and we needed a little help from a tender to get a line to a post, but all good. That could not be said by all the boats that day, as many hit the post, docks, and other boats hard.

Early morning picture of the Moorings Marina as the sun was rising and we were preparing to leave.

We moved up our crossing plans to early Thursday morning as the conditions were going to get worse over the next two days.

To cross the Gulf, we ran from Carrabelle to Anclote Island, just off Tarpon Springs. This was 176 miles, and took us 8 hours. We ran as quickly as we felt safe and also did not want to be hard on the boat. Ran at 22-23MPH most of the way and Who Dat did great!

Our ditch bag and gear in case we needed to abandon ship for any reason. Not easy to think about, but you do need to plan when you are almost 100 miles offshore.

My view most of the day with 2-3′ waves and white caps all day. Sure do miss fresh water, as the salt water tends to make a mess of everything.

Our NEBO log showing the path we took.

My port Garmin screen all day! I increased the size of the boat icon so it made the trip look easier!

We would have preferred to get a slip when we arrived, but all the harbors in Tarpon Springs were full. We called all marinas, and were able to extend our current reservation one more night, but not Thursday. This means we will be here for 4 nights. Amy, Memphis, and I are all happy with that. After the long crossing we had to find a safe place to anchor.

That was another fun part of the day we did not plan on. As we started looking for deep enough water to safely anchor in with the 3-foot tide, we seemed to be constantly surrounded with crab pots. Really, do people eat that many crabs? They are everywhere. We ended up anchoring in the middle of a channel for the night so we would not swing into crab pots with the wind shifts. This meant we would be unprotected from the winds and waves. Not the best night’s sleep of the trip. We survived and once again have lived through another new experience for us!

You can see how shallow it is all around the area.

Now for the fun part, Memphis did not enjoy the day at all. Long, bumpy ride and she could not lay down out back as she likes to do because of all the spray soaking the boat down. Once we got the anchor set we took her to shore. She held it for 10 hours that day. There was a couple mile dinghy ride to a dock we spotted for her to go out.

So, the dock turned out to be a government dock. Sign said no unauthorized boats within 150′. We were pretty sure that did not mean us. We tied up and Memphis got to shore quickly. As you can see by the signs, she was not welcome!

You would think our tax dollars could at least clean the dock! Two runs to the dock without incident for Memphis and she was much happier!

We had some looper friends, on their boat, Faith, arrive about 8:30am after a 17+ hour overnight crossing. We invited them to raft off us to rest and have some breakfast. Amy made some cinnamon rolls for all to enjoy.

We pulled into our marina slip in Tarpon Springs around 11am today and are all happy to be tied to the dock for a couple days.

We will enjoy the town, and a couple other towns over the next few days.

Arriving into the sponge harbor area of Tarpon Springs.

Our slip here in Tarpon. Notice the length of all the finger piers. We are getting very creative in tying the boat up.

Now that was a nice short day, 7.6 miles!

This area is famous for all the Greek restaurants. We already had a great lunch.

More to come before we move south again. Hope you all enjoy your weekend.