Taking advantage of a favorable but short weather window we decided to make the longer, direct run to Marco Island. It was a good call as 2 days later we were sitting out a windy cold front in Sanibel Marina.
We left Stock Island just before sunrise...
.....and rounded Mallory Square just as the days cruise ship was docking.
Heading out the Northwest Channel we both marveled at the clear water. One of the many things we'll miss from our visits here. It's amazing to see the bottom when you have 20 of water under the boat!
Of course there are a few thing we won't miss, like dodging crab floats for hours. I'm pretty sure that if the Coast Guard flew over I might have some 'splanin to do.
After waiting out the cold front we made our way up the west coast to Dunedin since it looked like we'd have a good window for the long crossing to the panhandle. While in Dunedin we were surprised with a visit from our MVT (Most Valuable Traveler). My sister Kathy decided to join us at the last minute and enjoy (?) the crossing with us.
Since our first, overnight crossing we've decided it's much less stressful to do a (mostly) daylight crossing. At 170 miles we leave just before daylight and are anchored before midnight. We look for a forecast of light wind and calm seas and the day we went it's exactly what we had. Unfortunately in the early spring and fall that can also mean fog...which is what we had most of the day.
We did have breaks in the fog at time and it was a fairly uneventful day. During one break in the fog and many miles from any land an Osprey came by and tried to take a rest on our bow rail. After several attempts he decided he didn't like our fluttering burgee and gave up!
After a quick night at anchor we left Dog Island and headed to the docks at Apalachicola to recover for a few days. We were met here by our boating friends and future loopers (?) Kyle & Ed (It's OK2).
We've met up with them at several places in our travels but this was our first chance to boat with them for a week or so. They are the perfect buddy boat and even the Coast Guard thought so when they zoomed past us to board them instead!! Thanks guys, we owe ya one.
One of our stops along the panhandle was Blue Water Bay in Niceville, FL. We were lucky enough to arrive in time for their annual Sock Burning party held to welcome Spring. Yes, I contributed a pair.
Mother Nature must have approved since we were treated to a beautiful sunset and warmer temps the next day.
From there we headed to Orange Beach Marina and left the boat for a couple of weeks and returned to Ft Myers where Kathy flew home to enjoy the spring (is it there yet?). It's OK2 continued north to the boat's summer home of Demopolis AL. See you guys in the fall.
On our return we made quick work crossing the Mississippi Sound heading to Lake Pontchartrain. I wanted to travel across the lake and up the Tickfaw to the Blood River. Why? Because it's part of the adventure!! The owner of Blood River Landing said we were only the 2nd traveling boat he's ever seen there. He didn't even know what to charge us but settled on $100 for the week?????
This stop has been the highlight of our trip this spring. Jill and I spent a bunch of time exploring the bayous in the dingy. I'm sure gators were keeping an eye on us at some point!
This shot should be turned into a jigsaw puzzle (do people still do that?)
The people out here are always welcoming and offering anything they have which is why we enjoy Louisiana so much. Within a few hours of arriving we had 2 different people stop by and offer their car! Besides, how could you not love a place that has a bar called Tickfaw Boopalu's that you can dingy to???
Blood River Landing is also home to the Tickfaw 200 Poker Run which, I imagine, is quite the sight in this quite corner of the world. The whole marina is an interesting work of art.
It must really be a zoo when almost 400 go fast boats show up over the 4 day event.
To really show the area I decided to make a short video of us leaving the marina and heading back to the Tickfaw. (To be honest I borrowed the idea from our friends on OLOH)
After this stop we made our way back to the lake and visited a couple of towns on the North Shore before heading back to New Orleans and a completely different world!! We'll save that for the next installment....
RIP Dr. John.....
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