The run from Apalachicola to the docks at White City is a short one. There were a couple of potential anchorage spots we wanted to check out, including one that was a regular for us on our sailboat, Sea Trek. The White City docks are located in a basin surrounded by a park with a boat ramp. There has never been a lot of activity here whenever we have visited. The dock next to the pavilion was under repair and closed off with caution tape. There are 20 amp outlets at the pavilion that can be used for limited power. A new floating dock has also been added on the canal front. The floating dock is better for deeper draft boats since depths along the fixed docks are 6 feet or less. There is a 24-hour limit at the docks, but if bad weather is in the area, a longer stay would not be a problem. A short walk down the road to the east brings you to a gas station and convenience store with basic staples. This is a favorite stop for us and most other boaters that pass this way. But we did find a problem on board that needed our immediate attention.

Our shifter has always been stiff on the boat, especially at the upper helm. While docking, it began to stick in forward and took a great deal of pressure to get out of gear. It also made a loud popping sound when it finally shifted into neutral. The pressure needed was such that in the process, the shifter knob broke off the threads from the handle. Once docked, the quick determination was that the problem was the shifter cable that runs from the lower helm station to the transmission. The cable had to be replaced immediately. One thing about White City is that it isn't a city and is little more than the convenience store and a handful of private homes; not exactly a place to find parts or make repairs. It became necessary to formulate a plan and it needed to be done without needing to travel very far given the problem.


The first requirement was to take an accurate measurement of the length of the cable. Knowing the exact original make helped, too. The original is 30 years old and was made by Morse. It is now made by Teleflex and they offer an exact replacement, but of different lengths. We needed a 19-foot cable to reach from the helm to the transmission. We have wifi via our Verizon Mifi (more on that in another post) and were able to find the exact cable needed online. But it couldn't be shipped to a public park so we needed to find a place to have it shipped and to be able to do the replacement. Apalachicola was too far in the wrong direction so we chose Port St. Joe Marina, which was only about 8 miles away. The order was placed and we added overnight shipping to lessen our delay. Even though overnight is expensive, it's less than paying for extra days of dockage at a marina. The next morning Beach House left the dock and headed for Port St. Joe.


We called and made a reservation and gave them a heads up about the part. The marina staff was very friendly and professional. From White City, the trip to St. Joe requires taking the long and straight Gulf County Canal to St. Joseph Bay. Once in the Bay, as you exit the canal, the marina is beyond a well-marked channel just to port. The basin is surrounded by a breakwater and the entrance is narrow. Someone from the marina met us at the dock and helped with lines. Fortunately, the shifter worked well enough to get us into the slip without incident. Timing was perfect and shortly after we arrived our cable showed up. Removing the old cable, pulling the new cable through and making the proper adjustments took maybe an hour. A quick test proved the shifter was now working smoothly and perfectly. We love it when a plan comes together. The crew still had time to explore the town and get in a little shopping at the grocery store across the parking lot from the marina. The town is a quaint beach side village with shops, bars and several restaurants. The marina itself is a very, very busy place with boat rentals, snorkel and dive excursions coming and going and lots of tourists visiting the tiki bar and restaurant. After being out in remote locations for weeks this was almost a bit overwhelming to us.


Once repairs were completed we were ready to leave the next morning. The plan was to explore the St. Joseph Bay anchorages, then return to White City to spend another night and be on our way in the morning continuing westward. During our next nights' stay, we were treated to our own private fireworks display put on by some local residents. It was, after all, getting near the 4th of July. A peaceful night and a feeling of accomplishment on how quickly and easily our repair went, and off we went the next morning. The following days were filled with exploration and side trips for our Gulf Coast anchorage book. Nights found Beach House anchored behind barrier islands with white sand beaches or tucked into beautiful bayous enjoying the peace and solitude. We needed peace and solitude on some days after being buzzed by hundreds of small boats running in every direction at full speed. One day we were surprised by a call on the VHF while in Watson Bayou near Panama City. Getting a call on the VHF isn't surprising; we get them all the time from folks that recognize Beach House, many from this blog. The surprise came when the caller announced that they were standing on their dock as were passing by and invited us to pull in and tie up. We looked around to see them waving from the end of their dock. As we pulled in and tied up, Carl and Greg Vernon introduced themselves and told us they were AGLCA (Americas Great Loop Cruising Association) Harbor Hosts. We were invited to stay at their dock, which had power, water and cable TV to which we could connect. They kindly took us on a shopping trip, invited us into their home and went out of their way to help and assist in any way they could. It's always wonderful to experience this kind of hospitality and friendship.


Beach House said farewell the next day and our exploration and research continued. There were still a lot of anchorages to cover and many miles to go. Another issue we began to experience and had to deal with were the daily afternoon thunderstorms. For quite a while the weather had cooperated and the days were dry with light winds. But now we found we needed to be anchored by 1 or 2 PM and looked for sheltered locations. By 2 or 3 PM, the storms would roll in and some came with serious winds. If caught in an open anchorage, it would mean having to deal with the high winds and choppy seas as well. Each day we needed to plan for the afternoon and the direction from which the storms would be coming. Once the pattern was established, there was no let up. Our routine would be to get underway early, anchor by 2 pm, prep for bad weather, enjoy the quiet evening after the storms passed and then do the same the next day. The Florida Panhandle and the Gulf Coast of Alabama are some of the most fantastic cruising grounds that we have experienced. It was almost a disappointment when we reached Mobile Bay and turned north toward Mobile, but we needed to get out of the hurricane box for insurance purposes. The plan was to make a stop at Dog River Marina to regroup and resupply in preparation for moving up the Tombigbee Waterway and into the interior river system - the next chapter in our ongoing adventure.

It would seem that the Gulf of Mexico in the vicinity of the Steinhatchee River has it's own weather system. For a week we watched as the reports from almost every other location showed light winds and quiet conditions. Yet all of the forecasts and buoy reports for the area we needed to transit to get to St. Marks had winds and seas more uncomfortable than we prefer to travel. A long time ago we came to the conclusion that the shallow waters of the Gulf can develop some nasty waves without a lot of wind. The constant forecasts of 15 to 20 and buoy reports confirming winds kept us in the Steinhatchee much longer that we would have liked. Even on the day of our departure, the morning brought winds of 15 knots directly from the direction we had to go. We patiently waited and checked the buoys every hour until they showed wind had dropped to 10 knots. Beach House and crew was underway. The conditions were not ideal; there was still a very sloppy sea for us to plow into for a few hours. As the day progressed and we moved away from the Steinhatchee and Keaton Beach, things began to settle down and eventually the seas flattened and the winds dropped below 5 knots. Finally we were experiencing the Gulf at its best.

The outer buoys to St. Marks are not as far out in the Gulf as the other rivers we have explored, but it is still some distance from the first set of markers to the town itself. The distance from river entrance to river entrance was 54 miles after heading due west out of the Steinhatchee to avoid a large shoal, and then turning north to reach St. Marks. The lighthouse stands guard at the the river entrance with marsh land beyond. Farther upriver, the marsh and forest begin to combine to make for a very scenic cruise. Some boaters have anchored just off the lighthouse, but we found this less than desirable in anything other than calm conditions. It's wide open to the Gulf and the southerly afternoon seabreeze, making for a bumpy location. We took the time to check out the other fewer anchorages available on the river. Much of the river bottom is rocky so there are only a few places we felt comfortable adding to our anchorage book.


The next morning the forecasts looked good and the plan was to explore a new location for us, Alligator Harbor. This would still be a 44 mile day by the time we headed back down river and made the crossing to the harbor. The channel to get into Alligator Harbor can be a little tricky, but it is well marked. It required us to cruise along the outside of Alligator Point and stay within the channel with shoals on both side. Once around the western tip, the harbor opens up and is wide, but mostly shallow. Following the marked channel on the inside, we found a deep pocket just out of the channel and at 3:00 p.m., Beach House was secure on her anchor behind a thin ribbon of beach. The afternoon seabreeze blowing off the Gulf and the sounds of the waves lapping not far off our bow made for a perfect end to a perfect day. This is another anchorage we planned to include in the Gulf Coast anchorage guide and the next day we would be spending most of our day going from one potential anchorage to another. But for this evening, we just enjoyed where we were.


The next morning we reversed our course out of the harbor and pointed the bow toward Dog Island. Odd how such a fantastic island could have such a strange name. During the course of the day we visited and sounded 5 separate anchorages and really wish we could have stopped at every one. Weather delays have put us far behind so it is necessary to keep moving along. After a thorough exploration of Dog Island which included 5 hours of zigging and zagging, we headed across the sound to Carrabelle. It was only 1:50 p.m. when we arrived so some shore time was needed. The last time we were here was by car and we wanted to visit one of the restaurants we liked, The Fisherman's Wife. We were not disappointed and the shrimp, which comes off their own boat, was excellent and just as delicious as we remembered. We also took some time to stop by "the porch" at C-Quarters Marina and visit with the locals while enjoying a sundowner. Another perfect day.


From Carrabelle, it was deja vu all over again as we spent the day in the anchorages around St. George Island. So far the weather had been very cooperative with light breezes, calm seas and most importantly, no thunderstorms. After St. George Island, it was time to visit Apalachicola. Our last visit here had been by car a couple of years ago, but we have also been here a couple of times by boat. Apalachicola is one of those Florida towns that once thrived by the fishing and shrimp trade but fell on hard times when those industries declined. It has been trying to reinvent itself as a tourist destination and has succeeded somewhat. It's a funky, but fun town with lots of interesting shops and restaurants. There is a free municipal dock just inside the bridge that has some local boats filling most of the slips, but there is still room for a couple of transient boats. The cross current can be strong and makes getting into the slips challenging. There is also a day dock along the waterfront park and boats can spend the night, but there is a $30.00 charge just to tie up. There is no power or water. An alternative is to spend the day at the day dock, visit the town, and then move across the river to an anchorage just outside the channel for the overnight. If the anchorage is desired, there is a nice floating dinghy dock at the park. This is called The Wharf. From White City beyond Apalachicola, much of the rest of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway will be new territory for us, since with our sailboat we had to go out into the Gulf because of the fixed bridges. This time it won't be a problem.

Beach House and crew would like to share a couple of short videos taken as we cruised some of the rivers in the Big Bend section of the Florida Gulf coast.

For a couple of days, thunderstorms have rumbled all around us, keeping us from our next destination some 50 miles to the north. This isn't like the protected waterway; this time we need to cross the Gulf of Mexico from Steinhatchee to St. Marks. "How did you get to Steinhatchee, you were just in Fort Myers," you might ask? That's a good question and one we ask ourselves. The time seems to be flying by and we are covering a lot of ground, err, water. Up until a week ago, the weather was cooperating, the boat was running just fine after the repairs and all was right with the world. After Fort Myers, there were days when we only traveled 10 to 15 miles along the waterway. But that was by design.



Once the engine repairs were done and appeared to be fine, we began the research of the Gulf Coast anchorages for the next book. This is always the fun part. Our process is pretty simple. We pick the areas we want to investigate the day before, cruise the approach and anchorage areas, making notes of depths for the approach, depths inside the anchorage, latitude and longitude, bottom types, wind and wave protection and dinghy landing places ashore. All of this is recorded in our log so that the info can be added to the book. Our stop for that first evening, but by no means our first anchorage to check, was in Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa State Park. We shared the anchorage with 16 other boats.


From Pelican Bay on, it became a blur of anchorages and free docks for what seemed like days. Beach House and crew made stops in Englewood Beach and Longboat Key. At Longboat we had a good visit with our friends that had kindly given us the use of their dock in Key Biscayne before we crossed to the Bahamas last year. From Longboat Key, after many, many more anchorage spots, we arrived on the Manatee River and spent some time in Bradenton. We anchored in the river, took advantage of the Bradenton free day dock to explore the city and spent a quiet and peaceful night in Terra Ceia Bay the next night. From there, Beach House and crew visited St. Petersburg and spent time in the city marina. Our first night on a mooring in Vinoy Basin was probably the most uncomfortable night since our anchorage at Highbourne in the Bahamas. Swells and waves worked into the basin from Tampa Bay and bounced off the surrounding seawalls, creating a very uncomfortable roll. The next day we moved into a marina slip so we could enjoy all that downtown St. Petersburg has to offer, as well as visiting with a former cruising buddy. Anchoring or mooring here in easterly winds is just not an option.


The next few days would find us in Gulfport. The funky beach side atmosphere we found made the stop in Gulfport a real treat. The downtown area is filled with quaint shops and some excellent restaurants. On Tuesday, there is a farmer market in the downtown area with many vendors. The anchorage off Gulfport is very large with many boats. It's exposed to weather and boat wakes, but there is a very nice floating dinghy dock inside the pier right in downtown. If a marina stop is required or desired, the Municipal Marina has a friendly staff and is well protected if bad weather is pending. It's only a short walk from the marina to downtown, about a mile. From Gulfport, we needed to do some very extensive research of Boca Ciega Bay. This would prove to be quite an undertaking since there are so many options for anchorages. The entire bay is a fabulous cruising ground and one could spend a week or more just in this area.

After anchoring for the night in Redington Shores, we then moved on to the Clearwater area. There's a great day dock just across from the beach that can be utilized until midnight. Then, just drop back across the channel and anchor. One particularly memorable location in this area was Caladesi State Park. The remote island is only accessible by boat and the protected marina basin offers relatively inexpensive slips with power available. Deeper draft boats might want to bypass Caladesi since the approach channel can be quite shallow at low tide (4 feet).


The next day took us to the town of Tarpon Springs. The only available anchorages are at Anclote Key and near the boat ramp and power plant at the entrance to the Anclote River. Farther upriver toward town, the water outside the channel is very shallow. Tarpon Springs does have several marinas so that boaters can visit the town and experience the Greek cuisine Tarpon Springs is famous for and visit the working sponging community. Maybe it was just the time of year, but on our visit we found very little activity in town, and the place seemed to be a little tired since our last visit several years ago. Leaving Tarpon Springs and heading north meant a jump out into the Gulf of Mexico to our next destination on the Crystal River. Weather now became very important in crossing the open Gulf. From past experience, we know all too well how even moderate conditions can create very uncomfortable conditions for a long trawler passage.


Our departure from Tarpon Springs at first light brought us the 70 miles to Kings Bay on the Crystal River by 3:30 in the afternoon. The crossing was excellent and the well-marked but winding channel into Crystal River made our arrival stress free and very pleasant. We planned to spend a week to visit relatives and take care of some doctors appointment that had been made months in advance. Our car was nearby for us to use, and the location just made everything convenient. It was good to just be in one place for a while and not have to move on. With our own transportation we shopped, visited family, explored and did all the things that are hard to do from a cruising boat while underway. Exploring Crystal River was fun, too, since this isn't a common cruising destination, although in our opinion it should be. Getting off the beaten path is our favorite thing to do.


From Crystal River, our next port of call was also off the well worn path. The Withlacoochee River was another 32 miles away by the time we went back down river, cross the Florida Barge Canal Channel and went up the Withlacoochee. This turned out to be one of our favorite places so far. The entire Big Bend area of Florida is not what most expect when visiting Florida. Locals refer to the area as "Old Florida" and with good reason. There are no major condo developments and no amusement parks, just small fishing towns without all the big crowds and high prices. The laid back atmosphere only adds to the natural beauty that seems to have been lost in much of the rest of the state. Beach House stayed at Riverside Marina in Yankeetown for almost another week and could have stayed much longer. The sheer beauty of the area both on the water and on land makes this one of the most peaceful places we have had the pleasure of visiting. Our relatives helped us pick up and move our car from Crystal River to the Withlacoochee, again, making getting around easy. Even though we had spent almost two weeks in this area, it went by too fast. Once again, we needed to move on.


The trip from the Withlacoochee River to Steinhatchee was our longest distance covered, 80 miles, in a very long time. This was all new territory for us since our last passage along this coast was done on our sailboat with a 6-foot draft. We wrongly believed that these rivers were too shallow to transit in a boat of that draft. Now we know that is just not correct and we could have done this trip with Sea Trek. All of the approach channels are far out into the Gulf, but all are well-marked and deep enough to allow the commercial shrimp boats to come and go as they please. Only a very few places would have given us any pause, even with a 6-foot draft, and with the exception of the 5-foot bar at the Crystal River entrance, would not have kept us out of the other rivers, even at low tide. We departed the Withlacoochee at 6:10 a.m. and dropped our hook in Steinhatchee at 4:30 p.m. after another very nice Gulf crossing. So far we had avoided the typical afternoon thunderstorms that are notorious this time of year. On recent passages along the Gulf Coast we had experienced very violent weather and now try hard to avoid that if at all possible. From the Steinhatchee, the plan is to head to St. Marks and begin exploration of the Florida panhandle and Alabama. So stay tuned for more and to get photos and up-to-date information on our current location, check our Facebook page and our Tracking Page on our website.