sailing | LooperLucy

Okay, I have been lazy and remiss in posting updates. It has been a couple of weeks with slow progress and being held up by bad weather. We travelled from Navarre Beach to Rocky Bayou near Niceville, Florida. Peaceful and calm. When we left Rocky Bayou, we got our first taste of spicy seas and we moved down to Smack Bayou, another beautiful anchorage. The winds were forecast to be 15 to 20 mph so we moved to a marina in Panama City. We were on a fixed dock with pilings and no breakwater. What we didn’t know is that we would be rocking in our slip for three days. It was interesting to have to jump from a moving boat onto a narrow finger that was three feet higher than the boat! We spent Thanksgiving there with the staff and other loopers!

we left there November 29th for a peaceful night at Saul Creek. We then headed over to Carabelle where we met lots of other loopers, all waiting to make the overnight crossing to Tarpon Springs or the three day trip around the Big Bend. Weather was not good with no good weather window to do the long crossing. We, and three other boats, opted to go from Carabelle to Steinhatchee. It was truly my roughest day on the boat. There were big waves and lots of wind. Part of the trip, which was about 9 hours, had the seas rocking and rolling our boat. Stuff flew off the counters and shelves, I just stayed in my bed under the table. You couldn’t walk anywhere in there! It was a big relief to stop at Steinhatchee.

It was a big bonus to be there, lots of walks, friendly people and FISH! My dad went fishing everyday and caught his limit of speckle bellied trout! That meant there would be fish in my bowl. We ended up spending a whole week there. We decided we would wait for better seas as we are not in a hurry and we had about 150 more miles to travel. My mom was able to make a pretty Christmas tree with a looper lady that has all kinds of pretty crafts on her boat! They had a couple of potluck dinners with everyone and really enjoyed their time with them.

They had several cats at the marina that I really was interested in chasing but I wasn’t allowed to!

Our trip to Crystal River and then Tarpon Springs was uneventful. Beautiful, flat calm seas. Sadly we have parted ways with the looper boats we have been travelling with as they moved onto different destinations so we are back on our own again.

We are now in Gulfport, Florida at the Municipal Marina waiting out more windy weather. With any luck we will be able to start moving again. Dad bought some bicycles so he is teaching me to trot alongside which will give me a little more exercise too! (And them)!

I have officially completed my first week on the Great Loop. We saw amazing scenery! We saw many alligators after Lock 1 (Lindsay C Boggs). The area is known as the gauntlet. Our plans included staying the night in this area but after seeing several large alligators on both sides of the river, it was decided to carry on. There was absolutely interest on my part to go ashore. We travelled south on the river until almost dark! We anchored behind some barges in a quiet area off of the main river. The shore was very muddy which means I made a mess of our dinghy! Day 2 was another really long day….I generally doze a lot when we are cruising along but sometimes I like to get up onto the passenger seat and take a look at the scenery. There wasn’t anyone around the first few days. That changed when we got to Morgan City. We docked at the City dock with some shrimp boats! I don’t think much of shrimp but my Dad was able to get some fresh shrimp. Heading out the next morning to Houma, I spotted about a dozen tern flying behind our boat. I got pretty upset about that and was making as much fuss as I could to scare them off!

We docked at the Downtown Marina in Houma. We were able to go for a leash walk while we were there. I prefer to have the freedom to go where my nose and sight are interested but this is ok too. Many dogs at the houses here, I was greeted by many different barks on our way.

We headed out early the following morning through some beautiful swampy areas and we also are now seeing huge barges heading up and down the river regularly. Great warm weather! Lots of pelicans and tern birds. I am getting used to them following us. We stayed in Bayou Sorrel, pretty cool place. Not many on shore options for me to do my thing but Dad was able to take me out in the dinghy and find a place that I didn’t get covered in mud.

We stayed the night just past Jean La Fitte on a public dock. I got another leash walk and was able to stretch my legs. We seem to be settling into a routine here and getting used to boat life. I admit I am pretty lazy most days but there are many different smells and sights everywhere we go. The last night at the end of the river was really nice. We anchored in a marsh next to the Gulf. It was quiet and I got to run around on my first white sand beach. Dad was fishing while the day ended and caught a huge redfish, too big to eat but, hey, they didn’t ask me about it! I love 🐠!

Tomorrow we venture out to the big Gulf and back to the sea!