Homeward Bound
In order to get to the Gulf side of Florida, where the palm trees sway in the warm breeze, where the sand on the beaches is white as snow, where the sun sparkles over the beautiful blue green waters, where the sunrises and the sunsets will bring tears to your eyes, where we call home - we had to make a 180 mile, 21 hour, overnight, in the pitch black, of a moonless night, Gulf of Mexico crossing.
We had been waiting in Carabelle, Florida for a week in order to get a weather window that was appropriate for us to make this very long crossing. The Gulf of Mexico waters are no joke. It’s basically an ocean. Ever been on a cruise? If yes, I’m sure you walked around the deck at night and marveled at how beautiful the sea was, how huge the world felt, how dark the sky was. A gazillion stars. The waves slapping the bow of the boat as you moved forward to your next port of call. A cruise ship is huge. They are made to cruise through oceans. Most of the time, unless you are very sensitive, you barely know you are moving.
The Happy Destiny is a 42 foot boat. She is strong and has been the best boat ever! We are so happy that we picked her for our Great Loop Adventure. Over the past 5000 plus miles, she has delivered us safely to every port. She has held up. She has only had a couple of small hiccups that were easily addressed. We were about to ask her to deliver us safely and surely across an ocean so to speak. You just don’t up and go on a trip like this. Jim studied the weather all week long. He checked the wind, the waves, and the route. He talked with local boaters for their input, he studied weather forecasts. We met with 8 other boats and their captains and crews, who all agreed that we would be in good shape to make the leap on Thursday afternoon, December 6th. We agreed on who would be the lead boat, and who would bring up the rear. We agreed on hourly check in calls on the VHF radio to assure that everyone was ok. We had backup plans if someone’s boat suddenly had a problem. The captains made me, because of my medical experience, the first responder, if anyone got hurt. The Coast Guard would be called if anything turned out to be life threatening. We agreed to use radar and stay about one quarter mile distance between each other.
You see, this is serious shit. We are pleasure craft. Not ocean going vessels. Yet, in order to get to the swaying palm trees and the white sand beaches, and the completion of our Great Loop Adventure, this is a trip we must make.
Our Flotilla of 8 left Carrabelle at 2:00 pm. It started off well enough. It was a pretty day. The sun was shining and we were as ready as could be.
The sun began to set at about 5:35 pm. It was certainly stunning, but as we all checked in on the radio, someone said “it’s about to get very dark”. UGH! To say my anxiety level rose a bit was an understatement.
Within minutes - lights out.
Not only did the lights go out, but we were about to find out that the weather forecasters lied to us. Everything we believed to be true about this crossing, like 1 to 2 foot waves, light winds out of the East, North East, became a shit show fast. The swells picked up and the winds followed. We were bobbing like a cork and it was only 6:00 pm. We had 18 hours to go. Jim, is such a great Captain. He assured me that the boat was doing great and he gave me a crash course on how to read radar, and what I was to be constantly looking at. We were second in the the lineup of 8. The boat in front of us was Crossroads, with Captain Barry and his wife Robin. They have the sturdiest of all of our boats and he is a licensed delivery Captain. We were grateful that he was our buddy boat. Jim instructed me on how to watch his AIS and follow his radar blip to keep us the quarter mile behind him. You don’t want to be any closer than that out here. As I looked behind us, all I could see was little blips of the other boats navigation lights.
I can’t begin to tell you just how harrowing our night was. The waves became bigger and bigger and the wind started howling. We were getting tossed up and down and back and forth. The waves at one point were breaking over the bow of the boat and the wind spray reached our enclosure which is 16 feet high. Everyone in the flotilla was experiencing the exact same thing and no one was comfortable at all. It was horrible. Stuff inside the boat begin to fly around and I had to go down and secure it all up. Being inside the boat made me seasick. I felt nauseous, but I knew I had to suck it up and be up top with Jim. We are a team. Hour after hour after hour. At the 1:00 am check in, I handled the radio and Jim went downstairs to stretch our on the couch for an hour. He had prepared me with all the instructions and then, there I was at the helm! For the next hour I did everything I was supposed to and was glad that Jim got to lay down for an hour. I was petrified to say the least, and was so glad when he came back up to the helm. I was continuing to get more and more seasick. I had to go downstairs. I curled up on the couch, have I mentioned how cold it was yet? It was cold. Laying down was not a good idea, or maybe it was, but I proceeded to puke 🤮. I have not been seasick one time on this whole journey. Tonight was the night and rightly so! I could not sleep, and I needed Jim to know I would suck it up, and that I was here for him. It was so bad!
See the tiny white dot, above our pale green compass? That is the boat in front of us. You can see it in red on the radar picture.
The one thing that was amazing about this trip, only one thing, was the sky! There was no moon. But, there were a gazillion stars. It was the most beautiful sky I have ever seen in my life!
More hours passed, Jim stayed at the helm. We had now been awake for more than 24 hours. We were both fit to be tied, but Captain Jim, who repeatedly told me “I got this” was in good spirits and I was so proud of him. He never faltered. As scared as I was, I knew our boat was strong and I knew we were going to be ok. At about 5:00 am, Barry, in the boat ahead of us stated he just saw the first crab pot. Oh, I haven’t mentioned this yet! Besides the waves and the wind, 30 miles offshore the crab pots start appearing. Crab pots are on rope or lines with little buoyant balls that dance in the water. Fisherman drop these pots to catch crabs obviously. They also will render your boat done if you wrap one of the lines around your prop. The line around your prop will put a stop to forward motion and your engine will stop running. Not good. Not good at all. Jim called the “all hands on deck” and up I sprung to the helm to start watching for crab pots. We put the spotlight on and I stood at the front window when I saw a pot, I’d tell Jim to turn left or right to avoid the pots. The boat was still rockin and rollin, and I was still green, but I’ve learned to suck it up when Jim needs my eyes on things. The sun began to rise at about 5:50 am, but the pots were still hard to see through the waves. On the radio we heard one of the boats caught a line. They would have to limp into port on one engine. Another boat had to slow way down because they were losing their dingy. One of their lines snapped and it was just to dangerous for him to go out into his swim platform to fix it. OMG!
Our last thirty miles consisted of crab pot watching, and a beautiful sunrise.
Well folks, we did it! 180 miles, and 21 hours later, we survived the, Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs, Gulf of Mexico crossing. We are for real, for real Loopers, and I am a bonafied BADASS!
We arrived at Turtle Cove Marina and settled in. We straightened up the tossed cabin and we went to bed. We slept for 5 hours, got up and were both starving. We had not eaten a meal in over 35 hours. Tarpon Springs is an adorable Greek town that is known for its food, seafood, handmade soaps and its sponge docks. We went to Hellas, a Greek joint and ate dinner. Then a walk back to the boat where we both dropped like rocks.
The next day brought all the Loopers who made the crossing together. We shared our war stories and hugged. We were all so grateful to be safe and sound. I was not the only one who got sick. Many of my fellow loopers and a few of the doggies were seasick also. 🤢 Oh well, the palm trees are swaying and the warm breeze on this side of Florida make it all worth the while. We are blessed! And we know it.
Several months ago, a gentleman reached out to me via Facebook Messenger. A pleasure boater, not a looper, who had run across our blogsite somewhere and has been following our adventures. He wrote to me telling me that when we arrived to Tarpon Springs, he would love to take us to a meeting, grocery shopping, or anything else we might need a lift for. This message came a very long time ago, and to be honest, we were so far from Tarpon Springs at that point, I kind of forgot about it. This was a man who just, out of the blue, texted me. I replied to him, thanked him for the generous offer and told him I’d keep his number handy.
On December 2, this kind man reached out again via Messenger. He said, “I see you are about to make your crossing”. When you get to Tarpon Springs, my wife and I would love to take you to a meeting. His wife, just got her one year “chip”. So now, I have the connection. She is in recovery, and from reading our blog, he concluded that we were in recovery also. True to his word, on Saturday, I posted about our crossing on Facebook. He saw that and called to tell me where and when the meetings in Tarpon Springs were, and asked if we’d like them to pick us up and take us. How on earth could we say no to that! At 7:30, they picked us up from the marina. Come to find out, He is not even in the program, and this was going to be his first ever AA meeting! So our new friend is just a really great, supportive husband, who follows peoples boating adventures. What a guy. He is not well, and has always wanted to do the Loop, but because of his health issues, would not be able to handle the long, arduous, extensive travel.
I’m telling this story because a big part of our Great Loop Adventure has been about the people we’ve met along the way. This is a perfect example of how God works. He has put people in our path that we will never forget, and that is a huge blessing. There was Robert and Kay in North Carolina who took us shopping and shared a meal with us, John, the Harbor Host at Great Kills Marina in Staten Island, who sat by Jim’s side and went over charts, Bruce and Buffi, in Cape May, New Jersey, who just gave us their car keys which allowed us to get to a meeting. And the Best Harbor Host ever, Herb Seaton, who when we arrived in Tarpon Springs had left us a welcome package, a map of the town, the best restaurants to eat at. He also scored us 5 pounds of crab claws right off a fishing boat! There were countless marinas that allowed us to use a loaner car to get groceries and made it possible to get to a meeting if there was one in that town. Mike and Kim in Hammond, Indiana, who also handed us, two people they had never met, they keys to their car, so we could get to the grocery and hardware store. All the kind AA folks who offered us a ride home from a meeting after we Ubered or walked to a meeting.
I know one thing for sure. When I return to where I started, I will be the girl who reaches out to other Loopers in my area that are passing through. I will offer my time. I will offer a ride. I will offer most anything I can, just to help repay these acts of incredible kindness!
Thank you
On Sunday, Jim took me on a surprise date to The Tarpon Springs Center for Preforming Arts, to an afternoon theater event. One more time, we were with the geezers, in a small little auditorium, in a small little town. It was so fun! I love when Jim plans something special for me!
Last June, in the Chesapeake Bay, Jim and I had the long talk about whether or not we would just spend the summer cruising the Bay, return to Florida for the winter, and then start our Loop when other Loopers begin the trip up the East Coast. We started our Loop late and were frantically trying to catch up with the boaters already in New York and moving into Canada. We agreed, that, we quit our jobs, sold our stuff and moved onto a boat to DO the Loop. There was no going backwards! We obviously caught up and now we are 71 miles from crossing our wake in Osprey Florida. 4 more short days. 😂
We have bantered back and forth over the last few months about what we are going to do when we complete our Loop. There has been talk of selling the Happy Destiny and buying a Motorcoach to live in and travel the roadways. We have children and grandchildren in Los Angeles. A son and his girl in Massachusetts. A son, daughter-in-law and brand new baby Sebastian in Miami. Family is important, but when you live on a boat you are a bit limited as to where you can go. So the motorhome idea is appealing in the sense that we could still have adventures, but we’d also be able to visit our children and grandkids. We’ve talked of buying a little mobile home, with a little dock and getting a smaller boat that we could zip around Florida in. These conversations have come up, but have also been shut down pretty fast because neither of us wanted to take away from the adventure we were still having!
Now that we are so close to the reality of our Great Loop Adventure being over, we had a pretty serious talk about what the future looks like for us. We both agreed that we love living on the Happy Destiny and we aren’t ready to give this life up yet. She is our home. We agreed to pull into Casey Key Marina in Osprey, where we started, and Dave the dockmaster is allowing us to sit a spell there. We will drive to Miami and get our car. We will plan a trip to the Florida Keys and The Bahamas in late February and March. We will find a marina somewhere in Florida that allows liveaboards. We will buy a smaller motorhome, so we can take off on road adventures whenever we want. We will both figure out a way to continue to help people. I will probably go back to work in a hospital and Jim will find something up his alley that allows him to help people in recovery.
Stay tuned. There are definitely more Happy Destiny Adventures to come!
We hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season.
Merry Christmas and Happy Everything!
