We head out of Carrabelle and pass a fellow Looper who is being towed back into Carrabelle. Their boat name is Irish Mist and we chat on the radio. They are having transmission problems. This photo is a screenshot from the Nebo APP which many loopers use to track their voyages, each other and communicate. We are the blue boat icon moving at 8 knots and had covered 1.9 nautical miles in 22 minutes.

We are estimating arrival in Tarpon Springs around daybreak. This will be good timing since we have heard you do not want to approach this area without daylight to spot crab pots.

Crab pots are submerged crates with a rope and a round float at the end. Only the round float is visible to us boaters. You do NOT want to get the rope from the crab pot caught up in your propeller. A diver is required to free the propeller. 

The route we take is a bit longer than a straight line route but in case we have a problem we do not want to be too far from land. Everything is a trade off.

We are in good spirits and it is a beautiful sunny day. We departed around 12:30pm on Tuesday March 25 and we estimate a 16-18 hour trip. After dark, waves pound our starboard stern, making the bow sway in figure 8s. Nauti Nerds doesn’t mind at all, she proceeds on the route using autopilot and forges ahead. MAB turns green and is fairly worthless to assist. Alan starts on 5 hour energy drinks to stay awake. It is a long and tortuous night. We arrive outside Tarpon Springs area BEFORE sunrise thanks to some tailwinds along the way. Just like when you take a flight and the pilot gets the plane there early, it does no good since you can’t get off the plane. The ground crew was not expecting your early arrival. We cannot wait to get this trip leg complete but we can’t head into Tarpon area without daylight so we can spot the dreaded crab pots. After an hour of back and forth (just like when your flight arrives early but the gate isn’t ready—we’re stuck circling) we have enough light. We have never seen a more beautiful sunrise!

Our target is Anclote Village Marina located in a narrow passage to get fuel, we are down to a quarter tank on each engine. Apparently a small fishing boat slipped in ahead of us and we had to pace back and forth on the water for a bit. Their fuel dock is NOT conveniently located. A small path is indicated with markers and of course a big sailboat is parked right where we need to pull a hard left turn. I start putting out our fenders (essentially rubber bumpers filled with air) in preparation for parking at their fuel dock and one of the fenders breaks free plopping into the water. Alan and I are wearing our headsets (nicknamed the marriage savers) which allow us to communicate when he is at the helm and I am wherever on the boat. I inform him about the runaway fender and he says, “oh well, it’s gone”. I ask him to give me one try to retrieve it since we are in wait mode. I grab the pole with the hook on the end and head for the stern which is closest to water level. I snag the rope on the fender with the hook and I twirl it like spaghetti and voilà pull in the fender! These are quite pricey at $80 each and we have 6 on our boat (3 for each side). Whew. Hey, I am getting pretty good at working the pole – LOLOL! We grow impatient waiting for our turn at the fuel dock. We’re too exhausted to attempt navigating an unfamiliar marina. We head back out and find a quiet place to anchor out to get some much-needed sleep. We have enough fuel to continue running the generator for power and A/C for awhile and decide to just stay the night. Our anchor bites solidly and we set our anchor alarm. After some rest we replan our next stops.