Cruising Back Home

Homeward Bound!

We like to be at our own dock around June 1 for the official start of hurricane season. It's more assuring to be close to home where we can secure the boats for approaching storms. We've been lucky weathering at least five strikes since 1979 at our own dock. So we always plan to end our spring cruising by early June and watch for a weather window to make the ~150nm crossing back from the Clearwater area. We are so pleased to have Helmsley, our autopilot, back in service and tirelessly at the wheel!

This year, the forecast for the weather window to cross the Big Bend was perfect, except for the light winds from the direction we needed to run. It is always the rule that "the wind blows from the place you want to go." But we have a 40 HP Yanmar diesel that enables us to travel a course even if the winds are not favorable for sailing. Sometimes we can set our headsail to give us a little boost in speed and settle the motion of the boat.

Crow's Nest Marina, Venice

We left Cabbage Key to stop overnight at Crows Nest Marina in Venice and then, the next day, traveled on to anchor overnight in Boca Ciega Bay, surrounded by the overdeveloped shoreline of St Petersburg Beach. It was a calm night in an uncrowded anchorage. Next, on to Tarpon Springs where we were lucky to find a slip at the City Marina on a Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend. We arrived early enough to stroll the waterfront shops of this storied Greek community and buy a few pastries.

Tarpon Springs was once the Florida epicenter of harvesting sea sponges. Hard hat divers would descend to cut the sponges from the bottom and return their catch to the sponge docks for processing and sale. There is still some sponge harvesting done,  with more modern diving and processing technology, but it is more of a curio trade than the once significant source of sponges. 

Cultural Shift 

Having watched the transformation of the Keys, particularly Key West, for more than half a century, we can see that Tarpon Springs is losing some of its mojo and cultural identity. Forty years ago, the waterfront was more of a working dock, with active sponge boats moored along the quay. Open air shops and a few curio stores were focused on more authentic merchandise. Greek restaurants and a mega Pappas restaurant (now vacant) served up Greek cuisine.

More recently we've seen a trend towards tchotchke gift shops, Cuban cigars and coffee bars, beachwear clothing stores and ice cream parlors. All of these small merchants are serving a day-trip tourist crowd. Still, excellent Greek restaurants and a couple of pastry bakeries are sustaining the Greek heritage. 

Tasty pastries at the Greek bakery!

Sponges being processed at the dock

Across the Anclote River on the north shore, boatyards and marine rails are anachronisms of the past. Wooden boats are in their final resting place, never to see the sea again until they disintegrate to dust and rust. Time marches on and sentimental nostalgia for the fading heritage will not stem the transition of enterprises and development that is marketable to the tourist constituency. Not that long ago, Duval Street in Key West was a mix of local restaurants and stores. We wonder how long it will be before Tarpons Springs' Dodecanese Blvd loses its heritage cache?

Our 29th Crossing

Rising early, we departed Tarpon Springs and began our journey home. The chart plotter course says 143 nm from dock to dock and predicts 28.6 hours at an average speed of 5 knots. Small boat traffic picked up as we made our way west down the Anclote River. Being Memorial Day Sunday, hundreds of boats were headed to the sandy beaches of Anclotte Keys and a few shallow sandbars for rendezvousing with other weekend revelers. 

The nesting shorebirds don't stand a chance against the daytrippers' invasion. Few probably have an understanding of the fragile nests and well-camouflaged eggs laid directly on the sand. Like Jimmy Buffett's lyrics say, "Is it apathy or ignorance... I don't know and I don’t care.”  Frightened birds leave their eggs exposed to predators and heat when disturbed by the beachcombers and playful dogs. 

We pass by the island parties and head out into the Gulf with 130 miles before us. Seas are glassy calm. 

When Lee opens the lazarette she smells smoke from the engine and that brings us to a full stop to investigate. Our engine's exhaust hose, that spouts raw seawater coolant and engine exhaust, was compromised and broken. Water was spurting into our boat along with some exhaust gases. Fortunately the wind was very light and the seas were calm, so we let the engine cool enough to begin a jury-rig repair. When duct taping and clamping the exhaust hose back together did not work, we cannibalized a hose from our generator. Luckily, the diameters matched. Working with significant difficulty, in the cramped bowels of the stern “engine room”, Marvin traded out the parts and we were underway again. Four hours were lost to the fix, but we were moving again, still within our weather window.

We've made the crossing 29 times. Each trip has been an arduous exercise, standing watches through the night, sometimes with rough seas and variable winds, sometimes cold, sometimes sticky hot and humid, but always exhausting, taking us a day or more to recover our energy. A routine might set in for longer passages, but for the first 24+ hours it's taxing on two old folks.

As night descends, time for harnesses and inflatable PFDs (personal floatation device)

The only boat we saw for 120 miles

However, even with the trials, there are rewards. There are spectacular sunrises and sunsets, full moons, gannets and an occasional frigatebird, playful spotted dolphins joining us to ride our bow wave, bioluminescence in the boat's wake and dolphins' trails, and starry nights in clear dark skies. We've even left Clearwater with a double rainbow and then seen a rainbow around the sun during the day, followed by a rainbow around the full moon later that night. But perhaps most rewarding is the satisfaction of being tested and self-sufficient in meeting whatever challenges we face. 

We believe that every mariner, from jon boat to ocean cruiser, should take responsibility for their own safety and repairs. While there are commercial companies offering towing and fuel and the USCG and FWCC are an on-call last resort, the main responsibility lies with each boat and crew. When there is trouble on board, the best, and only, service tech or first responder is already on board. We don't look for problems but know we must be the solution - and our skills and ingenuity need to rise to the challenge.

So, with our Cuban visitor Ernesto on board to help share in the watch keeping, we made the trip in 30 hours, mostly under power. What a joy to return to Shell Point running downwind under our asymmetrical spinnaker for the last hour. We doused it in the basin and eased to our dock. Bay Breeze is home again, after being away for a year and two weeks. 

Now for the maintenance list and prepping for summer in Maine aboard AQUAVIT and a new venue for adventures.

AQUAVIT will soon emerge from heated storage and return to our slip in Rockland, Maine

Thanks for reading!

06.04.2022