Sea-Ya! A blog created by Dan and Katie for friends and family to track us on the Great Loop!

We left Clearwater Beach marina a few days ago and went to stay at a friend's dock for a bit..   That gave us a chance to get some bike riding in (40+ miles of biking) and let us pick up some Amazon shipments.   Today we traveled to the Clearwater Harbor Marina (15 minutes away) so we could pump out our waste and fill up with fresh water.  After we finished with that we cruised slowly up the Intracoastal Waterway to Dunedin but rather than stay at a dock or marina we are opting to anchor out for a few days.    Anchoring out does not suck.   We anticipate a visit to the dinghy dock to see the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony as well as the boat parade on Saturday.   Yesterday I had to do some things with the dinghy after our bike ride so I took it to the marina to get fuel and then drove it all of the way around Diamond Isle and Island Estates.  This is an island in the middle of Clearwater Bay reached only by causeway or boat.  You can see it in

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends Dan and Robin who we have been traveling with. The day was spent on our boat eating, playing games, and watching the Lions lose. It rained all day Friday so we ran errands. It's sad when you're excited to go to the grocery store just to get off the boat and move. Shopping with Dan is an experience because he seems to have a built in radar for junk food and you never know what will appear in the cart. We also had to get a new battery for the boat (Dan actually discovered there's two batteries he needed to replace so he went back to the battery store Saturday morning to get a 2nd one). Wednesday night Dan bought a sensor for his rudder or something. On Friday he decided to attach it to the boat. He spent all day trying to figure out how to get the wire from the back of the boat up to the front of the boat. I had to jiggle the wire finder or listen to him jiggle it to try to figure out how to get the wire through to where

This was the day.  Actually the day, the night and half the next day.   20+ straight hours at sea.   We picked the right day for crossing. The water started out nearly flat.  And dolphins were to feeding by the boat most of the day.  At 2pm we traveled out to the pass by Dog Island into the Gulf of Mexico.  it was a beautiful afternoon to cruise.  Nearly flat.   And we got to watch the sunset while underway.  (We don't typically do that.   We like to be at anchor or in a marina before dark).  But that isn't an option in the big bend unless you want to make it three days of travel with tiny channels into small towns without much to do.... We this is the view most of the night.   Follow the light in front of you, read the instruments.   Keep control of direction and speed.   Stand up and stick the head out often to let eyes adjust.  It's hard to take a picture of the dark. So you just follow t

Today we left Appalacicola for Carrabelle. All day on the bay... Our overnight was interesting with a 3 knot current under us.  It was like sleeping while underway.    Ie:  bouncing a bit and hearing waves crashing even though sitting still.... We attempted to sleep without the generator on.    It got hot and the current plus waves smacking the hull kept us awake so eventually I got up and started the generator so we could cover some of the wave noise and move air around.  We could probably have left open a porthole and rear door...   Maybe we will try that tonight. We have enough stuff pulling on the house batteries it drops the voltage under 12v pretty quickly.   After four or five hours the freezer can't keep up..   the generator quickly remedies that also.   But... Once the day got here it was SPECTACULAR.... It truly does not suck here.   We are staying at anchor again just off Carrabelle beach.    Dolphins swimming all around feeding.  Blow

We finally got to move today...  Via the intercoastal with protection.  This section is narrow and sometimes not as deep as it should be but we didn't have any trouble.  Had to dodge some floating trees but no major issues.   Tonight we are anchored at Appalacicola across the channel from town and we took the dinghy into town to do some shopping.  We will probably eat dinner here as well.  This town has like nine marinas and not a single one with a working pump out system. No pump out, no emptying the toilet system - which is getting full.   This leads us to one conclusion....   People go offshore and dump their tanks in the ocean.   Yuck.   And we don't have that option whether we wanted to or not.   That's illegal in the Great lakes.    Anyway... At least we finally got a day with sunshine and not harsh wind.    Two sleeps and then the following night is likely to be an all nighter.   Back to the boat at 'looper midnight' (8pm).

Are there monsoons in this hemisphere?!  It sounds like what we are having today.   We left Joe's bayou in light rain and 30mph winds.  We needed to run fast for a while to get across the large open water by Destin. (a bay I cannot pronounce).   We were welcomed immediately by dolphins swimming around the boat as we left (no photos, too windy)..  Then the monsoon dispatched my AGLCA (looper) flag and it's pole.   It's at the bottom of the bay.   Again, you cannot take a picture of something that is gone.   I'll have to acquire another one .. It also bent back my PA horn on the front of the boat.   It was really windy.   I also discovered that salt water wrecks stuff.   Suddenly zippers won't open, everything is tacky and hard to see through.  Joy.  Lots to clean when the monsoon lets up... We cleared the 30 mile bay and got safely into a long narrow trench area which is much better for going slow ... And meandered through the swampland in the trench unti

We are in Florida!   We didn't really travel south at all today ...  Mostly East.    As we mentioned Saturday we were staying two nights in Orange Beach.   That let some of us get supplies, do laundry, get a bike ride in, see the beach etc.   Orange Beach had a great sunrise on Sunday.   I didn't see it.  Credit to the looper who took the picture (not me) that I screen shot and included below.  I had to go renew a prescription so I rode my bike the three miles each way to do so.   We have e-bikes so it really isn't a stretch to go for a decent bike ride.   Ive detuned mine alot so I can actually pedal some... After a stop at CVS I took a bike ride to the beach and ON the beach.  Fat tire bikes are awesome for varied terrain including sand.   it wasnt raining on Sunday but it was overcast all day and only about 70.   That said I see it was 38 at home... So we'll take 70. On the way in and out of our marina right at the entrance to the