Dog Island and Carrabelle

Leaving Clearwater Beach was easy.  Deciding where to go next was hard.  Ordinarily Tarpon Springs 20 miles to the north would be the popular choice, but it was closed due to COVID. The coastal waters north of Tarpon Springs are incredibly shallow and there are no suitable stops until Dog Island about 100 nautical  miles north in the Florida Panhandle.  Also there is no intracoastal waterway between Tarpon Springs and Dog Island. 

                Leaving Clearwater Beach               

One crew member wanted to go straight across to Corpus Christi. However, with all of the gear failures I had lost confidence in the White Pepper.  Panama City looked like a perfect stop and was said to have the best harbor in the Panhandle. The problem was that from Clearwater we would likely arrive late on our second night offshore. So Dog Island it was.

We left Clearwater Beach on a lovey morning.  The wind was predicted to be 10-15 from the east promising lovely beam reach sailing.  However, the wind ended up being 5-10 from the north--another motor ride.  NOAA had forgotten to account for TS Bertha spinning off of the eastern shore of Florida.  Regardless it was a lovely ride.  As the White Pepper got further north into the shallow water (it was 30 feet deep 50 miles off shore) the wave action become much choppier than the mild wind would ordinarily cause.  This action is well known and the waters here should be avoided in any strong blow.

                Lovely sunset in mild conditions                               

Dog Island appeared in the early afternoon.  The entrance into St. George's Sound was straightforward.  Then a mile to the east was the anchorage for Dog Island.  The anchorage is large and protected.  We anchored in 7 feet of water with a sandy bottom.  We did not go ashore and passed a comfortable  night.

 Entrance into St. George's Sound

            

               Dog Island anchorage                   

The next morning brought another decision about where to go next.  I wanted to go to Panama City which was about 70 miles further west.  Jan wanted to push on to Pensacola which was 130 miles west.  Although Dog Island is the eastern terminus of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway there was no passage for the White Pepper because of several low bridges (50 foot clearance).  We would have to go offshore at lease until Pensacola.

In order to make Pensacola we would have to refuel.  The nearest fuel was in Carrabelle which is a fishing village about 3 miles inland on the Carrabelle River.  Carrabelle turned out to be a delight. The town is rural but well kept and very friendly.  If we had not been under time pressure, Jan and I would have gladly taken a slip and stayed for several days.

Carrabelle River

Refueling at C-Quarters Marina

It was about noon when White Pepper cleared the pass and headed west for Pensacola.  Some weather was coming but we hoped to be in before it hit.

Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach is the beach town to Clearwater.  It also serves Tampa Bay and is ordinarily quite busy.  However, we arrived just as Florida was emerging from its long COVID19 lockdown.  Jan and I watched as streets and beaches went from empty to mobbed.  Restaurants went from barely open to packed.  The waterfront concessions such as fishing charters, sunset cruises, and (my favorite) the floating tiki bar went from closed to barely open on a reduced schedule.  But at least they were out on the water.

We were shocked to see such crowds on the beach 

The trip from Egmont Key to Clearwater Beach was only 40 miles.  It was a lovely day and sailing would have been nice.  But as I mentioned in the previous post while we were still in the Tampa Bay ship channel when the engines control panel failed.  A big surprise was that the motor kept running.  I need to make a technical point here.  Older diesel motors, such as my old 3GM, do not need electricity to keep running.  I would stop the 3GM by closing the choke.  The newer Yanmar diesel engines such as the  3JH require continuous 12 volt power to maintain fuel flow.  The stop switch on the control panel works by interrupting the circuit to the fuel pump. I knew immediately that this mystery would be a problem to remedy.  Indeed it took 11 days to satisfactorily diagnose and fix the problem.  In the meantime I was afraid to stop the motor fearing that it would not start again.  We made it into the municipal marina without incident.  By the way the motor restarted easily which was another surprise.

Control panel died on the way to Clearwater Beach

I checked the fuse and all of the electrical connections.  Everything was intact. The motor had originally come by way of Mastry Marine of St. Petersburg.  I called them and they recommended Sea Farer Marine. Tom, the owner of Sea Farer, came out.  He worked on the panel and harness for about a week including twice taking the panel and harness to Mastry Marine where diagnostic equipment was available.  Eventually the problem was determined to be a short in the start switch caused by an extra wire that had been added to the original wiring harness when it was installed 5 years ago.  Unanswered questions are why was the extra wire added in the first place and why did it take 5 years to fail?  And why did the switch start the motor when it could not power the control panel?  While I am very grateful to Tom for his diligence, my recommendation to the reader is that if this ever happens to you--please just buy a new panel and wiring harness.

Tom from Sea Farer Marine works on the control panel

Starting switch was the culprit

While waiting for Tom to fix the motor Jan and I spent most of the days exploring Clearwater Beach on foot.  The beaches are broad and sandy,  There are numerous restaurants all reasonably priced.  The expensive restaurants remained closed due to COVID. Walgeen’s sold liquor as well as ice cream bars.  Publix was a long albeit scenic walk away. We were pleased to see how many sea birds frequented the docks. 

Pizza for Mother's Day lunch was a treat after lockdown ended

The beaches reminded us of Padre Island with whiter sand

Herron on a dock line

By now the season was getting quite late.  Already we were into May which is the tropical storm season in the Gulf of Mexico.  Tropical storm Bertha had just formed off of the eastern coast of Florida.  It was time to leave.  So White Pepper cast off lines from Clearwater Beach and headed north towards Dog Island and Caribelle, Florida.