Cruising Florida's Big Bend

Bicki Howell, Nellie D. 37VT63

Dave and I were not looking forward to the 170nm Gulf of Mexico crossing from Tarpon Springs, Florida to the protected waters at Apalachicola, Florida.  Even though we don't particularly like overnight voyages, we've done several in the past.  Overnighters have served to get us to specific destinations or avoid pending weather.  In this case however, we knew winds on the Gulf often piped up after sunset, making the waters quite rough.  Many cruisers leaving with a good weather window talked about how they'd experienced a rough passage.  Add to that that crab pots are found as far out as 40nm, and it just didn't sound like a fun trip to us.

One night, over dinner, we mentioned our apprehension of the crossing to Joe and Arvilla Glinski, Our Villa 37VT56.  A few years ago, they had had the same dilemma when they transited this area heading south on the "Great Loop."  They recommended doing what they had done, going the "Big Bend" route along Florida's Nature Coast.  It was the Glinski's advice that started us reading several "Big Bend" cruising guides.

On the down side, the "Bend" route more than doubles, if not triples, the distance to transit the area.  These are long days, an average of 45nm and some over 60nm.  It is not a protected route, so weather is still a big factor in planning.  Access to the various ports is often via long, narrow channels, some as long as 10nm.  But on the other hand, the "Bend" offers some interesting benefits.  Being in a safe harbor each night is a very attractive option over a long, bumpy night at sea.  Should the weather get bad, these places offer a safe place to wait it out.  Also, if not now, when we were we going to investigate this unique area?  We decided transiting Florida's panhandle via the "Big Bend" was how we'd go.  

The protected waters disappear after Tarpon Springs.  We learned on our arrival there that our marina neighbors had been weathered in for eight days.  We were in luck, the weather predictions for next few days were good.  

We decided to press on the following day.  Our biggest hassle was two full days of operating in pea soup fog--a bit exhausting, but with our chart plotters and radar overlay, we managed just fine.  The only disappointment was that the Suwannee River, for which Florida's state song was written (by Stephen C. Foster in 1851), was too shallow for us to enter.  We had hoped to spend some time cruising the river, but it was not to be.  

In order to get to protected waters before the winds started blowing again, we skipped a few ports along the way.  We stopped in Cedar Key, Steinhatchee, St Marks, Carrabelle and finally arrived in Apalachicola on our fifth day.  Each stop provided us with a glimpse of friendly, quaint local communities.   My favorite place was actually the last stop, Apalachicola.  Maybe it was because it marked our re-entry into protected waters.  Or, perhaps it was because it was a larger town than the others.  Tourism was alive and well here where a small Main Street was filled with shops and crafts from local artists.  I suspect though, it was my favorite stop because that night, while the winds blew over 30mph, we were tied to a dock and sleeping soundly after a fabulous dinner of fried oysters.   

The "Big Bend" reminded us why we enjoy cruising.  It made us slow our pace and experience places and people we would never have seen otherwise.  [See more of our trip on our blog: 

http://nellied63cruisinglog.blogspot.com/]