Steinhatchee At Last

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We were up before dawn, drinking coffee and listening to the weather forecast. Sara and Trevor called and said “Let’s go for it.” And so we headed out around 7:30, after waiting for the fog to lift. The fishermen were everywhere on the river, and the crab pots were being picked up. As we approached the mouth of the river, we held our breaths, would the Gulf be calm or rough? Hooray, it looked calm and beautiful.

We decided instead of going down to marker 24 and following markers across to Steinhatchee, we would just go in a straight line across. Sara and Trevor threw up their colorful genoa and motorsailed for a while. The Gulf was a minefield of crab pots, though they were fairly well spaced out. But we had to keep a good lookout all day for crab pots and are feeling the eye fatigue because of it. When the wind died, Sara and Trevor took down the sail and just motored and we slowed down accordingly, but we still made pretty good time.

The sun was going down in a most spectacular manner as we reached the channel leading to the Steinhatchee River. We reached the Sea Hag Marina in the twilight and were able to get tied up with the help of a nice young man. Sara and Trevor were about 30 minutes behind us and came up the river in the full darkness. Kerry stood on the end of the dock wearing a strobing head light. Once they were secure, we sat and shared our relief over the ease of the crossing after the previous 3 aborted attempts. It’s hard to believe that the tranquil blue waters we crossed today were the same waters that beat the heck out of us the last 4 days.

So here we are, safely tucked in at Steinhatchee. We’re ready for the nasty weather that’s being forecast. We may not be able to get out until Wednesday. But the weather in this neck of the woods is anything but predictable.

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Photos

Sunrise
on St. Marks River

River Split
Wakula River on left, St. Marks River on right

Crab Pot minefield
the pots were in long lines, different colors for different fisherman

Crabpots
they were everywhere

Sunset
nearing Steinhatchee

Sunset
over Deadman Bay

sunset
Deadman Bay near Steinhatchee

Comments

[Linda Nance]

Safe Harbor!
WOW - what stories about your crossings and the weather issues, Sara & Trevor's adventurers with the plastic bag on the prop...just amazing reading...and unbelievable experiences first hand, I'm sure. Glad you are in a safe harbor for sure. What an amazing adventure for you all! Love it. Love to all, Linda

[peggy]

outstanding sunset pics Charlie, so happy you all had a good day on the water. Love ya