Clearwater Beach, Florida

After spending eight yummy days in Carrabelle, we took advantage of the weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico over to Clearwater Beach, Florida. Loopers aboard American Pie and One Bay At A Time left port an hour ahead of us, as their cruising speed was just a bit slower than ours.  The dinner plate sized jellyfish just below the water surface were so beautiful! Dolphins launching high into the air just off our bow were so stunning! The enormous sea turtle Charlie spotted was larger than any we've seen scuba diving in the Caribbean thus far! After a voyage of 174 NM, 20 hrs. and 50 minutes, we all arrived safely in Clearwater Beach, Florida. We are docked at Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina, Clearwater Beach, Florida.

I smoked Salsa for fellow Loopers.

Smoked some pulled beef for us.

Thank you, One Bay At A Time, for the thoughtful iced coffee to help keep our crew awake for this long journey!

Our flotilla for the Gulf crossing, One Bay At A Time, American Pie, and Plane 2 Sea just before heading out.

Buddy Looper, American Pie, leaving Port.

Buddy Looper, One Bay At A Time, leaving Port.

Calm seas entering the Gulf.

Amazing sunset at starboard.

Stunning colors of sunset along port side. These colors glowed for a very long time! So drastically different from our starboard view,....double bonus!

The horizon was aglow for at least 30 minutes.

We enjoyed complete darkness for almost two hours before the large moon, just short of full, lit up the ocean for the remainder of the overnight crossing. The milky way with billions of stars was stunning. The harvest moon rose and gave us light all night long. No photos could reproduce any of this.

I highly recommend iced coffee for this stretch!

Our buddy Looper, One Bay At A Time, at sunset.

Beautiful sunrise.

Our boat, Plane 2 Sea, at sunrise while crossing. (Photo taken by One Bay At A Time)

Very few crab pots if you stay 20 miles offshore then turn east and set heading to 90 degrees to Clearwater. Thank you, Skip (Platinum Looper) aboard Easy Water for this knowledge!

Land ho! Clearwater Beach, Florida is now in sight!

Florida's famous white sandy beaches!

Shark!!!!

Hello-Kitty Jet-Ski.

Our new neighbors this week. They were not shy at all on our dock post.

Buddy Looper, One Bay At A Time, coming into port.

20 hours and 50 minutes later, a well earned celebration! Thank you, Charlie for the thoughtful celebratory bottle of my favorite bubbly! Charlie was amazing today, as always! What an adventure! So crazy beautiful! Life is good!

Carrabelle, Florida - Days 2 - 7

Are we really "stuck" in Carrabelle waiting on the weather window to cross the Gulf?! We've spent the past week cooking up some of the local fresh seafood! Boiled Shrimp, Seafood Gumbo, Fried Grouper, Smoked Red Snapper topped with lump Crab, Grilled Shrimp, Grilled Mahi Mahi, Grilled Red Snapper topped with fresh Scallops with smoked sausage Red Beans and Rice ..........
And with my electric smoker on board, I've smoke a holiday ham for the Looper Thanksgiving Pot Luck. I've also smoked Boudin, smoked Salsa......The seafood market is a lovely 15 minute walk and is loaded with local catch! Where else can you buy a pint of fresh lump crab for $14!

We've also toured the town and visited the "World's Smallest Police Station"! It has been sunny and clear all week! Highs today in the lower 70's. The IGA grocery store is across the street and the town is quaint with lovely shops run by warm "never met a stranger" owners. The staff here at the Moorings of Carrabelle Marina are so warm and welcoming, providing us with a great dockage rate along with excellent hospitality. They even opened up their chart room for us, after hours, and provided our Thanksgiving dessert pies! Did I mention the free breakfast hosted by the friendliest woman in town?! So, are we really "stuck" in Carrabelle?! I think NOT!

Fresh from the Gulf Shrimp, crab, and scallop seafood gumbo.

Smoked/grilled Red Snapper topped with lump crab.

Boiled Shrimp.

Fried Grouper

Red Snapper topped with scallops with Smoked sausage Red beans and rice.

Smoked ham.

Smoked Boudin

"Looper Style" Thanksgiving! With the crews aboard American Pie, Kristin Says, One Port At A Time, Lydia, and other great boaters!

...but the Courtyard was closed.

At port.

We made the AGLCA Facebook page!

Charlie's having caramel in Carrabelle!

World's Smallest Police Station.

I am riding this on our flybridge. (Stock photo). It's fold-able!

Who knew?!

The World's Smallest Police Station:

http://floridatraveler.com/worlds-smallest-police-station/