Another cold front, but we were smart this time

Bob and I woke up to totally calm water in Pelican Bay on Thursday morning. We were at low tide with very little water under the keel. The weather forecast was calling for another cold front to sweep across the Gulf from the northwest during the night. One source was predicting gale force winds, so we didn't want to be exposed to it.

We decided to head into a large bay to our east, called Charlotte Harbor. At the north end of the bay lies Punta Gorda, with a highly regarded marina called Fishermen's Village Yacht Basin. The cold front would whip up the open Gulf between us and Key West for a few days, so a side trip seemed to be in order.

I raised the anchor and slowly started picking my way out of Pelican Bay. It was low tide and what was nine feet deep when we arrived was now about seven. We retraced our steps from yesterday afternoon, taking a wide swing around the eastern shore of the little bay. I was running the boat at idle speed so that a grounding wouldn't be violent. Sure enough, right at the bay entrance we came to a slow stop as the keel rode up on the sand. Bob, like most power boaters, looked very concerned. I told him there was nothing to worry about. For one thing, the tide was rising and would float us off (even though that might take several hours). Secondly, Agaliha's big rudder is right behind her prop and I can throttle up and turn the wheel from side to side and "wiggle" the keel through a minor shallow spot. And that's exactly what we did. Three minutes later, we were moving again with three inches of water under the keel.

That's Florida. In fact, there is a joke that Florida is the indian word for "shallow water." And it is an actual fact that "Bahama" is spanish for "shallow sea." Another joke is that there are two kinds of sailors: those that have run aground and those that have lied and said they didn't. The good news is the sand is soft.

We started motoring for Punta Gorda in a glassy Charlotte Harbor. There was NO wind. This is the first time I have seen flat calm since I got into salt water. Later in the morning, a slight breeze (4-5 knots) came up from the northwest, so we raised the sails. When it died a couple of hours later, we motored the rest of the way to the marina.

When we got there, we decided to visit the fuel dock, since I hadn't bought any fuel since Clearwater. There was a small powerboat at the dock, so we "stood off" waiting our turn. He pumped enough fuel in that boat to take us around the world three times. During our 20-minute wait, the wind came back up to 12 knots, making our docking exciting. The wind gods love to mess with you.

After securing our boat in our assigned slip, we walked over to the "Village" for lunch and an alcoholic beverage. The little strip mall adjacent to the marina was bustling with people (mostly retired folks, but not all).


There were several restaurants and they were all busy. It was a very quaint little place and we were glad we had come.


The Christmas decorations were making us laugh.

During the night, the cold front came through as predicted. The anemometer hit thirty knots and I was reminded of the trip to Clearwater. I was very glad to be tied up for this one. By the way, I had been keeping up via email with some of the other boats that were waiting in Carrabelle with me. Some had just left on Tuesday...and still didn't have an easy trip south. So, the upper Gulf is just a tough place this time of year. Maybe that's why they call it "CarraHell."


Agaliha is the smallest sailboat on our dock. These won't be going up the TennTom with those tall masts.


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