The messages below have been copied from the AGLCA mail list. Captain Tom gives some very good advice about crossing the “waterwayless” Big Bend region of the Sunshine State, particularly his note about lower than normal tides during the fall months. Some of the other messages reproduced below give very specific info concerning some of the Big Bend rivers and ports of call. There is a wealth of good data in these notes, which is worth the attention of anyone planning on cruising these waters.

There are some good points made recently on crossing the Gulf and going around the Big Bend. Bob Stone has said it very well. One thing to not forget is that come October and November, the “winter tides” set in as the prevailing winds shift from the northeast and blow the Big Bend channels and the Panhandle dry. This is typically 1-2 feet below the charted low water level. High tides are essential for going in or out of channels and those are 14 hours apart when the daylight hours are less. My fellow Loopers aren’t mentioning what month they were successful in using these Big Bend channels, but today would be an excellent choice.
The folks at St. Marks may not agree that they are a good spot to be in a hurricane storm, even a small one. They certainly got beat up a few years ago. Most of the town was flooded as were the docks.
More as the typical “crossing time” approaches,
Meanwhile, stay safe,
Tom

Our boat draws five feet and we have been to Steinhatchie and Cedar Key. We need one foot above low tide to clear the Steinhatchee channel. The floating green channel marker is in the area of least depth. There was only one floating marker in the channel. The others were fixed.
We can not access Cedar Key via the North West channel. It has shoaled in. The Main Ship Channel is deep enough for us to access Cedar Key. Pay close attention to Skipper Bob’s directions for the Main Ship channel as you converge on the North West channel.
Suggest mid tide or better for both locations.
Jim & Pam Shipp
aboard Silver Boots

We will hopefully be crossing around November 7th. We draft 3′ 6″, but are still concerned about the depths if we take the big bend route. We would also like to do the crossing with someone else. We will be on our 3rd leg of a half loop (left from Illinois and will end up in South Carolina. Our 43ft. Wellcraft San Removed is currently at Demopolis Yacht Basin ready to depart on October 31st. We would love to meet up with anyone going that way. We plan on reaching Apalachicola by the following weekend for the seafood festival.
Jenny

Can only speak for St. Marks. After you cross the center chanel, go north through 63 buoys (approximately 7 miles). The St. Marks River is well marked and maintained by the CG. The CG keeps it dredged to 10 or 12 feet (up to buoy 63). There are 4 tides a day and are usually in the 1.5 feet range. Both Lynns Marina and Shields Marina are friendly and can dock your vessel. Just up the Wakulla River is the St. Marks Yacht Club and Shell Island Fish Camp. Shell Island Fish Camp is too shallow for your draft. It is an easier walk from Shields to a small store and 2 restaurants. 4.5′ draft is no problem. Both Marinas & the Yacht Club are good places to get out of a Gulf storm.
Good luck.
Douglas

We made this run with no problems in a boat that only goes 15 knots (but it’s bigger) and there’s nothing particular about doing it Northbound. You do want to arrive in daylight though.
Use PassageWeather – http://passageweather.com/ and click to get the Gulf of Mexico graphical forecasts, then scroll down to the bottom of the page to the wave height forecast and click “animate” so ti will show forecast wave heights for up to one week out, by segments of the days. I have found it to be better than NOAA or other weather sites for Gulf wave height forecasts.
Doug

I have said it before, and will probably say it many times again. If you get six veteran Western Florida cruisers together, they will express seven different opinions about the best way to cross the Sunshine State’s waterwayless “Big Bend” region. There are two basic strategies. You can cut the corner and head straight for Carrabelle or Panama City (if you are northbound), or for Anclote Key and Tarpon Springs (if you are southbound), OR follow the coastline around as it curves, staying well offshore. The advantage of the “corner cutting” route is that it’s shorter, and the “Big Bend Route” allows you to duck into one of the coastal rivers if the weather turns nasty. However, all of the Big Bend rivers have shallow, sometimes tortuous entrance channels.
Few know these waters better than Captain Alan Lloyd, so I’ve copied his note below from the AGLCA mailing list.

I would not wish make a 180 mile run across open water in a 25 foot boat. For one thing, I could not be certain the weather would be consistent all the way across. As a minimum, I would make an intermediate stop at Steinhatchee. A second option would be stops at Crystal River and Steinhatchee. Although a 20 mile side trip, Crystal River is a popular stop for loopers and manatees! A third option is a stop at Suwannee River. This is halfway between Tarpon Springs and Carrabelle. Loopers do not normally include Suawannee River since the entrance is too shallow but I believe a C-Dory could make it in and then enjoy 20 miles up river to Springs State Park. I have made this crossing three times using each of the above options.
Alan Lloyd
Author, Great Loop Navigation Notes

I’ve only crossed once, and going south ‘“ but we made the crossing in a 23’ 5’ cuddy-walkaround with a single 225 HP outboard with a WOT top speed of ~35-37MPH. It was at the end of June (2008) and indeed, we ran into
weather. Weather bad enough to cause us to look for a safe harbor; and we found one that no one ever talks about or mentions ‘“ Horseshoe Beach. Luckily, we worked our way there with sufficient tide to navigate the
channel in a skinny part of the Gulf. A call to `anyone familiar with the Horseshoe Beach channel’ gave us the confidence to run the channel after a Sea Tow operator answered our call.
Aside from what Alan mentioned, and Horseshoe Beach at higher tide, I know of no alternatives for a safe haven. (There’s the Withlacoochee River, but that’s not too far north of your departure and near Crystal River.) Since
the storm we tried to avoid gave us some warning, we were already trying to stay closer to shore than originally planned.
Our crossing was fine without the storm and many similar size boats make it easily. That doesn’t mean that you may not want to stop and smell the roses. It’s just those darn storms and sometimes higher winds that require
vigilance and good risk management skills are in order.
Stats and info from log: (We only went from Carrabelle, to my home inHudson Florida.)

‘¢ Total mile run expected to cross the Gulf, (slip-to-slip)
o 170
‘¢ Total miles to actually cross the Gulf to the Sea Pines channel marker #1
o 188
‘¢ Total elapsed hours from Carrabelle, through Horseshoe Beach, to mooring
at Hudson public
docks
o 11 ½, including about a 2-hour layover in Horseshoe Beach
‘¢ Average underway speed across the Gulf
o 20.8 statute MPH (18.1 knots)
‘¢ Total gallons of fuel to top off the tank at the near-completion of our
journey (including
replenishment of the 3 extra gallons we carry for emergencies, and used)
o 99.5 ‘“ the fuel tank holds 101

As you can see, the seas slowed us drastically from the WOT capabilities of the boat. BTW, Horseshoe Beach has virtually no services except a restaurant where we had the best Gulf shrimp I’ve ever had in my life.
Kitty Nicolai

I made this run in Dec 2008 – same direction you’re travelling. Due to sea conditions we had to seek a safe haven. We went into the Steinhatchee River. This is a friendly port as long as you enter and
depart in daylight. We left Steinhatchee the next day and completed the trip into Appalachicola.
Gary

Tarpon Springs on Dwellable

For those who have never ventured north of Clearwater and Anclote Key on the Western Florida shoreline, be advised there is NO protected intracoastal waterway that serves this section of the Florida coastline. So, to cross this section, a basic choice must be made. You can either cut the corner and head straight for Carrabelle and Dog Island (or Apalachicola, or Panama City), or you can follow the Big Bend coastline around, staying SEVERAL miles offshore to avoid the huge shelf of shallows that extend out into the Gulf’s waters in this region. The former route puts you well out to sea (or “Gulf” in this case), and is often undertaken at night by southbounders to avoid arriving at the crab pot infested waters near Anclote Key after dark. If bad weather threatens, you may be out of luck.
The nearer shore, or, as it’s often called, “Big Bend Route” has the advantage of allowing mariners to duck in to the various rivers which penetrate this section of the Sunshine State’s coastline, but all of these have long, sometimes tortuous entrance channels, and none are what could accurately be described as “deep.”
Get four experienced cruisers together to talk about crossing the Big Bend, and you will get at least five opinions, maybe six. So, in that vein, below is an exchange which originally appeared on the GL (Great Loop) mail list.

You have to run out a few miles off shore before running up and down thecoast but otherwise, no special navigation issues are present. Back in the days before GPS and depth sounders, the long low coast was probably much more difficult to deal with. But with a chart plotter and keeping track of where you are on the charts, there is nothing particularly difficult. Cedar Key was the most complicated area and as long as you took your time and stayed in the channel, it wasn’t too difficult.
St Marks Channel is unlikely to be much help as a bail out point. It’s so far off the route, that it’s almost always closer to turn back or forge ahead. Unless the wind and waves left that as the only reasonable direction to travel, but with it being a daytime crossing, wait for a good weather window and it shouldn’t be a problem. Yes, the weather report isn’t always right, but waiting can minimize the chance of problems and it’s not a sin to turn back if it’s worse than expected.
Lose power off just about any coast and you may be in trouble. Assuming you are running in 6-8 ft of water, and conditions aren’t bad, it should be relatively simple to drop the hook and sort things out without running aground.
Unless you want to do an overnight run (or are fast enough to run to Tarpon Springs during daylight), I highly recommend the coastal route [Big Bend Route] for a nice look at what Florida used to look like before it got overbuilt.
Mike & Tammy
Valhalla II

I agree with you Mike. My boat only drafts three feet but it would not have been difficult with a deeper drafted boat. And, the rivers of the big bend should not be missed in my humble opinion. Steinhatchee (rhymes with bean) and St Marks were beautiful!! If I had to do it again I think I’d pass on Carrabelle and stay in Apalachicola. Something had taken the life/hope out of the people I met in Carrabelle (could have just been an off day for the locals).
Besides that it’s not hard navigating and since I was solo and on a slow boat it made sleeping easier!
Ken