Day 87 Gulf crossing

Sunrise at Carrabelle

Tom at 2 Al's Head qtrs

Crab pot tagging a ride

Anclote River

Captain Jacks

Cheri Mueller told me to be sure and get up early enough to see some sunrises. because they are as inspiring as the sunsets. Since we are still waking up before the crack of dawn, (still in work mode I guess) I’ve included a picture from Sunday morning. This was right before we watched our friends head out for the 180-200 mile gulf crossing. There is not much to do in Carrabelle but eat, ride bicycles, read and TV. Tony from the “Moorings” harbor told us we had to have a permit to ride bicycles in town. If we get stopped tell them we’re traveling by boat and they should leave us alone. Sunday Tony gave us a ride across the river to eat at 2 Al’s restaurant. Tom is standing in front of their office headquarters. All the restaurants look questionable from the outside but the food is always great.

Monday morning Jim Polson, the mechanic from Crawfordsville, Florida, completed our engine coolant repairs, addressed some salt water corrosion resistance maintenance and painted both engines. Engine room looks like a surgery center.

After he finished we stopped by the marina office on our way to town to inquire about the Gulf crossing weather. Patty informed us we need to go today or wait until Friday at the earliest. One thing we have learned about the crossing, you have to be prepared to leave the dock in a moments notice. Weather is difficult to predict with 100% accuracy. Her opinion/analysis of available infomation, lead us to believe the seas would be flat, flat, flat, however that did not prove to be an accurate projection. Mark and Carol off the boat “Grateful” were leaving in a couple of hours for the overnight Gulf crossing. Tom and I had already decided to go the Big Bend route (daylight travel and closer to shore) but we weren’t too excited about waiting another week so we took the plunge and proceeded to secure every item that could possibly fly through the cabin. Decorations, glassware, books, galley equipment, TV’s, tables and chairs, deck chairs, coolers, dinghy, bicycles boat poles, etc. All of this in about a 1-1/2 hours before a 3:00 P.M. departure.

I’m not sure how to describe the next 21 hours. Since we left at 3:15 P.M we had two daylight hours and the seas appeared to be 1-2 feet. I think it was around midnight when they changed to 3’-5’? seas. Since it was dark you couldn’t see the waves but I held the arms of my chair and my feet were hooked around the foot rest to stay in my seat.. Julie Groves once shared her experience of a rough gulf ride and recommended a cooler on the bridge so you wouldn’t need to go below for food or beverages. Even though I thought this was going to be a calm ride, I’m glad I followed her advice. When one of us had to move around you ALWAYS had at least one hand secured to a rail or safety bar at all times and kept talking as you moved to assure the other that you were okay. We shared driving duties one hour on one hour off through the night. Somehow we managed to take cat naps and finally around 4:00 am the seas calmed down. Then what we wanted was sunrise and it finally came at 6:30 One phrase around the boating community that is quite accurate “The boat can handle the seas a lot better than you can”

At daybreak, I noticed a crab pot float trailing our boat. Fortunately it was only the float and line (not the cage) and wherever it was attached to the boat it wasn’t hindering the boat performance. Once we were in neutral, Tom managed to hook the line with a boat pole and pull the loose end into the boat. He cut the float and much to my dismay didn’t keep it. Hurrah! the sun is up and we can see where we are going but only temporarily since the fog had set in. The fog came and went not once but 5 different times so that we had to use radar to locate our companion boat.
There must be a dozen marinas to choose from as you travel up the Anclote River. We tied up at “The Landing at Tarpon Springs” around 12:30. We’re absolutely exhausted but the boat was totally encrusted with salt water from the 21 hours of Gulf of Mexico spray. We both dug in, soap scrubbed the boat and rinsed from top to bottom. I put the inside of the boat back in order. When that was accomplished we went to Captain Jacks for lunch and then a well deserved nap. I’m glad I have had the experience of the Gulf crossing but if I have to make the decision again, it will be daylight travel around the big bend. We made it, the boat performed well, and the crossing is behind us. An experience we will never forget and have fun telling the story over again.

We were given a preformance of 10 dolphins all leaping out of the water at the same time right in front of our boat. Maybe that made it all worthwhile.