Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

November 11, 2013

Normal routine….up at 4:30, motors started about 5:45, away from the marina at 6AM.

 The weather forecast still looks good for a crossing this evening.  I have checked “Sailing Weather”, NOA, and Tom Conrad’s post on Great Loop dot org.  The conditions are as good as they get from noon today to noon tomorrow.  Several cruisers are going to wait out the storm but I believe we have plenty of time to make it with several hours to spare.

We will head out from Carrabelle around 3 or 4 PM and then hit Tarpon Springs at sunrise.

 

Boring morning.  A few things to look at but not much.  Dolphins are not too active, we see them, but they do not join us for frolic in the wake.

  

I came up to pass a sailboat in the ICW and hailed him on the radio but received no answer.  I did transmit I was passing on his port side in case he could hear me but not transmit.  A minute later just as I was about to pass him on the port side, he turns 90 degree to port right across my bow.  I throttled back and it turned out okay….he had started to run into shallow water and out of instinct he made a course correction to get to some decent depth.  Good thing I was awake at the helm!

 

The intracoastal waterway is a ditch for several miles.  Very narrow and lots of debris.  Beautiful sunny day with calm winds so it is very pleasant. 

 

 

 

 

Once we got Apalachicola Bay we got a sense of the conditions as it is a very large bay and exposed. The conditions we good.  I called a couple of marinas in Carrabelle to see if any boats were leaving at that time and was told several had left at noon but none we heading out now.  While we were crossing Apalachicola there were several birds that would fly just above the boat and search for fish.  I can only assume the boat was creating a disturbance that would flush some sort of fish to the surface.  The birds would dive aggressively to the water to catch their prey.  It was very fun to watch.

 

work boat

So we were on our own.  We arrived at “East Pass” right on time at 4PM and turned out into the Gulf of Mexico.  

East Pass leading out to the Gulf of Mexico

We had 1 to 2 foot waves at the beginning, nothing uncomfortable but a little rocky. 

house on barrier island

another barrier island house on the Gulf of Mexico

After 20 miles or so I changed course and heading toward the “Big Bend” to see if things would quiet down.  At 7PM the waves had diminished to 1 foot or less so I changed course again to run straight to Tarpon Springs.  We had a very pretty sunset at sea!!

It was a beautiful night.  Bright half moon until 1:30AM.  

Very bright stars after that.  Some dolphins stopped by around midnight to check us out.  Trick and I traded manning the helm every couple of hours to get some sleep.  We met three or four boats coming the other way.  Everything was working perfectly….the autopilot, the radar, the night vision camera, the chart plotter, everything was spot on.  Speaking of spots, in the middle of the night I noticed the spot locator was flashing red so I assumed it was having a battery issue and I changed batteries.

Spot locator track.

The weather was just as nice as you could want.  

Very comfortable temperature and a slight wind.  It was really perfect.

Just after it started getting light we started seeing crab pots.  I had planned our course to stay out far enough when it was dark to minimize the potential of the pesky pots and then right on schedule they showed up once it was light enough for us to see them.

First light

Sunrise

Charter boat coming out of Tarpon Springs

As we neared Tarpon Springs right on schedule, I made contact with the dockmaster at the Tarpon Springs City Marina and made arrangements to keep the boat there for a month at a very reasonable price.  That taken care of, I made the decision we could still catch our Tuesday flight out of Tampa at 12:15.  That was the original plan but we the delays along the way I was prepared to stay until Sunday.  We really had to rush to get things set to leave but like everything else about this trip, things came together perfectly.

 

Trick and I made the flight with the help of a very fast cab driver.  Nick, the dockmaster at Tarpon Springs was very nice and very helpful.  I will have to do a little housekeeping when we get back in December because we left in such a hurry.

On the way to the airport I called Missy to let her know we were about to get on an airplane at the last moment.  She relayed to me how the spot locator had quit working in the middle of the night…when she noticed that she called the Coast Guard to see if they were aware of any problems.  A Petty Officer assured her that things were just fine as the weather conditions were perfect and there were no reports of any vessels in distress.  He told her to call them back if she did not hear from me by noon on Tuesday.

I feel bad that I worried her but it could not have been too bad as she fell asleep before I had changed batteries and got the locator up and running again.  I had also sent an email to Tom Conrad with the Great Loop organization letting him know our plans along with a link to my locator.  I let him know we had crossed without problems and thanked him for keeping an eye on us.

Again, the night was perfect, with one exception….but Missy is NEVER going to go out so far from shore on anything smaller than a cruise ship.  It really is a satisfying experience to put together a plan and equipment to make something happen that so few experience.  It is simple, really, and experience mariners think nothing of such a journey. But to many inexperienced the fear of the unknown serve as an obstacle.  Too bad, they are missing out on a heck of an experience.

Tarpon Springs

Bottom line, we really do not have control of our lives.  We can plan, prepare, procure, and set things in motion with the best of intentions and goals.  Things have a way of working out just the way they were meant to.  Does that mean we have conquered anything?  I personally don’t think so.  We have simply participated in an opportunity that worked out well and I feel very grateful for that. 

Things could have gone very wrong.  If they had, we would have dealt with it.  As it turned out, things were perfect.  How does the old Doris Day song go???  Que Sera Sera!!  I am also reminded of the Serenity Prayer: 

"Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference."

I first came across the Serenity Prayer when I quit drinking 30 some years ago. I will also never forget that my father had that prayer written on the back of a used envelope that he had given me about that time.  Funny thing is my dad did not have a religious bone in his body but he apparently thought that prayer had some worthwhile lesson for me.  I agree.

I have I dream of doing more things I haven’t done.  I set out to achieve new objectives.  I don’t always get there and I am perfectly okay with those events.  Some of my goals turn out to become realities and I am just as okay with that.  I might gain a little confidence to try an even bigger goal but I am constantly aware of how much I do not and cannot control about life.

My mantra is simply to make the best of every situation.  I put forth my best effort I can.  I seek the best in others.  I am mindful of others and respect every person as my brother and sister. We are all members of one big family on one small little planet.

Life is working out very well for me.  I am grateful and thankful for all of my blessings.

Sailboat in Tarpon Springs

So Trick and I are flying home and then Missy and Rachael and I will fly back to Tampa early December, drive back to the boat and enjoy Florida.  Rachael will fly back after a week and then Missy and I will head to Key West with the boat.  We expect to fly back to Minnesota mid January for the birth of our first Grandchild.....YEA!

That’s all for this part of the journey, check back in a month and Aye Sea No Snow will be on the move again.