April 2014

Missy and I headed back to Ft. Meyers with the van on April 21^st.  Darrell and I are going to a Commercial Vehicle Training Association conference in St. Petersburg the 24^th, 25^th, and 26^th.  It is also Missy’s Birthday on the 24^th.  Darrell and Julie flew into Ft. Meyers the afternoon of the 23^rd and we met them at the airport. 

Thursday April 24^th, Missy’s 55^th Birthday.  We all drove up to St. Petersburg first thing in the morning (8AM is mid morning for me).  Darrell and I went to the morning conference meetings and then we all had lunch at the marina in St. Pete.  I went back to the conference and Darrell hung out with the girls.  We drove back to Ft. Meyers and had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. 

I had a diver clean the bottom first thing Friday morning (25^th) then we ran over to Ft. Meyers Yacht Basin to fuel (136 gal at 2738.5 HRS).  We left Ft. Meyers at 11:20 and headed down river to the Gulf ICW.  Lots and lots of boats…it was like Lake Minnetonka!  We wanted to stop at Cabbage Key but they were at capacity with a fishing tournament.  Charlotte Harbor was nice and calm so Missy was very comfortable.  We picked up some dolphins toward the end of the harbor and they entertained the group.  I timed the swing bridge at Bocha perfectly for a 4:30 opening.  Then we arrived at Palm Island Marina at 5:15.  The dock hands were very helpful as we had a stiff breeze blowing us into the dock.  2744.3 HRS.  Dinner at the restaurant at the marina.

April 26^th  We left Palm Island at 6:55 and arrived at Gulfport Municipal Marina at 4:15.  Nice day on the water…very warm when we docked as the breeze while traveling kept it comfortable.  Darrell and I took a cab to the St. Pete airport and picked up a rental car.  We drove back to the marina and picked up the girls, then drove to Ft. Meyers to get the van.  Then we took the rental car back to the Ft. Meyers airport.  Dinner at Applebees on the way back to Gulfport.  Back on the boat at midnight.

April 27^th.  Up at 7am – Lots to do to get ready for our crossing of the Gulf of Mexico tonight.  Darrell helped me fix the nav lights.  Washed and pumped up the dingy (life raft!).  I hooked up the night vision camera.  Missy and Julie went to town to provision.  Darrell, Julie, and I left the dock at 11:45.  Missy is driving the van and will meet us the next day in Port St. Joe.

The weather is acceptable for the crossing…not perfect but well within the safe range.  We got waked significantly on the way to Clearwater in the GICW.  There are some real clowns driving boats in Florida!  We stopped at the Clearwater Municipal Marina for fuel….73.8 gal 2757.5 HRS.

We are off!  Left the fuel dock at 3:30 and crossed under the bridge into the Gulf at 4PM.  Darrell and Julie have the first watch from 4 to 8PM.  I took over watch at 8PM for four hours.  There were several boats around….beautiful sunset, mile chop.  Darrell and Julie took over at Midnight.  I came back on watch at 4AM.  Julie went below right away but Darrell stayed on the bridge with me until 5:30…he wanted to see the sunrise.  It was a little cloudy so he went below before it came up.  The wind started to pick up around 6AM (just as predicted) and the waves built to 2 feet.  At sunrise (7AM) it picked up even more and the sea built to 3 feet.  I increased speed to try to smooth out the ride but the sea was confused so it did not help much.  It was difficult to maintain a steady heading.

Darrell and Julie came up around 8:30.  I stayed at the helm until we made it in through East Pass and rejoined the Intercoastal at 10AM.  Darrell took the helm while I took a nap for an hour.  He stayed at the helm all the way to the canal heading to Port St. Joe.  We arrive at 3:45 with an easy tie up at the end of their dock.  2782.1 HRS.  Washed the boat, took a shower, had dinner at the marina restaurant and hit the sack.  Good trip!  Nice Marina!

April 29^th, slept in to 7AM.  Big storms – tornado warnings!  I took the bimini down and prepped for some wind.  We received tornado warnings on our cell phones so we took shelter at the marina building.  At noon we took Darrell and Julie to Panama City to get a rental car so they could drive home.  Back to the boat and did laundry while eating shrimp and drinking wine at the marina restaurant!

April 30^th…lazy day…raining and thunderstorms all day.  We drove to Mobile AL late afternoon to pick Rachael up at the airport.  Returned to the boat at 1:15AM.