We had been listening intently to our weather advisors as to the window where it would be optimal for our night-time cruise across the Gulf to Dunedin. Originally we had thought we would be leaving Tuesday, but the weather window turned out to be a slim one, so on the spur of the moment we agreed that our best option would be to join the numerous other boats planning to make the crossing on Monday. Not knowing when another weather window would present itself, we fueled up and left oyster heaven behind.
We left with Blue Willow and headed through the intracoastal waterway to the place near Carrabelle, FL where we joined two other buddy boats (Charis - Ken & Ann and Infinite Sea - Paul & Stephanie), plugged in our Dunedin waypoint, engaged the auto pilot and embarked on our 21 hour trip across the open water. For the first part of the trip, the Gulf was pretty calm, but around midnight or 1:00 a.m. we were shaken from our reverie and the waves increased. Although a big uncomfortable for us, it wasn't dangerously rough and luckily the waves were pushing us along rather than hitting us on the beam.
Because we would be traveling for 21 hours and throughout the night, we planned to take turns sleeping and watching the helm. In addition, buddy checks via radio were scheduled every half hour among the 4 boats in our group to be sure everyone was o.k. and alert. Five boats had left around noon from Carrabelle (boats traveling around 7 mph), we four boats left around 2:00 p.m. (traveling around 8 mph) and five boats left around 5:00 p.m (traveling 10 mph) to make the trip. By the time daylight dawned, all boats had caught up to one another and we were traveling and communicating by radio as one big fleet.
Our strategy in traveling the hours we did was based on the need to be near our destination after daylight, mid-morning, to be able to see the many crab pots scattered throughout our path which could pose serious damage if we had an unexpected encounter with one or more of them. Thankfully, the trip went flawlessly for us and only 2 of the boats in the entire group had minor crab pot damage.
It was quite a journey...gorgeous sunset, spectacular moon-rise, incredibly full and bright starry night sky, a beautiful sunrise, sunny sky, warm breeze, and a welcoming marina - Marker 1 in Dunedin, FL.
Once we settled into our slip we took naps for a couple of hours to catch up many hours of lost sleep the night before. We ate dinner, went for cocktails with fellow Loopers and came back to the boat to crash for a long night of sleep.
After catching up on laundry and some boat projects we went with Mark & Vicki on a bike ride to downtown Dunedin where we ate dinner and enjoyed conversation and MUCH laughter. There is a great bike trail in this area and future days will bring bike rides to Tarpon Springs and Honeymoon Island. We will be here until after December 1, so will hopefully become familiar with the many things this area has to offer. SO FUN!!!
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| The last bit of sand we will see for 21 hours...the entrance to the Gulf near Carrabelle |
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| Officially in the Gulf, very calm |
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| Charis, one of our buddy boats |
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| Sunset, closing the first few hours of our journey... and then the sunrise, a welcome sight telling us that our long trip was coming to its conclusion |
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| Bridge to Honeymoon Island, just before the entrance to our marina |
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| This sticker was attached to our slip when we pulled into Marker 1 Marina...very welcoming place!! |
Thanks for sharing your gulf crossing experience - we are just a little jealous. Hope we see you before December 1! John and Kathy on Serenity
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