Crossing The Gulf of Mexico

 

 I was not looking forward to it, but there was no way around it...

It took us 26 non-stop hours to go from Apalachicola, Florida (in the Panhandle) to Dog Island (off Carrabelle) and then across the Gulf of Mexico to Dunedin, Florida (just North of Clearwater). Dolphins played in our wake on our way to Dog Island where were met up with our crossing buddy boats.

Dolphins beside us

Dolphins are way cool!

A baby looking at Marti

You could practically touch them

Fortunately, we had our good friend and experienced blue-water sailor, Jim Isler on board to help us. He and Pete alternated 3-hour watches and I, having shown in the past my utter inability to stay awake on an over night passage, was relegated to stewardess status and spent the night periodically handing out food and drink in between naps. Marti, Jim's wife, unfortunately had commitments back home and had to leave us at Panama City two days before the crossing.

Jim & Marti Isler came all the way from Colorado to join us

For the crossing, we buddied up with three other looper boats: "Carol Anne," "It's Alwyas 5 O'Clock" and "Journey" (a power catamaran). It was comforting to see their lights and be able to talk to them on the radio throughout the night. There were many other small floatillas of loopers doing the crossing that night (we could sometimes see their lights way off in the distance) because it was the last good weather window until after Thanksgiving Day, more than a week away. A weather window, is a period of relatively calm water and no storms, that is long enough for a slow looper boat to make the crossing.
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Carol Anne at Dog Island the rendezvous point

Journey at Dog Island

The floatilla

Journey at sunset

Pete said the sunrise was spectacular. Jim and I slept through it (in separate cabins).

We arrived in Dunedin early afternoon and slept for a few hours, then went out with our fellow loopers to celebrate everyone's safe crossing of the Gulf. We also celebrated "It's Always 5 O'Clock's" crossing of their wake (finishing the loop). We first met them at the Northern end of Lake Champlain back in early June and from then  on, frequently encountered them. It will be strange to not see them at docktails.

Dawn

Approaching Dunedin

Celebration dinner at Hella's Greek Restaurant in Tarpon Springs

Margie and Rick from "Journey"

Margie, on "Journey," grew up in tiny, obscure, upstate, Cobleskill, New York where I grew up. She went to my high school and her younger sister, Karen Davis, was in my class.SMALL WORLD, huh?

Al (on the right) from "It's Always 5 O'Clock" and Arch (on the left). Arch  is doing the loop singlehandedly on "KaJen" named after his daughters.We've been encountering him off and on since Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving. We are sharing it with our friends, Bob and Loretta from "Carol Anne," and Hiromi and Mike, from "Off Leash," in a house near Tarpon Springs being loaned to Bob by old friends.We are thankful for our safe passage so far on this journey and for our new good friends.





snfsnf,snsff