Gulf of Mexico Crossing, 11/25 - 11/26

 

The Gulf of Mexico Crossing – Thanksgiving Day 11/25 thru 11/26

I have been dreading this crossing since I first heard about the Loop!  I wasn’t looking forward to the time on the rivers, but THIS was what I dreaded most of all! 

As it turned out, as most things you worry about or dread, the rivers were not anything to concern us.  In fact, there was plenty for us to enjoy!  The small towns, marinas, the several rivers, the surroundings, the wildlife, the dams and locks – it took us six weeks to go from Chicago to Mobile.  We enjoyed it all – it just seemed like the last 200 miles were never ending!

Next up, was crossing the Gulf.  Since we only travel from 8 – 10 miles per hour, the 140 miles from Carrabelle, Florida to Clearwater, Florida, would take about 16 hours.  In this time of year, we only have about 10 hours of daylight. Therefore, some of the trip has to be accomplished in the dark.  Secondly, we did not want to arrive at Clearwater as the sun came up – it would be directly in our eyes and blinding.  The 30 or so miles before arriving at Clearwater Harbor are full of crab traps – we HAVE to be able to see them in order to avoid running over them!  So, we did the math, and decided we needed to leave Carabelle just at dark, 6:00 p.m., set a course on the marker just outside Clearwater Harbor, and get going!

We had several meetings in Carabelle with the other boaters.  We all carefully watched the weather apps we had at our disposal, and the best window was from Thanksgiving Day through the next day.  We were naturally divided into several groups.  There were boats that travel much faster, from 16 – 18 mph.  Then there is our group.  Some were going to Clearwater/Tampa.  Some were taking the shorter trip to Steinhatchee.  I stepped up to collect the information for all the boaters and provided the information to everyone.  The Kittiwake ended up with a group of four boats:  Spinning Dreams, Mizzou-Rah, Aquaholic II, and us.  Dan and I agreed to touch base with every boat every hour at the top of the hour.  I had prepared some trivia questions for the group…

So, that’s how it went.  The water was smooth as glass.  The skies were absolutely clear, and OH MY, the stars!  The moon came out around 11:00, and it was so bright that it pretty much eclipsed most of the stars.  All night, we could see each other’s lights clearly.  We touched base with everyone every hour.  Dan and I switched off at the helm.  I actually slept for almost 2 hours twice during my off periods!  Dan, too conscious of systems, engines, wasn’t able to actually sleep!  By the time it started getting daylight, we could start to see the crab pots.  They weren’t difficult to dodge – you just looked to either side of the first one you saw, and the others on that string became obvious.  We just had to go between them!

We pulled into Clearwater Municipal Marina around 10:30 a.m., and were greeted by some of the folks who had left earlier in the day.  We got all settled, then took a well-deserved nap!

And, of course, the Crossing wasn't the frightening thing that I had worried about!  I wouldn't say it was fun, but it was mainly just tiring.  By the way, unbelievable as it seems to me, I took NO pictures during this time!

I realized later that I never took any pictures during the crossing!  They wouldn’t have been too exciting, but I wish I had taken some as we arrived at Clearwater.