If you remember my previous post I was disappointed that we did not cross and was questioning the decision.
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Looks benign even pretty but we still sit here in Apalachicola. We did get excited Tuesday evening as a bunch (6-7) of Loopers decided that they were going to cross this morning. The wave and wind forecasts seemed to improve although still marginal. They all left but Carlton and I heeded the advice of an expert who has monitored the Gulf daily on behalf of all Loopers for many years:
"The Gulf was not real comfortable yesterday, at times the waves were over 3 feet with winds almost to 20 knots. Today will be slightly worse. My recommendation is to stay in port and enjoy a few more days in the Panhandle."
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Here is an update from a friend who made the trip.
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Tom,
It was THE most terrifying experience of my life!!
We actually had our life jackets on at one time.
The forecast was for 1-2 feet waves and 5-10 k winds. The waves were much bigger than that ( some said as high as 8 feet) and the wind was around 20kts.
Going east we took the waves on the bow which isn't too bad for our boat. Turning South , the waves hit us on the beam so hard that it threw Gary off the bench ( he was lying down -sick) and more than once threw me out of the chair.
this got worse ( the forecast said it would get better) as the night went on. At 8pm I was so scared I was shaking like a leaf, but I had to keep driving as Gary wasn't able to.
It was very dark, no stars, the only lights were the boats we were travelling with.
Our boat rocked so hard that the oranges in my hanging fruit basket was turned to PULP and where the basket hit the wooden trim strip in the galley it took the varnish right off down to bare wood.In the morning we were 30 miles off shore and because it was over cast we were able to spot the crab pots - they are EVERYWHERE
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I am happy to report my friends are safe.
I am also happy to report that I don't care if anyone called me chicken, we made the right decision.
Smart decision! Yes, I remember well what the dark of night attacked by waves on the beam can mean! Continue to heed fair warnings, my Canadian friend ;-)
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