Ready, Set, GO

I just want to allow everyone to share in our angst tonight and tomorrow. There looks to be a 24 hour window opening on Friday for a comfortable crossing of the Gulf. Linda and I have changed our minds a few times this week on how to do the crossing, what port to depart from and where to go. Earlier in the week we were set on departing from Apalachicola early in the morning and going to Tarpon Springs (we even had reservations made). Then we heard that the docks in Tarpon are too narrow for us to fit into. Now we are going to Clearwater.

Later we learned that departing Apalachicola through Government Cut was a very risky option because the currents are so strong there that the channel is constantly changing sometimes even outside of the buoys. Decision was then made to go to Carrabelle and leave from there. On Tuesday, the weather advisers informed us that the 48 hour window that was predicted is now only 24 hrs and that a daytime crossing was not practical. The safe window was from noon Friday to noon Saturday; So we decided this morning, Thursday, to join the other slow boats and do an overnight crossing at slow speeds; a 20 hour crossing instead of our planned 9 hrs.

This afternoon we learned that if we took a slightly different route closer to the western shore of Florida we could avoid some of the bigger waves in the morning and do a daytime crossing comfortably. So.......as of now we plan on doing the 180 mile Gulf of Mexico crossing in the morning. We will leave at daybreak, 6:30 AM, and if all goes well we should arrive in Clearwater about 4:30 PM. The biggest determining factor in our arrival time will be how easily we can spot and avoid all of the crab pots that scattered all along the shore as we approach Clearwater. We have heard that the crab pots are as far out as 20 miles and are quite numerous. The float for a crab pot is about the size of a soft ball or large grapefruit and could be any colour. Getting one tangled in your prop means that you need to dive under the boat and cut the line to the actual trap on the bottom. One usually has to cut the line that is also wrapped around the propeller and shaft. That is the best case scenario. Last week, a boat that we were travelling with out of Panama City, Dream Catcher, caught one which sheared one of his propeller shafts leaving his propeller in the bottom of the Gulf. He had to drop anchor and wait through the night for a tow boat to get him. Fortunately the shaft was sheared and not ripped out of the boat and no water was coming in.

Well, we have our sandwiches made for lunch tomorrow and the way points figured out. I will drop you a line when we get to Clearwater.