Success - We Conquered the Gulf of Mexico

Linda was really worried about the crossing but now it is behind us and will be another memory of our travels. We were up at 5 AM but it was no big deal because we had both been awake for a couple of hours and tossing and turning the rest of the night. There was frost on the fore deck for the second day in a row. We hosed it down. You can do that here in the south, even with water from the bay or river. Water temp is 67 F even in the panhandle. We pulled out just before 7 about 20 minutes before sun rise. The Bay and Gulf were both nice and flat when we started out but when we cleared Dog Island waves were about 2-3 feet. They pretty well stayed that way for the day which was not really that bad especially when you compare it to what we had to endure on Lake Michigan.

The worst part of the trip was the crab pots which we encountered as we got closer to Clearwater Pass. Starting at 18 miles from the entrance we had to dodge crab pots. They were all over the place and tough to see. Each fisherman has different coloured floats and some are very difficult to see. My favourite was an aqua sea green colour; it ranked right out there with the older floats that were encrusted with slime and barnacles. Very hard to see in 3 foot seas.

We travelled with another boat, named Finally. There were three persons on board and they did a superb job of spotting and then avoiding the crab pots. It was a tough day but we are all thankful and relieved that we are now in the main part of Florida.

More updates about the missing segments when I get a chance.