November 17/18 2019 – The boat was ready. We were ready. We were in the right place, at the right time, to make the right decision about our 170 mile crossing of the Gulf of Mexico.
Go!
Our friend Greg on TxAu pulled past at 1500, and we pulled out of our (very tight) slip at C-Quarters Marina, and followed him down the river toward Saint George Sound, around Dog Island and out the inlet to the Gulf.
Paddy Wagon and Sea-C-Rider followed At Ease, with quite a few other boats leaving ahead of us, or behind us, on their own schedules during the afternoon.
We four settled in on the designated cruising speed, and gained a comfortable separation of about 1/4 to 1/2 mile between boats so we’d be able to see each other in the darkness and have assured radio communications on the 2-hourly checks we’d agreed upon.
The waves were between 1 and 2 feet, and the boat rode comfortably as we headed initially east for the first hour and a half, toward a marker at which we turned south, and started the long leg to Anclote Key outside Tarpon Springs. The slight swell was behind us at that point, with negligible wind, and everything was going smoothly as we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
After sunset, when it was nearly dark, we had a pod of dolphins come play in our bow-wave for a few minutes, but soon, dusk gave way to a very black night, and we could see nothing other than the lights of the other boats, and the instruments.
Although there were scattered clouds, we were able to see some stars for a while, but as the moon rose, the clouds brightened and we were actually able to discern the surface of the water for most of the rest of the trip.
There was no haze or fog at all, and we had crystal clear view of the lights of boats ahead of us, behind us, and later on, boats that were converging with us from the sides. We could pick up lights 4-5 miles away, and easily keep track of all the boats in the vicinity, aided by radar and AIS.
We took rotating shifts, each taking the helm while the other tried to doze, and that did give us each a little relief rather than trying to stay awake all night.
Chantale was driving when around 5 AM, she encountered the first crab-pots (actually crab-trap floats). These small floats are connected to crab traps on the bottom with rope or cables, which are laid out in lines that are hundreds of feet long; when you see one, there are probably more nearby. You definitely don’t want to get one of these wound around your propeller, so vigilance is key!
We knew that we’d come across these as we got in closer to shore, in depths of ~30 feet, but these were in 52 feet of water (!), so a bit unexpected. She roused Ben, who was asleep on the bench seat in front of the helm, and a ‘fire drill’ quickly ensued. We slowed to a crawl, communicating a warning to the boats behind us, and after bundling up, Chantale went forward with the spotlight to scan the water on our path, to point out the hazards so Ben could alter the course enough to miss them, while staying on the correct general heading.
We were soon back underway at cruising speed, with Chantale at the bow with the light for over an hour, before it was light enough to discern the floats with natural light.
We wound up being on high alert for more than thirty miles, but with very smooth water, and the sun slightly off to one side rather than directly in front of us, the crab-pots were easy to see, and were more an annoyance to avoid, rather than a true risk.
The sunrise was pretty, and we were fortunate that a low layer of clouds shaded us until it was a bit higher in the sky.
As we pulled around Anclote Key, we phoned the marina to find out that we would need to wait an hour or two until several boats had cleared out of the marina in order for us to go to our slip, so we motored up and dropped the hook just across from the channel that leads to Tarpon Springs.
Ahhh! We made it across, and could now relax, get a hot shower, and prepare to enjoy the warmer Florida part of our adventure.
Let the ‘pleasure-boating’ begin!