roweboatadventures: CARRABELLE to ST. PETE BEACH HOME / Thursday to Friday, November 10-11 (Days 293-294)

Admiral's Log: 3:35 pm, 11/10/16
Air Temp: 69 Water Temp: 68
Winds: 5 mph
Speed: 9.8 mph

The big day has arrived. Can't believe we are going to be home by this time tomorrow! Our plan was not to leave until the afternoon and Mike was getting itchy to get going. We were like horses smelling the barn. So we took off around 2 and did a little fishing, but had no luck. Finally around 3:30, the other boats started to arrive. Mike was to lead the 3 faster boats and Eddy was to lead the rest. Eighteen boats gathered at Red Marker 2 and off we went.

The rendezvous spot, Red Marker 2

Leaving for the crossing of the Gulf

I think we were all a little anxious, but none more than us, since we will be crossing our wake at the end. The seas started our pretty smooth, around 1-2 feet. But around 11 pm they started getting quite choppy, around 2 to 4 feet and occasional 5 and 6 footers, which continued until about 5 am. It did not bother us much because our boat is so heavy. But we heard Sandy on Chica had gotten sick and Gabby on Crazy Love was not feeling too good either. We all agreed on an alternate VHF channel to keep in contact with each other. Once midnight approached we decided to check in with each other at the top of the hour to make sure someone was awake.

And...we're off.

We all have radar and autopilot; which is similar to cruise control, but you don't even have to steer. Someone needs to keep an eye out for fog, other boats, unusual lights etc. Eddy said he and his wife take 2 hour shifts, but they have done this crossing 7 times. I think we were just too keyed up and nervous, so neither of us could sleep. I think we slept an hour each. Plus we had some kind of shaft seal leak and one of our bilge pumps (pump out water) came on every 2-4 minutes. That' a good thing, but we needed to make sure it kept coming on. So that was another thing that kept us awake. We really did not even eat. Needless to say it was a long and nerve racking night!

Crazy Love took this of Rowe Boat as the sun was setting.

Last sunset on our Loop.

We ended up with 4 boats in our group; us, Crazy Love was heading to Madiera Beach, Chica was going to our yacht club and we picked up Tiger a catamaran going to Clearwater. We had a beautiful sunrise, 73 degrees and a big sigh of relief knowing we were almost home and had survived the dreaded Gulf Crossing! Tiger shot off earlier for Clearwater and the rest of us dodged crab pots and went into John's Pass where Crazy Love crossed their wake at Madiera Beach and we led Chica to Pasadena Yacht and Country Club.

Our last sunrise on the Loop

Crazy Love crossing their wake.

I called our neighbor Tricia to take photos of us pulling into our dock where we crossed our wake at 10:50 am on Friday, November 11. I was a little teary, it was an emotional day. I'm sure part of it was lack of sleep, but to think of where we've been and what we've accomplished was a little overwhelming. The best word to describe our feelings at that moment....bittersweet.