Water, water, and more water!
25 January 2013 | Clearwater, Florida
Beverly and Ralph/sunny and warm
Don't freak out! There is no problem with our boat.
We left C-Quarters Marina at around 8:30 am, waiting for the tide. After checking weather over and over, we just had to make a run for Clearwater. Take pity on us Neptune! Once we made our way out to St. George Sound, Ralph checked the engine for diesel leaks. No problem there. He then raised the mainsail, and we motored our way out through East Pass, into the Gulf of Mexico. We cleared the pass at about 10 AM.
Things looked good as we motor-sailed our way on the rhumbline. The wind was from the west, and some increasing swell as well. It did start getting very rolly around 25 miles into our crossing. The winds and waves began to increase, and we were making some great time, reaching 7.9 knots of boatspeed. This was going to be a quick trip, much quicker than our estimated 30 hours.
Beverly was nervous, but did a great job handling the boat after a little coaching. It was a bit tiring steering the boat, as we have no autopilot. Fortunately, things calmed down after about 5 or 6 hours, because we both would have been even more exhausted than we already are after the 164 nm passage (145 of those offshore).
We watched a beautiful sunset with nothing in sight but water...water...and more water. It was mostly clear, and an almost full moon. It was a very long, but beautiful evening. We each took turns at the helm, as the other went below for some much needed rest and to warm up. We did 2 hour watches, and that worked well for our first crossing with no autopilot.
The wind totally dropped off during the night, so our little Yanmar didn't get a break. By sunrise, it was amazing to see the smooth, rippled surface on the Gulf. Beverly had seen photos and read of other cruisers that had crossed the Gulf in these condition, and claimed it was a MYTH! Now she has her own photos of these conditions. To quote SNL, "Never mind!"
Wildlife seen: several dolphins along the way (even at night), a manatee this morning, and a lazily floating small sea turtle just off the coast of Clearwater.
We arrived here at the Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina around 1 pm today. It looks like a nice place. Ralph says that it sure is a contrast to the rustic look of Carrabelle. Also, rather than being a laid back place, there is so much activity here.
Beverly says we are tired because although we rested between watches we were too keyed up to sleep more than an hour or two, so we're especially happy to be here! We were able to clean up and walk just to the end of the marina for an early dinner of "real food" (since we had survived on sandwiches).
Now we have options if we wish to travel. If the weather looks good, we can go offshore. If not, we can go via the ICW. The big thing is that we can now work our way down to the Keys, and on to the Bahamas.
Here's a picture of the not-so-mythical calm seas.