Will there be a Gulf crossing?
Things are falling into place at the Moorings Marina in Carrabelle, Fl. About one o'clock in the morning, our son, Nick arrived after flying down from Minnesota. He will share captain duties with Steve on Dream Chaser. It was a quick night's sleep!
Today, is the day of the Gulf crossing! Who will go? Who will stay? Boaters from eight looper boats met at the Moorings Marina breakfast room at about 7:30 am discussing the conditions of the crossing. The group weighed the information from Buddy, the marina's local Gulf crossing expert, and the reports from Tom Conrad, AGLCA's crossing expert. Anticipating an immediate departure, Mary “battened down the hatches” on Dream Chaser for a possibly rough crossing. By 9:30 am, the decision was made. There would be two AGLCA looper boats and one non looper boat leaving from Carrabelle: Tom on Tomfoolery (a 32' Carver), Dream Chaser, and Jim on the Grey Fox ( a 42' Silverton). The group planned to meet Bob (coming from Apalachicola) on Bar-B (a 47’ Nova Scottie) at the pass by Dog Island. God Speed!
Most of the boating group made the decision to remain at Carabelle until the weather window widened. Some of the boaters are nervous because they have animals aboard or are non-trawler type boats, and most lack stabilizers (specially designed fins on the bottom of the boat that counteract wave motion). One gentleman is thinking of running for mayor because he’s been in Carabelle waiting for a weather window for so long. We were told that it has been a terrible year for Gulf crossings because of limited windows for comfortable crossings. Some very disappointed loopers!
As Dream Chaser motored out of the harbor at Carrabelle, Mary pointed the rental car for Tampa with plans to finish laundry and gather provisions before Dream Chaser arrives in Clearwater/Tampa, FL, tomorrow.
THE GULF CROSSING!
Wednesday, December 18
Captains Steve and Nick reported that the Gulf crossing from Carrabelle, FL to Clearwater, FL took 21 hours from dock to dock. Dream Chaser was directed by auto pilot during 99% of the crossing with monitoring by the captains in three hour shifts. They noted that the regular radio stations worked fine all along the way even at fifty miles from shore. As they motored south, the balmy waters warmed the air to t-shirt weather temps (70 degrees), and they drove through the night from the open upper helm for better visibility. The north winds, from the stern, gave them a boost of one extra mph which put Dream Chaser at 8 1/2 to 9 mph. The waves were 1-2 ft until they neared Tampa, at which point, they increased to about 3 ft. Captain Steve was very happy that Dream Chaser had the stabilizers engaged!
Captain Nick loved driving the boat and, also, photographed and videotaped numerous dolphins as they swam and performed along side and often in front of the boat- off the bow wave.
Nick took this picture off the anchor pulpit of Dream Chaser. The dolphins are guiding Dream Chaser to warmer waters.
About 50 miles out from Tampa, the city lights began to appear. About 40 miles out, a cruise ship was heading out to sea. About 20 miles from Tampa, the dreaded crab pots began appearing, but the captains counted only about 30 pots. The crab pots are a boaters nightmare! The captains have to watch for little floats that mark a crab pot. Most boaters only pass through this section of the crossing in the daylight-in order to see the floats. However, our group of boats had left a few hours early due to the weather window (to stay within the weather donut), so it is dark while they are passing through this section. If the waves are too high or it's dark, the floats are often not visible. Once a boat's prop gets tangled in the ropes from a crab pot, well, you have no engine power and the ropes must be cut off the props. This means you are not going anywhere until a diver clears the ropes! You need your engine operating! Dream Chaser has metal cutters in front of the props to clip ropes and cables up to 1/2 inch thick, if they get near the props. Very few boats have cutters.
All the boats in our group successfully completed the crossing! As the group of boats entered the ICW, they split and headed to slips at different marinas. So nice to have Nick man the lines as Steve slipped Dream Chaser into her slip for a rest. We've enjoyed having Nick join us for a few days and know he has had a great time and enjoyed the warm weather!
With the completion of the Gulf crossing, our celebration consisted of enjoying the warm day, taking a long nap, and sharing an early dinner at the Cuban Breeze, a highly recommended Cuban restaurant south of Dunedin, FL.
Following dinner, Captain Nick, reluctantly, caught a flight back to COLD Minnesota leaving Florida with temp's in the 70's.
Thursday, December 19
We had visitors today!
About 10 am, Rick and Susan joined us for breakfast, a walk on the beach, and a tour of Dream Chaser. They are experiencing Florida, visiting friends, and escaping the Minnesota COLD!
About 1:30 pm, Dan and Mary (visiting Florida from Minnesota) drove from Ft. Meyers just to visit with us and see Dream Chaser. They are spending two weeks in Ft. Meyers and their family will be joining them for Christmas. How wonderful!
For an early dinner, we found a funky, seafood restaurant called, The Thirsty Marlin. This local favorite appears to have undergone ten additions and has corresponding irregular floor levels-lots of personality! The friendly staff served up yummy calamari, fish tacos and great times!
As the sun was lowering in the sky, we headed to Honeymoon Beach to watch the sunset. It was spectacular!
So nice to be on this side of the Gulf when we start the New Year!
Jesus is the reason for the season!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Enjoy the Tampa sun.
ReplyDeletePhil
Congrats on a successful crossing!!
ReplyDelete-Joel
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