The Gulf Crossing - Dec 6-7

We made it!! Thanks for all the prayers for warm weather and calm seas. We should added fog to the list! 

Saturday morning we left Port St. Joe Marina at 7am. Dean the Harbor Host came into work early to send us off. He brought us our morning newspaper along with a jar of local honey! Impressive! 

Our journey began by cruising 5 miles up the canal back to the Intracoastal Waterway. Along the way a man on shore waved and yelled to get our attention. He asked that when we came to the small floating house a quarter mile up stream that we tell Larry to come and pick up Chip. After yelling and blowing our horn, we finally woke up Larry and gave him the message. Mission accomplished.

As we turned onto the Intracoastal we began to notice fog. The fog continued to build. Upon entering Lake Wimico (a 5 mile shallow lake with a narrow channel cut through it) the fog was THICK! So thick we had a small local fishing boat follow us across as we used our chart plotter and radar to make our way to the other end. We then continued 10 more miles along the Intracoastal to Apalachicola Marina fuel dock where thankfully our friends were waiting for us to meet up with them. They had to yell and whistle for us to locate them in the fog. We filled up with gas and left the dock around noon. 

 We traveled 25 miles through another marked channel of St. George Sound. (more fog) We turned through East Pass and entered the Gulf. The fog cleared as we went through the Pass. Within a half hour the fog was back to stay. We charted our coast for Clearwater Beach and were on our way. 

We traveled with 5 other boats - Twelve Stones, Endeavor, Dream Fever, Akasha and Ithaca.

We traveled single file staying close enough to keep visual contact of eachother's lights. Radar was essential all the way as the fog was thick from 1pm until 4am. We all checked in with each other hourly on the radios to make sure all was well and that we were staying awake. This also helped make the hours click away faster.  The waters remained calm throughout the night and occasionally we would get a glimpse of the full moon.  As daylight came the winds picked up and so did the waves.  The last 25 miles we had 19 knot winds and 2-3 feet following seas. (we rocked and rolled, but not uncomfortable) It was a cloudy morning which made it easier to avoid the crab pot markers as we approached Clearwater. We a were greeted by 20-30 dolphins - love these guys! 

We were exhausted but happy once we were docked the Clearwater Beach Marina by noon on Sunday. After celebrating with a big lunch with the group, we returned to the boat for a nap. 

We had a surprise call from Robert, our mechanic checking to see how the boat ran - what a great guy! The Pura Vida and it's new transmission purred like a kitten throughout our 29 hour, 227 mile day.

The crossing has been on our mind since departing Grand Haven so we are thankful and happy to have it behind us.

 "Larry...go pick up Chip down river!"

 Intracoastal - fog building

 Endeavor departing Apalachicola.

 Twelve Stones heading out.

 Nap time on the helm during the night.

 Windy morning.

 Crab pot markers.

 Land in sight! Clearwater here we come!