Sunday, November 18, 2018

Gulf of Mexico Crossing to Clearwater Beach Marina in Clearwater, Florida

Day #138: Well we made it!!!! We are not sure how but we did. The winds were 10-15 from the Northeast with 2-4 foot waves on the port beam which rocked us all night long. All three boats in our group took a beating. "Island Girl" lost a glass shot glass. "Bay Tripper" almost lost their dinghy but they were able to secure the dinghy but lost the gas tank and seat. Our oven door opened and the open coffee canister feel on the floor spilling coffee all over the galley floor. All three boats had boat items spread all over the boats. We will all have "boat bruises" from bumping into the boat when the waves bucked the boat. Mike describes the overnight crossing as "one of the longest nights of his life". We all kept waiting for the waves to decrease. Even when the sun came out and you could see the waves coming at you it was miserable. To add to the very long night 18 miles out from Clearwater the crab pots started to appear. With these you just needed to make sure that you didn't run over them getting them in your prop but they are a floating ball that you can't see very well especially in the sun light. The crab pots are not attached to each other but they are in a line so if you find one there will be another close by. We made it through the crab pots. We were at Clearwater Beach Marina at 10:20 A.M. We were secure in our slip 127 at 11:00 A.M. We traveled 177 miles in 20 hours (2392 total miles total for the trip) As we were tying up coming down the dock was Paul Button and Snickers (his dog). Paul and Snickers live in our condo complex back home but they winter in Clearwater, FL. Paul follows our blog so he knew that we would be arriving today. He saw the boat go by his condo complex so he knew that we had arrived coming down to greet us. Mike and I were both touched as it was great to see a familiar and friendly face especially after the night that we had crossing the Gulf. Paul offered to take us out to dinner so we set 4:30 P.M. dinner date. Mike and I started picking up the boat. At noon both of us were ready to rest so we laid down for about one hour until the firetruck sirens and our boat clunking on that dock woke us up. We both tried to go back to bed but decided that we would get up. We completed most of the boat clean up and showered. Paul picked us up at 4:00 P.M. taking us our to The Original Frenchy's Café were we had grouper sandwiches. Both Mike and I enjoyed catching up with Paul. He was very kind to offer a car if needed. When we returned back to the boat Mike and I spent time with Bruce and Bev decompressing about our Gulf crossing. Mike and I headed back to the boat for Sunday night phone calls and blogging. Mike and I are looking forward to some downtime in Clearwater.
Gulf crossing from Carrabelle, FL to Clearwater, Florida

Snickers cuddled up with Patty in the backseat of Paul's vehicle.
 
We told Paul to pick a restaurant that he enjoyed for dinner so he chose The Original Frenchy's Café.

Paul and Patty at Frenchy's.