Connie and I are setting out for the Bahamas next week

[Wayne Howard]

Leaving Pensacola on Monday after the front comes through.
Track us here Inreach Tracker

No points yet but turning on tracker Friday afternoon while we shakedown.

[Captain Kidd]

Leaving Pensacola on Monday after the front comes through.
Track us here Inreach Tracker

No points yet but turning on tracker Friday afternoon while we shakedown.

This is exciting! Have a great trip; we'll be following. Hope you can post some pics.

[Captain Kidd]

4:35 a.m. this morning

some nasty stuff out to the west!


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[Norm L.]

I just viewed the latest getting close to Clearwater.
Making the jump from Carabelle to the Clearwater area during the winter can be more exciting than one would like.
You need to judiciously pick a weather window.

We are familiar with a few inland tugs where they and/or their barge didn't make it.  Crossing at under 10 kts opens the window.

[rfrance0718]

Fantastic! Looks like another 5 hours into the barriers North of Clearwater? Hope is was a smooth sail! Looks like 10 kts going downhill right now? I'm familiar with your route down to Fort Myers or so. Very interested in your route from there to Bahamas. Thanks for keeping us abreast.

[Wayne Howard]

OMG. Carabelle to Tarpon Springs was nearly a disaster. All the weather sites we looked at said 15-17 knots of north wind. What we saw Monday night was 36 knots at the masthead. 6-8 foot seas. But we survived. It's a BEER story now. 

[rfrance0718]

I see that you have left Gulfport behind. What is your destination for this hop? Are you going all the way to the keys, or stopping along the way? We'll be by Fort Meyers on Wednesday, we'll wave if yiu are passing by.

[Wayne Howard]

We left Gulfport headed for Venice. But the winds and waves slammed us so much we would not make Venice before two days. So we ducked into Brandenton and Manatee River. It's gorgeous here. We actually saw manatee where we are. But we have decided this is as far south as we are going this year.  So once the weather settles down here, we are going to head back towards Pensacola. Stopping in Tarpon Springs and waiting for the perfect weather window before making the jump to Apalachicola. A day, a week, or two weeks. So don't expect daily moves from us.

[Krusen]

 
Well, you and Connie took care of the adventure box being checked off early in the trip, so now is the time to check boxes for relaxation and easy days.

Best wishes for a better weather window for the second crossing of the big bend this time.

There is a lot to enjoy where you are, and a few short sails bring many more.  Manatee's swimming around you is a special treat.  My wife and I spent a number of very pleasant days around there traveling by car or plane.  One trip had a week in a modern condo on the beach, mostly good weather, at Thanksgiving.

Take it easy, and enjoy the stay.

Norman

[rfrance0718]

It sounds like you've had a great time! I love Gulfport Municipal Marina and you could pull into Calidasi State Park on your way by. That's a really nice marina and you basically get the Island to yourself at night.

[Captain Kidd]

It sounds like you've had a great time! I love Gulfport Municipal Marina and you could pull into Calidasi State Park on your way by. That's a really nice marina and you basically get the Island to yourself at night.

I've not been to as many places as many of you, but I have been sailing to Caladesi Island. The marina is nice and the beach is listed as one of the best in the country. You can almost have miles of lovely beach to yourself.

Wayne, not sure why your plans changed, but wishing you the best for the return trip. Be safe and have fun!

[Wayne Howard]

I know I'm really late answering this. Once we got down to Gulfport, we kept running across the same theme from the people we met. "The weather this year is not normal." And the forecasts kept being all wrong for us to continue. East winds in the morning clocking around to south and then west by mid day. Plus the earlier storm knocked us down pretty hard. And every time we attempted to go further south, the wind and waves conspired to drag our forward speed to less than 3 knots meaning we would arrive at the next inlet after dark. And just as we decided to abort this trip, One of Connie's single sons was hit with a medical condition that was not life threatening but he needed someone to bring him back and forth to medical facilities as he was too groggy from pain medicines and lack of sleep to drive himself. Plus we had a schedule to kinda keep with Connie's oldest son and we thought we would get back in time for that and also the Friday night skippers meeting for BEER. Alas, that fell through also and we had to return before we were ready to call it quits.

We waited in Tarpon Springs for a weather window and finally got a forecast of south and southeast winds at a favorable wind speed. Yeah, Right! Really light winds out of Tarpon Springs from the southeast turned out to be northwest about halfway across to Apalachicola. We hit Government Cut with light winds and an outgoing tide and no channel markers. I had a CJ forward looking sonar set up on the boat and I spent about an hour casting out in front of the boat to see if the cork would float correctly or lay on it's side. Which it did one time but we found deeper water right away and headed that direction.

And finally, Connie really isn't an ocean sailor. The constant rocking wears her out and the Normally Wrong Service doesn't predict the wind change to west when you're trying to go west, like it did 3 days in a row. By the time we made the cut at Pensacola, I had joined her in the dislike of the Gulf of Mexico waves and weather. And we've decided our cruising grounds stretch from Mobile Bay (which is just as dirty as Galveston Bay) east to Navarre Beach. Due to the low bridge at Navarre Beach, we can't go any further east than that. But we are keeping the boat and using it in Pensacola Bay and the surrounding waters for the foreseeable future.

[Krusen]

Wayne and Connie, I admire your patience and persistence in the face of adversity.  Your voyage took a turn to the bad side, you complain, and then enjoy where you are, while watching for the suitable weather to continue.

No suitable weather comes your way, you watch for weather to get back home, and succeed in safely returning.  Truly, you are winners in the adventure of life.

I know many people who are in better physical condition than you, who stay home and complain of the unfairness that they are not fully healthy.  To put that in proper perspective, my wife and I are now living in a senior community, so everyone is old.  Some of the people here are similar to you and Connie.  I have started participating in the Italian bowling game called bocce.  I am unsteady on my feet, and use a cane for safety.  A 93 year old lady insists on handing me my next ball, even though I tell her I am OK with getting my own.  Unfortunately, she is right, my knees get wobbly in the second game, I have to quit.  I still go back another day, but limit to one game.

I am very pleased that you are still planning to sail in protected waters.  My wife strongly disliked the motion of the sailboat at anchor, but I found it soothing, providing a great night's sleep.  A friend who had a sailboat would invite me to take an evening sail with him, and as soon as the channel was cleared, would lie down and go to sleep.  Such invitations were always light to moderate wind days, tacking did not threaten to dump him off the seat.  We sailed together up until a few years before he died a normal death in his 90's.

Keep us advised of your adventures, may there be many more. 

Boatless KRUSEN , 90 and still enjoying life.