Feb 27-29 Crossing the Gulf

The first pic shows 3 boats, (Trip Time, BlueSkies, Ookpic) waiting for a weather window to cross the Gulf from Carabelle to Tarpon Springs.  That weather window came on 2/28 as Buddy was coaching us to leave at 1pm that day in order to arrive at 11 am the next day (2^nd pic).   We were anxious to get underway since we had been in Carrabelle for 5 nights just waiting for the weather window.  The third pic shows our triage leaving Carrabelle harbor promptly at 1pm.   It was a long night.  The waves were about 3 ft and breaking over the bow most of the night.  Christine and I took 2 hour shifts at the helm.  The next pic shows the darkness on the Gulf, but you can see a stern light from Trip Time if you look closely.  We welcomed the sunrise in the morning (next pic) and arrived at Turtle Cove marina around noon on 2/29.   It was a lazy afternoon in Tarpon Springs for us after making the crossing.