Leaving Dog Island

It was a 22 hour ordeal  that  we waited almost two week  for–but we finally made it across the Gulf.    Ed the weather guy had this weather prediction for December 31st: despite this morning’s rain and the cloudy skies all afternoon, waves in the Gulf should settle down by departure time (after 3 p.m.) to two feet or less.  Wind should be negligible throughout the night; wave direction off the quarter bow for most of the route; occasional light rain will help keep the water quiet.  Don’t forget to take a lat/long fix at midnight so you can brag about where you were when 2016 kicked off!   He made an error- The waves were 3 plus for most of the day and well into the night- not the trip I had envisioned.   We did have a brief shower, some fog, humidity close to 100% and because it was overcast- no moon.  It was as if you were driving blind for 13 hours and never knew when the next wave or swell was going to hit.  Andy drove almost the full time, although I did stay awake and kept  him company.  During the first leg of the trip I ended up a little sea sick from all the bouncing – so I was immobilized and afraid to move-  I may have got a demotion from Admiral to deck hand, based on this behaviour.

At midnight; we were at Latitude 28^o58.507 and Longitude 83 ^o43.961,   71.5 miles and 314 ^o  from Tarpon Springs- so almost at the 1/2 way point. There ended up being  7 boats in our group  : Miss Hattie, Dream Catcher, Priority, Hush a bye, Bucket list and Kilt Drifter, as well as ourselves,on the Gulf of Mexico.  I don’t need to repeat this New Year’s tradition- ever!.  I did miss our usual New Year’s eve – having dinner with friends and babysitting the grandson, and then barbecued burgers for lunch on New Year’s day.

Once we got to our slip we went for showers and then met the AGLCA Harbour Host- Herb Seaton, who welcomed us to Tarpon Springs.  We callled family and then we went for afternoon naps, and  will be going  over to Dream Catcher’s for new Year’s dinner, and champagne.  Tomorrow we will be getting together with Keith and Patricia Pierce, who live in Newport Richey   and boat with us in Winnipeg Beach back home.  We plan to go for lunch and get some provisions for the next leg of the trip.

Sun Rise on the Gulf of Mexico  at 7:25 January 1, 2016