Kim Jo IV: December 17 and 18, 2014 - Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

Thursday, December 18, 2014

December 17 and 18, 2014 - Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

Wednesday AM the 17^th; low tide was at 07:06 so we waited for the tide to come up some before leaving Apalachicola and got going by 10:00. As it was, we only had about 3 feet of water under our props. The water was pretty skinny until we made the 90 degree turn to our port just outside of Apalachicola. After that, all was good. 32 miles later we got to Carrabelle by 13:00. It was a beautiful day and the seas were calm so we put on 200 gallons of diesel and visited with another boat about crossing the Gulf.

Wednesday afternoon on the 17^th and Thursday the 18th: The weather was perfect so we were on our way across the Gulf by 14:45. We went a total of 175 miles in 18 hours. It was a perfect crossing. So good we were able to cut 3 hours off our trip by going straight across from R26 to the marker at Clearwater Harbor. Sun set and sun rise on the Gulf were both beautiful and the night was full of stars. We couldn’t have asked for a better night. When we got to Clearwater at 08:45 we put on another 100 gallons of diesel and got set up in our slip. Keith washed the boat and I took a little nap after putting everything back in place. Later we went for a walk down to the Pier and to one of our favorite restaurants for "Grouper Cheeks" and a drink (or two). Ah, life is good!

N27.97591
W082.82519

CO's comment: In the past we had received weather briefings from Tom Conrad but this year he retired. We got to Carrabelle expecting to get a weather briefing from Buddy and we found he retired also, went hunting, and hasn't looked back. Therefore, the weather interpretation and the decision to go was left entirely up to us. We made our own decision and had one of the best crossings we have had in the last 5 years.