Successful Crossing!

Date             December 6-7, 2011
Day              161-162

Departure      C-Quarters Marina, Carrabelle, FL 9:25 am (Tuesday)                              

Arrival           Landings At Tarpon Springs, Tarpon Springs, FL 9:20 am (Wednesday)
Miles              180.0  
Cumulative   3836.5

Bob was awoken at 6:15 am on 12-6-11 with the news that a group of four boats (Next Endeavor, Love Shack, Sea Angel and Sweet Surrender) were leaving at 8 am because the weather window was rapidly closing.  If we didn't leave today, then we may not be able to leave until late in the week.  Bob came and woke me and we proceeded to make plans to leave a bit later than the group as we needed to get fuel.  Because of the speed they would be traveling, we would be able to rendezvous with them later in the day. 
The forecast was for fairly calm seas and light winds for most of the day and lasting into the night.  The wind was to build, along with the seas the next morning.  We were ready to go at 9:25 am, so we cast off our lines and headed out on our journey with some apprehension; we had never traveled for longer than 8-10 hours and so far offshore (we would be about 70 miles from shore during the crossing).  The seas began to build as we went through the pass and remained at 4-6 feet for a good portion of the trip.

The last bit of land we will see until tomorrow morning

Finally, by late afternoon, we had caught up with Sea Angel (sailboat) and Sweet Surrender.  These are the two boats that we would stay close to for the remainder of the trip.

Sweet Surrender and Sea Angel

Sunset at sea and no land in sight!

One thing that was in our favor was that it was almost a full moon.  This would hopefully mean that we would have some bright moonlight on the water as we traveled during the night.  We were not let down!  During the night, Bob and I took turns taking naps.  At one point as I was driving, I was struck by the blackness of the sea.  The Gulf looked like a sea of black ink!  Even during the night, the dolphins joined us and played in our wake and kept us company as we motored along.

Moon reflecting on a sea of black ink

Hooray, it's morning!  Only a few more hours and the crossing will be behind us.

Sunrise at sea, no land in sight yet.

We stoped in Tarpon springs, rather than continue on to Clearwater.  Tarpon Springs is the next best thing to being in Greece.  The first Greek immigrants arrived to this city during the 1880's, when they were hired to work as divers in the growing sponge harvesting industry.  These people were unloading and sorting sponges as we drove by on the river.

There were many commercial sponge boats tied to the docks on both sides of the river.

As soon as we were docked, we immediately fell into bed to take a nap and catch up on some much needed sleep!  We will be staying in Tarpon Springs a couple of days to give us some time to relax and explore the town.