Gulf Crossing Completed

We made the dreaded gulf crossing Friday night – as in all night – a mere 20 hour run from our anchorage off Dog Island (4 miles from Carrabelle) to downtown Tarpon Springs – the sponge capital of the world – according to the sign across from our boat. We left on the heels of 35 foot catamaran, Catmandu, hailing from Bay City, Michigan and enjoyed a mostly uneventful crossing after some chop and a few rollers early on. We were able to keep in touch with Catmandu and the flotilla of 8 other loopers who left Carrabelle after us.  This friendly chatter helped keep us safe and passed the long hours.   Frankie, bless his heart, need a dose of “drugs” until the seas settled down. He wobbled a bit, but stuck close to Daddio and has suffered no side effects that we can see.  Annie was her usual demanding self and basically slept the time away.  We cannot say the same and compare the sleepless experience to those overnight flights from Saudi and the fuzzy head of jetlag. We did manage to miss the crab pots, enjoyed the dolphin and stars, and even caught a few tuna to grace our celebratory lunch today.  It was my first experience flying blind using only radar and our chart plotter which dramatically flashed a black screen for heart stopping seconds several times toward the end of the run. It has failed us before, and I probably burned a few extra calories worrying that it would drop off at a critical point. (The channel into the city winds through marsh and mudflats which are traps for fat boats like ours.)  Docking at the city marina was scratched when we didn’t fit in their slips, but they moved us next door to a convenient berth directly on the ‘sponge strip’ of Tarpon Springs – Greek restaurants tempt and tourists milling among the tacky sponge souvenirs entertain.   A few pictures of our stopover in Carrabelle and Dog Island for your entertainment!