Fair Winds & Following Seas, Finally

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We've finally made it to Tarpon Springs, 2 weeks after leaving Apalachicola.

Sara and Trevor left just after sunrise. We watched them head out the barge channel and saw them raise two sails as they turned south. We followed about half an hour later. With the wind at our backs, they were flying. We thought their heads were going to catch fire. (Sorry, family joke.)

Having the waves on our stern (a following sea) made our ride a little rougher, but not bad. Mostly it just pushed our rear end around some causing us to have to oversteer. We just throttled up and then we moved more easily through the bumpy seas. As the afternoon wore on, the seas smoothed out some as the wind layed a bit. That slowed the sailboat down some, but it still took us most of the day to catch up with them.

The combination of crab pots, white caps and bright sunshine made for stiff necks, because some of those crab pots were very hard to spot. We were so happy to finally reach the Anclote River near Tarpon Springs. Once anchored, we all enjoyed a celebratory beverage of the alcoholic kind.

Tonight is the total lunar eclipse, but I don’t know if any of us are willing (or able) to stay up or get up to watch it.

The funny thing is, we were looking forward to getting back into the sheltered waters of the ICW after these days of fighting the Gulf of Mexico and its fickle weather patterns. But now we’re talking about going outside and down the coast instead of down the ICW with its bascule bridges and no wake zones. We’ve spent so many days waiting out weather and mechanical problems that we’re running behind schedule. If we go outside tomorrow, we’ll save several miles and lots of time. We’re hopeful again that we can make Marathon by the 27th or 28th.

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Photos

Celebrate
with a cool and tasty

Earendil
We're finally about to catch them

Anclote River anchorage
between the power plant and a park

Moonrise
over Anclote River

Comments

[pat turner]

happy sailing
Glad to hear you are on the move again and into better water. Love your posts and photos. Miss you...be safe

[Mary Powers]

Great Pictures
Charlie, take a picture of your boat so I can see how big it is. I'm really enjoying your commentary and pictures. Take care. Your diving friend Mary Powers

[mary saylor]

merry christmas
Charlie and Kerry-- We've enjoyed the updates on your great adventure. I like Sarah's hair short--and green! I have a fruit cake sitting on the kitchen counter, all boxed up, but I'm just not sure where to send it. Any suggestions? If I mail it to Hunting Lodge Dr. will it get to you? Let me know! Ben gets in today. Christmas Eve will be busy with all of us going our separate ways for about a dozen different church services! Christmas Day will be at my sister Fran's house with a huge feast and lots of presents to open. Have a wonderful Christmas, and let me know about the fruit cake! Mary