(Pelicans at Sarasota Bay)
We are now anchored at St. Petersburg! After leaving Fort Myers early Monday morning, we headed out into the Gulf with beautiful weather. The winds even cooperated for a short while and we were able to fly the Jib for a couple hours. However, the afternoon wind forecast soon turned hard on our nose and forced us to travel inside.
We had a very good trip across both Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay. We also passed some huge ships in Tampa Bay with no problems and were glad to have smooth seas for good maneuvering.
Bridges on the inside are numerous and prove to be very stressful with shallow water, tides, currents and timed openings. Tomorrow we hope to travel outside for the last of the run to Tarpon Springs. If weather cooperates, our jump may finally happen. Please pray for a good 72 hour stretch of fair winds!
(Anchored Freighters off Miami Coast)
After prepping for Hurricane Dorian, we waited out the storm as it churned for three days just off the coast from us in Fort Pierce. Winds never exceeded low, tropical storm force and none of the rains were torrential. It took several more days to ready the boat for departure and we finally left Fort Pierce on Sept. 8th to begin our journey to Louisiana.
Extra care and caution is being taken as we make our way home. We don't want to put undue stress and strain on the vessel until we have worked out any bugs in the systems.
We have traveled ten days so far:
- Day 1: Fort Pierce to Lake Worth where we anchored the first night. More tropical systems were developing in the Atlantic. Hot but good breeze at night.
- Day 2: Lake Worth to Key Biscayne. A very long, sixty mile run in rolling/pitching waves. The boat handled very well and has a comfortable roll, not snappy. The rolling however, caused a water line to come loose in the engine room and we lost water pressure for the onboard systems. Eric repaired it with a solid, temporary fix. The system will be properly dealt with when we get home.
- Days 3-5: Anchored in Key Biscayne waiting for a tropical system to move on. Very hot days, good breeze at night.
- Day 6-7: Key Biscayne to Vaca Key (Marathon). We pushed steadily for 12 hours and reached Marathon just after sunset. The last several hours were spent dodging hundreds of lobster/crab traps. Very stressful end to a day that was for the most part, beautiful weather and calm seas. We spent that night and the next at a dock. This enabled us to get needed rest (electricity means A/C), supplies, fuel and water.
- Day 8: Marathon to Little Shark River. Very remote anchorage on the Everglades Coast. Beautiful but very hot, not much sleep. We have screens for the ports but do not have screens for the main hatches so ventilation is limited at anchor due to wind directions. The Everglades are saturated with mosquitoes!
- Day 9: Little Shark River to Everglade City inlet (Russel Pass). A quiet anchorage just inside the inlet. Beautiful but very hot, not much sleep.
- Day 10: Russel Pass to Moss Marine (Fort Myers). Heavy weather moving in for the next several days. Anchorages are very hard to find along this part of the coast at our size. Very shallow water. We will have to dock till the system moves through. This will allow for much needed good sleep. We will be able to travel inside for a good distance even if the weather in the Gulf prevents us from going along the coast. Eric will spend the next day plotting our next course.
(Eric making extra dock lines)
Right now the hopeful consensus on this monster hurricane is that it will make an early turn to the North and just graze the coast. This would bring only tropical storm to Cat 1 winds possibly topping 80 or so. Very doable.
- Everything has been either removed from the deck and stashed below or very securely tied down.
- Extra heavyweight, double dock lines with chafing gear and spring lines tied to pilings and fenders placed to protect against side pilings.
- We have a good stock of water, food, propane and fuel.
- There is good shelter here and we will have electricity (A/C) till the winds top 40, then the marina will be shutting off the power.
- This is going to be a long storm, possibly 3 days. If all goes well, once any strong winds are past, we will get the boat ready to move and be high tailing it out of here to head for home. There are other possible storms in the Atlantic heading this direction and we are praying for a solid window of opportunity to move out once Dorian passes.
Please be praying for the following:
- Our safety and that the boat will not be damaged.
- A window of opportunity to safely head back home
- Peace during this whole ordeal
Thank you so much for your prayers!!
