6/14 Across the Gulf we go

After two days in a row of fairly long cruises, both out in the Gulf today (Saturday) We are rested up enough to catch up on some blogs. 

Thursday 6/14 came and we had waited out the waves and weather long enough.  We had been checking the weather, Windy.com and Marv's Wave reports as well as speaking with locals with much more knowledge than us.  Today was the day that we would go out onto the open waters of the Gulf and cross from Carabelle to Steinhatchee.   The water/wave forecasts were calling for mostly 2' wave height and the weather was looking good with winds out of the NE. 

An update on Renee's Math midterm exam; She awoke this morning to find out that after all the challenges and then being able to finally take the Exam late last night it turns out that when she was finished with it somehow it did not upload properly....Ugh!  Some commutations back and forth with her professor and it was determined that he would allow her to re take the exam this coming Tuesday.  

After refueling, checking systems and ensuring that everything in the cabin/aboard was well secured we shoved off from the dock at C-Quarters Marina in Carabelle where we had spent the last three nights.  

Saying goodbye to Carabelle and C-Quarters Marina 

And out into the bay headed towards 'East Pass' of Dog Island where we would enter into the Gulf

There was a small chop on the water as we exited the channels from Carabelle and into the area protected by the barrier islands.   The sun was high by now since it was almost 10am.  As we came through 'East Pass' and into the Gulf the chop at first changed to rolling swells for the first couple of miles when we were still close to the islands and shore.  Fairly quickly, the wave heights and action picked up quite a bit.  Within a half an hour or so we were into 3-4' waves (even though all sites said they would only be 2's 😕😠).  Renee quickly donned her life vest with the PLB (personal locator beacon) attached to it.  We knew that the boat would handle the waves just fine; The question was how well Erik and Renee would do!  About every 5th or 6th wave would splash a good amount of water up onto the flybridge soaking us and everything around us and leaving a sticky, gritty film of salt behind.  We know now what the term 'Salt' is about and both have determined that generally speaking we like the water and feel of 'River Life' better than 'Salt Life'.   Committed and comfortable with how we were progressing we continued on towards our set coordinates form marker 3 buoy out of east pass towards Steinhatchee.   We played around a bit with our speed and trim tabs and settled in on a speed of about 10-11 mph.   It was going to be a long and tiring ride today.   There were not many photographs taken for the next 3-4 hours because it was challenging at best to even hold something with the jarring of the waves let alone take a picture.   As well, we had our phones secured and partially covered to avoid getting wet from the continual salt water spray.  

The salty, wet floor of the flybridge was very slippery which made exiting down to the lower cabin challenging at best with the motion of the boat.  Very slowly and carefully hanging onto the rails at all time it was possible, but largely we stayed up top and in our seats for the first several hours.  Fortunately, as the forecasts had predicted as we progressed into the afternoon the wave heights and winds decreased some and the ride became MUCH more bearable.   By about 1pm the waves had mostly stopped splashing up onto the bridge (except for an occasional surprise attack!) and we were eventually able to pick up our pace to about 15 mph.   After a couple hours at that speed, and when we had land in site again we decided to stop for a bit to have Erik try his hand at catching a red snapper, or whatever else might bite on the bait.  Very quickly after dropping the line to the bottom he got a bit and was able to bring in a fish.  We are really not sure what it was, but it was not very large so we released it back to grow big and strong! 

Look at the size of that beast!  

I think we will throw this one back

After a brief stent of fishing we motored on towards our destination for the day.  We realized that we had not made a reservation for a slip.  We had a phone signal and called Sea Hag and Good Times marinas (really the only two marina in Steinhatchee) only to find out that both had no available transient slips.   No big deal; we had spent the past 6 nights in a marina between Apalachicola and Carabelle so it was time to save some $$ and anchor out anyhow.   It was about 5:30 pm by the time that we made our way into the channel and found a suitable spot to drop the hook.  We were hot, tired, and covered in salt.  

Our anchorage for the night in Steinhatchee

We warmed up some leftover pork roast that we had grilled the night before for dinner.  After enjoying another beautiful sunset while relaxing in the zero gravity chairs on the bow we were both exhausted.   Quick cool showers aboard were in order to bring body temps down and rinse off the layer of grime.  After the sun had set the temperatures came down nicely and with a fan in the bow hatch it was a very comfortable, and much needed, evening and night of rest. 

Happy to be across

Yep....sunsets are pretty from this side of the Gulf as well