Land Ho!

Hi All-
We have another overnight passage under our belts! This one was much farther offshore and we were out of sight of land for about 24 of the 32 hour trip. I wouldn't put this in the category of something I can't wait to do again. But we made it to Tarpon Springs where the water and the beaches are beautiful.

Sunday afternoon we and Another Life staged at the inlet to St Joseph Bay, anchoring there for the night. The alarm was set for 4:00 AM in order to check the weather one last time to make sure we wanted to make the passage. Time is a bit tricky there as we were right on the line between the Central and Eastern time zones. Susan and I both set our alarms. Mine went off at 4:00 AM as planned. Susan's phone, 10 feet away, was on Central time and didn't go off until an hour later. Weather checked and a conversation with Another Life and we were set to go. The anchor was up at 5:15 and we made our way out of the Bay.

It was a long day with a few rain storms and not the calmest of seas but it eventually settled down. The anxiety level went up as sunset approached but at the same time the wind and waves got better. Every couple of hours we touched base with Another Life by radio. It sure was nice to not be alone out there. There was no moon but from 100 miles away we could see the glow of Tampa / St Pete on the horizon.

We took turns at the helm and sleeping, usually in one or two hour shifts. During the night there were some thunderstorms off in the distance but none that came close. The US Air Force was a different matter. I noticed on the chart we had passed through a missile test zone but didn't think much of it. At one point we heard several booms and there were multiple flares going off in the sky. It looked like the countermeasures that planes put out to confuse heat seeking missiles. An interesting show and something to get the adrenaline going in the middle of the night. I hope they knew we were down there.

The rest of the night was uneventful and we were treated to a nice sunrise. It was a good thing to see. There just isn't much going on in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of the night. At least hopefully there isn't. In hindsight I was glad the worst thing I had to deal with was boredom.

Did I already mention how glad we were to have Ted and Claire on Another Life out there with us? Even if I did, it is worth mentioning again. At one point we were 8 miles or so apart but I could always see their AIS icon on the chartplotter and that was very reassuring.

We made it to Tarpon Springs, or at least St Joseph Sound, in 32 hours. The plan was to shower and nap but we had gotten enough sleep during the night that we skipped the nap and took the dinghy to the island we're tucked up behind. Great place to bird and collect seashells. After our excursion to the beach we made painkillers and took them over to Another Life and had a toast with Ted and Claire.

We slept with the hatches open because the issues with the generator are getting worse. Two pieces of good news. There was a nice cool breeze so sleeping without the air conditioner was not a problem and the generator is failing in a way now to help diagnose the issue. Hope to have it resolved in the next day or two. Tonight we'll be at a marina and tomorrow morning a mechanic is coming to look.

For those seeing reports of Tropical Storm Danny, we are watching it but it has formed in a place that has never gone on to hit western Florida. Thanks for your concern. 

That's it for now, we're off to the beach.

Take care.
Brian