The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Bob and I have made it to the West Coast of Florida!  It was not without its trials, however.  We spent 4 nights in the Port St Joe Marina waiting for a "weather window."  After our 2 previous offshore trips, we were smarter now and decided to wait.  I have to laugh.  :)

Sunday was a beautiful morning (the first time we had seen the sun there) and the forecast was not perfect, but promising.  The wind would be favorable (not OTN!) and the seas not too bad.  Wrong.  First, there was nothing in the NOAA forecast about a rain storm (The Ugly).  It hit about 5 pm.  A virtual cloudburst, but it only lasted about 20 minutes.  Up to that time, we had been sailing with only half the jib and half the mainsail and cruising along over 8 knots most of the time.  Winds were consistently 18, gusting 22-25, but still from the WNW.

After the rain, the waves started (the Bad).  Oh my.  They were HUGE and slamming us, however, they were behind us instead of coming at us.  Thank goodness.  There was absolutely no relief.  We pulled in the mainsail when the rain hit, so we had the jib still out.  No engine, still cruising at over 7 knots.  But it was uncomfortable.  The waves were hitting us on our right stern and spinning us around.  Amazingly, the auto pilot never broke and we maintained course.  Bob changed course a little to try to give us some relief but it really didn't help.  This lasted all night.  The sky was clear, beautiful boat stars (the Good), but we were anxious for daylight.  We never saw another boat after the rain.  What idiot would be out in this?  :)

About 10 a.m., the winds had shifted enough that we pulled in the jib and motored the rest of the way.  The winds subsided some, but the waves were unrelenting.  As we got nearer the coast, things improved considerably and the rest of the trip was fine.  We saw a lot of dolphins on the trip -- they loved playing around the boat (the Good).  Seeing as how we were the only boat out there -- they didn't have much choice!

We arrived in Clearwater about 3:30 p.m.  The marina is nice (of course no floating piers) and we have enjoyed our time here -- walking on the white sand and just sitting in the boat and watching other boats go by while enjoying a cold one or two and listening to Jimmy Buffett.  We leave tomorrow to go to St Petersburg via the ICW. 



Land Ho!  Clearwater, FL aptly named.