Bug out!

 Kerm here,

Still no camera...

We're out of here today.  Well it looks like it anyway.  It's 5:30 am and all the forecasts say go.  If it all comes together we'll leave about noon with one other boat ' Summer Recess '.  There will be others on the route, some leaving earlier and some later so there will be plenty of company on the rhum line.  We travel just over 8 MPH and the range for many of the others is 9 to 12 MPH hence the difference in cast off times.  We know of about 8 or 9 total boats in our area leaving and there are probably others that are sitting at anchor waiting for the green flag.

There are a few variations on how to do the crossing.  One is to follow the shoreline around at about 30 miles out and the most popular is to head straight to Tarpon Springs.  A straight line between two points is called the rhum line.  Other options are variations on the above two routes or stop at ports along the way and split the trip into three days.  This last option generally not used by crossers as the available ports are shallow and have limited spaces for deep draft boats.  These ports also have long and winding channels to get in.  Remember that the Gulf is extremely shallow in the areas above Clearwater / St. Pete with many areas only dropping off less than one foot per mile.

After a route has been chosen the next thing to look at is when do you leave.  With an 18 hour trip at some point you need to run at night.  Do you leave in the morning, get there when it's still dark and anchor out or leave in the late afternoon and arrive in the late morning.  As usual there are variations on the above two themes.  Currently our plan is to leave mid-day so we have daylight at both ends of the trip.  A good reason for this plan is to keep the sun behind us as we turn into Tarpon as to better see the minefield of crab pots start at 30 to 35 miles out.

OK, now that we have chosen the noon or early afternoon departure with a rum line course set in we have to keep an eye on the east wind.  If we are getting our butts kicked we may have to turn east and put up with the minefield of pots at night.  Been there, done that, don't like it but if we are forced into it and the clouds stay away we will have a full moon to help us out.  Rain is forecast so that advantage may go out the window. 

Next, if things are flat at sun up tomorrow and we still feel good we may turn south and head to St. Pete or Clearwater.  Our buddy boat will be stopping at Tarpon Springs regardless as they have never been to this Greek themed tourist town.  Been there, done that a dozen times and don't really need any baklava or sponges right now.

Of course everything could go to hell in a hand basket as we wait for the last weather forecast before we leave.  When we were at Apalachicola a couple of weeks ago we missed a weather window as a new cold front came in early and blew stink for three days.  For people that like to set schedules cruising will drive them nuts.  For us, we just take it as it comes.  We have no plans and we are sticking to it...

Linda and Dan will have our float plan and we will call them when we have crossed safely.  They also have our SPOT satellite locator address so they can follow us along the way.  The SPOT updates our location every 10 minutes and overlays it onto a Google map with latitude and longitude. The address is below.

 http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0771ZReqTF9jAQjL3Q1T02Oea6qy2ES7I