We look pretty good after 20 hours on the boat!

Everything is great out here on Good Karma. It has been a while since we posted. We know its been too long when friends send emails inquiring about our health. We appreciate it!

First, let’s cross the Gulf of Mexico.

Safety precautions

We positioned ourselves in Carrabelle FL seeking the perfect day to cross. Kermit is very careful about this. He looks for a day when the wind and waves are calm for a day before and a day after. And we found it! Eddie the Weather Wag said we wouldn’t see a better day for a while.

Carrabelle

As we prepared to depart, Kermit created a safety file at the back door including our important paperwork and phones in a waterproof bag, special lifejackets that hold us upright in the water and of course, our big old safety ring. This was a guarantee that nothing bad would happen.

Leaving Carrabelle

I know we told you we were leaving on Monday morning January 7 but we didn’t. We waited another day and left on Tuesday January 8 because the weather looked even better. We were right. It was magnificent!

Around 1:30pm we threw off the lines and floated over to the fuel dock just across the small channel. Remember the rule. Never turn down an opportunity to get a pump out. We pumped out the waste tanks and headed out to the pass.

Heading into the Gulf of Mexico
The water was perfect

It is a few miles across a big bay between Carrabelle and the Gulf of Mexico. Our plan was to travel throughout the night at about 9mph to arrive in Clearwater Beach by about 9am. The trip is about 200 miles pretty much straight across the Gulf in a southeasterly direction.

The water was flat, the sunset bright with about a million stars decorating the sky. We drove from the inside with the heat on in a very civilized fashion dressed in our pjs and socks.

Kermit sleeping

We took turns driving. Every three hours one of us slept and the other drove. We had the heat on, sleeping on the salon couch under an afghan.

There is plenty to do while driving in the middle of the night.

Navigation is a non-issue since we plugged the course into the autopilot. I listened to music on headphones, folded laundry, made lists of things to do and stared at the stars out the window. I I am not sure what Kermit did because I was asleep when he drove!

If you peered intently through the windows you could see the water flowing away in ripples it was so calm.

Around 4am we realized we were ahead of schedule so we slowed down to about 6mph for a while. We didn’t want to enter Clearwater Beach until the sun was well up. Most entrances have lots of crab pots placed in spots convenient to the fishermen but most inconvenient to boaters.

As the sun rose we glided elegantly into Clearwater Beach on Wednesday January 9. Actually like most things we do, it was not elegant and not without controversy. The tide was down so we didn’t have much water entering the bay from the gulf. We also had to remember which colors go on which side of us. After being in 60+ feet of water all night it was a little disconcerting to be in 2 or 3 feet of water!

We stopped at the gas dock at Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina for, you guessed it, a pump out! Turns out we didn’t need fuel. We traveled about 200 miles but only used about a quarter of a tank of fuel. Pretty good!!

Entering Clearwater Inlet

The first slip assignment was not appropriate for our boat. We used the app Dockwa to get our reservation. I guess we need to tell Dockwa that we need a side tie.

John and Judy Vellucci

Having the dinghy on the back means we cannot get on and off from the back like we would want to in a side tie slip. Plus the electric comes off either side and there is not a way to drag it through the back of the boat to stern the boat in backwards. Fortunately they had a beautiful “t-head” dock with a side tie that we took.

The first call was to John and Judy Vellucci from Canton who were in the area visiting their first granddaughter. And their son and daughter-in-law but we all know how the pecking order changes with grandchildren. Or at least so I am told.

John and Judy came by on Thursday January 10. After a few cocktails and a boat tour, they took us to Dunedin, about 4 miles away, for a little shopping and a delicious Italian dinner. Judy and I shopped for a dress for our son’s upcoming wedding. We found a cute dress in my signature “Interview Doctor” blue!!

The next day Kermit rented a car to do some errands while I got a pedicure. We drove out to Lithia FL on Friday afternoon to see Bill and Sarah Vellucci’s new home and meet their new daughter, Aria. Although advanced press gave the impression Aria was fussy, she put on her best behavior while we were there. She was quiet and well behaved for a 2 month old!

A word of caution about traffic around here. It STINKS!! It took us 3 hours to travel about 40 miles to get to Lithia but only 40 minutes to get back to the boat later that night! That is worse than Chicago traffic!!

Next morning we began our final preparations for the wedding of the century. Before we dropped off the car, we stopped for the all-important trip to Total Wine.We don't have Total Wine in Ohio. For those of you unfamiliar with this place, it is like Disneyland for wine lovers. The place is almost the size of a small Home Depot but filled to the brim with wine and liquor. We always get a helper person to identify the right wine. We bought a case of nice wine and a bunch of Crown Royal for Kermit so we are set for alcohol for a while. 

I got a pedicure and we loaded up for Punta Cana and the wedding of the year! More on that in the next blog.