Carrabelle, FL, Getting Ready for the Jump! - Day 380-383

September 27-30, 2016
Day 380-383

We left Panama City at first light so we could get to Carrabelle before the predicted afternoon thunderstorms.  We docked at the Moorings of Carrabelle Marina.  Dave and Terri drove their car and joined us there for the first night.

In the morning they left to start their journey home to New Bern, NC with a planned stop in Jacksonville, FL to visit and stay with friends.

Carrabelle, FL is the jumping off point for Loopers to cross the Gulf of Mexico.  The next stop for most of us is Tarpon Springs on the west coast of Florida, some 180+ miles across the gulf.  This journey for most Loopers is 18-21 hours, meaning that part of the trip is at night.  With our fast boat we could make the trip in 12 hours or less, so if we left at first light we would be able to make Tarpon Springs before dark.

The biggest factor in crossing the gulf is the weather.  We needed to find a window of time with low winds and therefore small waves.  The worst ride in open water comes when the waves are large and/or close together.  We wanted a day that the winds would be below 10 knots for the whole day, keeping the waves to 1.5 feet or less.  Pulling together all of the weather resources I had, I determined that Saturday, October 1st looked like a good weather window for crossing.

Sharon and I spent the next couple of days cleaning and maintaining the boat and watching the weather to assure ourselves that our crossing window remained open.  Below is a predictive model of buoys along our route showing that Saturday should have winds of 11 mph or less and waves of less than 1.5 feet, so Saturday was a go.

Dog Island  (south of)  - Latitude 29.6874 / Longitude --84.5301

Thu 29 2pm Thu 29 8pm Fri 30 2am Fri 30 8am Fri 30 2pm Fri 30 8pm Sat 1 2am Sat 1 8am Sat 1 2pm Sat 1 8pm Sun 2 2am Sun 2 8am Sun 2 2pm Sun 2 8pm Mon 3 2am Mon 3 8am Mon 3 2pm Mon 3 8pm Tue 4 2am Tue 4 8am Tue 4 2pm Tue 4 8pm Wed 5 2am Wed 5 8am Wed 5 2pm Wed 5 8pm Thu 6 2am Thu 6 8am 7 6 14 10 12 9 14 10 7 5 8 6 7 5 9 7 7 5 3 2 9 6 12 9 10 7 1 1 5 4 11 8 11 8 12 9 14 10 17 13 16 12 21 15 23 17 22 16 22 16 25 18 19 14 13 10 W WNW NW NNE NE WNW NW NNE NNE SSW N NE NE ENE NE NE ENE ENE ENE ENE NE NE NE NNE NNE NNE NNE NNE 1.4 1.1 1.9 1.5 1.7 1.3 2 1.6 1.2 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 1.2 0.9 1.1 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.9 0.7 1.7 1.3 1.6 1.2 2.1 1.6 2.6 2 2.9 2.2 2.9 2.2 4.5 3.5 4 3.1 3.8 3 4.5 3.5 3.5 2.7 2.1 1.6 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 5 4 4 WSW WSW WSW N NE W SW N NE ENE SW NE ENE ENE ESE ESE ESE E E ESE E ENE ENE ENE NE NE NE NE

Apalachicola / Carrabelle to Clearwater (south of Carrabelle) - Latitude 29.2500 / Longitude -84.5000

Thu 29 2pm Thu 29 8pm Fri 30 2am Fri 30 8am Fri 30 2pm Fri 30 8pm Sat 1 2am Sat 1 8am Sat 1 2pm Sat 1 8pm Sun 2 2am Sun 2 8am Sun 2 2pm Sun 2 8pm Mon 3 2am Mon 3 8am Mon 3 2pm Mon 3 8pm Tue 4 2am Tue 4 8am Tue 4 2pm Tue 4 8pm Wed 5 2am Wed 5 8am Wed 5 2pm Wed 5 8pm Thu 6 2am Thu 6 8am 8 6 12 9 11 8 14 10 8 6 6 4 8 6 8 6 9 6 2 1 8 6 11 8 10 7 4 3 8 6 9 7 10 8 11 8 14 10 16 12 17 13 21 15 22 16 22 16 21 16 25 18 18 13 13 10 W WNW WNW NNE NNE WNW NW NNE NNE N N NE NE NE ENE NE ENE ENE ENE ENE NE NE NE NNE NNE NNE NNE N 1.6 1.2 1.8 1.4 1.8 1.4 2.3 1.8 1.7 1.3 0.9 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 1.1 0.8 1.2 1 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.5 1.1 0.8 1.8 1.4 1.7 1.3 2.3 1.8 2.8 2.1 3.3 2.5 3.2 2.5 5 3.8 4.6 3.6 4.4 3.4 5.2 4 4.2 3.2 2.6 2 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 WSW WSW W NNW NNE WNW W NNW NNE ENE WNW NE NE ENE ESE ESE ESE E E E ENE ENE ENE NE NE NE NE

Apalachicola / Carrabelle to Clearwater (north of Clearwater) - Latitude 28.5000 / Longitude -83.5000

Thu 29 2pm Thu 29 8pm Fri 30 2am Fri 30 8am Fri 30 2pm Fri 30 8pm Sat 1 2am Sat 1 8am Sat 1 2pm Sat 1 8pm Sun 2 2am Sun 2 8am Sun 2 2pm Sun 2 8pm Mon 3 2am Mon 3 8am Mon 3 2pm Mon 3 8pm Tue 4 2am Tue 4 8am Tue 4 2pm Tue 4 8pm Wed 5 2am Wed 5 8am Wed 5 2pm Wed 5 8pm Thu 6 2am Thu 6 8am 9 7 9 7 8 6 8 6 10 8 11 8 9 7 11 8 11 8 11 8 9 7 8 6 8 6 14 10 14 10 11 8 10 8 14 10 15 11 14 11 17 13 21 16 20 15 22 17 20 15 22 16 16 12 13 9 W W WSW WNW NE N N NNE NNE NNE ENE ENE ENE NNE ESE E ENE ENE ENE ENE NE NE NE NNE NNE NNE NNE N 1.9 1.5 1.8 1.4 1.5 1.2 1.4 1.1 1.7 1.3 1.7 1.3 1.4 1.1 1.2 1 1.4 1 1.3 1 1 0.8 0.9 0.7 1 0.8 1.2 1 2 1.6 1.5 1.1 1.4 1.1 1.8 1.4 2.8 2.2 2.4 1.9 3 2.3 3.8 2.9 4.5 3.5 4.7 3.6 4.8 3.7 5 3.9 4.6 3.5 3 2.3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 WSW WSW W W WNW WNW WNW N NNE N NNE ENE ENE NNE E E E ENE ENE ENE NE NNE NNE N N N NNW