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) - 29.6874 / Longitude --84.5301
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