The Crossing

 

So, I am sure you've used the word 'crossing' in many ways....crossing the street, cross my heart, crossing an intersection....etc. Now, for me, that word has a whole new connotation. It now means, 34 hours of nonstop running across a body of water with only 2 hour intervals of rest.

YEP, that's what we did after we pulled up 
anchor in Pearl Bayou near Panama City, FL. until we finally anchored (for the second time-more on that in a bit) at Egmont Key which is the Pilot Boat station for Tampa Bay.  It was not a rough crossing (Except for a few hours of beam seas in the afternoon) so that was definitely a good thing and even better was that there were no other boats on our radar during the overnight hours.  That means that while the captain was resting down in the stateroom I did not have to dodge any targets on radar.  As a 'first time first mate' I can't tell you how happy that made me!  I was able to keep an eye on the radar and gauges and just let the Nav system take us where we needed to go.  I was also keeping a close watch on the clock so that I could wake Ken up for his scheduled ERC (engine room check...see previous post).  
He's not sleeping! He's checking the weather app on his phone.
 
The Crossing is a necessary thing since the Inter-coastal Waterway ends near the big bend area of the Florida panhandle and to get back to it on the west coast line you have to cross open gulf water.  We hit a good weather window and made it happen.  It was the longest non stop run Ken has done to date in Microship and I feel proud to have helped with that.

So we make it to Egmont Key and find a great place to anchor protected from the winds for the most part and are just about to settle down for a long winter's nap when out on the water there arose such a clatter (sail boat halyards!) that we sprang from our seats to see what was the matter!  When what to our wondering eyes should appear but a "snuggling sailboat dropping it's gear"!
Ok, so I like to mess around.....but you have to know that this sailboat was only 2 boat lengths away in an anchorage that had a mile of coastline.  We were the only 2 boats there!  Ken was livid and was not about to stay there where we could possibly swing around during the night and hit him.  So we cranked up the diesels and pulled up anchor.  It was definitely not what we wanted to do after being up for 36 hours but.....
Later, the sailor called us on the radio and asked "Did I crowd you?"  DUH.......

The new spot was not as good and we were "rolled" all night from the wakes of Pilot boats, cruise ships and swells from the gulf but at least we didn't have to worry about the snuggler's anchor dragging or our swing causing a 2 boat collision in a space that could accommodate 40-50 boats. At least he apologized but, really, WHY??

More fun to come.....Stay tuned 


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