Scott here. Today we will be leaving Apalachicola and heading to Clearwater and do our Gulf Crossing. This is sort of a big deal. We may only be 45 miles or so off shore for most of the trip, but there probably won’t be any boats in sight and it is still 45 miles off shore!

Our plan was to go to Carabelle and wait for the weather window. But, our window is Friday into Saturday morning. If we wait, we will be waiting at least 7-8 days in Carabelle. Might be cheaper, but the weather should be better in that part of FL for us to continue moving after 5 days or so in Clearwater.

We are going to miss seeing our friend who lives in Tallahassee, but we should be able to see our niece and her husband who live in Clearwater. Maybe we might get to see a cousin who lives a little north of the area as well.

Now, we didn’t make this decision on our own. Yes, it is our decision, but we had help. Chris Parker, who is a marine weather expert, provided advice and suggestions. He suggested we plan to get to Clearwater early to beat any weather and we should be close enough to shore to avoid any ugly waves that might kick up from the incoming weather front. So, here is our plan. We are going to go fuel up and fresh water up then head out tomorrow. We should officially begin our 20-hour voyage at about noon.

Of course, we will post when we get into internet range. By then we will be dodging crab pots!

Initial Plan
Date: November 10, 2023
Route name in Aqua Maps: TD: 11/10/23 (Apalachicola to Clearwater)
Nebo Link: Click here
Crew: Captain Scott, 1st Mate Rita, & K9 Jazzy
Start at: 11:30 am
End at: 8:00 am
Total Time: 20:26 hours
Distance: 184.0 miles
Fuel Plan: 102 gallons (added 10 gallons for the generator)

Hazards for the day
TM 3.7 (mm 353.4): Shoaling, stay to the red side
TM 8.7: No more mile markers for a while. Shoaling around a sandbar and the markers are in the wrong spot. Follow the charts, not the markers. Then one review says to follow the markers and not Garmin charts (which is Navionics). Better ask the folks when we fuel up!
180 miles or so of the Gulf of Mexico!