The Lines have been Cut! #Cruisinglife

Imagine has actually cut the lines! We have made the jump! Living the Life! #Cruisinglife, #liveaboard, #USVI and all the other hashtags and catch phrases there is. Carol and I have worked hard to get to this next adventure in our life. The friends we have made in Texas are friendships that will last a lifetime. We will truly miss their company, but the friendship will live on while we share our adventures with them.

Imagine found a weather window between Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma to move to Florida. There are some alternate routes built into if ole Irma decides to change paths and mess things up. We take weather seriously, but you have to move on so you plan for what you know, and what you do not know. Guess what? We used one of our plans to stop to wait out upcoming weather. The wind switched more E to NE which is the way we were going. The wind picked up to 23 kts max with sustained in the high teens. The waves were 4-6 ft with a few that would get a bit bigger. The boat was doing fine, and the crew was tired, but making it work. The issues is it slowed our progression down and were using more fuel than we planned on. Probably had enough, but probably is not good enough. We had talked to some large commercial vessels on the VHF to get some weather updates. The decisions was made to pull into the South Pass in Louisiana to Port Eads. Some will question what if it comes there? Well, we would strip her down, tie her up the best we can and get the hell out of dodge. Just like if we were anywhere else with her.

Port Eads is a great stop going east or even coming back west. It is a short trek up the south pass. We had 8 to 12 ft at ebb tide. Port Eads was destroyed when Katrina hit, and was rebuilt very robustly. There is the main dock on the south pass and a 70 slip marina behind all this. Fuel is plentiful, with at least 2 10,000 gallon diesel tanks, and 1 large gas tank. There is fresh water, 2 lodges with internet, satellite TV comfortable surroundings. The staff was awesome helping us and making us feel welcome.

Travis is the manager, and Sammie is the cook and support staff. We had shrimp and grits, chicken wings, flounder and many other meals shared with them. The facility is a big fish camp, designed for big offshore boats, and also small boats to get into the flats to catch Red Fish. We were able to contact family, bring them up to date with our plans and relax for a few days. The final weather check was when Irma had made it into Georgia, giving us NW to west winds. Buoy Data in the gulf was checked and off we go.

Panama City is a full day and a half sail from Port Eads, with good winds we should have no problems. The wind starting off we were able to get a point of sale and sailed most of the day. We reefed downed at night and motor sailed to keep up the speed. The seas were following and grown some, which made it hard to maintain a good course. Also the gulf just has very confused seas it seems. The next day the winds died down and and the closer we got to the St. Andrews Bay entrance the less it became. The water was like glass. Jelly fish were everywhere! Jets from the airbase flying around and one F 22 Raptor buzzed us! We were lining up for the inlet and 2 dolphins started riding our bow, then others jumped out of the water like wait what am I missing, and darted towards us. Before we knew it we had 12 to 15 dolphins riding our bow! Dolphin Video

Actually we are in St. Andrews at the St. Andrews bay marina. We are spending a few nights here to fix a few small things, get the water maker from my brother and head out to Shell Island for a few days. The weather is mild, and forecasted to be mild for several days. We then plan on heading to Port St. Joe for a bit, and after that I have not a clue, but that is what cruising life is like. I also want to thank Todd Balsley for help us bring the boat over on this part of our journey.

Here are a few more pictures from the trip so far.....