Panama City – St. Petersburg, FL.

Saturday, June 4-  June celebrated her last day of employment on Friday and joined us for her first day of retirement.  She flew into Panama City, leaving Houston at the crack of dawn to get to the boat around 11 am.  After a quick lunch, we untied and we’re off again.  Knowing that Tropical Storm Colin was forming in the gulf, the decision was made to get as far east as we could before making our gulf crossing.  Our destination was Carrabelle where the GIWW ends before picking up again along the west coast of Florida.  Strong currents made docking in Carrabella challenging.  Having heard and read about Carrabella as a jumping off point for boaters preparing to cross the gulf, we expected a little more. The transient slips were about as bare bones as they get. Although we can’t complain too much; we did have power.  Unfortunately our timing was poor and by the time we all showered, had a cocktail and walked to The Fisherman’s Wife – the closest restaurant – it was closed.  Saturday night and the joint closed at 9pm!!!!  Luckily we have John and he made yummy omlets for our dinner.

Sunday, June 5 –  We knew this was going to be a long day.  Colin was forecasted to be in the gulf on Monday and we had to wanted to make our crossing in the daylight.  Our goal was to get to St. Pete, but John planned several “bail out” alternatives if the weather turned nasty.  We knew Steinhatche was an option if we got out there and didn’t like what we found.  We also could go in at Tarpon Springs or Clearwater if the weather deteriorated once we were committed to the long run.  Also, we knew that in order to get in before dark, we would have to buck it up and burn some fuel.  We were off the dock by 6:30.  Running about 16 kts, we headed into the gulf and pleased to find at most 1.5 ft seas.  We were comfortable.  As we got further south and Colin got further north, things began to change.  The seas grew to about 3 ft and moving around on the boat was a definite 2 handed activity.  With St. Pete well in sight, the beginnings of Colin were too.  As we rounded the tip of the peninsula to head into Tampa Bay the squall line hit.

We were amazed to see so many fisherman still fishing as the storm was almost upon us.  As we passed this boat, the lady on the bow had her rod bent over as she fought to bring in her catch.  She wasn’t going to let Colin deprive her of this big one.

As the seas grew, we started having some issues with the port engine.  We would suddenly loose power.  Checking in the engine room didn’t reveal any problems, so it was assumed that the secondary fuel filter may be clogged.  We reduced speed and were able to continue without problem.  In the dark and rain, we docked at St. Pete Municipal Marina.

Monday and Tuesday, June 6-7. Sitting out the storm and having wonderful visits with Dorothy’s Aunt Barbara and Uncle John.