Ocean Breeze: Great Loop Date 12.10 - 14.2010: The Big Bend OR How Many Ways Can OB Rock ?

Days #120-124: 2727.6 total miles
Port #57 (12/10/2010-Friday): Tarpon Springs, FL

NII Wishin and OB left C-Quarters with 3 other boats at noon. NII Wishin had talked to 3 more boats waiting at anchor. We organized a convoy of 7 boats for the Big Bend crossing. To review from the previous post, Todd and Jerry studied all aspects of the weather and wave predictions during the week leading up to today. They used four different sources, including AGLCA weather guru Tom Conrad's daily musings for crossing the Big Bend. Cruising at 8 miles an hour, we needed 22 hours of good weather on the Gulf to cross the 173 miles. Twelve hours of the crossing would be done in the pitch dark of night.

Our convoy headed out East Pass into the Gulf in 1 foot rolling seas.

As we moved further and further southeast, the waves grew to between 1 and 2 foot choppy seas. We were taking the chop on our port beam. All in all, our seas were tolerable.

I went below before sunset and prepared dinner. We ate in the pilothouse to keep watch on Auto as he piloted OB on a straight course set from R2 at the edge of East Pass to R4 just off Anclote Key. There were no worries in doing so since there are no obstacles from Point A to Point B.

We chatted back and forth with the other boats in our flotilla. As night came upon us, navigation lights came on and everyone was easily visible. None of us expected what was about to unfold.

To our surprise, the waves began to grow and become more uncomfortable. I went below and put everything that could fall to the floor in 'crash position'. I'm not unaccustomed to rough seas and have done this many times in good old Lake Erie. The Christmas Tree had already found it's way to the floor, so I carried it to the guest room and propped it between boxes stored there.

I also put Charlie in our master stateroom so he would be in a part of the boat that would experience less movement. He was already into his anxiety panting routine. I put all the interior lights on low so we wouldn't have trouble with our night vision in the pilothouse. Todd and I already knew our preplanned naps were out the window and we'd both be on watch together for the duration.

By the time we were at the mid-point, the waves were 3 feet with a 4 footer thrown in for good measure. We were still handling the situation pretty well. One of the boaters was a Certified Nautical Astrologist and began describing the constellations we were seeing along with certain developing stars and the planets. It really helped take our minds off our discomfort.

Todd's captain's chair fell over three times. The third time, we left it on the floor and he moved to the navigation couch with me. He held his laptop on the couch since it had our backup navigation system running. We put on our life vests.

Todd and I began playing the games on our computers to keep us busy. We couldn't move about the boat now because OB was pitching so badly. I could hear everything inside of cabinets and closets rolling back and forth. Luckily I had tied extra lines on the dinghy in it's cradle on the bridge. It was probably the only thing that stayed put.

Before sunrise we hit the worst waves and had no clue how big they were. I had a few moments when I thought we might broach (roll over). I was so tired I couldn't become frightened. We had been up for more than 18 hours. I was glad I couldn't see the waves.

At dawn, the waves began to die out. We were nearing R4. I went below to look around. The mess was amazing. Safety locks on drawers in the galley had given way and the floors were covered with their contents. Things I had put on the floor had fallen over and spread stuff as far as I could see. I kept smelling pickles. Pot holders on the galley floor were wet and smelled like pickles. I opened the refrigerator. A jar of pickles had fallen over and opened itself. That was about all I could take. I went back to the pilothouse and wondered when I'd have enough energy to clean up the giant mess.

Pictures? Well, it was dark outside. I couldn't keep myself upright. And the thought never crossed my mind to take pictures of the inside of the boat in the aftermath.

Charlie crashed as soon as I let him out of the master stateroom. Apparently he was up all night too!

The flotilla enters the Anclote River going into Tarpon Springs.

Oh yeah, as soon as the waves diminished, the fog set in. NII Wishin is back there somewhere. It also made spotting crab pots a lot of fun.

Nice homes along the river in Tarpon Springs.

After two rounds of Little Beers, Joan and I celebrated by kissing the dock!

Jerry, Joan, Todd and I went to lunch at Paul's Shrimp House across from the marina. Afterwards we all went to bed. I woke up that evening around 6PM, surfed on the computer for awhile and went back to bed around 11PM. Todd slept soundly for 12 hours and got up at 3:30AM.