Perfect Day/Night for Crossing Gulf

After enjoying a great day in Port St. Joe Marina and a great dinner of oysters on the half shell and Grouper sandwiches we studied weather and wave conditions on the Gulf of Mexico for our crossing and it looked like we had a very good window in the next few days.
Northern Light departed the dock at 10:15am on Saturday, Jan 24th heading Southeast (126 degrees) for our crossing to Tarpon Springs. We had a fresh breeze after we cleared the harbor and rounded Point San Blas.
We were able to deploy our full sails and motor sailed all day and night in high seas at first (8-10 foot rollers) receding to calm by morning. We were escorted at times by frolicking Dolphins and sea birds. It was a starry, starry night since we had no moon the sky was brillant with bright stars. The time went by quickly, we had an excellent watch schedule of 4 hours on and 2 hours off maintaining 2 crew members on deck at all times. The sunset was beautiful but the Sunrise this morning as you can see in the photo was awesome! We encountered several shrimp boats working at night and a lot of crab pots when we got near the Anclote Key North entrance to Tarpon Springs.
The entire crossing took 28 hours from dock to dock and we traveled 231 miles. Our average speed was a little over 8 mph which is great for a sailboat.
Glad to be here in Tarpon Springs were it is warm and sunny. It was a perfect crossing!

"Today we sail the Gulf"

“Today we sail the Gulf”, the words have been spoken.

With calm anticipation she slips her dock before day has broken.

On a calm bay at dawn with an outgoing tide Skipper sets her course for the magical ride.

Northern Light has surrendered her soul to the three that will guide her to a new port on the sea.

Learning these waters for the very first time reminds one to respect the sea, wind and brine.

The sea can be calm or a desolate place, a graveyard of ships from the old human race.

With a face like a mistress, or hard, wrinkled white while deep in its heart there is no light.

But today all is well and fresh for the three, as their spirits have brought them here to the sea.

With their minds full of wonder, they’ve left the fair shore to dance on the waves with their ship once more.

Again deep love for the water is unbroken.

“Today we sail the Gulf!”, the word has been spoken.

Gary T. Gaudreau

1/22/2009 1300 Hours

Gulf of Mexico near Panama City, FL aboard Northern Light