Part 1 - Background
Jimmy and I have had the opportunity to complete four Gulf Crossings so far, and still learn a lot with each one. I thought I'd take a moment to jot down some observations, however, even though I tried to be very brief, it was turning into a long blog post. So, Jimmy and I have decided to make it a series, starting off with an introductory background post.
Jimmy noticed my use of "crossing" instead of "overnight passage", so maybe a definition is needed for these posts:
My definition of a "crossing" for this series:
a trip on the Gulf of Mexico where part of the passage is done overnight
A quick rundown of our four Gulf Crossings so far.
Our first was as crew for Susie & Bill in April 2016, before we purchased About Time, where we jumped from Apalachee Bay to Clearwater in Manana, an Morgan Out Island 41. I think that one was a 28-hour crossing. We left very early in the morning, nearly ran aground shortly after leaving the dock, but Bill got us free and we were off before sunrise.
Then several years passed before we crewed for Cam and Denise on Quest, a 40 Beneteau for a crossing from Apalachee Bay to Charlotte Harbor in April 2021, just after selling About Time. We left before sunrise and it took about 38 hours to get to Cayo Costa.
Later that year in November 2021, Cam and Denise crewed for Jimmy and me as we took Utopia on her Clearwater to Apalachee Bay crossing. Another pre-sunrise departure, which ended up being about 30 hours due to some rough seas, and missing one of the morning tide to get into Shell Point.
Just over a year later, Jimmy and I crossed south from Apalachee Bay to the Tarpon Springs area without crew on Utopia over this past New Years Eve. We had planned to go to Clearwater, but cut it short at Anclote Key, making it just a 23-hour passage. Sailing with just a couple on a boat our size is often called Short-Handed Sailing.
Even though we do not have a lot of experience, I think it is still worthwhile to share a few things we have learned from these experiences. Over the next couple of months we will cover some of the some of the topics below to help us, and maybe others, avoid making the same mistakes.
Food
Seasickness
Sailing to a Schedule
Weather
Autopilot
Keeping Time
Clipping In
Communications
Watch Schedules
Alcohol
Equipment breaks
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