On February 15th at 5.00 PM we have been finally ready to take of. We prepared the boat to go. At exactly 5.00PM we took off. I have been driving the boat as the #1. Getting out of the slip was first challenge. Instead to turn the wheel right I turned left and with some fast directions from the captain
he saved the boat from hitting somebody else. Then the long long road to make it out of Tampa Bay began. We had to hug the sides, our boat draws 6.5' and the bay is about that shallow. In the middle we have run a ground. Fortunately we have been going really slow. There was not much more high tide to come and if we did not get the boat off, she would lie on her side. Fortunately the bay is only mud. After dramatic two hours we finally made it to the BRIDGE on time for scheduled opening. As the bridge opens and I start to go in, Matt discovers the engine is overheating. We have no sails up and have to make it under the bridge. Also this is my first (we have cruised with 51'sailboat for 5 years) under the bridge. I decided not to panic and drive and make sure I did not hit the bridge. All went well. After bridge we did not know what to do. We could not return, tide was going down and it was getting dark. We decided that we have to make it on the open sea and sail. Also to mention, there was not a smidge of wind. Sea was reflective like in “Doldrums”. Trying to make it pass all the buoys in the channel was nightmare. Most of them have not been lit. Only radar saved us and we had few close calls. As we are struggling in the bay three dolphins decided to swim with us and keep us company, but they would not go out of the bay. Finally we set the sail. The wind was all 9 knots and we have been going about 45 degrees into the wind. To our surprise she was sailing 4-5 knots. So sitting in the cockpit and freezing whole night we have been finally on our way to Bahamas. About 6 o’clock in the morning we started to see the land. The first thing I saw was the sunrise. We thought it was all behind us. And then we made it into the minefield of crab pods, thousands of them. It is a basket with rope and on top it has buoy. You do not want to get your engine prop tangled in it. So for another hour we had to zing-zak around the pods. So finally we made it into Venice Bay, Florida, where we have been going to refuel and sleep. When we stopped we found one of our cats did not like the ride and as all our old cats on our old boat, vomited, peed in our bed and used our bed stand as a litter-box. Our washing machine can not accommodate mattress, sheet and cover for mattress. So we had to find anchorage with washing machine. So here we finally are and will stay here for two days, so our mattress have time to dry. See you on our new adventures.
