It was an interesting trip from Vero Beach around to St Pete. We had a variety of weather and sea conditions, from calm and cold to really crappy cold and rain and fighting a 20kt wind on the nose, with the accompanying waves to slam into. It was so rough that the anchor mount and two of the teak slats on the bow broke from the force of the water. For one whole night it was: get up speed forward, to about 3kts, hit wall, bounce back, bounce way up, bounce down, have speed drop to 1.5kts, get back in seat, adjust hat, pick up speed, hit wall... Generally, I love overnight passages and the chance to enjoy the stars and sea, alone on my watches. On this trip, however, I spent a lot of time fantasizing about a nice warm RV.
We did have one wonderful highlight to the trip. As we left Indian Key, we sailed off the mooring and the dolphins joined us by the dozens, jumping, flipping, zooming around, under and across the bow. Hjlmr steered down the Hawk Channel while we both stood on the bow and watched. There were more than I'd ever seen at one time and most of the time I just stood there with the camera useless in my hand, just pointing and yelling "over there! oh,oh, oh, over there, more! Look! Look!" That, at least, was a great 'welcome back' to the Gulf of Mexico.
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| Almost close enough to touch. |
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| They came by the dozens. |
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| Mom and baby |
2 comments:
The dolphins are soooo cool!
No matter how many times we see dolphins it is as if it is the first time...What a great experience! Hopefully we will see you in St Pete...we will be there by New Years..without boat..We will call soon to catch up!
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