Another beautiful morning, however we were a little apprehensive about pushing off the dock this morning. Around 2:00am we could hear the wind pick up and the waves were hitting the bow of the boat in the marina. Forecast was wind out of the south at 15kts gusting to 25kts and waves 2 to 3 feet early increasing to 3 to 4 feet by the afternoon. We thought we might be in for a rough day as usually it is worse than expected.
Well as it turns out the weatherman hit this forecast right on the nose. The first 4 hours of the crossing were great. The waves were pretty much behind us and we were making great time. What Jubilee lacks in modern convenience, she more than makes up for in her sea-keeping ability. I would have to say that this is one of the best hulls I have run. The boat really performed beautifully in these sea conditions.
The trip across from Clearwater to Apalachicola is 170 miles inlet to inlet. At about the have way point we started to see some bigger waves. Solid 3 to 4 footers with an occasional 5 footer thrown in. The boat took the waves really well and we had a most enjoyable crossing.
We covered 183 miles today in 7 hours and 30 minutes. Without autopilot and having to hand steer the entire trip today, we are pretty worn out from the crossing. We are all fueled and tied up at Scipio Creek Marina in Apalachicola. We were lucky and got in just before a huge band of thunderstorms and rain moved through the area. We would have continued on the ICW had we not had the rain and severe weather forecast. We were following the weather on NOAA very closely as we were crossing the Gulf today. We plan on having some steamed oysters tonight at Papa Joe's. Tomorrow on to Orange Beach to get Jubilee handed off to her new owner and settled into her new home.
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