Expect the Unexpected

King Neptune, the god of the wind and the sea, shone down on us once again.  Our 160-mile overnight sail from Carabell to Clearwater Beach was amazing!

Eighteen boats left yesterday to bypass the "Big Bend" of Florida and go straight from  Carabelle to Tarpon Springs. This was supposed to be the window of opportunity everyone wanted, including us. 

Most of the group were power boats and were going to Tarpon Springs so they left at around three o'clock in the afternoon.  Since we like to rely on the wind and were going a bit further, we left at 0800.

So here's the "expect the unexpected" thing I often talk about.  The weather wasn't what was expected but, for us, it was better.  The wind was  brisk 20+ knots in the morning with about 3-4 ft waves.  Folly loved it and we had a nice comfortable sail until mid afternoon when the wind died and we were forced to turn on the Iron Genny.  On the positive side, it was perfect for the power boats just leaving and great for me to prepare a nice dinner.

It was a beautiful sunset and we ate in the cockpit, without dishes flying around, and totally blissed out on life.  *sigh*  It was wonderful!

After dark I took the first watch from 8 to 12 midnight.  Shortly after Harley went down, the wind picked up and before long  I pulled out the sail and turned off the engine.  It was awsome and I felt very empowered and proud to think I did it all myself.   By the time Harley got up the wind was back up to 20+ knots and we were  moving along at about 6.5 knots.

The wind continued like this through the night but unfortunately it clocked around and started coming straight on the nose.... not what was called for. Needless to say the power boats who had caught up to us by now were not impressed!  So much for their flat calm crossing!  We were not impressed either as our autohelm stopped working around 1am and we were forced to hand steer the rest of the way. 

Neither one of us slept the rest of the way giving each other a break at the helm every two hours.  It was fine but tiring.  We entered Clearwater pass at 1030. 

We have rented a car and will be exploring this cool beach town for the next couple of days.  We will also be looking into what's going on with the autohelm, but more about that. ...next time.