Saturday 18 April 2020
The tidal flow had just stopped
as the tide reached low , and the air was perfectly still when we very carefully got underway
in semi-darkness at 0640. Exiting the Manatee
River into nearly flat Tampa Bay was a completely different experience than the
day before yesterday when high winds had whipped it into froth and rolled us
about like a pair of dice. Taking
advantage of one of the few means of recreation left in these odd times, small
open boat after boat zipped by us as we plowed our furrow out of the river. Our computer says our ETA is, well, it really
depends upon our instantaneous speed over the ground (SOG). Right now with an eight MPH SO, it stands at
0915 Sunday morning in Carrabelle. Right
now we have the Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay to starboard and Egmont Key
guarding the entrance on our port bow in hazy weather with a few scattered low
clouds. There are warnings on the marine
radio of the possibility of severe thunderstorms in the area today, but there
is no evidence of any now. Hopefully, we
will get out to sea and leave any that do pop up behind. After that, all we have to do is beat the
storms forecast for the northern end of our route before they strike
tomorrow. Are we between a rock and a
hard place? AND not to be outdone by any other world events, Mary finished her quilt yesterday!
