Wednesday 15 April 2020
My Mom’s birthday and what used
to be tax day before the virus crisis struck.
We started off slowly today because our traveling goal was limited to 34
miles. Underway time was about 1015 and
anchoring time was about 1525. Exiting
the long Lemon Bay, we then traveled through Blackburn Bay and thence into Sarasota
Bay where we anchored about halfway up the bay on the western, Longboat Key,
side near Longboat Key Club Moorings Marina or directly across the bay from the Ringling mansion.
There are only three bridges on this coast which we need to have open
for us when we have the mast down, and we went through all of them today
without too much delay. Tomorrow, we
will go another 25 miles to Twin dolphin Marina on the Manatee River in
Bradenton to wait for the weather to break in our favor for a 212-mile crossing
to Carrabelle because at Tampa Bay we have run out of sheltered waters for this boat. Only Clearwater Pass is another option for starting the crossing, and the owner of this fine vessel is a bit iffy about us taking it up to and out of that pass. It really is not some much difference in distance anyway. At an average of 7.5 MPH,
that will be 28.2 hours. If we can achieve
8 MPH, we cut it down by about two hours – it doesn’t make much difference in
the larger scheme of things. If we were
to stage for our crossing at Egmont Key at the entrance to Tampa Bay, we would
lessen the crossing by some fifteen miles, but a source familiar with the area
says finding a calm anchorage at Egmont can be a challenge, meaning we might
not be as well rested for the crossing.
Decisions, decisions. There
appears to be a window opening up this Saturday evening where my “wave predictor”
website and my “wind predictor” website both agree that wind and wave conditions
will be quiet. We will watch
developments from the marina.
