Successful crossing!

This is the scene we enjoyed after successfully crossing our section of the Gulf today. A sleepy fishing village in a mostly uninhabited and natural section of Florida, on the Sheinhatchee River (pronounced Steen-hatchee).

Here's another photo from the river here, one of many sunken boats left to rot along our route since last Saturday.

The trip across was just fine. Thank goodness for Otto Pilot! We left at the crack of dawn after refueling almost in the dark. We puttered across the waterway past Dog Island, and once we passed it we were finally out in the open Gulf of Mexico for the first time. At that point, I just set Otto on the straight-line route to Steinhatchee, and Bert and I relaxed most of the rest of the way across.

The headwinds and swells never got too large, it was sunny much of the time, and we just kept hoping the favorable weather would hold. It did, but barely. It started raining on and off as soon as we arrived, and by now (9 pm) it's pouring outside. We're snuggly tied up at a marina, and ate at our first restaurant since we began last weekend.

I almost didn't land when I arrived here; more like almost crashed into all the boats down current from me! The dockmaster waved me in to land on my starboard side AGAINST the current. I don't know how one can land against a strong current, and essentially I didn't. Bert threw her a line as my bow went straight into the dock (gently). Bert luckily hopped off the bow onto the dock, and helped pull me in against the flow. The two of them almost could not hold on, such was the force of the current pushing my boat away from the dock. I couldn't do anything to help. They kept using all their muscles and gradually were able to pull me in. So much for experience - I still don't know how to pull off a landing like that.

This is a picture of a dolphin swimming right behind the propeller wash! We had more dolphins play with us as we got close to our destination. Even more notable were the crab pot floats we had to avoid. Hundreds upon hundreds of them during the final 15 miles, all scattered about forcing us to dodge this way and that way, lest their lines get caught in the propeller. I'd read about them, but this was ridiculous!

Depending on the storm, we may stay here all day tomorrow and another night. We can depart and enter the next few rivers down the coast only in the afternoons at high tides, and the weather forecast is for continued rough weather and seas. So, we'll see what comes

It was a sad day for Bert. He learned last night that his dog of 13 years, Peanut, had taken a sudden turn for the worse with his kidney failure. He went to bed knowing only that his wife would be taking Peanut to the vet with the possibility of having to put him to sleep. He learned this morning as we were crossing (3-hour time difference) that indeed that's what had happened last night. We had a few toasts to Peanut after we landed this evening.