Saturday, July 16, 2011

June 13, 2011 Day 9 "Gulf Crossing"

Around the clock......

Engine off and under full sail @ 0715 hr
Capt' Rob off watch at 0720 hr. He sure enjoys watching the moon sets in the mornings! Bless his heart...he took over early for Dean & let him sleep, so he pulled an extra long watch too.
Capt' Randy at the helm once again.

We all had Grapefruits for breakfast that Dad brought along to share with us from FL. Yum!

We are 143 nm out from Tampa, FL for our first 24 hours. It is still flat (0-1' waves) out here! Very light winds out of the NW. Beautiful, warm and sunny!

We were under full sail until 1100 hr. Then had to start the engine once again.
At 1610 hr 1' seas & wind @ 13knots.

Everyone trying to get naps in, staggered throughout the day. I am grateful that Rob & Randy are fresh and able to cover & shorten Dean's shift's for him. He is exhausted I think, mentally and physically. I really think it's reassurance of them being with us now he can relax having more competent help onboard.

1715hr A Pod of Dolphins visit us! How exciting!! We figure 15 to 20 of them. They swim so fast & dive in, around, and under the bow of the boat it is hard to count! Randy and I got some great pictures of them and Randy blessed us with this video! We whooped & hollered & whistled at them. Randy went below & woke everyone from naps so they could see them too!

They hung out with us for about 20-25 minutes! This is why I want to be out on the ocean!  Amazing!! Thank you Randy for the video!!
 
I have taken a gazillion pictures of the friendly fun-to-watch creatures so I must share a couple more!
Putting on a nice show for us & racing with Our Way Too!

Oh what I would give to "Dance with these Dolphins!"
So Playful!!
I hope to display a picture/copy of my Aunt Debbie's Quilt "Oh!! To dance with a dolphin" onboard Our Way Too! I must remember to ask her about it! Now it will have even more meaning to me!

Randy & Rob are trying to figure our fuel burn for the trip. They worry we  won't have enough fuel to make the crossing if we end up motorsailing a majority of the trip. The wind has not been good for much sailing so far. Very light winds! Dean keep watch on our tank of fuel by measuring & comparing with the fuel gage.

Not too much excitement out here since the Dolphins left us. It is pretty quiet! I am really worrying about Dad. I had him lay on one of our folding seats so he could sleep half sitting up. It seemed to help alittle. Trying to push fluids down him, reminding him to take the medicine we bought, and letting him sleep as much as he can. It's pretty warm in the cabin too so that doesn't help. I think he is running a fever as well. :(

Motor off again @ 1900 hr. Randy back on the helm. He sure enjoys this! He puts his earbuds in and jams to his music on his ipod! I am sure it makes the time go by faster on his watch!! He is great Captain & such an awesome friend. We are so glad he was able to join us!

We were blessed once again with another beautiful day out in the Gulf of Mexico & wrapped up our day enjoying another fantastic sunset!

It is unbelievable that it is Hurricane Season and here we are out in the middle of the Gulf! We understand that not too many folks get to see it this calm out here. I never had any doubt about the weather for this trip. Funny...normally I worry about things like that. Not this trip...

And we begin another night.....

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