Shooting for Tampa

Captain's Log: 7 July, 2014; Hour: 1021

We're passing Sarasota, FL. We hope to make it to Tampa in time to do the radio show. We'll dock and hook up to shore power. We docked at the Crow's Nest Marina in Venice, FL last night. Got in around hour 2000, in time to have a nice dinner upstairs in the restaurant overlooking the waterway.

We met some great folks from Texas who were heading back to where they keep their 42-footer in Bradenton, FL having spent some time in the Keys. They helped us dock. Captain Bob told them about my radio show. They took a tour of Yesterday. They joked that if I'd been a liberal they would've cut our lines. When I met them on the dock at sunrise this morning they said they'd followed our adventure on the blog and one gentlemen had even bought my book. Love those guys!

Sunrise in Venice, FL

I've been in discussions with Captain Bob about our next move. Tarpon Springs is just north of Tampa. That's usually the point at which many loopers set out across the Gulf of Mexico for Carrabelle, FL. That's SE of Panama City. We're going to check the distance but we may set out across the gulf tonight for a straight shot toward Mobile. That's if we have enough range. That route would take us close to Apalachicola Bay, which juts out into the gulf between Carrabelle and Panama City. It would give us a place to go if the weather gets rough or the fuel runs low.

Houses along the waterway between Venice and Sarasota

We plan to refuel after the show, assess the weather, check our distance, then make a decision. If it can be done, it would shave off several days from the trip. In all likelihood we will make the run from Tarpon Springs to Carrabelle. That's about 160 miles. Even that would be pushing it. We would be averaging around 10mph. That's 16 hours straight on these old 46-year-old engines. So far they've been doing great but we don't want to push our luck.