After a 2 year refit, Craig and I, along with our pirate pup Bonny, finally cast the lines on a cool morning in December to sail across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida
New Adventure
Emotions ran a bit “high” as Craig and I said our goodbyes but it was time. Sailing Out of Sight was ready and so were we. To say we were a bit anxious would be an understatement. Sailing across the Gulf of Mexico would be a new adventure.
Craig and I knew our girl was sound. We had worked hard to make sure both she and we were prepared but sailing into the “unknown” was going to be a new experience for us.
Our Sail Plan
The adventure started off through familiar waters, passing barges and ships which are a part of everyday boating life when you live and boat near the Houston Ship Chanel. Once we were outside of the jetties it was time to raise the sails. It was at that point we knew “this is really happening”. Now the fun begins? What will it be like to sail across the Gulf of Mexico.
Our sail plan was to sail south about 120 miles then turn east to travel inside of the safety fairway. The safety fairway would take us far enough off shore to avoid any production platforms or oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana. We would travel in the “big ship” lanes but we weren’t worried about those big guys; navigating past container ships, cruise ships, and cargo ships is an everyday occurrence in the Galveston area. ,
Trial By Fire
The Gulf lived up to her reputation of sailing west to east.
We sailed some, motored more. We beat into east winds, had big rolling waves off our starboard, and experienced the doldrums with the flattest most beautiful water for as far as you could see. Beautiful sunrises greeted us each morning and awesome sunsets bid us a good night each evening. What we didn’t expect was to sail through pea soup fog where we couldn’t even see the navigation lights on the front of our boat.
Sailing across the Gulf of Mexico was our “trial by fire”. Sailing out of Sight handled it well. Craig, Bonny and I survived it all.
Our adventure has finally begun.
