Day 13: Open Ocean

Tuesday, October 10

Apalachicola, FL – Crystal River, FL (163 mi)

We are awake and hitting the water before dawn breaks.  The water is like glass as we set off, but none of the buoys are properly lit.  I head to the bow with one of our super duper bright flashlights in hand to help guide Jacob.  Our spotlight just wasn’t cuttin’ it.  We make our way to Governor’s Cut, but won’t cross until the sun lights up the sky so we can see.  While waiting for the sun Jacob begins to calibrate the autopilot; turning it to the right and then to the left and around in circles.  After calibration he does a few more things, but for some reason it still won’t work.  He contemplates turning around.  He was really hoping and depending on having autopilot for this 12 hour trek.  That’s a long time to have to steer.  I never doubted his ability to do it and the thought of turning back never crossed my mind.

Day breaks giving us safe visibility to navigate through Governor’s Cut.  I go to the bow for lookout.  Large rolling waves greet us as we make it safely through the narrow channel; now it’s only us and the open ocean for the rest of the trip.  The rolling waves last for at least 5 hours.  It’s not rough, but it is difficult to keep our heading.  I steer for possibly 15 seconds and am freaked out, hahaha.  It’s my goal to be more comfortable behind the wheel of the boat by the end of this trip.  Joie came to me with an upset tummy.  I told her to look at the horizon.  Moments later, Jeeno barfed up his food.  Guess Joie wasn’t the only one with a queasy tummy.  Jeeno and Joie both looked miserable.  Jayden listened to some comedy he downloaded on his phone before falling asleep.  It’s amazing how much sleep these two kids have been getting on our travels.  Car rides and boats rides are a sure way to knock them both out.  I finally give in to the waves and have to close my eyes also.  Jacob was even battling the urge to nap.

The waters finally get smoother and from up on the fly bridge Jayden spots a sea turtle and a school of eagle rays.  I finally saw a flying fish race our boat.  To pass more time I watched an episode of Breaking Bad I downloaded from Netflix.  This is this first time that we lost service on our phones.

At last, we must be getting close! Our phones start buzzing catching us up with notifications and messages.  Jacob is still hanging in there.  Now we have to dodge crab pots and make our way into the narrow shallow entry to find our Marina. 

At last we reached our destination! I am so hot and icky that the first thing I do is take a cold shower!  

We already have some steak marinating for dinner.  We finish our night with tacos and Hulu.  We have wifi!!!!! 

Good night ya’ll