Sea-Ya! A blog created by Dan and Katie for friends and family to track us on the Great Loop!

When you get ready for bed in an approaching tropical storm you really don't know what you will get.  Overnight we got a storm surge that brought an extra three feet of water into the Intracoastal Waterway.  Our relatively protected slip.   Our boat carved it's mark in the pole to show what was happening ...  The water came up, and up and up.   Eventually the rub rail got over the top of the poles!   Water over the dock and almost to the electrical outlets in the power stations!   It was not a time to be walking around knee deep in the water on the dock.   Water in the first floor of the restaurant and a river flowing between us and the building.   A few ropes torn and some wear and tear but nothing substantial.  They had the road / bridge closed for a while in the night - I am thinking for wind.  The wind was whipping 60+ mph.... Once high tide passed about 2:30am, the wind switch and started ripping the water back out to sea, pulling the bo

It appears we are in for a tropical storm.  They are saying our water is going to get sucked out to sea for this one.   We shall see.   Prepared for a couple of days hunkered down in the boat.   Fortunately in a marina.   Today we leave Gulfport at low tide and traversed Boca Ciega bay on the way to the bridge that would take us to Tampa Bay.  Or so we thought.  As I approached the bridge I thought 'that looks kinda low' and looked up the bridge on the charts.   19ft fixed bridge at high tide.   Our boat measures 19ft 11inches above the water - in any tide.   Now the tide was 6inches above low so in theory we had 18 inches before it reached high tide.  We could, in theory, inch under the bridge with antennas down.   But we had 2ft waves.   There goes the 18inches.   Too close to call.   Turn around, cross the bay again, head east and then back south again to go under another fixed bridge.  68ft.  Ok, no problem.  But that means an extra hour crossing Tam

Time to move again.... But only three days (short days) then we will stay awhile.    We left Clearwater Beach yesterday after the last of our Amazon shipments arrived. (Well, technically one didn't - so we cancelled it.) We have reservations further south so we need to get there - and before the big tropical storm that is about to whack us.   Not many pictures for the last couple of days.  It's been very windy, wavy and not terribly comfortable.  Not much sleep overnight in Madeira Beach.   We anchored out and there were 25knot winds that spun us on our anchor over and over.   Nothing like falling asleep on your side and having the anchor catch at 10mph and shove you and everything in the boat sideways.   Still - our new house batteries made it through the night and our fridge stayed cold even with the inverter running a TV all night in someone's bedroom....  Today we awoke, pulled anchor and cruised through Treasure Island to Gulfport.   

So today was a 'wash and wax the boat day.   I realize I won't get any sympathy from the frozen tundra but.... This is hard work.  I got about a quarter of the boat done.  Tons more to do.   Anyway.... It got too hot so we went for a dinghy ride out into the ocean and then around Clearwater beach to see the sights and dolphins.   We came back to the dock tonight and we're settling in tired and all of a sudden Christmas music is playing all around us.    We didn't even have to move the boat for this one!!  And all different boats from last time... So we went out to see why the ruckus.    It seems that another boat parade decided to take place.. . And about 30ft off the bow of my boat.    Go figure.   Clearwater beach does it up right.   More boats and more houses than Du