Day 176 - 178 - Mini Rendezvous @ Port St. Joe

The sky was dark gray, the rain beat down in diagonal sheets, and the wind blew ahowl, but the Loopers' spirits were as bright as our colorful foul weather gear when we gathered for the mini-rendezvous and met with boaters we haven't seen since  that anchorage in Alabama or that marina in Kentucky.  Our gracious harbor hosts, Ray and Patsy Whitney, planned this gathering and finagled funding from the city of Port St. Joe and local businesses, so it was free to Loopers.  "Free stuff" included a shrimp boil on Friday evening and continental breakfast Saturday morning, as well as lots of prizes.  The Captain and I won a 5 year membership to the American Great Loop Cruising Association.   We only paid for the restaurant meals: a shrimp, ribs, and fish all you-can-eat buffet at Dockside Grille here at the marina (a steal for $8) and a prime rib, fish, or chicken dinner with all the trimmings at Sunset Coastal Grille.

Note the lovely centerpieces made by Katie Stone and yours truly.

The sessions included:

*  an informational and entertaining talk about the crossing from Carabelle to Tarpon Springs, FL, from our favorite weather guru, Tom Conrad (He's the one mentioned in an earlier blog who claims to use a heron for his weather statistics.)

* a review by Rob Roy Rice of favorite stopping places from Tarpon Springs to the Keys with an addendum about the Bahamas and Exumas.

* a presentation on boating safety by the Coast Guard.  We were told that, yes they can and do board boats for any reason or no reason at all.  They will also answer our call when we're in trouble.  It's reassuring to know their powerful radio towers enable them to hear us when we're "way our there" on the Gulf.

* a lively talk about boating by an editor of Power and Motoryacht magazine.

 

During and after the rendezvous the captains and crews compared stories, true and otherwise, and planned the next and most challenging leg of our journey.  We've been here so long and treated so well, it's hard to leave Port St. Joe, but it's time to move on.   We are counting on a fair weather window to allow us safe passage on our crossing  to Clearwater Tuesday night (The preliminary estimate is 22 hours for this voyage.), so we'll travel to Carabelle Monday to be in place and ready to go.