Ready to cross the Gulf

Crossing the Gulf of Mexico is awesome...said no one ever. For months, we've been talking to folks who have crossed the Gulf of Mexico - both to Florida and Mexico. We've tapped into their experiences, poured over the charts and asked lots of questions. So why isn't it awesome? The Gulf is known for unpredictable currents. The prevailing wind come from the SE and when it butts up with strong currents, it often creates "square" waves, meaning uncomfortable chop. Luckily Freya is heavy (24,000 lbs) and she cuts through waves instead of pounding through them.

The other tricky factor crossing the Gulf is navigating through the sea of oil rigs, ships and commercial traffic. The next time you fill up your gas tank, think about where the gas came from and how it got to your tank. If you live in the US, there's a great chance it came from the Port of Houston. The entire Gulf coast of Texas revolves around the oil industry.

There are several route options to cross the Gulf to Florida. We've chosen to get Freya out to blue water, away from all the rigs. We will leave Galveston Bay/Galveston Island and take what they call a "safety fairway" through the oil rigs. We will sail 140 miles before we are clear of the rigs! 140 miles...isn't that crazy?! 140 miles will take Freya approximately 24 hours at an average speed of 6 knots. By Sunday morning, we hope to be out in the big blue ocean!

Veteran Gulf crossers, advise crossing during a cold front in order to take advantage of north winds. We've been watching the weather for weeks and think we have a great weather window for our crossing. Maybe it will be awesome! A weak cold front is forecasted for Monday and another one for Wednesday. We will leave Galveston Island tomorrow morning, sail 140 miles SE in the fairway and the turn east for Florida. Our route is just under 700 miles which means 5-6 days and nights at sea. We will sail round the clock, taking shifts so one of us is always on watch. We look forward to seeing dolphins, starry skies and endless blue water.

We have never crossed the Gulf but Freya has many, many times, both to Florida and Mexico. She's ready and so is her crew! Thanks for having us, Texas. We had a wonderful time in your state, met wonderful people and made life-long friends.

P.S. This cruise ship just passed our anchorage in the channel. They are getting a head start on Freya!