Wil and I had been wanting to go camping on our boat. We thought we'd enjoy spending an overnight on our boat anchored in Santa Rosa Sound. We have a small gas grill and air mattresses to put on top of the back-to-back seats that fold out to a relatively flat 6 ft. We packed carefully--plenty of food for meals and snacks, extra clothes, towels, toiletries, entertainment, etc. Our boat is old and fairly small (19 ft.) but it has been a great starter boat for us.
We launched about 3 PM from Hurlburt and cruised to Crab Island. Since it was a weekday, there was no problem getting a prime spot to anchor there. We played in the water. Wil set up to grill burgers for dinner. Since there were patriotic festivities going on at Harborwalk, we got the benefit of those. We watched an awesome mini airshow with replica WWII planes flying over.
We worried a bit about the weather, since the sky was dark and rumbling to the north, but we kept an eye on the radar on our weather apps and the storm slid to the east of us. We got only a few sprinkles, not enough to get anything wet. Then, to the east, the most glorious rainbow appeared in the sky! It was bright and visible from horizon to horizon. At the same time, over our shoulder to the west, a beautiful sunset was vying for our attention. As soon as the burgers were done, we settled down in the front of the boat to eat and watch the sun slip down behind the clouds.
We pulled up anchor and moved to the other side of the bridge to watch fireworks. I know, July 5! It was a bonus getting another fireworks show after the 4th. The current was strong and Wil had to fight the anchor to get it to catch and then to hoist it up later, but the fireworks were worth it.
After that, it was time to start settling in the for the evening. We cruised back to Hurlburt and made a stop at the dock so that I could go to the bathhouse. I'm not really into primitive camping, so I wanted a proper sink to brush my teeth and wash up a bit. I also wanted a turn at a proper toilet at least once! Other than that one time, it was the water or piddle packs for the rest of the adventure.
We left the dock and picked out a spot to anchor just southeast of Spooky Island (named for the gunships, not because it's scary). We were out of the channel, but not so close to land that the bugs would find us. We were also right across from the end of Hurlburt's runway, so we soon got to watch all the planes. They did some touch-and-go landings, but before midnight, all the planes were down to stay.
We blew up our air mattresses, cuddled for a while, and made one last check of the weather before going to sleep. The only possible stormy/rainy weather was way up north, over the Alabama line and to the east and it was barely moving The Gulf to the south was completely clear, so we went to sleep pretty confident that all would be well. It was easy to fall asleep with the cool breeze and the boat rocking me. It was late, after 1 AM, and we were tired. Wil was snoring before I fell asleep.
Two hours later, I awoke to Wil stirring and some thunder rumbling. Wil assured me that the storm was off to the south and the wind was blowing it west. Still, he seemed a bit worried. The thunder wasn't that far away and the wind had picked up. I picked up my phone to check my weather app, in hopes of confirming Wil's forecast. However, I was puzzled. My app showed the wind from the south and the storm headed our way! It seems that Wil's app was still on Navarre, but I had set mine to Hurlburt. A few miles can make a difference with the wind.
We watched the storm grow and inch closer on the weather radar. It seemed that a thunderstorm was inevitable. We discussed our options. Wil had the best idea. We would go to the Hurlburt marina and put our boat in one of the empty boat slips there and ride out the storm on the boat, but under shelter. We quickly stowed things and raced to the marina. A couple of other boats our size had been anchored a hundred yards away, but they stayed put.
We were lucky to find several empty covered boat slips and secured our boat in one of them. There was a cover overhead that covered most of the boat, but we knew the rain would blow in from the front and back. Most of our belongings were already in waterproof containers and we put the rest into plastic bags, pulled as much as possible into the middle of the boat with us. The storm had been getting closer and closer in the 20 minutes it took us to get to and get settled in the marina. We had only been in there 10 minutes when the storm hit.
It hit with a fury. The rain was a deluge. There was near constant cloud-to-ground lightning. The thunder was deafening at times. The overhead shelter was a godsend, but I still felt vulnerable with no walls around to protect us. Wil was an angel, reassuring and comforting, even pulling me into his lap during the worst of the storm.
We had a couple of umbrellas, one of them quite large that helped to further keep the blowing rain off of us. We huddled and constantly checked our weather radar apps, thinking it would be just a matter of time before the storm blew over. We planned to head back out after the storm, cruise a bit to help dry the boat and then make breakfast.
However, it was not to be. The storm rolled on and on. We ended up spending nearly five hours in that boat slip. Somehow, the storm to the north and the storm to the south met right over us and merged into the perfect storm. Instead of moving, it just sat over us and grew. Between squalls, Wil dozed while I nervously distracted myself with Sudoku on my iPad. Later, I finally dozed while Wil watched a movie on his iPad.
Eventually, we decided to throw in the towel. We waited for a lighter patch of the storm, when the rain slowed to a sprinkle and the lightning seemed to subside. Wil made a dash to the truck to bring it closer. We unloaded the boat, tossing everything inside the truck. Wil made me stay in the truck while he got the boat loaded on the trailer. We pushed our luck a bit further and stayed under another shelter long enough to flush our engine (because we cruise in salt water), then headed home.
We were wet and exhausted. I was a bit discouraged that our perfect evening ended so badly. We drove through Whataburger and bought breakfast. At home, we just left the boat hitched to the truck and only unloaded essential items. We showered, ate breakfast in bed, and slept a couple of more hours, warm and dry and safe.
We rehashed our evening and decided that camping on the boat had really been fun...at least right up until the storm. We'll do it again sometime, hopefully with a happy ending. We did think of a few things we'll bring with us next time, just in case another storm should find us. Now, we have another shared experience as a couple. Years from now, we'll be remembering our first camping trip on our boat and how we braved the storm together!
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