1628 miles after leaving Rockport, Texas and we have finally made it to the southernmost point in the continental USA. This is an achievement we are proud of.
We really had a nice relaxing time in Marathon. It's such a great community of boaters that hang out in Boot Key Harbor. I think I mentioned that they have a cruisers net every morning on VHF Channel 68. While we did not avail ourselves of all the offers of this and that, we did enjoy hearing where so many of the cruisers came from.
Some were like us - just passing through, while others came there from their homes in the north east to escape the cold and snow for the entire duration of the winter and will shortly be heading north. We had a serious storm blast through the other day. A couple of boats took a serious beating having been caught out in the weather. There were several boats that ended up in the mud on the east side of Boot Key Harbor. The kindness and generosity of cruisers never ceases to amaze me.
As soon as the storm passed, numerous folks came to the aid of those who got blown aground and had all but one out of the mud rather quickly. The one who remained stuck had to wait until the high tide the following morning. At that time, several folks came back to lend a hand. Very cool. One guy, a sailor, did not get his cloth down in time and suffered severe damage to his main sail, his head sail, and to his dinghy. He got on the cruisers net and was offered a spare set of sail, the name of the local sail repair guy, and even a dinghy to use until his was fixed.
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| This guy really got clobbered. |
That was all very nice. Again, there is little in this world like the generosity of fellow cruisers. We recently heard a story about a guy and his wife who were down in Key West at the time of that storm and were trying to pick up a mooring ball on the other side of Flemming Key. The water was so rough that after several passes, he had lost 3 of his 4 boat hooks trying to grab and hold onto the mooring line. Finally, a guy hopped into his dinghy and helped them by taking their line and threading the mooring line for them and then handed back up the line. It's a good thing this good sam was around and able to help. Both were very tired and, in bad weather, this could have spelled disaster. Cheated death again.
We were not so badly affected by this particular storm. Having been clobbered several times already this winter, I have developed a rather keen weather eye. You see, the National Whatever Service (formerly known as the National Weather Service) completely missed this one. There is sort of a formula about it. If the prevailing breeze at this time of year is east/south east, then a couple days of south winds and an approaching cold front from the north, should be good clues that something is on its way. Couple that with the fact that a few days in the 80's is about to meet a cold front which the night previous chilled northern Florida and the panhandle down to the 30's, and this should be another clue. Finally, a look at the sky revealed a flat line of dark grey clouds with large cumulus clouds forming just atop the flat wall and that means the warm air from the south was meeting with some serious velocity, the cold air mass descending from the north.
I recall telling Brenda that we had better close the windows because it is about to start raining. However, I really did not expect the wind to come in so fast and so forceful. We had gust of up to 50 knots. The storm itself lasted for about an hour in its most furious state, but then began to taper off after that and, with an hour before sunset, seemed to have passed completely, leaving still cool air, glassy water, and a perfect set of clouds to enrich the oncoming sunset. It was something special. There really is nothing like the weather in back of a storm like that.
Obviously, we did not have any problems. However, because the National Whatever Service's forecast for the afternoon was very mild in comparison to what actually happened, there were a lot of boats out on the bay and in the Atlantic in reliance on forecasted mild weather. Some new friends we just met today were on their way to Key West from Marcos Island, a 90 mile run due south through the middle of the Gulf of Mexico - many, many miles from land, at the time of the storm. Unfortunately, they were 45 miles from land on either end and had to contend with 40-50 knot wind and seas of 9 feet or better. They were truly in a fight for survival, but they made it and are still laughing about it.
Marathon was a good trip but it was finally time to go. We picked up the anchor this morning and headed south. Because the National Whatever Service has been somewhat less than perfect in recent days, we had a couple alternative plans prepared. We had a forecast of pretty mild conditions - north to north east wind about 15 knots, nearshore waters inside the reef around 2 feet, with a moderate choppy condition. However, the National Whatever Service, via the Coast Guard Sector Miami, kept getting on the radio every half hour or so to broadcast a Notice to Mariners concerning hazardous weather and an ongoing small craft advisory. However, they did not say where this condition existed and the National Whatever Service's website which updates almost hourly down here was not showing any small craft advisory from the Dry Tortugas, all the way up to Miami. Yet, they still had a hazardous weather advisory, but the text of the same, said nothing other than the possibility of cold weather and arid conditions over land. As such, given all the seemingly conflicting information, we had a back up plan.
Initially, we thought to go to Newfound Harbor on Big Pine Key - a mere 20 miles south of Vaca Key. We could have very good protection there from all but the worst south wind. Alternatively, if we got to that area and the conditions looked good and remained stable, we would simply roll all the way to Key West, a mere 43 miles south of Marathon. Well, Sailflow was actually accurate in hindsite, and the weather only got better the further south we moved. Our arrival at Key West could not have been nicer. The water calmed down considerably and returned to that wonderful turquoise color and there was nary a whitecap. Overall it was a wonderful ride.
There are places to anchor in Key West, but we have been on the hook since mid February and thought it was about time to get into a marina for some serious battery charging time and some other boat chores that are easier when you have a hose and an essentially endless supply of fresh water. There are several marinas in the Key West area, most of which are ridiculously expensive. However, I looked at the selection from the perspective of, well, if we have to be in a marina, let's find the one that puts us in the middle of everything and has all the services we need. So, I prioritized the list and started calling. The first on the list was Key West Bight Marina. Low and behold, first call, and they had room for us, so we made a reservation. Originally, we planned to stay in Marathon until Monday. But, because it looked like we had a weather window, al beit narrow, we decided to head down there earlier. On the way down, we decided we could just anchor out next to Wisteria Island until Monday, or I could call the marina and see if they could fit us in earlier. Low and behold again, they were able to move our reservation and got us in this afternoon. Easy. They are very nice here. Perhaps it is not the marina known for the most glitz and glammor, but it is completely functional and we are right in the heart of old town Key West.
It would appear that we managed to get here during the Spring Break celebration and thus there are thousands and thousands of drunken college students running all over town. Couple this with 2-3 cruise ships per day, each carrying a few thousand passangers, and what you have is a sea of humanity. Nevertheless, it appeared that this community can easily handle the throngs of people. We made it out for some great happy hour apps and drinks, and then walked over to Malory Square for the daily sunset rituals, and then went down Duval Street and found Margaritaville and had a cheeseburger in paradise with fries, and a chilled "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw" on the rocks. Although we didn't see Jimmy hanging around his own restaurant, we understand he is well and preparing to go on tour again soon. We got back to the boat at around 10:30, and just unwound for a while. We only have three nights in this marina and then we will have to see what happens. So for now, we will try to cram in as much as we can in a short period of time and then, as I said, we'll see what happens.
I'll have more pictures to post soon. My phone died and I had no battery for many photos today.
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