Smooth Sailing

Tues Feb 3, 2015
Boot Key,
Marathon, FL

We left Long Key at 8am with sunny skies after a peaceful night. We sailed off shore today.  We put up the sails first thing and after a short time with winds to our stern it shifted to our rear quarter and then to a beam reach.  We had 9-14 kt winds most of the day and were getting 5 to almost 7 knots of speed most of the time. The seas were almost flat and we set the sails and the autopilot and relaxed. We has no to moderate heeling.  It was a wonderful day but eventually the winds died to 4 or 5 kts and we were doing 2.5 and had to start the motor. We only had to motor the last 90 min.  All in all we had a nice sailing day.

We arrived at 7 Mile Bridge at Marathon on Boot Key in the early afternoon, happy and content. Anchored outside the harbor since Boat US told us the anchorage was crowded and mooring balls had a wait list. There are 6 or 8 other boats anchored just outside with us but still protected from the prevailing wind by land and trees. We sat in our sunroom (aka enclosed cockpit) with pillows, good books and read, and snuggled,.

While we were reading the Handleys were exploring the land.  They went to a museum and grocery store and don't know where else. They picked up some milk and bread for us. It was a 2 mile dinghy ride to shore and getting our dinghy down and heavy motor mounted and all that undone after you return makes dinghy rides a hassle. Unless there is something really special on shore or some compelling need to go ashore we usually pass.  We hope we can come up with some system that is less of a hassle when this trip ends.

Current plans are to leave in the morning for Ft. Myers and sail all day and all night arriving Thurs. morning in Ft. Myers. It is calling for rain to start during the night Wed. What's a little water to a sailboat? Mark has a brother and 2 sisters in the Ft Myers area who he will visit with a few days. And one of them will drive him to Ft Lauderdale for a treatment while he is there. May take in the Miami boat show. Last one we went to was where we saw our boat. You can get carried away at a boat show if you aren't careful. Makes a trip to West Marine look like small potatoes.