Norfolk, VA
To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.
This is hard to believe. I was there, and it's still hard to believe.
We're in Key West, on a dock. We have food, but expensive Key West dining options are right here. A few steps away.
There's a brew-pub just down the dock. It's the bar for Beach Brewery …
Moved! We're now docked in Slip A-15 at the Key West Bight Marina. Our location is 24°33.775′N 81°48.0516′W.
We're at a dock. This means several things.
We moved from the mooring field.
Top off the water. We're down about 50 gallons in the …
Remaining moored in the Garrison Bight Mooring Field. Our location is 24°34.704′N 081°47.151′W.
The weather has started to moderate.
Small Craft Advisories for the last five days have kept us out of the dinghy, and sitting on Red Ranger …
Steadfastly moored in the Garrison Bight Mooring Field. Our location is 24°34.704′N 081°47.151′W.
You can -- in a way -- see the waves rolling through here. There are whitecaps. Which means the dinghy ride will be a Splashwater Kingdom water-slide. Except salty.
Reliably moored in the Garrison Bight Mooring Field. Our location is 24°34.704′N 081°47.151′W.
Lunch at Blue Heaven.
The weather is looking almost scary for the next few days.
Lower FLKeys-KeyWest:
Variable NE-SE under 12k<NNW-N up to 15k/1-3' …
Still moored in the Garrison Bight Mooring Field. Our location is 24°34.704′N 081°47.151′W.
Big Lesson Up Front: Taking your own boat to Key West is difficult. I don't recommend it. A better approach is take your boat to Marathon and take …
We've moored in the Garrison Bight Mooring Field. Our location is 24°34.704′N 081°47.151′W; putting us on one of the furthest balls out in the mooring field, a full mile from shore.
Big Lesson Up Front: Taking your own boat to Key …
We've anchored near Pye Key and Torch Key. While we dropped the anchor at 24°39.803′N 081°25.583′W, we didn't stay there.
I did not read the coastal pilot carefully. The "controlling depths" for the channels near here are 3½′ and 4′. This is a place …
We're (still) moored on ball K-9 (at 24°42.250′N 081°05.550′W) in Boot Key Harbor.
Today is prep-to-go day.
This means laundry, top off the water, take on any final galley stores, and final weather check.
This now means checking the …
We're (still) moored on ball K-9 (at 24°42.250′N 081°05.550′W) in Boot Key Harbor.
CA took this picture of me, aloft.
It's real work getting up there.
Planning the work to make sure you have the right tools is hard.
And …
We're (still) moored on ball K-9 (at 24°42.250′N 081°05.550′W) in Boot Key Harbor.
Beth Leonard (I think) said "Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places."
For the last three days I've been going aloft to work on our OGM LXTA masthead light. It …
We're (still) moored on ball K-9 (at 24°42.250′N 081°05.550′W) in Boot Key Harbor.
It's time for a brief recap of the past few months and (about) 1,000 miles of cruising.
Let's roll the clock back to October 13 …
We're moored on ball K-9 (at 24°42.250′N 081°05.550′W) in Boot Key Harbor.
I've ordered a replacement for the mast-head OGM-LXTA-S light. It's a sealed unit. Maybe Weems & Plath will repair or refurbish the old one so I can have it …
Our fourth Island-hopping "day sailing". (Ugh. Again. Not actually sailing, the wind was almost on the nose, so it was a 5-hour motor.)
We're moored on ball K-9 (at 24°42.250′N 081°05.550′W) in Boot Key Harbor. It's between Boot Key and Vaca …
We're still anchored at 24°51.762′N 080°44.516′W, not far from Lower Matecumbe Key. There's a little sandbar for a little sandbar party. But It's Monday, so not much party action.
We spent two days waiting for weather. We did mostly nothing.
Our third day of "day sailing" to go island hopping. (Again, not actually sailing, the wind was on the nose, so it was a 5-hour motor.)
We're anchored at 24°51.762′N 080°44.516′W, not far from Lower Matecumbe Key. There's …
Some weather this afternoon. A waterspout. Thankfully, it stayed far away from us.
We're anchored at 25°03.500′N 080°26.734′W, not far from Rodriguez Key.
Some more pictures of the weather
We sailed into one, years ago. They're scary. But …
Another fun bit of "day sailing". (Not actually sailing, the wind was on the nose, so it was a 4-hour motor.)
We're anchored at 25°03.500′N 080°26.734′W, not far from Rodriguez Key. And the sandbar party.
Yesterday, I had a fit …
This "day sailing" is fun. Instead if a bruising 20-hour overnight passage, we did a leisurely five and one-half hours down Biscayne Bay and into Cove Sound.
We're anchored at 25°19.860′N 080°17.736′W, not far from Pumpkin Key.
Tomorrow we expect it could …
We had two days of stinky weather. It was blowing 20kt or so, gusting higher. We didn't want to mess with the dinghy, so we played quietly while we waited.
We discovered more rat damage to the front hatch screen. And rat scat on deck.
We didn't observe …