Days 294 -295

Bahia Honda State Park - Plantation Harbor Marina Islamorada

• Start 7:50AM
• End 2:00 PM
• Underway 6:10 Hours
• Distance 49 Miles
• Total Miles on Trip 4653
• Av Speed 8.0 knots
• Weather Sunny , 81 Degrees, Wind 9 Knots SSE

Leaving Bahia Honda we had planned to go snorkeling at Sombrero Lighthouse Reef, with Dan & Cheri on Cheri Baby II. There are mooring balls that you tie up to, because you are not allowed to use your anchor. We did not arrive early enough to get a mooring ball, and decided just to continue on to Plantation Harbor Marina. Dan and Cheri had a friend that got there early and they tied to the ball that they had used, they spent about an hour snorkeling. Before we left the marina, I started dinner in the crockpot, what would St Patrick's day be without Corned Beef and Cabbage.

The ride to Plantation Harbor was long but very uneventful and overall the conditions were not too bad. Most of the trip there were swells around two feet but they were coming at us on our beam (from the side) and it makes the boat rock side to side. We did have a nice breeze to keep us cool until we turned out of the ocean to cut over to the gulf side. As we ran thru Snake Channel we passed several waterfront mansions. As we pass the, it becomes very obvious why the individuals that work in the Keys cannot afford to live here.

As difficult as it was to find the Corned Beef and Soda Bread it was worth it. Dinner turned out perfect, and it was nice having it ready after a long run. After dinner Dan & Cheri (Cheri Baby II) Angel & I, and Ray went to see a band Igor And The Red Elvis's. They are very entertaining okaying a mix if cover songs, and their own songs. We used FreeBee to get to and from the bar where they were playing, FreeBee is a service similar to Uber that is provided by the Village of Islamorada. The only restriction is it only provides service on the island of Islamorada, they pick you up and drop you off anywhere on the island, and you only tip the driver. The FreeBee vehicles are all Electric Vehicles, and help reduce pollution, traffic congestion, and DUI incidents. Ray also discovered the forward air conditioner was no longer working. This has happened after we had a problem with the power pedestal at Bahia Honda last night. With a little testing and talking with a friend that is has an AC company I was pretty sure that there was a bad transformer in the control panel. Rather than trying to find the part, and hoping that my diagnoses was correct, I found a company that was already scheduled to be in the marina on Friday and would look at it. It was the transformer and they were able to replace it, and it is now working.

Friday was a very busy day. First I had to wait for the AC repair company. It was nice they had called and told be about when they would be there, and they were on time. After that we went to the History Of Diving Museum about 4 miles from the marina. You know you are getting old, when the equipment you learned to dive with is in a museum! It was crazy to see what people use to use to work underwater. We took FreeBee to the museum, then walked to the grocery store to do some shopping, and used FreeBee to get back to the marina.

Back at the marina we spent the afternoon in the pool cooling of and relaxing before going out to dinner. Friends of ours (Bill & Patty Drapczak) from the yacht club have a timeshare on the island. They came and picked us up and we went to Island Grill for dinner. It was fun to catch up with them and dinner was delicious.

Tomorrow we are headed to John Pennekamp State Park for two nights.