Days 262

Shark River Anchorage - Key West FL

• Start 7:00 AM
• End 12:07 PM
• Underway 5:10 Hours
• Distance 74 Miles
• Total Miles on Trip 4576
• Av Speed 14.4 knots
• Weather Heavy Rain , 66 Degrees, Wind 18 Knots NNE

We are now in Key West and will be here for the next 30 days. I will try to update once a week or, as anything good happens.

What a difference a day makes. From bright and sunny with dead calm flat seas to heavy rain and 3 to 4 foot waves. The first two hours of the trip were difficult to say the least. The bad weather that was forecasted to come in later in the afternoon, was there first thing in the morning. Before we left I checked the marine forecast on the satellite weather (There was no cell service) and knew that it was not going to be a fun ride. Between getting tossed around in the waves, trying to see through the rain, and dodging crab pots it was exhausting. Once we passed Cape Sable and turned South East we were somewhat protected from the wind and the waves were not as bad. But the rain and the crab pots were still with us. It was not until we were 40 miles into the trip when we passed under the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys that the trip got much better. The Keys blocked the North East winds and the seas laid down. This was also were we parted ways with Dan & Cheri (Cheri Baby II) they were heading to Marathon for a month while we are in Key West.

Even after securing what we normally do before we travel the inside of the boat was mess. Nothing broke but there was stuff all over the floors. Later at night Angel found an apple in one of her slippers, it found its way from the galley counter all the way to the aft cabin. We are used to things moving around but this was the worst it has been on this trip.

One of the challenges of this trip is we are constantly docking in new places (125 times so far on this trip). First finding your slip, then figuring out the wind and the current and what other challenges there await us, will there be dock hands and if so, are they a help or hindrance. I was concerned that the heavy winds were going to make this docking even more fun. Sometimes we get very lucky and this was one of them. First the marina provided a map of the slips, and gave us our slip assignment several days in advance, and more importantly as we arrived at the marina the wind died down and the dock hand was very helpful.

After we got every secured and put back we headed to the office to check in. After checking in we were given champagne, that is definitely a first for us. Just a side note for what they charge here they could have given us the bottle, or at least used glass champagne flutes but it was still a very nice touch.

More to come on Key West as the month goes by.