Key Biscayne to St. Augustine

We had a great night in Key Biscayne and headed into the ocean for the anchorage in Lake Worth.  We then sailed back into the ocean but came in the St. Lucie Inlet because Ft. Pierce was closed due to salvage operations.  We stayed in Vero Beach for a week and then took a ball in the south field at St. Augustine for Palm Sunday.  Today we are in JAX Landing for a few days before heading to Green Cove Springs.  Walt enjoyed touring the Castillo San Marcos in St. Augustine and we both enjoyed the restored Basilica there......but the tourists were everywhere....wow, what crowds!

Heading north 3/15/2015

We spent one night in the Boot Key anchorage and at 10:30 we were filling up with diesel and water at Burdines.  We received our free french fries and free ice to head out into Hawk Channel in the most glorious turquoise water I had ever seen.  The water was stunning.  Since it was a Sunday there were lots of boats enjoying a sail.  We anchored at Rodriguez and on Monday we continued on to Key Biscayne.  Nine boats anchored with us just outside of No Name Harbor.

Indian Key 3/13/2015

We had a very long day of motor sailing from Cape Coral to Indian Key in 14-20 knots of wind ESE almost on the nose.  We came in using the marked channel leading to Everglades City which initially is quite wide.  We anchored near the east side in just 9 feet of water and had a very quiet night.  Here is the sunset which was beautiful.  We were amazed at how quiet and lovely this spot was after such wind and waves all day in the Gulf.

Dry Tortugas to Cape Coral 3/9-10/2015

We learned that it was easy to sail to the Dry Tortugas but difficult to sail back to the Keys.  Boats kept arriving but nobody could leave except for the planes and the Key West Fast Ferry......Finally we decided to give it a try and sailed out in 10-15 knots from the east with 4-5 waves.  We headed to Key West but could only do 3 knots.  We changed our course to Marco but it was still slow so we headed to Cape Coral and sailed all day and night.  We came in on Tuesday morning at 5:00 and decided to anchor.  When we turned on the engine we knew something was wrong......We anchored, turned off the engine and after 21 hours with no sleep Walt replaced the blown impeller.  Wow, off to anchor in front of the Westin Hotel where we stayed for 3 days.  Larry Stange, a cruising friend who now lives in Cape Coral, brought us a beautiful red, white and blue cruising spinnaker and whisker pole plus SSB radio.  Thanks, Larry!  We also went to Rumrunners on the Cape Coral waterfront to have lunch with colleagues from Dansville, Pat & Jack, and Sandy.  Shafers visited our boat later.

The Dry Tortugas 3/5-3/9/2015

The Dry Tortugas has been on our bucket list for a long time but it is difficult to sail to and from in the prevailing winter easterlies.  We decided to give it a try this year and sure enough it was an easy 70 mile sail from Key West in SE winds of 15 knots but every day there the winds blew at 20-24 from the east.......impossible for us to return to Key West!  Fort Jefferson is an amazing fort, the biggest US masonry fort ever built.  We toured the fort, walked the beaches, snorkeled, greeted Lyle the Crocodile who hung out in the moats during the day, saw the sooty tern nesting areas, and watched a 10' Goliath Grouper swim under our boat.  When we anchored on Thursday, there were only 3 other boats but when we left on Monday there were 11 sailboats, a trawler and 5 fishing boats.  Every morning we saw two seaplanes land with tourists and then the Dry Tortugas Ferry came over from Key West for the day with visitors.  This is an amazing destination with beautiful vistas and a rich history-don't miss it!

Key West 3/4/2015

We sailed to Key West today from Marathon in 14-20 knot winds and arrived at 2:00 to anchor at Fleming Key across from the old harbor.  The holding was great but there were lots of tourist tall ships sailing to and fro in the anchorage plus a party cat with lots of music and dancing......not very quiet!  We had good protection and a restful night sleep with lots of other cruising boats.

Last Tennis 3/3/2015

We have played tennis five days a week for the last 4 months here in Marathon at the community courts adjacent to the mooring field.  Here is Walt with Coach Bill and a former tennis pro, Ray, who is 87 years old and still playing every day!  Wow, Florida keeps you young!

Butterfly Museum-Key West

We drove to Key West Feb. 26th with Sharon & Darik from Y-Knot.  Sharon and I spent over 2 hours in the Butterfly Museum on Duval Street and later met the guys for lunch at Schooners in the old harbor.  Walt was checking on the dinghy dock and anchorage as we are sailing the boat here in March on our way to the Dry Tortugas.