April 13-14 Coco Walk and then hunkered down

We left Boca Chita Key on Friday the 13^th , bound for Dinner Key where they have mooring balls.  We needed to hunker down for 2 reasons: 1) we were just south of Miami and a lot of boaters would be out on the weekends, and 2) winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour were forcasted.  That meant 6 to 9 foot waves on the ocean side.  So, we got to Dinner Key and anchored on a mooring ball.  Ashore is Coconut Grove, a very well tuned modern Florida community with art galleries, shops, great restaurants.  We toured around Coconut Grove (first pic) and then headed back to the boat.  That night, the weather turned with the high winds.  As I am writing now, the winds are 25 to 30 mph.  The 2^nd pic shows our mooring on Dinner Key.  The next 2 pic shows me bilging out the dinghy and checking the mooring lines in the high winds.  More about this tomorrow.

April 12 The crew departs, but on to Boca Chita Key

Our crew departed early from the state park on a shuttle to Ft Lauderdale airport.  So, Christine and I got going to make way before some forcasted bad weather set in.  A manatee came by the boat to bid us farewell from the state park (first pic).  We journeyed up the Atlantic coast a ways and then crossed back to the Gulf to visit Boca Chita Key, a national park only accessible by boat.  It has a circular basin where the boats tie up (first pic).  There are several trails that we hiked to stretch our legs (next pic).  It was Thursday, and BlueSkies was only one of 4 boats in the basin that day (final pic).  On weekends, the entire basin is filled with boats rafted 2 and 3 boats deep!   Not shown are 2 manatees that roamed the basin.  The reflection off the water did not let us get a good photo.  We missed Becky who wanted to see manatees, because today she left and we had 2 really excellent manatee sightings.

April 10-11 An Underwater State Park

We were underway again.  We crossed from the Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean and headed up the Atlantic coast.  We arrived at the channel to enter John Pennekamp State Park, which is an underwater state park that protects the coral for thousands of acres of ocean waters.   One of navigation challenges was getting up a narrow channel when big tour boats took up the entire waterway (first pic).  Our best activity was taking a snorkel tour, where we saw about 100 varieties of tropical fish among different kinds of coral.  The last pic shows Becky and Christine on the snorkel boat, somewhat waterlogged after being in the water for over 2 hours.

April 9 Heading north

Since July 2^nd of 2011, we have been heading west (across Canada) and south (down Lake Michigan and the inland rivers, and the west coast of Fl).  Today is our first day to turn north and start heading toward the completion of the great loop trip.  It was a good day, and we headed to Lignumvitae Key and Indian Key, which were about 30 miles up the Gulf.  We anchored on a mooring ball and explored Indian Key (first pic) which was a 10 acre island that once had a thriving community.  That community based its economy on salvaging shipwrecks, which occurred often on the many reefs nearby in the Altantic ocean. It was wiped out by an Indian attack in the late 1850’s and never rebuilt.  Later, we relaxed on the boat looking out over the Gulf.  The next pic shows Grover soaking in the scenery and the final pic shows a perfect sunset. 

April 7-8 At the Southernmost spot of the US

We hopped on a bus to Key West, which was about 40 miles away (first pic).   We toured the home of Ernest Hemingway, that houses about 42 cats- some of them with 6 toes (2nd pic).  The house had a romantic feel, with lush gardens and relaxing atmosphere (last pic), that would be a great setting for a famous writer.  But Hemingway was a rocker and roller also.  The 3rd pic shows a bar covered with bra(s) that was the Hemingway hangout—first called Sloppy Joes, and now called Captain Tonys.  We decided to do some rocking and rolling ourselves, so we visited the Bull and Whistle bar, where the top floor is an outside bar called the Garden of Eden (5th pic).  Clothing is optional in the Garden of Eden, but they did not allow any pictures, so I cannot verify we were actually there.  Finally, we stood at the southern most point of the US before heading back to Marathon Key (4th pic).

April 6 Fish, Turtles, and Stone Crabs

The first crew of BlueSkies back in June of 2011, while we were in New York, showed up for a repeat performance here in the Florida Keys.   Becky and Grover came from Asheville, NC.   The first pic shows Grover on a fishing boat on the afternoon of April 6^th.  The waves were 5 to 7 feet and we were out 8 miles with Captain Tom of the fishing vessel Barracuda.  There were 6 paying customers on the trip, but only 4 of us actually fished, since 2 were seasick the entire afternoon.  Regardless, the captain put us right in the middle of a school of yellowtail snapper and we hauled in over 200 fish.  Of these, we kept 60 fish (next pic) which was our limit.  While Grover and I were hauling in our meals for the next several days,  Becky and Christine visited the Turtle Hospital.  It was great to see turtles being cared for, but somewhat disconcerting to know that it is primarily the result of humans that these species are endangered.   At the end of the afternoon, we meet at Key Fisheries for drinks and stone crabs(third pic).   Finally, a couple of pics of turtles getting well in thier hospital.

April 1-5 Like being in Paradise

The weather in the Florida Keys was beautiful.  Everyday felt like we were in paradise.  But that did not keep us from doing our boat chores.  Every morning was dedicated to a specific project on the boat.  And then, the afternoons were open for exploring.   We would snorkel or swim or bike ride somewhere.  The first pic shows us on the old 7-mile bridge built by Henry Flagler.   It is open about half-way across the bridge.  But, due to disrepair, the State of Florida plans to close the bridge around August of this year—forever.   We felt lucky to be able to travel across this historic structure.   The next pic shows an iguana.  These critters are invasive exotics that have displaced some of the native species, so, the locals consider them a pest. We saw them everywhere we went on the islands.  Finally, our dock neighbors on Snow Goose, Joe and Trina, were celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary.  Along with their family, the boating community also helped them celebrate.

March 26-31 When time stood still

We secured a slip at Banana Bay Marina (first pic) at a good price so we could have direct access to power, water, etc.   It is beautiful and laid back here, it almost feels like time stands still.  We do boat work in the mornings and then some exploratory activity in the afternoon.  The next pic shows a tour of Crane Point where we learned the difference among red, black, and white mangroves.  The third pic shows Christine on Sombrero Beach for the afternoon.  We took in a play “once upon a matress” that was put on by the Marathon Community Center (4^thpic).   And then a pic on Pigeon Key,  where Henry Flagler kept his workmen who built the 7 mile bridge that links Key West with the rest of Florida. The pic shows a house on Pigeon Key that you can rent for a week.   We may rent this place in the future!  Finally, a pic with our friends Barry and Jody, who took the journey down the Mississippi river with us back in October!