Day 41 - May 10

We are off on the "bridges from hell" trip today; from Ft Lauderdale to Lake Worth.  We decided that going outside today might be risky.  We leave around 8:30 to catch the 8:45 Las Olas bridge.  We catch up to our friends at the next bridge and for the next five bridges, we have a small convoy, two monohulls and a cat.  Our friends stop at Sands Harbor Marina for fuel so there is just two of us now going through the bridges.  We are doing well as we have hit every bridge on time, but finally we miss one and now we are waiting.  Our friends eventually catch up with us and now we have our convoy back.  It is fortunate as both of the monohulls are doing around 7 knots, (they have 35 / 40 hp while we have 25) while we are doing 6.5.  The good news is that the bridge tenders held the bridges for us slow pokes.  During our trip we had a wide spectrum of weather, hot and steamy to downpours. 

We lose the one monohull in Lake Worth as he ducked into a marina, and both of us continue on to Little Lake Worth.   We find our spot in the anchorage where we dropped the hook on the way south, and shower and have dinner.  As the sun set we are provided with a light show from the thunderstorms in the distance, which eventually show up in our anchorage.  We take out the screens and button up the hatches until the rain passes. 

Day 40 - May 9

We leave Marine Park Stadium after a not so great night.  The air was still after the rain and some kids were playing in the stadium for a while.  They left and then the fire department decides to practice their fire fighting drills from the water, until 1 am.  ARG; with all the commotion, I read another hundred pages in the Clancy novel. 

We are going to sail on the outside and avoid the Miami and other bridges up to Ft Lauderdale.  We leave out of Fisherman's channel, which eventually connects with the main channel.   Even at 8 am it is busy.  We pass a large cargo ship being towed and pushed to its berth with 3 tugs.  Off Singer Island we run into several ferries moving commercial and personal vehicles off the island.  We pass another inbound freighter with no tugs, and then pass a flying bridge motor yacht towing a submersible.   Yes, we all live in a yellow submarine. 

We make it outside the channel and start the cruise north.  Like yesterday, there is a following swell, but the 8 to 12 knots winds did not show up.  We pass South Beach and Miami Beach, and the perspective is totally different from the water.  With no winds, we end up motoring the entire route to the Port Everglades inlet.  Just like Miami, this is a busy inlet. 

We get a slip at Las Olas Marina in Ft Lauderdale, and we go and take real showers.  After my shower, I am getting ready to go back to the boat when the skies open up.  We run into a couple we met in Boot Key Harbor, and chat during the deluge.  They invite us for cocktails on their boat, and we discuss our pending itineraries.  We note that we are planning to go to little Lake Worth tomorrow. Afterwards, Beth and I go have pizza at a restaurant we went to a couple of trips ago.  The place is stilll there and the food is still good.  After dinner we wander down the walk by the beach amazed at all the people out on a Wednesday night.

Day 39 - May 8

We have a little bumpy night at the Elliot Key anchorage.  The wind and the swell did not want to cooperate and it was a little rolly.  We are off today on a short trip to Miami's Marine Stadium anchorage via Biscayne Bay.  We have winds of 8 to 12 knots and a nice following sea making it a nice trip.  Beth is snapping pictures of the Miami skyline as it comes into view.  We stop at the Rickenbacker marina to take on some gas, and get sticker shocked at 5.75 a gallon for ethanol free gas.  Well it is cheaper than having to get the carburetors and cleaned and fixed. 

We find a place to drop the hook and settle in.  The western portion of the anchorage is empty as it looks like the "permanent" residents are now on the eastern part of the anchorage.  The skies had been threatening since noon, and we get several thunderstorms.  The skies over Miami are hanging low over the buildings in the distance with flashes of lightning.  After the rain it cooled off, but the air was so still that we only moved half the distance from where we started before the rain. 

I cooked some pasta and spinach with the sauce I had made a week ago and had froze.  The only problem with this dinner is that it heats up the boat, and with no breeze it took a while to dissipate.  After dinner, the skies cleared enough for the sunset to illuminate the Miami skyline. 

Day 38 - May 7

It is another beautiful morning in the keys.  We have a couple of things to do before we go out to the reef.  Beth shoots some pictures of our surroundings including the "beautiful beach" as detailed in their brouchure.  We were there yesterday, and from our perspective, it was more like packing gravel which they use before they pave a hughway.  We motor over to the marina to do a pump out and get some water.

We leave the marina ahead of some of the "tour boats" outbound to the reefs.  We are against an incoming tide this morning and all but the 35 foot wide cat pass us.  Once out in the ocean we head for Mollasses Reef, which is about 6 miles out.  The "tour" boats leave us in the dust.  We reach the reef and find a 2 to 3 foot swell running.  We try to get a mooring several times and everytime we miss or the line gets ripped from my hand.  At that point I realize that the swell is too big and that we shouldn't try and moor the boat.  We leave and then note that we burned over 1/2 a tank of gas just getting to the reef.  However, upon motoring north, we pick up the following sea, which helps our fuel consumption, plus adding the sails makes it a non-issue. 

We are trying to get to Biscayne Bay.  We look at a couple of choices, Angelfish Creek, Broad Creek and Caesar Creek. I decide on Caesar Creek, as Beth read in one of the guides that Angelfish Creek's depths are sketchy, and Caesar Creek looks the deepest of all of them.  We enter the creek and all of a sudden we are getting depths of 1.5, 2, etc., but determine that the sand in the water from the outgoing tide (of course) caused the misreading of the depth sounder.  It is a nice ride through the creek, and there is a park station where you can tie up. 

We exit into Biscayne Bay with some skinny water, and cruise north to where we drop the hook for the night.  We cook dinner and turn in as it has been a long day. 

Day 37 - May 6

We awoke to a wonderful sunrise and moonset.  We are on our way to John Pennekamp state park and will moor overnight, and then try and snorkle a reef tomorrow.  We go out through Channel 5 bridge, and the park is about 30 miles up the coast.  We put up the sails and have a nice following swell.  The ocean has finally settled down.  We have the fishing pole out again, and we finally caught something of substance, another boat.  As we were putting up the sails, a motor boat cuts behind us as we are turning the boat to start sailing.  Somehow they snagged the line with their boat and ran out all of the line on the reel.  They finally realized that they caught our line and stopped and freed the line.    

We reach the park entrance and the mooring field is a mile in.  It is a winding mangrove channel, and boats are zooming around us as we are doing barely 4 knots as there is a strong outgoing tide.  I cannot believe that most of the channel is not a no wake zone or a slow speed.  There is a corner by the marina which is called "Crash Corner" and is a blind corner; most of the commercial boats issue a securite warning.  Here at least is a slow / no wake zone.  We find a mooring ball and the average depth is 5 feet in the mooring field which limits the boats.  We dingy over and pay for the night.  The dock master was very helpful, and if we needed anything, give him a call.  We then walked to the visitor's center and wandered through the exhibits.  We split an ice cream cone, and then go back to the boat to get our clothes and then take showers in some of the nicest showers we've had on the trip. 

We go back to the boat for dinner, and put all the screens in the boat to keep out the bugs as we are surrounded by mangroves.  I put up the windscreen again and we have a nice breeze in our berth. 

Day 36 - May 5

We wake up late as our route today will take us to Matecombe Bight which is near Channel 5 bridge, a short 2 hour trip.  We digny ashore and wander around Islamorada.  We stop at the Hurricane memorial, which is a monument of the people that lost their lives in the Labor Day hurricane in 1935, the lowest pressure hurricane ever reported in the US.   Beth finds some earrings that she had seen in our previous trip and we are back on the boat and headed south. 

We arrive in a nice anchorage, although there are several boats, speed and fishing running through the area.  Another sailboat has anchored a few hundred feet from us.  It is a warm day and I decide to continue cleaning the bottom, which I started in Boot Key.  I had only done the top foot on the outside of the hulls, so I don fins and snorkle gear and have at it.  Even though we have only been gone 5 weeks, there is some slime and little barnacles growing on the bottom.  I finish the port outside and am working on the inside, when I see a 3 foot baracuda crusing under the boat.  I leave the water and afterwards he is gone.  There is still a 1 foot fish still cruising about, and I get most of the hulls cleaned. 

After last nights dinner, we have a light dinner of spinach salad.  We have another beautiful sunset and a moon rise. 

Day 35 - May 4

We wake early to the alarms we set; this is only the second time we have set alarms on this trip.  The winds were supposed to calm down overnight, so we are hoping for only a slightly bumpy ride up to Pennekamp state park.  We go out Sisters creek, which is our route to the beach and pass our beach, with a full tide.  There is enough water for even a monohull to get out.  The shallowest part is at the last marker before entering the ocean.  Once we are in the ocean, well, it is not pretty.  There is still a 3 to 4 foot swell running and the wind (15+) and swell are directly on our nose. We are making about 3 to 4 knots through the wind and waves; at this rate it will take us 12 hours to cover the route we have planned.   At this point I turn the boat around and say we are going inside and will go up to Channel 5 and moor for the night.  As soon as we turn around and with the wind and waves on our beam, we are doing over 6 knots.  We enter Florida Bay and it is much smoother, although the wind is on our nose again, so we motor the entire way.  (As a side note, as we are mototing up the inside, we hear that a 21 foot motor boat had overturned about 1 1/2 miles off the coast and three people were in the water.  They were rescued and Sea Tow was attempting to right the boat.) 

We are motoring along and I miss the place where we were going to stay for the night by a good 8 miles.  After we go through Steamboat pass, I realize we are back in Islamorada, so we anchor here tonight.  If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  We are anchored near a motor cat that looks like a RV on the water.

We decide to go out to dinner at Lorilei's.  The dinner menu is not large so we opt for some drinks and appetizers.  It is a nice night with the winds still blowing and keeping it cool.  When we arrived, there was a band setting up, and we always like to talk during dinner.  Fortunately, they were only setting up and we were able to have dinner.  We did stay afterwards and listen to the band, who were very good. 

We walk out and take our pictures by the Lorelei's sign, and a gentleman approaches and asks if we would want him to take our picture.  We have a lot of pictures of us individually, not too many together.  (Lauren and Richard say we have to just hold the camera out and snap a picture.)  Back at the boat we are treated to a beautiful sunset and moon rise. 

Day 34 - May 3

We are planning to leave tomorrow, so today is prep day.  We go and get water in our 5 gallon jugs and fill the tanks, since we will be in the ocean and we are not sure of the facilities in Pennekamp.  Beth announces that we will be leaving on the cruiser's net, and we say goodbye to some of the people we have met in the harbor.  Afterwards we walk to Publix for fruits and veggies.  The sun is out in full force and even though we are early, it is still warm.  We decided not to go out for dinner tonight, so Beth will have the shrimp and I go to the fish market for some ahi tuna. 

I ferry Beth to the beach one last time and afterwards, I go and fill up at Marathon marina, since we will be leaving by Sisters creek, which bypasses all of the fuel docks.  After picking up Beth from the beach, we shower off the sand and salt.  We have a nice dinner and watch our last sunset in Boot Key Harbor, 

Day 33 - May 2

Over dinner last night we discussed where we will go once the winds and storms abate.  We were planning to go to Pennekamp State Park and snorkle the reefs, but if we could not get a mooring, we might want a Plan B.  I note that we could go up the west coast of Florida, which we had planned after doing the Tortugas.  Since that change, we felt that we would just wander back east / north and stop at some places along the way.  Beth called Pennekamp this morning and they have several moorings available, so we will be heading that way on Friday, if the forecast holds. 

Today the rains have gone and we are left with a sunny, blustery day.   There is still a small craft advisory so we are staying put.  We have decided that we will have shrimp on the barbie tonight, so we are off for some veggies and shrimp from the Key's Fisheries market.  With the sun out, it is warm again, and once we return with our provisions, we are off to the beach.  I ferry Beth to Sombrero Beach, and there is no hope for waves, so I return to play my guitar, read, and do Suduku in the paper we bought.  After a couple of hours, I retrieve Beth from her palm tree shade, and watch as some people tie their boat to a pier that has sign stating that they shouldn't.   They ran aground across the channel and are inspecting the damage. 

We return and have early showers as we are both sandy from the beach.   I clean the shrimp, season with butter and garlic and herb seasoning, and grill them along with some onions and peppers.  Beth says, no wonder you won't take me to dinner, since this is so much better than I can get at the restaurants. 

Day 32 - May 1

Well the April showers did not bring May flowers, but a lot of soggy towels.  We are off to do laundry and we are making it a project, all towels and bedding as well as some of my shirts and other items.  It takes three loads, but I get through it along with another 100 pages in the Clancy novel.  With clean items, we are wondering what to do with the rest of the day.  

It is still cloudy with rain squalls passing through the area.  However, we do get a break, and Beth decides to go to the beach.  I drop her at the beach and return to play my guitar and do some other items around the boat.  I look up from my playing and there is a dark cloud heading our way.  Off I go to retrieve Beth from the beach, but on our way back we are pelted with a torrential downpour.  We dry off and wait out the storm.  Oh BTW, during this rain event, I did go out and clean the cockpit and bimini and the rain cooperated with washing all the soap away. 

Once the rain stopped falling, I pumped out the water in the dingy again, and we are off to take showers.  We have a non-rain event dinner and no sunset as there are still clouds in the area. 

Day 31 - April 30

It is the last day of April and for the last few days we have endured this low pressure which has been spinning off the keys and producing wind and waves.  (April showers bring May flowers; not here, they will bring mosquitos.)  We are waiting for this system to move, as it has been producing small craft advisories for the last couple of days, and also into the next couple of days.  We have rain in the forecast again, and I check the NOAA radar out of Miami and there is definately some green and yellow blobs of rain out there.  Some of the people that we met in NSB are still here and we invite them to join us for happy hour (or 2).  With that in mind we walk off to Publix and pick up some provisions for snacking and drop off the movie Beth rented.  

We have been trying to dry out some towels and other items, but leaving them outside has proven to be probematic since when we leave the boat it invariably rains.  We even put a line up in the salon between the two rods that hold the baby stays.  That doesn't work, and we put all the wet stuff in a bag for laundry tomorrow. 

We have a nice visit with our friends from NSB and they have this nice metal wine flask that is insulated and keeps the wine cool.  We ask where they got and Jim said he found it on line and would send me the link. 

Day 30 - April 29

We had a rain storm late last night and we both forgot that we left the small port in the berth open.  Beth had opened it before we went to bed and then we had a huge storm that soaked some of the items on the top of the drawers and also in one of the cabinets.  This morning we are drying things out, no biggies.  We had left the towels from our showers on the line outside and needless to say they will not be dry for our showers tonight. 

Beth wants a movie since the forecast does not bode well for a beach day, so we walk to Publix and she rents one that she wants to see.  I am not interested in her selection, so  I will watch one of the "Drive Thru" surf movies tonight.  If I can't surf, I will at least watch some good surfing (which does make me wish that we could get some waves; arg).  Upon returning, we both read as there are intermittent showers.  I tell Beth that I could go out and wash the boat and then wait for the showers to rinse it off;  but the showeres are so intermittent, i would get the boat soaped up and we would not get any rain to wash it off.  I am reading a lot and have been through 2 Tom Clancy and 2 Vince Flynn novels. 

Dinner is soyburgers and some wine.  No sunset tonight as the clouds have obscurred the western horizon. 

Day 29 – April 28

We wake to clouds and threatening skies.  I fire up the generator to boost the batteries in case we do not get a lot of sun, since the weather forecast is not promising.  After the morning broadcast, we go ashore and walk to Publix.  (Ok, here they go to Publix again; but without a car or bike it is hard to tote any significant amount of groceries the mile back to the harbor, plus it gets us off the boat and provides some exercise.  I made the mistake of gathering too many groceries the other day and it was painful walk back.)  We stop at a couple of shops before reaching Publix.  After returning, the skies are still cloudy, but Beth decides that she will give the beach a try.  We motor off up Sisters Creek and Beth says we never see any wildlife and as soon as she says that we spot a blue heron in the mangroves.  After I drop Beth at the beach, on my return a small ray jumps about 4 feet out of the water.  The ray has a tail that is almost 3 feet long.  Where’s the camera when you need one. 

 Since I do not like sitting on the beach for very long, I come back to the boat to work on some projects.  I had put together some frames for screens to fit in the two windows (I finished the screen insert for the door), but never got to finish them before we left.  I am working on the port side since it is the toughest one.  Even though I measured everything and calculated the angles, there is nothing square on the boat so I am planing the sides down to get it to fit.  I almost finish the fitting when I look up and there is a large set of clouds moving our way.   I pack everything back in the boat and put everything away, which is a mistake, and go get Beth.  On the way back from the beach, the clouds open up and we are soaked by the time we get to the boat.  (Shouldn’t have put everything away.) 

We dry off and shortly the weather clears.  We motor over for showers and then have dinner.  I am reading and Beth is watching a movie when we look out and the sky is lit up with the sunset.  Since it had been so cloudy, we were not expecting any sunset, but the skies cleared enough to let the sun highlight the evening sky. 

Day 28 – April 27

We have been gone 4 weeks now.  I get online and compare prices for replacement dome lights and call West Marine as both Defender and WM are about the same.  They do not have it in stock, but can get them from another store.  We woke to a cloudy day, so Beth is not going to the beach.  We walk to Publix to replenish our fresh fruit and veggies.  We get a little more than what we had on our list and I get a workout toting it back home. 

 One of our neighbor’s, who has been here for a couple of weeks, is working on a replacement jib.  His original blew out on his sail across the gulf.  He ordered a new pre-cut sail from Sail Rite, the same place that you can order the sewing machines and Sunbrella.  He noted that they send you the sail with instructions and all of the pieces labeled and all you do is sew them together.  He noted that it will take about a week for him to sew it together, saving around $800.  He has the time, and he is learning about putting together a sail.  We were talking about sails and I said that I was looking at an asymmetrical spinnaker.  He thought that I should look at a Code 0 and a roller furling as he knew of some issues with the snuffer.  The sails are about the same price, but the furler is about $300 more than the snuffer. 

 When we return, we organize the boat and I work on the uphaul / downhaul for the port rudder.  It had come loose during our trip.  It turned out that the hold down had loosened and after adjusting the lines, and tightening the hold down, it works again.  It is still cloudy so we are limited in our activities this afternoon, but by late afternoon the clouds finally disappear.  Dinner is a combination of left overs and fresh broccoli and a steak that we had in our refrigerator at home, which I cook for Beth. 

Day 27 – April 26

We wake and are ready for the morning cruiser’s net broadcast, one of the interesting aspects of Boot Key Harbor.  The show keeps you abreast of events and happenings around the harbor, as well as people needing help or selling things.   It’s a nice community.  After the broadcast, I take Beth to the beach, while I am on a mission to find a couple of things for the boat and dingy.  I am at West Marine again and they have a couple of the items, but direct me next door for the oar lock for the dingy.  He doesn’t have the exact part, but when I get it back to the dingy, I find that it works.  On the way back to the boat, I stop at the fish market (no luck in catching our own) and get some mahi. 
 
Back at the boat I install the oar lock and redo the throttle extension on the dingy (as the bolt was too short).  I pick up Beth from underneath her palm tree (we have been using them for shade rather than umbrella, as it has usually been too windy).  We note that we should have them planted on the beach in New Smyrna Beach.  We have the mahi with rice and salad.  As Beth is doing dishes, the light over the sink decides to not work.  It has been acting up since we left, but has finally bit the dust.  I install a stick up LED light (which I put in the cabinets and have some extras) until I can find a replacement. 

Day 26 – April 25

The pump out boat shows up early, but we have been up early prepping the boat for the trip, dingy back on the davits, jack lines as we are going in the ocean, etc.  We leave just before 8 and the “Water World” scene that we encountered on the way in has been replaced by a few boats leaving the harbor, most sport fishing and a couple of cruisers like us.  We pass another cruise ship that must have arrived some time that night.  As we pass the entrance to the harbor, we start to encounter the northeast winds, which mean that we will be motoring the entire trip.  There is a 2 to 3 foot wind swell running and occasionally we send some spray aloft.  As the day progresses and the winds increase, the spray is replaced with water on the front deck and the spray hits the winds.  When the spray dries it leaves a crust of salt on the windows which I have to clean so that I can see again. 

As we cruised up the keys, we pass the naval air station and several jets are doing “touch and go’s”, which is where they touch down for a few seconds and then take off again.  We could see them take off and make a circle in formation and as we were in the glide path we watched them pass overhead.   As it was an 8+ hour trip, we put the fishing pole out, hoping for dinner, but all I caught was sea weed and grass. 

Speaking of sea grass, as we approached Marathon, the winds picked up a little more, sending both water and grass over the bow.  By the time we arrived there was sea grass from the bow to the stern.  We are moored one row back from where we were the last time.  I make a salad, and right after sundown I am in bed as I was exhausted from the trip, plus not sleeping real well the night before. 

Day 25 – April 24

Today is our last day in Key West.  We have a window to go north and we have decided to go back to Boot Key harbor as there is another blow coming.  We were thinking of going to Big Pine Key, but the all of the anchorages are not protected on all sides.  KW harbor is protected on all sides but the north, but the mooring field lies in the middle of this bay and winds can whip up chop in all directions, not only from the north.  Beth and I agree that KW is one of our favorite cites to visit.  There is so much to do, and off we go again today, heading to the southernmost point in the continental US.  The southern part of Duval has several art galleries, including Wyland’s, and we see several pieces of art that is amazing.  We walk into the gallery which has works by Pam Hobbs, (we have a couple of her prints in our kitchen), and see some of her new works.  Another gallery has a wave where you are in the tube looking out at the coastline, only $1500, and others that we both liked, equally expensive.   We pass a mother hen with her chicks on the side walk and she moves them into an alley where there is a small garden.  

We walk to a hotel where we stayed a couple of years ago, and then to the southernmost point, where a couple just got engaged.  He proposed at the landmark buoy.  Afterwards we went for pizza, and it was very good, almost as good as NJ’s.  We walk back down to the harbor and find some gifts along the way and come back loaded down.  Another cruise ship has come in overnight and Beth is amazed at the size. (Since we have our own cruise ship, why would we want to go on one of these?)  We are there when the boat departs, watching them toss the lines holding the ship in place into the water, and there are no tugs, just a harbor pilot who monitors the traffic.  Now these ships have serious bow and stern thrusters as the boat literally moves away from the dock at 90 degrees, until it is far enough away to where the bow thrusters turn the boat 180, and they head out to sea.   We walk through Mallory Square and the roosters are everywhere. 

Back at the boat we have soy burgers and get ready for leaving tomorrow.  We are hoping that the pump out boat comes early as they missed us today.  Another beautiful and windy sunset. 

Day 24 – April 23

After a bouncy night, there is hope on the horizon as the winds are expected to calm down a little today; although by nightfall they are expected to pick up again.  We are off to town again, but I stop in the Ace Hardware store, which is one of the largest I have seen, and find the tubing for the generator additional tank.  When I get back and attach it, and voila, no more refueling the generator as the spare tank holds over 5 gallons of gas.  I also pick up some bolts and wing nuts to fix the dingy outboard accelerator extension, which was given to me by one of our neighbors at our dock. 

We wander down to Duval again and stop for ice cream; Kohrs, which I remember from the summers on the Jersey boardwalks.  Beth has a chocolate with chocolate sprinkles, and I have the vanilla and orange sherbet swirl (my favorite from the boardwalk).  The crowds from yesterday are replaced with crowds from a cruise ship.  We make our way to the harbor and then back up Duval.  We turn south and head to the Truman Annex section, and stroll through the “little White House” grounds.  After leaving the annex, we end up by the harbor again, where we find the KW art museum.  There are several sculptures on the outside, and Beth takes several pictures.  We turn on to the boardwalk by the cruise ship and gaze across the harbor at Sunset Key where there are parasails everywhere.  With the winds and waves easing, they are out in force; same with the snorkel tours, which were probably cancelled the last few days.   

After several hours, we return to the dingy dock.  Beth snaps several more photos of the houseboats that are right next to us, as well as the Naval housing which she intends to send to Lauren.  Dinner is a nice spinach salad, and shortly after dinner, if on cue, the winds pick up for the night.  We are getting used to sleeping through the rocking and wave slap. 

Day 23 – April 22

Well, the rain was replaced with 20+ knot winds, although blowing from the other direction.  There were a few stray showers, but mostly it was the wind.  I put the dingy in the water and attached the motor, and after a few minutes of consternation about motoring in the wind and waves, we load up and are off to locate the KW City Marina dock master’s office.  We decided that we both would wear life preservers and we had directions “to go under a bridge, and the office would be on the left”.  Beth located the bridge, but there was only a Jet Ski operation.  We asked the owner where the city marina was located, and he pointed to the next inlet.  Wrong.  We motor through the chop to the next inlet and ask a sailor motoring out where the city marina is located, and he directs us to the dingy dock.  We finally get pointed in the right direction, and locate the dock master’s office.  We end up tying up where they launch trailered boats; fortunately there is not much traffic due to the weather.  We register and get the pass codes for the dingy dock and showers and drop off our garbage. 

 After showers and returning to the boat we decide to go to town.  We motor back through the chop and get a nice salt water shower.  Both of us are pretty soaked by the time we reach the dock, but we dry as we walk to town about a mile away.  We love the architecture of the KW houses, which is on our route to downtown.  We wander down Duval and down to the harbor where they are setting up the “taste of KW” scheduled for tomorrow.  The streets are busy, but it is a Sunday.  We stop in an outdoor restaurant for some conch fritters and a couple of rum drinks.   We motor back and shower the sun lotion and salt water off, and prepare for a bouncy night as the winds are predicted to be 20+ again.  We have determined that there is not any perfect anchorage in KW, short of going in to a marina, but at $100+ per night, we’ll bounce a little.  We are safe on the mooring ball, just a little uncomfortable. 

Day 22 – April 21

We wake at 4:30 am to the flash of lightning and the roll of thunder in the distance.  We knew that we were going to get some weather today, but the yesterday’s forecast called for showers in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon.  Survey says; wrong.  The lightning grew brighter and thunder louder; rain sprinkles to downpours; light winds to 20 – 25 knots.  With the wind coming directly out of the north, the wind waves funnel directly into the anchorage and shortly after daybreak there are 1 to 3 foot waves.  By 8 am I am out draining the dingy with the bilge pump of a gallon or two.  This task would repeat itself several more times this morning, which means I will not need a shower tonight.  I also have to fill the generator and then get it situated as it looks as if we are not going to have any sunlight today, based on my review of the radar. 

With us being confined to the boat, we are trying to determine what to do.  We decide on a movie and I make some microwave popcorn (generator is still running), but between the rain and the generator, we can hardly hear the movie.  We both do some exercises, read, and take naps.  Dinner will be pasta, as we have a cool day, only around low 70’s today.   After dinner and an all-day rain, we are greeted with a partial rainbow and nice sunset, hopefully a precursor of things to come.