Marathon (2/28 - 3/7)

Garrison Bay Mooring Field, Key West
Wednesday February 27, 2013

Today just turned into a day of rest. We needed a pump-out and a break. The wind was up and we did not want to launch the dinghy. So we stayed on board all day. We will go to Marathon tomorrow.

Boot Key Harbor (Marathon)
Thursday February 28, 2013

Boot Key

We were out of bed by 6:30 PM and underway by 7:00 AM. We wanted to ge to Marathon as early as possible because vacant mooring balls there are scarce. We had called Wednesday and there was one 50' space available.

It was a bit windy, but from the North, so we were in the lee, and the ride was pleasant enough. We made good time and had the entry to Boot Key Harbor in site by 1:30 PM. The City Marina will not allocate a mooring until your boat reaches the entrance marker (Green 1 or Red 2). And to our "horror" we heard a boat call in on VHF16 and ask for a mooring, just minutes ahead of us. They got the last one!

Boot Key Mooring Field

So we resolved to anchor and get on the waiting list. It really is a pain in the rear system. Boot Key Harbor is very protected but also very popular and there was not much anchoring space. But we found a spot and after two tries we got the anchor to set. We launched the dinghy and I ran into the office and put our name down on the "waiting list" for a mooring. By the time I was back on the boat they called us and gave us a number! Blimey.

The mooring field is enormous and the boats are packed like sardines. But we wove our way in and picked up the mooring like real pros. We had arrived.

Boot Key is the winter "cruiser mecca". There must be 500 boats in here. Deidre compared it to camping at Dromana Beach, but for cruisers. Apart from the safety of the harbor and the reliable winter weather Deidre and I really do not see the appeal. The dinghy dock is a very busy place. There is a daily 9:00 AM radio net where all the new arrivals announce themselves, items are offered for sale or swap, announcements made etc.

Five minutes after we had shut down the engines a dinghy appeared with people we had met in NC last year. They invited us out to dinner with 4 other cruisers and so we joined the social whirl.

Friday March 1st, 2013

Admiral at the helm

Went ashore to shop for supplies. Not too impressed with Marathon.There is no city center, just a highway and a bit scruffy at that.

Saturday March 2nd, 2013
Took in a movie ("The life of Pi"), more shopping, and visited Richard and Connie after dinner. They did the "Down East Loop" last season and we wanted to hear about it.

Sunday March 3rd, 2013
Sleep in, cold and a bit windy. To break the monotony we took a dinghy trip up Sister's Creek but it was too cold and windy. Later in the day Australian-Canadian friends popped in. We had met them in Stuart a couple of month's ago and liked them.

Monday March 4th, 2013

DeFever Get-together

Breakfast ashore at the Happy Pig (or whatever). I visited the boat next door and looked at their solar panel installation. That afternoon we went to a "Mini DeFever Rendezvous" ashore. About 30 people turned up, was fun, although I am getting a bit sick of "You bought Norm and Vicki's boat. They were such nice people!"

Tuesday March 5th, 2013
We had been planning to leave today. The forecast for today was good but the forecast for Wednesday was horrible, so we decided to stray till Thursday.

We had a quiet day on the boat. I would have preferred to say "we had a pleasantly quiet day on the boat" but Deidre was stir crazy and was not able to relax. I got all sorts of clerical things done. We went ashore at 5PM, paid for the extra 2 days and went to a local spot for beer and tacos with 8 others.(Two pommies, two Canadians, two Australians and two Americans.) .

Wednesday March 6th, 2013

Our neighbors (plus daughter)

Sunny and calm this morning, the front is not expected to arrive until mid afternoon. Since it was still calm, we decided to take Tide Hiker to the dock and load water. We took 280 gallons! Our capacity is only 300. Oops, that could have been a bit of an issue.

That afternoon we went to a seminar on cruising the Bahamas. the price of entry was a can off beer. They guy scored a couple of dozen beers. Now there is a career.

Bahamas Seminar

Ian and Marlene popped over late in the afternoon and invited us to join them  and a couple of friends out for dinner. (Weather permitting because it was a three mile dinghy ride)

The weather held off OK so we all made it and had a pleasant evening. Ian is an Australian who was recruited to teach in Canada. Of course he met a girl and married her and now he is a Canadian-Australian..

This boat has 2 adults and 4 kids! Yikes!

 .

Dry Tortugas (Feb 23 - Feb 26)

Saturday February 23, 2013

24 37.569 N

82 52.217 W

The fast cat

We were up by 6:15 AM and underway at a few minutes before 7 AM. The sun was coming up but it was already quite bright, we could have left ½ hour earlier. Soon after 8 PM, the Dry Tortugas Fast Catamaran tourist boat roared past us at over 25 kts. We will take 9+ hours to do the distance that  they take 2½ hours.

We had picked the weather perfectly. The water was an amazing blue color and the wind less than 10 kts out of the south. We settled down for a long trip. The main leg of our trip was 50 miles without a change in course. By more luck than judgment we seemed to ride a tide 75% of the day so made good time. Another bonus – few crab pots. Looked like we would shave almost an hour off travel time and arrive about 4PM

Deidre finds these long days boring, I find them relaxing and quite enjoyable. As we made distance our phone and internet connections died. Conversations on the VHF were infrequent and in Spanish. We could pick up a few commercial radio transmissions. The engines purred on…….

(I think this is a recording of Fidel and Raoul chatting about political prisoners)

Land Ho!!

The island and the fort were in sight by 3PM. We poked our nose into the East anchorage but it seemed too narrow for us so we ran around the island into the southern anchorage. There were 6 boats in place and not a lot of room. We soon discovered that the chart was totally wrong and so we had to survey the depths for our own spot. We dropped the anchor in what seemed very shallow water, but part of the “problem” was that the water was so clear it looked like it was inches deep. The anchor set like a rock, the batteries were at 100%, the ‘fridge was cold, seemed like paradise to me.

Goliath Grouper under Tide Hiker

To our north was the fort on Garden Key. To the east was XXX Key with a curl of sandy beach. South of us was the coral reef – we could see the breakers. West is open to Loggerhead Key about 2 miles away, but with a very shallow reef in between. The water was “clear as crystal” and perfectly blue, easy to see the grass growing on the sand. The local “giant groupers” came over to welcome us. There seemed to be 3 or 4, all well over 6 feet long (So much for Deidre taking a swim!).

Sunset?

We settled on the boat deck with a beer (and green tea) to watch the sunset. Dinner was tuna patties and salad – yum! After the sun set the humidity descended on us like a wet blanket. You could just about see it. Everything in the boat seemed wet, the bed felt wet as we went to sleep. 

Sunday February 24, 2013

Another perfect and sunny day. After running up the batteries we launched the dink and went ashore to register with the Park Rangers and have a look around. A bit of background about the fort:

        * Building started in the 1840s

       *  Intention was to protect access to and from the Gulf, and as a naval military coaling base

       *  The famous “Maine” coaled here immediately before meeting it's fate in Havana Harbor

       *  It is second largest brick structure in the world – second only to the Great Wall of China

        * All sorts of big guns but never fired a shot in anger

        * Used as a prison during the Civil War

Sea Plane

We did the self guided tour and took some photos, quite interesting. The tourist catamaran arrived about 10:30 with 30 or so people. Two sea planes arrived with a few people. After our stroll we went back for lunch and to get our togs/swimmers and snorkels/goggles. Deidre and I snorkeled around the perimeter wall of the fort. Whatever coral there ever was is now dead, but the supply of fish was impressive.

On the beach we met up with a boating couple we had first met at Bock Marine in NC. We talked about taking a group of dinghies over to Loggerhead the next day. After a few hours in the sun we had had enough and went back to the boat for a shower and some shade. There were 4 “Goliath Groupers” under the boat. At dusk I fired up the big gen and cranked up the AC for a few hours. Cooked burgers on the grill. We watched the OSCARs “red carpet” show on CNN but could not get the actual show, watched “Tootsie” in lieu.

Monday February 25, 2013

How blue is that?

When we got up “everybody” had left! (There were two sailboats remaining, but the rest had gone). Of course, that gave me the heebee-geebees. I had looked at the official forecast the night before and the weather was worsening, but it had been perfect, so it could hardly get better. True, the wind this morning was a bit “fresher” than the last 24 hours. It seems I am a nervous boater, so “we” decided to leave.

As a compromise, we decided to anchor at an isolated island on the way back, about 20 miles short of Key West. Called Boca Grande Key, it is a small island, surround by reefs and shallows but with a decent anchorage area.  The seas turned out to be a bit rough – not that bad, but “awkward”. The conditions seemed to upset the ice maker the most, and some time about mid day Deidre found the salon floor covered with water.

We are anchored in about 15’ of water alongside a deserted little island by about 4 PM. We have good shelter from the south, OK from the north and a bit open from the west. It’s nice and calm now. Should be a good night.

Tuesday February 26th, 2013

Looks nice enough - Bocca Grande Key

Was not such a restful night. The tidal current through the channel was really strong. Strong enough to spin our props - that's a first. The anchor seemed secure enough,  but the current changed directions 4 times when we were there and that is not easy on an anchor. Of course the anchor alarm went off at about 3 AM and it was "all hands on deck". The wind had also built and the boat was really squirrely.  The anchor seemed to re-set, but I made some hot chocolate and sat up in the pilot house for a couple of hours. It was a bit spooky.

We could now get the NWS marine forecast which indicated that the winds would peter out after lunch. We did not have far to go (25 miles) but by 2PM we needed to get rolling. And "rolling" we did!

The "entrance" was over a fairly shallow bar (maybe 10' to 15' deep) and the rollers that had built up over night in the Atlantic had nowhere to go but "up". Needless to say Tide Hiker did OK but the crew suffered a bit of stress. Deidre has authorized me to say they waves were 8' to 12' high, close together and very steep. It was our baptism. Anything not tied or glued down decided to learn to fly. Deidre tells me she wanted to cry, but decided it would not help, so did not. What a girl! I was worried that we could hit the bottom, but Tide Hiker kept her poise and we made it out to deep water, where we turned East.

Now we had a beam sea, not as sharp but still steep. It is in these conditions that Tide Hiker's stabilizers shine. But 10 minutes into the new course we started to hear a horrible noise/vibration. Our first reaction was that we had been buzzed by an F16 - there had been a few around. Obviously not, I headed for the ER with my heart pounding. All seemed OK in the ER, the "Bad noise" was less obvious. Back on deck I circled the boat looking for the source. No dice. Back in the ER I observed that the Stabilizer pressure guages were gyrating in the same pattern as the noise.

I immediately shut the stabilizers down and the noise went away! But now Tide Hiker started to roll like a banshee. Deidre wanted the Pilot House doors closed as she was concerned she could be pitched out! We altered course to "quarter" the waves but that did not help that much. Things were starting to crash around again. So I made an executive decision and turned the stabilizers back on - and they ran like a charm!

Back at the mooring field by 5:00 PM. Happy campers.

Some Extra Photos:

Going ashore

Two float planes, two yachts and Tide Hiker

The big gun

The moat

Our neighbors day 1

Inside the fort

Key West (2/14 thru 2/22)

Thursday February 14, 2013
24 34.285 N
81 47.317 W

This is a Valentine's day that Deidre will not forget (or forgive?) easily!

We decided to cut our visit to Marathon short because we could not get a mooring in the harbor and because there was some bad weather forecast for the end of the week. I had called the Key West City Marina and they assured us they had plenty of vacant moorings now, but they may fill up if the weather turns bad. So we had the anchor up at 8:30 AM (early for us) and were on our way shortly thereafter.

Seven Mile Bridge 

It was a nice morning with a good forecast as we headed out into the Atlantic under the 7-mile bridge. But as soon as we got thru the bridge we ran into swarms of crab pots. I swear I will never eat a crab cake again. To make matters worse the winds were a lot stronger than advertised, and maneuvering Tide Hiker thru the fields of crab pot floats became quite a task.

Our plot had us in 20'-30' of water most of the day (this area is generally shallow) but because of the pots I decided to head out past the 3 mile line to 40' plus. That added several miles to the day and when we got into 40' depth the pot situation was not much better. The wind was now in the 15-20 kts range, but there was not much we could do but soldier on. We were travelling with Sareanna and they were also casting around for a better route. We had some near misses, I am hoping we did not pick up any ropes & pots.

Key West Cruise Ship

Eventually we seemed to get away from the pots and soon we had Key West in sight. Just like last time there was a large cruise ship in the harbor (Majesty of the Seas). Coming around the point the waves were at least 5' on our stern as the wind was fighting a strong tidal current.The harbor was nice and busy with tourist boats.

We had to do a 5 mile "loop" to the west and north to get to our mooring. There were plenty of moorings available and we were all settled by 4:30PM.

It was Valentine's Day and I was keen to take Deidre out to dinner and so we launched the dinghy, gussied up, and headed for the dinghy dock a couple of miles away down the bay and under a bridge. All went well and we find an "old haunt" for dinner right on the water ("The Turtle Kraal"). But half way thru dinner a big storm blew in, scattering the patrons. I was thinking "this will pass and all will be OK". Well, couple of hours later it was still raining and blowing like stink. It was decision time - take a hotel room or make a "go" for it in the dinghy.

Of course we decided to "go for it". First step was to buy some more clothing - nice sweat top for Mum, long sleeved tee for Dad. Followed by a mile walk in the rain to the dock on flooded sidewalks. The dinghy engine started well and then I pumped out 3" of water and tried to dry the seats. The dinghy dock was in a protected little harbor, so all was OKuntill we entered the bay, then all hell broke loose. The wind was strong (had made it to over 30kts in the storm) and we were heading straight into it. The waves were 3' and 4' big and "confused". I was navigating using the iPad secured in a baggie. Mum was in the bow and drenched as solid spray hit her, and then me. It was pitch black but the iPad lead the way. I could set a course from the iPad and pick out some lights ahead to follow till the next leg. We had called Dick on Sareanna and asked him to turn on all his lights, so after a while we started to get glimpses of Sareanna and then Tide Hiker. Getting Mum off the dinghy and onto the swim platform was the next trick as everything was pitching around.But we arrived safe and sound, drenched to the skin..

Friday February 15, 2013

I do not have a dry bra left!!

Back into the marina this morning (after a couple of loads of wash) to register and have lunch. Of course the weather broke as we were having lunch so we had another wet trib back to Tide Hiker. We are going to stay on board for the rest of the day.

We can see in the distance that the cruise ship is leaving. I hope all their toilets are working.

Saturday February 16, 2013

We are waiting for the change, expecting 30 - 35 MPH winds about lunch time. We did not leave the boat this morning because we were concerned about what the wind would be blowing when we needed to return. Looks like it may be like this for a few days. We have lots of food, books and the TV but I am sure this will feel like a prison soon.

Brave souls

Sunday February 17, 2013

Last night was quite windy and we rocked around a bit. The mooring field is located in Garrision Bight, protected on 3 sides, open to the North. The wind swung around from from NW to N last night, so the longer fetch did not help.

Deidre has finished a couple of books, I have caught up on all my Time magazines and we have watched a couple of movies. We are getting a bit low on water - I just checked, we are at about 40%

Dick and Dee

The wind seems to have calmed down this afternoon so we have invited our neighbors over for dinner and some games.

Monday February 18, 2013

The wind finally calmed down last night and also moved to the east where we get some protection. We had a great 10 hours of "two blanket" sleep last night and woke refreshed. The breeze was still 10-15kts in the morning but we decided it was time to get off the boat so we arranged to meet Dick & Dee for lunch and with the wind on our backs went to shore.

Cruise Ships

Lunch was good and then we just explored. Key West is a fun town, plus there were three large cruise ships in town so it was packed with people. We had a beer at a bar on the water with a band and overlooking the cruise ships and it was just "input overload". For afternoon tea we stopped at a fancy restaurant for a plate of "conch fritters" - deep fried yum. At 4 PM we wandered back to malory Dock to watch the cruise ships depart.It is quite amazing to see a 700' long ship back off a dock and do a 180 degree turn, all under its own power. We were back on the boat by 6 PM after a fun day.

Tuesday February 19, 2013

Breakfast

Another great day, the wind is all but gone now, and its sunny about 80 degrees. We decided to dinghy into town for breakfast and to read the paper. We then bought tickets for the "Conch Train" which is a 90 minute "on and off" tourist ride through town. We stopped off to pick up Deidre's pills, pay a visit to the bank and the Post Office and drink some Cuban coffee.

Key West is just a happening town with an interesting history of pirates and ship wrecks, all with an interesting mix of Cuban and Caribbean flavor. There are over 300 bars and they all seem to be doing good business. The vegetation is lush and the harbor is bustling with ships and boats. Its clean but just rustic enough to seem authentic. I love it.

We are getting to 'decision time". We are running low on water so need to do something about that. I want to go to the Dry Tortugas but need a 4 day weather window.

Dinghy Dock - Can you see Deidre?

Wednesday February 20, 2013

Busy work day. Arranged for a visit from the "honey boat". Took the dink into the marina and paid thru Saturday and then walked to a supermarket to shop. Lunch at BK on the way back. Then dropped the ball and took Tide Hiker into a marina about 5 miles away to load up with water, and back by about 4PM. Invited neighbors over for a beer and now its dark again.

There is a small front coming through tomorrow and then plan to head for the Dry Tortugas on Saturday.

Thursday February 21, 2013

At home day. Deidre stayed in her pajamas until it was time to visit the boat next door for drinks. We recovered the dinghy so I could charge the battery. I repaired a damaged screen. Not a lot going on.

Friday February 22, 2013

The weather forecast is still looking good so we expect to leave in the AM. I have ordered a new battery for the dinghy so we will go get that today. There is an interesting web site for the Dry Tortugas: http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

We relaunched the dinghy and the battery started the engine. That means the issue is not the battery but the "dynamo" (or whatever it is called). We dinghy-ed in and called in on a DeFever in the marina that we had talked to on the radio, and we all went out for lunch. Key West was alive with people - what a great port. We picked up the new battery (sorry - special order, no returns) and a fuel filter for the Onan and now back on Tide Hiker. Early night.

Marathon, Vacca key

Tuesday February 12, 2013
24 43.289 W
81 05.017 W

Back in civilization.

We had hoped to take a mooring in the harbor but there were no vacancies and so we have just anchored on the north side of the island. Its a calm day with less than 10 kts of Southerly breezes, so we will be good here for a bit. In the meantime we are catching up with emails and watching the sun set.

At last we are in water where you can see the bottom. I was not happy with the way the anchor set so I put on my "shortie" and followed the chain out to the anchor. Sure enough, it was not really set, the anchor was half exposed. I dived down to try and push it into the bottom to no avail. I suspect the bottom is sand over coral. Not much I could do but set the alarm and watch the weather.

Wednesday February 13, 2013

The evening was calm and Tide Hiker had a settled night. I had promised Dick and Dee from Sarinana that I would dive under their boat because they felt they had fouled a crab pot. So after breakfast I broke out all the gear and after a couple of false starts Dick picked me up in his dinghy and I dived under their boat. Sure enough, they had 20 plus feet of nylon line wound around the running gear, but it came out easily enough. He had also run aground and wanted me to inspect his keel for damage. All was well.

Since I was in my gear and in the water, I wanted to take a peek at Tide Hikers bottom. (I know it sounds a bit rude, but I have known her long enough now that she does not mind, so long as I do not talk about any details.) Dick tried to tow me over to Tide Hiker behind the dinghy - I did not want to swim because there was a current and I am not as young as I used to be - at least according to Deidre. Off we went. It was hard to hold onto the line, especially wearing all my gear. What is more, we seemed to be going the wrong way. I took a peek every now and again and Tide Hiker seemed to be fading into the distance. Turned out that Dick could not turn his dinghy with me dragging behind. So I let go, he reversed the dinghy and dragged me going backwards (the dinghy, not me.). Awkward as it sounds, it worked.

Intrepid Diver

By the time we got to Tide Hiker I was pretty exhausted. Unfortunately I found a bunch of crab pot line around her running gear, so I could not bail out! It was wound tight, so there was no "unwinding it". Deidre brought me a selection of knives, but after a couple of tries only her good bread knife (Thanks Susan!) would cut the nylon. Maybe we will get an extra 1/2 a knot tomorrow?

After I had recovered we took the dinghy ashore to a marina where we could land and headed off to the Post Office, bank and super market.All worked well. We came back to the boat and unpacked and sorted thru the package of mail.

Homeward bound

Dick and Dee called in for a chat and a beer about 4 PM, which threw our schedule off a bit. After they left, Deidre and I set off in the dinghy for a visit to the "big" Marathon mooring harbor at about 5:30 PM, knowing that we would be returning in the dark. In fact the round trip was just a hair under 10 miles! It was not dark on the way back, it was pitch bloody black.We had to go under the famous "7 mile bridge" (first built by Henry Flagler) and the current under that was quite interesting. We were on the last mile or so when the outboard just "stopped". It would not restart. We threw the little "lunch" anchor over so at least we would not lose ground (or get sucked back out under that bridge)

I knew we could not have run out of gas as I had just filled the tank in  Longboat Key, but I decided to check it anyway, even though I could not see my hand in front of my face. As I undid the cap I heard a load hissing noise as air entered the tank. OBVIOUSLY, there had been a partial vacuum in the tank. I left the cap loose, and the engine started. New tricks for young players.

We are leaving for Key West in the AM. There is some bad weather arriving Friday and I want to be at a slip, on a mooring ball or in a good anchorage for that - and this is not the place.

Stop Press: Just stepped into 2" deep water in the ER. That got my attention fast! After 1/2 hour found where a drain from the 15Kw gen had fallen lose. Phew!

Little Shark River

Monday February 11, 2013
25 19.712 N
81 08.758 W

We were up and running by 9 AM. As usual "everyone" had left before us. That always worries me "What do they know that we do not?" The run from the 10K Islands anchorage to the Little Shark River was about 40 NM in a straight line. It was another nice day, sunny with 10-15 knot SE winds.

Deidre, Kylie and I had visited LSR in the Bayliner back in 1995 (?). I must have been a lot braver in those days, or maybe just nuts. The LSR is about as far from civilization as you can get in the USA. It is natural beauty, but very isolated and really quite scary. Best not to take a swim, and better in a 35 ton boat that a 3 ton boat.

The run to the LSR was uneventful. We averaged a good 7 kts but could not keep up with Sariana and so they anchored before us in the river.

LSR Anchorage

This area was hit by a hurricane in recent history. When we were here in 1995 the river was lined with 60' high mangroves, thick as the Amazon, with all sorts of "mysterious" waterways in and out and under. Lots of gators (I am told!) But the forest of mangroves had been smashed by the hurricane and there were dead trees and logs all over. We were advised to equip the anchor with a "trip" because there were lots of snags in the river. As it turned out, we had quite a bit of trouble setting the anchor and eventually I just gave up and let it sit as it landed. The evening was very calm inside the anchorage but Tide Hiker sure did a lot of "dancing" during the night but we did not drag.

This evening it was Sariana's turn to host so we visited them for drinks and snacks. Its interesting to go on other boats and see what equipment they have and hear their maintenance issues. For a bookkeeper like me its all very intimidating. And Deidre will not let me talk about toilet maintenance any more, so I do not have that much to contribute.

I got up at 6AM and took a pee of the stern. By the time I got back into bed I was itching all over. The no-see-ums were vicious and we did not venture outside again ti the sun was well up.

10,000 Islands

Sunday February 10, 2013
25 49.824 N
81 26.494 W

Underway by about 9AM. We noticed another trawler leave a few minutes before us and sure enough they were out in front of us as we headed south out of Naples. After a while I called them on the radio and we had a nice chat. We were headed to the same anchorage.

To get south we had to get around the Cape Romano shoals. This shallow water extends in bands well west out into the Gulf. I had plotted a "cut-off" course thru one of the several "natural channels" but we were advised by the local SeaTow radio station to plot a course completely west around the Romano light. This added at least 10 miles to our day. Who was I to decide I knew better?

Anchorage 10K Islands

The 10,000 islands area is impressive. There may not be 10,000 islands but there sure are plenty. The anchorage we had selected was in 10'-15' feet of water completely surrounded by mangrove islands. Our new friends had their dinghy in the water when we arrived and came over for a drink and some snacks.There were two sail boats in the anchorage also - but we do not mingle with them

That night the star display was the best I had seen in the USA. I was also surprised that we had some internet connectivity. Not enough to Skype or load a web page, but enough for emails to trickle in and out. Quite amazing.

Naples (February 8 thru 9, 2013)

Friday February 8th and 9th, 2013
26 08.256 N
81 47.433 W

Good nights rest Thursday night. There was a storm hanging around, we could see it on the radar and hear the thunder, but it did not seem to materialize. We were up and underway by 8:30 AM, and headed back into the Gulf through the Boca Grande entrance. We had about 50 NM ahead of us with only one 12 degree course change of Sanibel Island.

Naples Boat Club

Very nice day for cruising with light winds on our beam. Tide Hiker was cruising at 7.1 to 7.3 kts, right where she should. On Wednesday we cruised at 6.3 to 6.5 kts and I was concerned that we must have some growth on our running gear. But apparently the loss of almost a knot was just the head wind. Tide Hiker is obviously "a bit windy".

We entered Gordon pass right on time at 4:30 after a pleasant but uneventful day. We had a reservation at a fancy club for just $1.00 a foot (usually $2.50!), compliments of a captain I met on the dock at Longboat, who turned out to be the President. At that rate we decided to stay two nights.

New outfit with matching purse

After securing Tide Hiker and hooking up power and water we gussied up and went into town for dinner. WOW! We have never experienced such an enormous and fancy dining area in our life, and there is not much of this country we have not seen. The street of fancy restaurants made Worth Avenue and Rodeo Drive look like Cleveland. It was amazing and very busy. Deidre and I wandered along the street like a couple of country bumpkins.

Unfortunately the pricing of most of the places were just out of our budget.

Saturday February 9, 2013

Saturday morning we walked to the Post Office but it was closed. We continued on to the bank but it was closed too. We continued on to the Verizon store to re-negotiate our phones and that was not successful either. So we walked back to the marina and purchased 200 gallons of fuel. Then we sunned ourselves at the pool for a bit. Late in the day we took down the bikes and rode over to the beach to watch the sunset. There was a wedding on the sand and quite a crowd.

Sunday February 10, 2013

This morning we leave on a 3 day trip to Marathon in the Keys. Our overnights will probably be in the "10,000 Islands" area and Little Shark River. These spots are in the Everglades and there will be no internet. So next entry probably will be Tuesday night.

Pelican Bay Anchorage

Thursday February 7, 2014
26 41.378 N
18.14.569 W

Solid 50 NM day. We paid our bill, said our goodbyes and were underway before 9AM. The wind picked up the moment we left the marina and has been on our nose at 15-20 kts all day. First 20 miles or so were on the Intra Coastal, then we went "out" at the Venice entrance for the next 30 miles down the coast. Came in at the Boca Grand entrance and dropped the anchor in Pelican Bay at about 5:30 PM. Its so relaxing to anchor in an area you know.

Looks like we will have 15-20 kts of wind all night, and it sounds worse than it is, but its good holding in sand so should be "no worries". Drag Queen is set. Left overs for dinner. Naples tomorrow.

Strange boat category