Sitting in Key West

                                                          Check wind speed                                                

                                                       these cookies are 8 $ ea. but sure
                                                        looked good  

                                                 Dick sitting here has been a world of help

                                                          Dingy dock

                                                            Larry waiting to go back to boat

                                               The white ball should be floating

                                                Motor sailing on Gulf of Mexico

                                                          Our elec. bikes  

 

                                                     para shoot jumpers

                                                         c130 plane that dropped the jumpers

                                A bad day on the water is still better than a good day on land
  

                                                           And there are the sunsets

                                          Waves were 2ft and some went by that were 3ft

                                                Wind is still blowing in the high 20's

Safely anchored at Key West City Marina on the Gulf side. Making friends and resting.
Here are a few pictures of the people we met to show where the Marina is (a least 2 miles by dinghy to get to the office.) We are on a mooring ball in water deep enough for us.

Picture of houseboats people live in.
Pic of bridge that keeps us from going close to marina by sail boat
Pic of Key West Marina Mooring Field

We've taken our bicycles ashore and made a trip into town and scoped out a few interesting things we might like to go back and visit. We plan to be here a month or so.

Temps in the 70's and nice breeze.  This is very nice.

As morning came the Weather forecast changed !!!  Now Noaa weather says winds increasing to 10 to 15 by early afternoon and 15 to 20 after midnight. Our nearest port was Marathon which would have put us into there at about 9 pm. We kept hoping through the day we were far enough south to miss most of the bad weather. By 3 pm it became obvious we were going to be right in the middle of the weather. We were only a few miles outside of Marathon but could not make it before dark.
We turned the boat northwest and tried to get to deep water before the winds picked up before midnight.  Just as they said, the winds were strong at 20 to 24 mph, seas had built to 4 to 5 feet.
Around 9 pm we "heaved to" and with the boat going Southwest then turning West at a speed of about 1 and 1/2 knots Larry was able to get a little rest. Shirley sick, sick and sick......
By 2 am seas had built to 8 to 10 feet. The direction of waves coming at the boat  made the boat very uncomfortable in the larger waves.
Larry turned that boat about 30 degrees off starboard bow the foresail only up (auto pilot decided not to work) with motor running and continued  in this direction until almost daylight when Shirley was able to get up and come outside.
At daylight we were 15 miles directly north of the sea beacon to Key West Pass and 70 miles from Marathon pass.
Larry was able at this time to get the foresail down and motor into Key West Pass to safe anchorage.
At no time was Larry worried about the boat. The boat performed perfectly.
Without auto pilot and with me sick below Larry was not able to leave the cockpit and get the main sail up.

As you  can see from the pics of the inside of the boat, we had storage issues. Learning experience on what needed to be tied down differently. Nothing was broken or damaged beyond picking up. And we are safe with only a bruise and scratch or two.

On our last horseshoe turn to head into the Gulf the channel markers were confusing and we violated rule #3 in sailing. Which is always make sure that the water depth exceeds the draft of your boat. Again thank goodness for boat US. They came right out but of course it does take time to make the arrangements and get going again. Larry spent this time taking care of our cat "Mister".

One we got out into the Gulf we had a good day sailing and trying to make up lost time.  There are so many lobster/crab pods it is hard to just set the auto pilot and go. You have to stay watchful. There might be just one but usually they are in rows.

Weather projection is 5 to 10 wind speeds and seas 2 or so foot. Very nice weather but not really good for fast sailing. Probably stay out in Gulf and sail/motor all night to get to Marathon next day.

Left Sarasota by way of ICW since our boat cannot get thru the pass at Sarasota Bay. Encountered draw bridges and a swing bridge. As I mentioned before you have to stay in the channel. You can see how shallow it is on the side of the channel.