At Schooners Wharf, I told our cute young waitress that I was from Chattanooga and she said, "Wow, our general manager is from Chattanooga and came down here on a sailboat." A few minutes later she brought him over and we had a great visit. He was the photography manager for the Times Free Press and left on a Beneteau 27 several years ago and headed south. He has since sold the boat and will be moving to Colorado in a few months for a new job. One of the best aspects of the trip has been the interesting people I have met.
The Schooners Wharf Bar has live music several times a day. Wednesday night's "band" was two guitar players that were loaded with talent. We heard a lot of good, casual music in Key West. It wasn't all Jimmy Buffet, either, and we were thankful as that can get old pretty quickly.
We turned in fairly early because we were headed into the unknown again to sail to Marathon Key on Thursday morning. The weather forecast was calling for strong northerly winds as a result of the same front that dumped snow on Memphis earlier in the week. On Friday, the winds were predicted to come out of the east at 20 to 30. Since we were headed east, we didn't any any part of that. Once again, I was pushing a weather envelope, but that seems to be the only way to get anywhere this time of year.
I didn't sleep very well, which is normal for me the night before a big unknown voyage. I awoke at 5:30 a.m., made coffee and set about preparing the boat for 42 nautical miles in rough water.
Our track for the day would take us from Key West Bight on the north side of Key West around the west end of the island. Then, as soon as the water got deep enough, we would turn due east. The Keys bend gradually north, so our track would too. I was concerned about what time the winds would start swinging to the east and that is why I wanted to get an early start.
As we exited the marina at 6:45 and hoisted the sails, we only hoisted them 2/3rds of the way up (for sailors -- the first reef point). I knew I could always raise them the rest of the way later if the winds were light. As we turned east about 7:00, I looked at my instruments and saw that the forecast was spot on -- 18 knots of wind from the north. Our reefed sails were perfect. Better yet, the waves were very small (1 - 2 feet) from the northwest, so we had a very comfortable ride. After about an hour the winds started to build and pretty soon it was blowing a steady 23 knots with gusts to 28. The seas built a little, too, but the waves were coming from the beam, so it wasn't bad. We were clipping off the miles to Marathon at about 7.2 per hour.
So we settled into an exhilarating ride for two old sailors. I think a lot of people wouldn't have liked it, but sailors are hard to explain. I don't have any pictures of this part because it was too wild to bring out a camera. In the early part of this leg, as the wind came directly across the deck, we were heeled about 15 degrees. As our track turned more and more to the north, the wind was coming more from the bow, and our heeling increased. In some puffs, we would tilt 30 degrees and you had to place your feet on the sides of the cockpit (not the bottom) to stay upright. It was a good thing that I had taken great care to stow everything carefully for the trip, everything would have been in the floor of the cabin.
Also, as we turned more north, we started getting some waves breaking over the bow of the boat. It was really kind of pretty to watch, because Agaliha just ate them and powered on. John and I were protected by the canvas "dodger" except for one particularly big crest that splashed a few fat drops of salt water in my face. John enjoyed this much more than a respectful crew should have.
The wind stayed strong and from the north. A little before 1:00 p.m. we arrived at the buoy that marks the entrance channel to Boot Key Harbor, our destination in Marathon. We arrived several hours earlier than I thought we would.
As we motored into the harbor, we passed a couple of marinas and fuel docks. Then we looked up ahead and there was an abandoned bascule bridge with the moving portion totally removed. As we advanced through it, we could see hundreds of boats ahead in the largest mooring field I have ever seen in my life. Most of the boats were sailboats. It is quite a sight.
I spotted the trawler that belongs to the couple we had met at Cabbage Key. I called them on the cell phone and they said, "Call us back as soon as you tie off to a mooring ball and we'll come pick you up in our dingy and take you to get some stone crab claws!" This was agreed to, without delay.
Marathon was the next oyster to be discovered...or should I say, crab claw.
Our first sunset in Marathon...in the mooring field.
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