Good bye Marathon

Linda and I flew to Miami on December 27 and rented a car to drive to Agaliha, who was on a mooring ball on Boot Key Harbor (Marathon). We stopped at the Publix grocery store to provision the boat on our way. My sweet friends (Stan and Judy) left us a dingy at the dock to get our luggage and groceries to the boat. Agaliha was none the worse for neglect..and we fired up her systems and motored back to Keys Fisheries to eat Stone Crab Claws with Stan and Judy.

At 7:30 on Wednesday, I threw off the lines from the mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor and starting motoring for Hawks Channel (the Atlantic side of the Keys). Linda was a little slow to rise because of the the cold she had contracted in Boston. As we turned east toward Rodriguez Key, the wind built to 25 knots and I was glad I had reefed the main. We rolled out a little of the genoa until our angle was too narrow to carry it. The seas built to about four feet and we slammed into the waves. This killed our forward progress. Linda was unphased while reading book on her Kindle and I was relieved that she was not sick.


It was so rough that our horse-shoe buoy got thrown off of the transom after lunch. We decided to to use it as a man overboard drill and circled a few times until I retrieved it with a boat hook. We were both glad it was not a human.

The 48 miles to Rodriguez Key became a slow slog as we banged into the waves. But it was not uncomfortable for either of us...just slow. We finally anchored in the lee of Rodriguez Key at 4:00 p.m. I put on a wet suit and dove under the boat to clear the knot meter while Linda showered and dried her hair with the generator. I cut my finger on a barnacle that was clogging the knot meter sending unit. Lesson learned -- those bastards are sharp! I hope the instruments will work tomorrow.


We grilled steaks and Linda cooked rice and made a great salad as the sun set behind us.


We enjoyed a great anchorage after a full day of sailing toward Miami for New Years. I had to break out the bugle and play "Taps" as the sun disappeared below the horizon.


I called Dinner Key Marina (in Biscayne Bay) on the phone and they took our reservation for Thursday night. The marina market is still slow.

It was the first day that Linda had been aboard during a transit and it felt so good. She even went below in four-foot seas to make lunch. Her steel stomach is impressive. We were tired and had another 50-mile trip ahead of us to make Coconut Grove on Thursday.

It was sweet to be back on the boat after a cold and gray Christmas week in Chattanooga. The fireplace was good, but no substitute for the sun in the Keys. We were ready to get to Miami and ring out 2011...and ring in 2012.


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