Stuck in Key West…AGAIN!!

I think Key West has bad juju. Seems like every time we go there, we end up staying much longer than anticipated!! We headed into the Key West Bight marina Thursday, planning to stay two nights. The drive shaft was leaking water into the boat and any water inside the boat that is not in a tank is a bad thing. But Nick was worried because he had to make a bigger hole in the boat to fix it (by removing the old seal so he could put the new one on) so he felt more comfortable at the dock where parts were a block away.

The good news is that the drive shaft was much easier than he expected and we now have not a drop coming in. We also did all the important stuff that is easier to do at the dock: grocery shopping, laundry, shopping for boat parts, filling water tanks, emptying holding tanks and cleaning the salt off the decks.

The weatherman called for one day of bad weather. The 20+ mph winds took another two days to settle down. They had us pinned against the pilings at the dock. The bumpers squeaked. SO LOUD! We couldn’t stand to be inside the boat. Forget sleeping. We finally got two more lines on the other side of the boat and it got better.

Yesterday we had rain in the morning when we left, but by the time we got out of the marina the sun was coming up. I was surprised there were no cruise ships at the dock when we left. First day we didn’t see them. The wind was great…until we got around Key West. Then it died. Totally. Not a lick. So we motored up Hawk Channel and anchored off Summerland Key. Hawk Channel is a maze of crab traps. It’s like driving through a mine field trying to avoid the little buggers! We took turns at the helm to relieve our tiered eyeballs. Nick caught two fish along the way, so I think he’s excited.

It is so beautiful here. Definitely what we needed after all the craziness of Key West. It is calm and quiet. I had a dolphin playing behind the boat and I could hear every breath he took. The sky was a magnificent palate of orange, red and pink last night. Then after the sun set, the sky shone with a million stars. I don’t think I have seen so many stars since we were out camping in Canada. You just don’t see that when you are around all the city lights.

This morning we are heading for Marathon. Hoping the wind picks up a wee bit so we can have a good sail. The crab traps are a bit less scary when you don’t have the prop going.