Well here we are going back to Key West, I guess we just can’t seem to get enough. This time we had some fellow YouTube vloggers join us for the trip down. Jessica and Ryan from Jessica and Ryan Adventures were more than keen to join us for some time on the water and it’s been great for all of us to take some time behind the helm.
Once again mother nature threw all kinds of weather at us as we made our way down the Florida coast. We went from having 10 knots of wind with waves coming out of the south and crashing over the bow, to having 17 knots of wind on a broad reach with following seas, to no wind and the water like glass.
We knew when we left there was a cold front that was going to come across Florida later in the week so we wanted to make it as far south as we could while still enjoying the water and an abbreviated cruising life. We were able to make it to Marco Island before the storm caught up to us. Luckily Marco Island is not a bad place to have to stay put for a bit. We tried to head out of Marco to do our passage across to Key West but unfortunately there was a small craft advisory and when we got out of the channel we were beating into 8 ft seas, that were the effect from the wind and the front. We decided to head back to the anchorage and wait until after lunch when things were supposed to calm down. So instead of sailing and beating ourselves up, we have a wonderful breakfast, took some time and got some work done, and London got to go for a paddle board ride to the island nearby so she could run and explore. There were lots of conchs exposed from the low tide and she was beyond thrilled and curious and amused herself sniffing and staring perplexed at them. From the look on her face and the big smile she was sporting, I would say she was very happy with our decision to have a relaxing morning.
A few hours later we pulled up anchor again and headed south. Since we only had about 6 hours of daylight we decided to head to an anchorage in the Everglades. Those are always my favorite anchorages, they are so peaceful, no light pollution and not a soul to be seen. It’s just you and the creepy creatures living underneath you! I’m not much for star gazing but when you are in the Everglades you can’t help but be mesmerized by the amount of stars you see. The passage was a short one at 35 NM but it was perfect. The following seas propelled us forward and we had fun trimming the sails for our point of sail. Ahhh, this is what sailing is supposed to be like 🙂
Our last passage into Key West was the best of the trip. Minus the fact that we had absolutely zero wind, but I am quickly learning you either have wind and rough seas, or you have no wind but the calmest waters. At least this seems to be the case in the Gulf of Mexico. I finally experienced swells instead of waves and our 80 NM passage was the first time all four of us were able to actually relax a bit while underway. If it weren’t for the crab pots and dolphins coming to our bow to put on a show every 5 minutes of the 12 hours we might have been pretty bored.
We made it to Key West for a second time! We arrived right as the sun was setting and we were treated to a boat parade for our arrival (actually it was just all the sunset cruises heading back into the marinas), but it was pretty cool to fall in line with about 15 other boats all heading into the docks with the very colorful sky off our stern. I now feel like we are becoming Key West experts!
