We've Turned the Corner - Heading North

Days 132 – 137

Key West - Marathon

A new restaurant opened on Stock Island several weeks ago, Fishbusterz. It’s a very casual outdoor restaurant at a fresh seafood market on a working wharf. It reminded me a little of Five Islands in Maine, although I must say Fishbusterz takes 2nd place to the setting and scenery at Five Islands! I wanted to try “pink Florida shrimp” – fresh off the boat. Bob had a fresh “mega” snapper sandwich. A shrimp boat had just come in and was unloading its catch – a neat activity to watch. I asked a shrimper how long the boats stay out: “A week to ten days. The last trip brought in $50,000 in shrimp.”

The restlessness that comes with “time to move” became apparent this week. We’ve enjoyed Key West, seen everything we wanted to see, eaten in many good (and a few not-so-fine) restaurants, met many new friends, and done our part to boost the tourist economy.

We watched the weather for several days and saw a possible window for the weekend to sail from Boca Chica, through Hawk Channel, to Biscayne Bay. Our plan was to anchor there in one of the two protected harbors, No Name or Hurricane, to wait out the large front passing through Florida before heading north again. Our Boca Chica cruising friends got up early to handle lines and send us off. We left at first light. The first 3 hours were delightful… all three sails up, 12 knots wind from the S, close reach, and doing 6-7 knots. Then the clouds started to build. We had expected scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms as NOAA predicted – but not all of them over us!! As the winds increased, we reefed the main, then reefed the jib, then pulled the jib in, and finally dropped the main, leaving only the staysail. At the same time, it was neat to watch the cells building on our radar. Bob tracked them, and we slowed down to avoid two heavy downpours. By 11AM, NOAA had changed its forecast, and was describing what we were in the middle of. We made the prudent decision to pull into Marathon City Marina at Boot Key Harbor. As we reached Marathon, a large thunderstorm was 4 ½ miles south and heading our way. Just as we secured the mooring ball – the storm hit.

This morning in Marathon, we listened to the “Marathon Cruisers Net” on VHF 68 at 9AM. Cruisers nets are another first experience for us. A variety of categories are covered each morning: new cruiser arrivals and departures; cruisers looking for “buddy boats” to travel with; things to buy, sell, or give away; questions about anything from anyone; (this morning a cruiser was looking for the phone number of a good engine mechanic); announcements for the day (today there is picnic pot luck on Sombrero Beach at noon); and trivia. The net was facilitated efficiently by one gentleman, and the whole broadcast took less than 15 minutes.

Our big news for the week is we’ve put our townhouse in Saratoga Springs on the market. Bob and I have been talking about selling for several years; this wasn’t a rash decision. The boat gives us the opportunity to offer the house for sale and still have a place to live while we decide where we’ll be next. If it sells, we’ll sail south another winter. If it doesn’t sell, we won’t be disappointed, so it’s a win-win situation.