Hangin out in Boot Key Harbor watching dolphins swim by

We moved the boat to Marathon with Grandpa Harry as honorary crew on Monday the 9th. The wind was dead on the nose as usual, but a good time was had by all regardless. The weather is finally warm and sunny! We haven't seen rain in weeks so the salt is really starting to build up. Ian and Suzanne toured the Keys on a Harley and had a blast! The spring breakers are starting to arrive, so the average age is getting lower each day. In one bar in Key West we were the oldest customers and the same day in another bar in Marathon we were the youngest by at least two decades. We are now focusing on preparing the boat for international travel. Once we leave here we plan to head north toward Miami and then to the Bahamas.

Who says Chicago is the windy city?

It's been almost a week, and Key West has yet to be fully discovered. The cooler is desperately low on beer and there are white caps and howling winds that make a dinghy trip to shore a chore. What's a girl to do?!

Still windy and wavy in Key West

Evergreen is still in Key West and it's still windy and wavy. Managing the dinghy has been quite an adventure (as you can see from the photo, Brad "blew out a flip-flop" on one excursion). The temperature is supposed to climb in the next few days (finally!). Next stop is Marathon, date unknown as of this posting.

Chilly and windy in Key West

We decided to head to Key West instead of Marathon and are in a mooring field "enjoying" strong wind and waves. The dinghy ride back to the boat yesterday was quite soggy, so we're putting off another trip to shore until the wind dies down a bit. We have been cursed with a cold front that seems to follow us wherever we go!

We enjoyed a beautiful sail from Fort Meyers Beach to Marco Island. Most of the people here graduated within a year or two of John De Wyse and the waitresses talk like Dan Witucki. We feel like outsiders, they're drinking decaf and we are pounding beers. We're anchored outside Coconut Island and still waiting for balmy weather. We finally got some sun today, but we're never happy. It could always be 10 degrees warmer. We're sure some day we will wish it was 10 degrees cooler. We will be leaving for Marathon at the crack of dawn.

We've finally made it to warmer weather!

We survived the 72 hour ride down to Fort Meyers Beach with only a few broken pieces and parts (autohelm and mainsail). The first 24 hours were gnarly with 30 knot winds and 10-15 foot following seas. Each day provided us with lighter seas and a more comfortable ride. We all missed the autohelm tremendously. The weather here has been warm and sunny and for that we are all extremely grateful as the evenings out on the high seas were pretty frigid.

We're On The Move

We made it to Pensacola late last night and had a great sail. We had mostly cloudy skies, chilly temperatures, and headwinds around 10-15 knots with moderate seas. The boat handled very well. We were escorted out of Mobile Bay and greeted into Pensacola Bay by Flipper and a few of his friends (very cool!). Mobile Bay was peppered with oil rigs and commercial marine vessels and as we got further east the shoreline became sandy and lined with condos and hotels. We've decided that we've had enough chilly weather and can't wait to get further south!