We departed our new found anchorage in Key West pretty early, around 9:45 am. We needed to get an early start so we could ride the tide out into the Atlantic along the West side of Key West. We had been waiting out some very windy conditions to subside and as of this morning, we are supposed to have nice weather for at least the next several days. That should be enough time to get us to Marathon.
The parade of jet skis passed by us for the last time as we were leaving the anchorage. Those jet skis never get a break. I would guess that jet ski rental is good business judging from the fact we saw them several times a day, every day since our arrival. It was fitting for them to pass as we were leaving.
We saw anywhere from 1 to 3 cruise ships in town on any given day. The people come in droves by cruise ship, airplane, ferry, bus, personal car, and of course, boats. It's unbelievable how many tourists come to visit Key West.
The Coast Guard sits right outside the channel just about all the time. Apparently this is some kind of Cuban blockade. If they can catch them in the water, they can send them back but once they set foot on American soil, the government has to grant them asylum. Apparently several people were found clinging to a bridge a few years ago and there was a big debate about weather they had actually landed on American "soil". Apparently they got to stay.
The water still amazes me. You can see clear to the bottom even in the Atlantic Ocean! The water is a little ripply in the photo but you can still see the sponge about six feet down.
We departed into the Hawk Channel on the Atlantic side of the island this morning as the south side is in the lee of the weather that we have been experiencing the past several days. The sea was calm but we bucked a 25 mph headwind all day long and it was a little choppy too, causing us to not get as far as planned. We are anchored just off Geiger Key.
Saturday and Sunday, January 18th - 19th
We weighed anchor at 11:20 after waiting for the sun to recharge the batteries and headed onward towards Marathon. We got to Big Pine Key and dropped anchor for the night. We were excited about attending the 10th Annual Nautical Flea Market in town on Sunday. Carter is on the lookout for another anchor among a few other items that just might be found at a flea market. There's always interesting stuff to be seen at flea markets.
A faded Wicker Harley . Too cool!
On our way to the 10th annual nautical flea market we stumbled across Big Pine Keys weekly flea market too. There were so many good deals we spent the last of our cash on some $5 tee shirts and a few hardware items. From Big Pine Key we moved on to Bahia Honda Key and dropped anchor just in front of the state park, getting us in position to move on to Marathon early Monday morning. The morning turned out to be a beautiful day and we took full advantage of it and snorkeled while waiting for the batteries to charge. It was wonderful! Carter found a lobster and ate it for breakfast. We weighed anchor about 10:00 and had a great passage the entire way arriving in Boot Key in Marathon before 3:00 pm. This gave us time to cruise the entire Boot Key harbor and check it out before we anchored.
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