We're underway from Key Biscayne for the transit down the Hawk Channel outside the Keys for Marathon, which is nearly all the way to Key West.
The weather is great for the westerly transit with light prevailing easterly trade winds.
Actually sailing with all 3 sails out. The winds are light but we have turned the motor off for one of the first times since leaving Yorktown.
This entire trip has been a motoring trip, not that we are complaining. For the two months we have been traveling we have mainly been under high pressure systems with clear blue skies and light winds. There have been very few rain showers and no really bad weather.
Yes, we are finally in the Florida Keys and in the tropical trade winds. Its short sleeves and shorts weather. First time on the trip I have been able to open the full rear enclosure and use the great corner seats. Doesn't get much better.
The view looking out towards Cuba as we transit down the Hawk Channel. You can see some of the Sargasso weed on the water that folks are talking about. There is a larger than normal amount of Sargasso weed approaching Florida from the Atlantic. We saw a bunch but nothing out of the normal yet.
Our anchorage spot for the night off Indian Key which is about half way to Marathon. The wind is down and its not a good idea to motor in the Hawk Channel during the night as it is full of crab pots with float lines that can wrap around your prop.
Sunset at our anchorage off Indian Key. This is the calmest the wind has been off Indian Key during our previous trips down the Keys, but it still was an uncomfortable night with the rolling from the swells. Next time we will proceed on through the Channel 5 bridge and anchor on the inside of the Key.
Its the Marathon welcoming committee. Our friends came out in their dinghy to meet us just outside the channel and guide us into the anchorage and mooring area. Its a good thing because we would be very apprehensive about entering the busy channel not knowing if there was any room to anchor. They told us they had seen a couple areas we could anchor so we followed them in.
Marathon is a very popular and busy place in the winter as it is the only anchorage/mooring area in the Keys where you are fully protected from strong winds and waves on all sides. There are normally over 400 boats moored or anchored there in February. We were lucky to find a small spot inside the old lift bridge with just enough room for us to anchor.
Its been several years since we last saw our cruising buddies, Sally and Conrad, and we had to celebrate by playing dominos and sipping Nassau Royale spiced rum. The Nassau Royale from the Bahamas is not produced any more but we still have a bottle onboard from our trip to the Bahamas in 2012.
Another Marathon tradition is to go to the Castaways and order off the "Seniors" happy hour appetizer menu. While most of items were appropriately small servings, you get a whole plate full of fried chicken livers. Sue and I both enjoy chicken livers and they were great.
The big entertainment at the Castaways is the manatees that come up to the restaurant and drink the fresh water dripping from the drain pipe of the air conditioner system. The manatees spend hours lounging there and pushing each other out of the way for their turn to catch the drips. We have about 20 photos of manatees to pick from for the blog.
Uniform of the day for sightseeing around Marathon, blue shirt and khaki shorts with broad brimmed hat.
Another interesting sight in Marathon, this is a real Cuban homemade boat that refugees had motored to Marathon in just a couple weeks before we arrived. They had welded a bunch of 50gal oil drums together and built a boat skin out of metal house siding. Then they mounted a old construction diesel engine connected to a shaft and prop. Very amazing that they made it across the 100 mile ocean trip which can be quite rough at times as the Gulf Stream races through this passage against the prevailing winds.
Our visit was way too short but our schedule is dictated by the weather and the fact we have to be back to Daytona Beach to fly to New York City to see our granddaughter play at Carnegie Hall on Mar 14th. So tomorrow its back to Miami.
We're glad we were able to make the trek down to Marathon, it was worth it for the couple of great days we spent there with our friends.
