We see all sorts of boats down here

While sailing down the Keys yesterday we came across two unique looking crafts that we initially thought may be current day pirates......at least from a distance they had the look of trouble!

Turns out that we were safe from harm as they were both manned by a crew of young folks, a little cold but having a lot of fun also. They were from the Outward Bound Post in the Keys and they were heading to their next campsite. Hope they have lots of firewood!!!!!

We helped them the best we could by chanting.........STROKE, STROKE, STROKE!

On the move again

GH was really looking forward to a great sail today but the "weather gods" once again said "not yet!"........... we still arrived in Marathon for a gorgeous sunset and an even nicer warm welcome from Blue Angel ........ complete with hot appetizers and great friendship!!!!

and then....right off the stove top since we have no oven!

????

We knew it was going to be cold but waking up to 49 F in the Keys in late February .........Ya just need something warm for breakfast so we went into invention mode. Oven? What oven? Well, now we have a means!

Jim & Holly would be proud of the results!!

Cold in the Keys

After a pretty spicey night on the hook we woke up to much cooler temps. We (Dick) stayed up with GH most of the night............. even so we took turns napping and enjoying our next day in Tarpon Basin................ even at 55 degrees, No Problem.

Kind of a drag............

You know, like the Buckingham's............

Well, we dragged, Big Time............. and then we had a most excellent adventure at (as only Murphy would have it) 12:30am. The wind felt big and GH was not liking it.....Mr Spade has never dragged before.......we were suspect of the bottom and put both spades out in tandem.. (that is 2 anchors on one line) both with chain..........anyway the plan failed and we ended up looking for another spot in Tarpin Basin.

Tarpon Basin to wait out weather

Many of the boats that were anchored at Islamorada have now moved north to Tarpon Basin to wait out another cold front that is going to come through over the next couple of days. Everyone thought last year was on the cool side........well, we are once again seeing plenty of cold weather with fronts coming through, one after another. The basin is fairly small and everyone can find some good shelter from any high winds that will blow through.

It was a really nice day yesterday for the motor-sail up here. When we dropped the hook I finally decided to go for the first swim of the year.....YES, the 1st time and it was with a wet suit!! Lets just say I did my bottom cleaning and got back on board to let the sun warm me up.

We did get a nice sunset and maybe I got a good enough shot of Kismet for a Christmas card...

Grey Hound meets up with old & new friends

The weather has finally warmed up enough to think about sailing without foul weather gear so we decided to head north to meet up with Kismet in Islamorada. The Lore' Lei was past due for a visit so off we went......

The sail north was, of course, straight upwind so it took awhile but once we went through the #5 bridge the seas were flatter and we were able to sail right to the anchorage.

Along with Kismet we also found Swan (Catalina 36), Sephia (Cape Dory 36) and Incognita II (Beneteau 34) and Try (F-27). So...... we had to all board Kismet and have a little happy hour and tapas for dinner.

A fun time for all!!

Water......via solar power!

For our latest move into more self reliant territory we found a company that is building solar power desalinating machines. They were initially made up for undeveloped countries that are lacking all the basic needs but they have also begun to make them for the marine business.

Voila.......our first 7 ounces of water!!

ps.......tasted like s*#!

We will try it again when (if) the sun comes back out and it warms up.....

Happy ....almost Valentine's Day!

Well, it's Saturday night in Boot Key and it's blowing like stink. This darn north wind is still going through the mooring field making everyone really cold but I managed to make it to Kimosabi for happy hour! Thank goodness for rum!!

Tomorrow Anne will try to make it down to Florida, again .............with luck we'll be able to do some more sunsets together very soon......darn weather and planes, they are a pain in the butt!!

Happy Valentines Day to all..........especially to our Teagan Rose...........her second of many!!!!

Last night ....the better team won!

Well, we gave it the best try we could from two different states and climates but New Orleans prevailed in the end. Prior to the game it was my turn to do up a little Super Bowl snack for Honahlee and Kimosabi so I did my best. Guess it wasn't good enough for the Colts but it appeared it was good enough for the crews of the two boats.

Spicy shrimp and lamb sliders..........who could ask for anything more??

A quiet Saurday night in the harbor

It is going to be a quiet and bumpy night......

- Anne is north at 204 freezing in the Sewercuse weather

- It is blowing 20+ knots out on the reef causing it to be fairly bumpy in the harbor

- The north wind is going to lower the temperature (and I know nobody up north cares one bit!!)

But tomorrow is Super Sunday......who do we cheer for??