We got ready to depart and did our final checklist. Our neighbor friends came over to say good-bye and give a hand with the lines. They tossed flowers as we departed as a gesture of safe travel and good luck. We pulled out and headed out of Boot Key Harbor. We wound our way back through the mooring fields and out toward the ocean. Once we cleared the harbor, the waves really increased. We continued forward and were getting rocked by the large waves hitting us on the quarter beam. I could hear things sliding from side to side, as well as having to hold on myself during particular bad rolling. We should have turned around, but we didn’t. Soon the Coast Guard was on the radio advising of a small craft advisory for the area, but we sailed on. We continued on and soon had some relief when we saw where we were heading to. The anchorage is between two bridges, and there is a span of one bridge completely missing, which is where the entrance to the harbor is. There is a state park here too, which has beautiful beaches and a small marina. The marina has a dinghy dock we can land the dinghy at for Frank and us to enjoy the beach and it is free.
When we arrived there was one other boat- a sailboat that was anchored in front of the beach. We came in and skirted around them and moved to an area that is close to the active traffic bridge coming and going to Key West- US 1. The trick about anchoring here is the current- it will pull the boat in the direction it is running and that overpowers the wind. This can make for a very jerky/rocky rolling due to the boat pointing south, but the waves coming from the east- which it did. We made sure the anchor was secured and let out a lot of rode, more than normal both for the current and the winds that are now in the 20+mph and not slowing down much. We took the dinghy in to shore and explored the park and beach with Frank. He was happy to be on solid ground! We eventually made our way back to the boat and started the generator to make dinner. That was not easy with the rocking, but we ate well and watched another sailboat come into the harbor and anchor on the other side of the other sailboat. It was now time to retire, but it was a little difficult with the boat rolling, but we eventually drifted off to sleep. I was woken up by the motion and went outside to check on everything. As I stepped out, I felt rain starting to come down. I closed all of our windows and made sure everything was secure again and went back to sleep.
Day 2- Since the beach and park were right there, we went to shore. There is nothing else around either, so there wasn’t anything else to do but chill on the beach. This got us off the boat for a while and on terra firma. Frank was pleased as well. Lauren found a spot on the beach and I found a picnic table in the shade. Technically pets aren’t allowed ‘on the beach’ but no one bothered us about it the little bit he was on it. Otherwise he hung out with me in the shade. Our table was by the only channel coming into the marina, so I could see who was coming and going. I noticed the couple from the first sailboat coming in with their dog too. I wanted to chat with them, but they went to the other side of the marina. I also watched the other sailboat occupants come in on their dinghy and they came close to where we were hanging out. I walked over and chatted them up. They were coming from Key West and had bought the boat in St. Petersburg, Fla., and were just three friends on an adventure- how cool! We eventually met the other sailboat couple and chatted with them too. I also found a somewhat local boater- Bill from Punta Gorda, who was with his family on a boat they trailered from Indiana, and we talked a bit about out trip and he was very knowledgeable about areas we’ve been and he gave me some advice for the area around here. We plan on leaving tomorrow, but the weather is iffy…
Day 3-We looked at the weather almost hourly and woke up by 6am to get an early start. The winds looked a bit lighter in the morning so we thought that would be good for departure. We pulled anchor after taking Frank to shore and were underway by 7am, We went through the bridge and were met with good size swells. We followed our course to get out to deeper water, but the waves were now getting bigger and coming from different angles. The boat was healing and rocking back and forth a bit violently. I could again hear items sliding back and forth and Lauren was next to me on the flybridge so she could feel and hear this going on too. She had a tight grip on the seat and was trying to feel if this was going to get any better. “What do you think?” I asked, knowing this was not going to be a fun trip if we continued. “Turn around” was the quick reply. “Got it- hold on!” I had to quickly turn the boat around hopefully between the waves as they were rolling us. We got turned around and I upped the throttle to get us back in the relative safety of the anchorage we just left. There didn’t seem to be any movement yet from the other two boats there as we passed them on our return. We went close to where we were before and dropped anchor once again, letting out a lot of scope again to compensate for the current. Once secured, we watched as people started showing up to the beach and the day start to unfold. Lauren wanted to go to shore for a free guided tour of the park which I obliged and dinghied her in. I returned to the boat to run the generator some and sit on the back deck. I hung out for a couple of hours then made my way to shore. I took my usual spot at the shaded picnic table and Frank made himself comfortable. Lauren eventually returned and we hung out a bit between her beach time. Lunch was had from the park cafe and we continued to check the weather and possible anchorages if we decide to leave again and feel it is too rough to continue on. There is a forecast of more high winds, and we are almost afraid we may get stuck here, although it is not a bad place to be stuck- BUT with the forecast winds, if we do get stuck, we will have to try to get into the marina here, although the entrance is pretty shallow. We don’t want to be anchored in 30+mph winds- I’m still scarred from the Grand Haven, Michigan dragging of anchor in the storm and high winds we were caught in. The rest of the evening was another night in paradise with a new activity, fishing. I bought a fishing license for Florida a while ago, but I’ve never cast a line. I have never fished, so I don’t have a clue what to do or how to do it. Lauren’s brother Rich gave me a fishing pole to bring on the trip. Today we unwrapped it and bought some frozen squid bait at the ship’s store in the park. I baited the hook and tossed it overboard. I was down in the rudder room doing some maintenance when I heard a clatter; I knew it was the pole being pulled from a fish! I had secured it so it hopefully wouldn’t get pulled overboard if I got one on the line. I ran upstairs past Lauren who was wondering why I was in such a hurry. “I caught a fish!” I yelled to her. She came out and around to the back of the boat as I was reeling it in. It was at least a foot long (not exaggerating-well maybe, it depends on who you ask). I was quite proud of this fish, but now I had to get the hook out if its mouth and what was I going to do with it? “We can eat it” exclaimed Lauren, as I was struggling to get it unhooked. It started making grunting sounds and Lauren started to feel bad. “I can’t watch” she told me as she left to go back inside. “What should I do with it?” I called out after getting it unhooked and put in a bucket. “throw it back”. I tossed the fish back in the water and watched it swim away. I baited another hook and felt a pull, but the fish were getting good at eating my bait and swimming away- maybe I was using too much? Soon enough I had another pull on the rod. I reeled in another of the same looking fish- maybe a Snook?- and this one was smaller. Lauren came out to look at it and we tossed this one back too. Frank was scared of it as well. I tossed some more lines and after free meals for the fish, I caught yet another of the same looking fish! This one was even smaller! It too got tossed back. We ended up watching the sunset and calling it quits for fishing for the evening as we didn’t keep any of them the sun had now disappeared . We plan on leaving again around 7am, so it was an early night and our last look at the weather was promising for us to get to Key West…