11 February to 28 February

Miami

11 February- Key Biscayne to Islamorada. Moved down Biscayne Bay and covered 69 miles in 9 hours and 45 minutes to arrive at the anchorage off of Lorelei’s at 6PM. Averaged 7.1 MPH with a max of 8.6. Took Lucy in and had appetizers then dinner back on the boat. Funny thing is we asked if Lucy could join us and the waitress said not a problem – though we had to sit in the sand. The next day when we tied up to the same dock to walk Lucy we saw this sign that said “NO DOGS”.

Sunset at Lorelei’s

12 and 13 February- Islamorada to Marathon. High winds up to 25 Knots. Stayed in the ICW rather than go into Hawk Chanel. Covered 44 miles at 6.3 MPH with a max of 8.2 mostly under sail only. Lucky to find a slip at Poncho’s fuel dock (nice people… Capt Jack and Mike)due to lots of boats and no one able to get to the Bahamas due to weather issue. We got in a slip and soon were hit with a nasty wind and rain storm. Rained all night. Had a great Cornish hen dinner on board. Had to stay another day due to high winds. So on the 13th we peddled our bikes to the store, West Marine and lunch of Hog Fish sandwiches at Key Fisheries. Mike cooked two turkeys for all marina people that we enjoyed that night. Everyone was to bring sides – we brought dessert.

14 February- My 65th Birthday and Valentine’s Day. We had clear skies, good winds, sun, but cold weather and headed out to Key West at 7:30 via Hawk Channel. A wonderful sail (6 hours 24 minutes to cover the 48 miles) at an average of 8 MPH with a high of 10.Patti made a WindStar class breakfast and a fresh shrimp lunch. Went to dinner with friends from home, Barb and Bob Wightman, at Café Sole..Conch Carpaccio, hog fish and Key Lime pie with a birthday candle. It was a great night and Patti was given a yellow rose from the waiter.

Arrival Key West

15-22 February- We are very happy in the Key West Bight Marina located in downtown Key West so we plan to stay here till April 11.

 Have friends here from our Yacht Club and have met many nice people who are also here to escape the snow. Joyce and Scott Yates flew down from the cold on Saturday. The day was beautiful – warm and sunny, finally much needed warmth!

 On Sunday we went to a restaurant A&B Lobster House for brunch. They have 15 people working for them that are from Haiti, so the restaurant donated the proceeds from the brunch, wait staff also donated their tips to the 15 families to help them. $15,000 was raised. We had a great time with Barb, Bob, Leslie, Bob, Joyce, and Scott.

 In the middle of the brunch the skies clouded and the rain came, again. After brunch – Carl won – he ate the most – we all returned to our rooms or boats to “nap”. Later, we met up at a trunk show/ 85th birthday of a local artist Sandford Birdsey at the Curry Mansion. Neat! The weather is still not what it should be. Rained all last night. Enjoying the restaurants, and activities. In the rain we took Joyce and Scott on a tour, including Hogfish Grill, Fishbusters, Publix and Boca Chica NAS. While there we saw a familiar boat – Jack of Hearts.

 Carl called Mike and he and a friend joined us for drinks at the Schooner’s Warf. Still raining Joyce and Patti cooked up a fish dinner.

23 February- We went out for a sail today to a reef…Western Sambo and tied up to a mooring where we thought we might snorkel but it was too rolly. We did have a great lunch aboard, Key West shrimp and mango - yummy.

 Then sailed up the channel to check out the Marina at Boca Chica NAS. We were reacquainted with the “Sound of Freedom” as the F18s and F16s roared overhead on approach to the field. This was our wake-up call when we stayed there two years ago.

 Had a great dinner at Café Sole, again – Joyce and Scott took us there to celebrate our birthdays.

24 February- Rain lots of it. Patti, Joyce and Barb made a visit t the wonderful Butterfly Nature Conservatory and went shopping on Duval Street. Though when it started raining we quickly called Scott to pick us up. Mangia, Mangia for dinner in a torrential downpour.

25 February- Cool. Took the 90 minute Conch Train tour of Key West. Very nice. Great lunch at the Key West Yacht Club. I am sure we all had several drinks (every day) and a wonderful dinner at Santiago’s Bodega- a great tapas restaurant.

26 February- Took neighbors, Doug and Jen from Lancaster and the four of us for a sail out the North West channel. It was so calm that we were able to eat lunch while under way. A wonderful afternoon! Topped off Joyce and Scott’s last day in Key West with a spectacular dinner at A&B Lobster House…with lots to eat and drink not to mention the deserts…Key Lime Pie and Banana’s Foster…remember Joyce?

27 February- Visited the boat show and the art festival followed by lunch at the Cuban restaurant El Siboney. Yates off to the air port for the flight to NJ. We started our eating, drinking and spending recovery today. Decided to enter the Wrecker’s Race and went to the captain’s meeting with Barb, Bob, Jenn and Doug.

28 February – We got the crew together –  Jen had to take care of their puppy boxer – high energy – Roxy.

 So it was winch wench/galley slave Patti with the boys – Captain Carl, Bob, and Doug. The start looked more chaotic than organized. Not much wind and because it is Key West there are no rules. We were reminded that if you protest something you are disqualified, if you complain you are disqualified. We found using the head sail we were doing better than with both sails flying. There was a boat that was overtaking us just as we were nearing the finish line – they were taunting us that they were going to beat us. Well, Poseidon was on our side - the closer we got to the committee boat they lost all their wind in their sails. We got there first. The crew was so happy! The best thing about the day was there were many boats behind us. So we did not come in last! At the BBQ that night at Schooner’s Wharf Carl won a gift certificate for West Marine. Cut and paste the following in your browser to see standings and pictures http://www.schoonerwharf.com/10wreckersrace_results.htm#february