Anchor Up - Anchor Down

Thursday, February 27th

Looking North Towards 7-Mile Bridge

Coffee @ 0500. Auxillary started @ 0700. Fuel dock @ 0730. Through the 7 mile bridge @ 0830. Dodging lobster pots. Passed Red Bay Bank for Long Key. Change of plans. Heading 011 degrees true for Cape Sable. ETA 1300. Lots and lots of crab pot buoys, somewhat like constellations of stars on the water. Missed them all!!!

We dropped anchor at East Cape Sable @ 1400. About .75 miles from the beach. The anchor is holding. The water is murky. Mostly cloudy skies. Light westerly breeze. We have the place to ourselves. Hoping for stars tonight.

Tonight is pork loin ala pressure cooker. Or so we thought. The holding here blows. Between the westerly breeze and the current, we found ourselves broadside to the wind. We also were dragging. Hoisting the anchor showed the bottom substrate not unlike wet cement. In the end we motored on to find something better. We ended up at Shark River about 1.5 miles offshore in 9 feet of water @ 2000 hours. It's a bit bouncy, but beggars can't be choosey. The Rocna is holding firm.

BTW, dinner turned out absolutely delicious.

Friday, February 28th

Firstly, a shout-out to our grandson Mayson. Happy Thirteenth Birthday young man. We hope you have a great day!!!

Sleep was illusive last night. Entering Shark River in the dark was out of the question. Although we held fast, wind on the nose and waves abeam made for a bouncy night. We were underway at first light. Under clear skies, mid-sixties, and 12+ kts on the nose, we set our destination today for Indian Key; making 5 kts. under power.

Another Blanket Panel in Process

A Beautiful but Surprisingly Chilly Morning 

It's 1330 as I write. We've set anchor at Indian Key. We saw no less than thirteen feet entering the channel. Two green markers to Port, followed by two red markers to Starboard, then hang a left @ Green 7 Flashing 4 Seconds.

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We have the anchorage to ourselves. We're surrounded by nothing but mangrove islands. Everglades City is not too far away, so we can occasionally hear some distant road traffic from Tamiami Trail. We have beautiful sunshine. I still can't figure out how to purchase a park pass.

The weather for tonight looks decent but a chilly 57F in the morning. We are hoping to sail tomorrow. Our next destination/ anchorage is Marco Island. Sweet dreams everyone.

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