And So We Wait

Date: Sunday, Jan 5, 2020                            

Arrival Time: 0900 ET, Jan 4                         

Location:  Key Largo, Fl.

Weather:  80 - 57             

Sea State:  choppy

Destination Tomorrow:  None

Engine Hours:  1413                                                                        

Crew:  Ruth and Greg    

Mileage Log:  1037

Comments:  Since arriving in Key Largo on Thursday, we’ve established a friendship with the

Lee Shore Anchorage off Key Largo

manager (Ken) and his hand (Dave) at the Pilot House Marina.  It seems marinas in the area are not very accommodating to transient cruising boats.  Most of their business is from the local and charter boats docked at the marinas or smaller fishing vessels and there is no shortage of business.  Anyway, since Ruth’s first phone call to Ken, we’ve had our own dinghy dock and freedom to come and go.  We have purchased fuel and given a few tips.  We made the 2 ½ mile dinghy trip once from Rodriquez Island, which provided protection from southern winds, then moved the boat about 1/4 mile from the southern lee shore of Key Largo because of the approaching norther on Saturday evening.

Anchor Alarm

The marina has a very good restaurant called the Pilot House that has been featured on Diners Drive-Ins & Dives, a Food Network TV show. We’ve enjoyed the patio section a couple times.  We reserved a car for Saturday from Enterprise and they were to deliver the car to the restaurant on Saturday, at 1000.  Ruth called them at 0930 that morning to let them know we were at the restaurant hoping they could bring it early.  We were informed they had no one to deliver the car so we hiked the mile to Enterprise.  When we arrived they had no car because the few they were expecting had not yet been returned.   Cadine, who was single-handing the store was wonderful and made several calls to secure a car.  She finally got us a Camaro convertible, the most expensive rental, at the cost of a 1973 Pinto.  We loaded up and went straight to West Marine for a few clothing purchases (Ruth, cough-cough) and other needs.  From there we drove a couple miles and bought out the Publix grocery store, where we realized the Camaro was not quite big enough.  We packed it like Ruth’s girdle (just seeing who’s paying attention) and made it back to the dinghy where we unloaded and brought everything back to the boat.  We were glad the dinghy ride was only about ½ mile outside the channel to the boat.  After stowing everything, we returned to the dock, put gasoline in the car and filled the gas can, then took the car back to Enterprise. After walking the mile back to the marina, we watched the first part of the Texans game at the restaurant and then made the dinghy trip back to the boat.  Upon arriving around 1720, we noticed the boat’s bow had started shifting toward the west.  Around 1800 the first blast of wind arrived from the NW.  It blew all night eventually shifting out of the north.  There was not much sleep to be had as I watched the anchor alarm and my hand held compass throughout the night.  The alarm did sound a couple times as the boat shifted but the anchor held tight.  With 95 feet of anchor rode out and the alarm set at 100 feet, as the winds shifted the boat swung 180 degrees and approximately 190 feet, beyond the alarm’s boundary. 

Our daily commuted channel

This morning (Sunday) it’s blowing a steady 20 knots from the north.  The sun is bright and the temperature is the lowest we’ve seen in a while, about 60 degrees, but warming.  Being fully provisioned, we plan to stay on the boat and relax today and only go to shore if we need something extremely important, like a pedicure and manicure (Ruth, cough-cough!)

According to Predict Wind, Windy and the VHF offshore weather radio station, we expect to shove off Tuesday morning for Alice Town, Bahamas.  The Gulf Stream waves are predicted to be 2-3 feet with 4-6 second intervals.  Hopefully, it is accurate.  And so we wait.