A 3 Day Wrap Up

Leaving the Tampa Bay area our next goal is to get to Marathon and Boot Key Harbor where we will get some boat chores done, reprovision groceries and collect our Amazon orders.  Boot Key will be our "layover" as we await another good weather window before heading to the east coast and our staging area for the next big crossing which could be Rodriquez Key or Angle Fish Creek depending on how long we can run that day.  From there we will cross the Gulf Stream and anchor at Gun Key or possibly farther.....depending.....You can make a plan but everyday when you get up and check the forecast,  Plan B is always on the table.

Our first day out of Egmont Key provided me with a glimpse of tropical weather.  Ever since we left Bay St. Louis on the 14th it has been COLD!  Some mornings waking up to 20 degrees, wearing sweat pants and jackets somehow didn't seem right since I am on a cruise to the Bahamas.  Well, you have to get there first I guess.  And leaving in January pretty much guarantees that it won't feel very tropical for a while. We head to Gasparilla Key for our overnight anchorage and on the way stop at Cape Haze Key Marina for fuel and water. We don't need to refuel at this point, but they have the cheapest diesel in Florida so why not top off?

Our next day starts off with dense fog requiring us to rely on the radar system until we get off the ICW and out into the Gulf. We overnight in Cape Romano which is south of Marco Island, the last coastal town on the west coast of Florida before the keys. It was a very pretty night skyline, lots of colorful lights, the red ones especially stood out. Here we saw the monolithic domes or what's left of them.




These Dome dwellings look like something out of a sci-fi movie but it turns out that they are the remnants of a family vacation spot built in the 1980's and are slowly being reclaimed by the sea. They are now providing a great place for locals and enthusiasts to explore as well as creating a unique artificial reef. 


The next day we make it to Cape Sable Beach and the Everglades National Park which means no crab traps within those boundaries... Yippee! We took advantage of this calmer spot to get some "boat projects" done. Or should I say, Ken gorgeous some projects done. I did help though... He was able to install a new solar panel to the Bimini top on the flying bridge and also the running lights on the dinghy and the new depth finder on the dinghy. All in all a very productive Anchorage, if I do say so myself.  If I've learned one thing about cruising it's that there's always a project to be done.  It's just nice that the work is done in exotic places...

Tomorrow we head to Marathon. Boot Key Harbor here we come! 

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