Moving On to the Bahamas

We saw some sights the last days in Key West. There is a history of cigar making, blocks of charming old houses, The Little White House and chickens can be found on any street. It's an interesting city with a lot of history. There is more to Key West than bars and partying! Who knew?

Today we are in Marathon. A stop over on on the way to the Bahamas. It is very peaceful and quiet here with tons of other cruisers. They have the largest most "luxurious" dinghy dock we have ever seen.We plan to be in the Bahamas by Monday or Tuesday and are really looking forward to going to places we have never been.

Internet coverage may not be as good in the Bahamas so we will be in touch when possible.

Thanks for all the comments and posts! We are enjoying keeping in touch as we travel.

Stormy Days at Anchor and Something for Katie and Sarah

Thanks for all the comments and wishes for a successful trip. We are blessed with the best friends and family!

We have been having fun in Key West. There are tons of different shops and restaurants. We love B.O.'s Fish Wagon http://www.foodreference.com/html/kbo_sfishwagon.html for fried conch sandwiches and Captain Tony's Saloon http://www.capttonyssaloon.com/ . Everyone you meet here is friendly and happy. The town has such a relaxed atmosphere and it's very easy to have fun!

We have met some other cruisers. One man from Novia Scotia who left for Cuba on Wednesday. Mike Mahoney from St Petersburg is in the boat next to ours in the anchorage.

For a few days cloudy windy weather will keep us close to the boat. The wind generator is working non-stop to charge the batteries, Al is in a man's heaven at the navigation station setting up communications with the SSB radio and Fuzzy the Manatee is studying the weather. Fuzzy says "You can't start towards the Bahamas today".

Meanwhile the boat traffic doesn't let up entirely. The cruise ships dock here daily, the ferry to Ft Meyers comes by twice a day, the Navy and Coast Guard boats continue maneuvers and even the private island, Sunset Key http://www.westinsunsetkeycottages.com/ doesn't look as inviting.

Good Bye Long Boat...Hello Key West

Thursday February 3rd we left sleepy little Long Boat Key with it's small quiet anchorage next to the Historical Village. These pictures are the foggy view of a house on shore and kayaks stored on the beach. There are two restaurants on shore. The Mar Vista http://marvista-restaurent.com/ is our favorite. A great beach is just across the island, too. You can't get into too much trouble in Long Boat!

Once we got out in the Gulf the weather looked good so we kept going to Key West. The winds were light, not much sea at all but very foggy at night. A sad looking crab trap in the fog.

At 3pm on Friday we arrived in Key West. The Mecca for parties on the water. There are cruise ships, Coast Guard Ships, Navy Seals in dinghys, sunset cruise boats, fishing charter boats...you name it, and that doesn't get into what's on land! We are anchored by a private island across from Mallory Squarehttp://www.mallorysquare.com/ where the cruise ships dock. The weather is sunny, warm and windy.

We will probably stay here until Thursday.

We left! Saturday January 29, 2011

The weather was perfect and the boat was ready.

Fran's mom Caroline Bosbyshell helped down below, Fran's dad Bill Bosbyshell performed a boat blessing and we smoothly backed out of the slip. A group was there to see us off and we know that everyone who has wished us well was there is spirit. Fran's parents waved to us from the north Skyway Fishing Pier so we sailed close by to salute with the cannon.

We are now in Long Boat Key at anchor. The weather is still beautiful thank goodness. We are catching our breath, working on a few more projects and saying to each other "I can't believe it".

The next stop will be Boca Grande, Cabbage Key, probably by the end of the week.