Key West to Miami

Our month’s stay in Key West passed way too quickly. We loved the climate, people, and fellow boaters here so much, we hope to spend the “season” here next year. But as the old saying goes, “All good things must come to an end,” so we have dropped the dock lines and departed the lower Keys, hoping this time to travel Hawk Channel, rather than going all the way around Key West to get back to Marathon.

We checked the weather for several days prior to leaving Boca Chica and again the morning of our departure to ensure that the wind and seas were acceptable for cruising. As an aside, there are some excellent, and free, weather prediction locations on the internet. The wind and seas in Hawk Channel were predicted to be calm and smooth, so we dropped the dock lines at 0745 on 23 January. We eased our way out of the marina, paying close attention to the depth and the charts so that we would not run aground or hit rocks. (While we were there for the month, a couple of boats ran aground coming into the marina and dinged their props pretty bad.) We eased into Hawk Channel, hoping that the weather forecast was correct and that we could travel on the outside (Atlantic Ocean) rather than the Intracostal Waterway (ICW). As it turned out, the day was perfect for cruising. We had a bright, sunny day, with calm waters and light winds, and we made the entire trip to Marathon via Hawk Channel. Hooray!! Traveling Hawk Channel cut travel time in half! At Marathon, we went under the Seven Mile Bridge and got back into the ICW and anchored northwest of Marathon Key for the night. We arrived at our anchorage at 12:30 p.m. and had a good afternoon and night on the hook.

At 0700 on 24 January, we departed our anchorage headed to Thursday Cove for the night. The day started off with a beautiful sunrise, and not too long into our trip, we had dolphins entertaining us alongside the boat for quite some time. Each of us took turns going below to talk to and encourage them to follow along performing for us, which they did. They say that dolphins like human interaction, and that appears to be true. These 5 or six dolphins were jumping alongside the boat to get our attention, and when they saw us watching, they would roll over 360 degrees, or roll over to one side so they could watch us watching them. They would jump completely out of the water, and it was a wonderful experience. They swam with us for nearly an hour.

After traveling for about four hours, and dodging hundreds of crab pots along the way, we were not surprised when we realized that we had run over a submerged crab pot!! The boat began pulling to the left quite strongly, and Captain Mike determined rather quickly that we must have snagged a crab pot, although we never saw it. We anchored outside the channel in beautiful, clear and very cold water, and Mike donned mask, snorkel and fins to determine if indeed that is what had happened. Sure enough, the starboard prop was entangled with a crab pot line at least 50 feet long. It was completely wrapped around the prop and prop shaft, very tightly. Mike first tried using a knife to cut away the line, but to no avail. The line was too tough and entangled so badly that a knife just didn’t work. Fortunately, he had a tool onboard – a CRAFTSMAN Handi-Cut - that worked great, and he was able to get the line cut away and we were again on our way, paying much closer attention to these nuisances in the water. The problem is that you can’t dodge what you can’t see!! Lesson Learned: Either Mike needs stronger lungs so he can stay underwater longer, or we need to add a SCUBA tank to our diving equipment that we have onboard. Thankfully, the remainder of the trip was uneventful. We made it to our anchorage in Thursday Cove, located on Biscayne Bay on Wednesday afternoon and had a calm night at anchor.

We left Thursday Cove on 25 January, thinking that we would go to an anchorage we had heard about from other boaters called Boca Chita, which is a State Park with a sea wall we could tie up on, which is in Biscayne Bay near Miami, but the weather began to get ugly, meaning the winds were kicking up and so was the sea. Once again Captain Mike made a command decision (which he cleared with Admiral Pat) to change course and tuck into a marina for the next few days, since two cold fronts were coming through and the winds and seas were going to be too rough to be out on the water. We are currently at Black Point Marina located in Homestead, FL, on the west side of Biscayne Bay, about twenty miles south of Miami. We got here just in time to get tied to the dock and settled in when the wind picked up and the rain started. It is a pretty location, with, of all things, another Tiki Bar and restaurant (just what Mike needs) plus all of the necessities and very friendly and accommodating staff.

The trek into the marina was a nail-biter, since the channel leading into the marina was about a mile long and was about half again as wide as our boat, and did I mention that the wind was blowing hard trying to push us sideways? Due once again to the amazing skills of the Captain, we didn’t run aground and made it into the marina just fine.

On Saturday, we got on our bikes and rode into town, 14 miles round trip. The dockmaster told us the day of our arrival that the marina would provide transportation if we needed to go into town for anything, but we preferred to get on the bikes and get some much needed exercise. There are great bike trails here, which make riding bikes safe and enjoyable. We went to the grocery store for a few grocery items and then stopped for something to eat before heading back to the boat.

Today is Sunday, and it’s good to be tied to the dock. The winds are strong, and it is overcast with rain predicted. More of the same is predicted through Monday, clearing Monday night with Tuesday, 30 January, appearing to be a good day to head on to our next destination—Fort Lauderdale. Stay tuned.