Finally, The Keys. March 14-15, 2021

 Sunday March 14, 2021 Day 98.

The offshore passage began peacefully. We entered the ocean at 9pm. It was dark, there was no moonlight, the moon was just a sliver, but lights from the shore (just 3 miles away) were visible.

Roland was on watch until 1:30am. I was on watch from 1:30am to 4:30am. I had to awaken Captain Roland at approximately 3:30am, to change the route, as there was a freighter anchored a little too close to our planned route. Traveling off shore at night is done on auto pilot, and the Captain had to adjust the route to avoid coming too close to the anchored freighter, which was about an hour away. Captain Roland adjusted the auto pilot and went back to sleep. I went back to my watch and my audio book.

I passed the time on watch at night by listening to audio books (as suggested by my sailor sister, Gail), scanning the dark, checking the instruments, and pondering lots of random thoughts.

At 4:30am, I awaken the Captain for his two hour shift. I slept till 6:30am, and then was on watch for an hour while the captain slept.

Dawn over the ocean was stunning: the sun was gleaming through the clouds when I got up at 8:30am. We were seven minutes from entering Miami Harbor. Quite a sight: Dodge Island, with huge cargo ships and huge boat fenders. Everything was immense and I felt like a Lilliputian.

 The water was clear blue, the clouds, fluffy white, the sun, gleaming, and the skyline of Miami with its high-rise buildings, many colorful, was fascinating.

As we passed under the William M. Powell Bridge, we were officially entering the Keys. Yay! Finally! As we cruised south, we watched a Coast Guard training exercise on a small boat and a hovering helicopter, practicing lifting people for rescue. Suddenly, our radio crackled with a stern warning to stay further away from the training boat; the Coast Guard needed more space, which of course, we immediately gave them.

We anchored for a couple of hours to rest and to have something to eat. And then, at 12:30pm, we left for a 2 1/2 hour cruise to Elliot Key, where we arrived at 3pm. I steered most of the way from the flybridge. (open cockpit at the top of the boat). It was beautiful and sunny and comfortable. 

 The aqua colored water was stunning, and the views of Miami, Miami Beach, Coconut Grove, and Homestead were astounding. We had a lovely celebratory dinner in honor of our successful overnight ocean passage.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Day 100. (One Hundred!).

The wind picked up dramatically in the morning when we awakened and we were rocking and rolling all over the place. We were so happy that we had seized on the small weather window for the ocean passage, as this wind would have made it impossible for me.

Unfortunately, the heavy wind meant that there would be no dinghy and no SUP (yet again!). Hopefully, when we got further south to Key Largo, our anchorage would be more sheltered and we would be able to lower the dinghy that is stored at the top of the boat, and would be able to use the paddle boards. Also, in Key Largo, we were hoping to meet up with Brian, Dina's friend, who had left from Delaware on the ICW, in October, on the sailboat that he had been working on for two years.

Magic Moments was covered with salt from the ocean passage and because we were at anchor, it was impossible for us to wash it off. We needed to save our freshwater for drinking, food preparation, showers and washing dishes, until we secured a slip at a marina and had access to additional fresh water. So far, we had not been successful at finding any available slips in the Keys, nor in Miami. Luckily, it rained that night and a lot of the salt was washed off.

Our anchorage at Elliot Key protected us pretty much from the serious wind, but it was not looking like there would be calm days ahead. At 11:50am, we left the Elliott Key anchorage, cruising towards Key Largo hoping that due to the smaller fetch, things would not be so rocky. We did try steering from the flybridge but after a while it got way too windy.

There were some very narrow channel areas on this passage and although the visual was water everywhere, the charts made it clear that there was only a very narrow channel in which we could motor. It was weird to keep the boat in a narrow path when all we could see was water, and if we strayed from the channel, we risked running aground. At about 3:15pm, we reached Key Largo and looked for a good place to anchor, one with a sandy bottom, and close to shore for greater protection from the wind.

As we entered the area to anchor, we saw Brian's and Elizabeth's sailboat, “Grateful,” but the dinghy was gone so we knew that they were ashore. We texted them to let them know we had arrived and we could arrange a rendezvous. It felt amazing that we were able to connect.

Our anchorage was beautiful and we had ended up right in front of the Marriott Resort where, a number of years ago, with my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, we were scuba certified. We had taken weeks of classes in a YMCA in Montgomery County but declined the dive part of the test in November in a quarry. 

Instead, we all flew to Miami and drove to Key Largo for the test during my granddaughter's winter school break. It took no convincing at all for me to support that alternative. We stayed at the Marriott Resort for almost a week; it was great. Now facing the Resort from Magic Moments, it felt like old home week!

We sincerely hoped that the wind dies down so that tomorrow we could lower the dinghy, visit Brian and Elizabeth, and go ashore......and, maybe even use the paddle boards!