Tortuga Tour Day 22: Passage to Key West

5/11/21 – Destination today is Key West – home to Ernest Hemmingway, land of beautiful sunsets and the furthest south inhabited key of Florida.  This is the longest day on the open water – 80 nautical miles in the Gulf of Mexico sea buoy to sea buoy, and a total of 91.4 by trip’s end. Somehow the Admiral didn’t register this in her brain prior to taking this trip. This is also the longest voyage in open water for the Admiral. (Stress, Stress, Stress!)  My mother would be proud!

We were leaving the slip at 6:28am!  [see above picture underway before sunrise] We had to arrive before dark to safely make our way into the marina at Key West.

At this early hour in the morning the water was calm. (One less Stress.)  I questioned the Captain for at least the third time about the forecast and he assured me the maximum wave height would be one foot.  Still, arrival time to the Key West sea buoy would be 5:00 pm.  I distracted myself by working on the journal for yesterday.  I also made up my mind to enjoy the beautiful day on the water.  The wave height at times seemed more than a foot, but I was getting used to it and I did manage to enjoy!  The clouds, the blue sky, and the water were in an odd way soothing.  I relaxed.  I wrote notes to a few friends and read some.

By afternoon the water settled down more.  Overall, it was a pleasant voyage–but very long.

Once we neared Key West, it took both of us watching to find the correct markers for the entrance in, watching out for all the boat traffic, and then finding the marina.  Key West has lots of large boats, ferryboats, excursion boats, fishing boats as well as smaller privately owned boats.  It is a small island, but tourism and boating are mainstays.

Docking was a different experience.  We were put in a slip with posts only, no finger pier to tie up to.  This meant looping lines over the posts and securing them to the boat.  We also had to back in between two other boats.  The water was very shallow, and a breeze was blowing.  I had prepared the lines ahead of time and thought I was ready.  “Pride goeth before the fall.”  I am not a multitasker, but it was necessary for me to watch the sides of the boat while trying to loop the lines on the posts and make sure we didn’t back in too far or hit the other boats.  We arrived too late for the dock hand to help so we were on our own.  Needless to say, docking was stressful!  We finally were secured, but the height of the main dock behind the boat was not built for short people.  I was unable to climb out of the boat.  We finally put a step ladder on the swim platform and with the Captain’s hand I was able to get off the boat.

We did a quick tour after dinner just to get a feel since we are staying an extra day.  Key West has a very active night life.  I’m afraid I was too tired to appreciate it, but I get another opportunity tomorrow. 

Captain’s Comments:

Tuesday is our longest passage for the whole trip, so we got up early.  We actually made it away from the dock before sunrise.  With our running lights on.  By the time we got to the sea buoy, it was daylight, and we set our course for Key West, 80 NM to the south.  Calm seas in the morning are always beautiful.

As the sight of land faded on our stern, we settled into the watch keeping routine.  Plenty of time to watch the clouds on the horizon, the occasional dolphin, and the passing boats (usually going faster than us).  The gentle breeze and rhythm of the waves invites relaxation and dozing, so taking turns on watch is definitely a good thing.

We’re staying at the cheaper marina in Key West (less than half of the rate at the neighboring marinas, but still more than double any other place we’ve stayed this trip).  As the Admiral pointed out, we’re getting what we paid for.  Probably won’t use this marina again—but the WiFi is great!

If you cross the gulf stream to go to the Bahamas, the water transitions from the dark green in the gulf stream to bright crystal clear blue in an instant as you cross onto the Bahamas bank.  Coming down from Ft. Myers, the transition was similar, but subtle—turning clear and blue so slowly that when you do realize the change, it is still shocking.  Our dock neighbors just returned from the Dry Tortugas, and promised we would enjoy even more beautiful water at our next stop.

When you start out across a body of water like this, even though only for a one-day trip, there is always some apprehension (see Admiral’s comments, above): is the boat in good working order, did I get the best weather forecasts, what if someone gets hurt…  But slowly, the beauty and solitude work their magic, you start to feel connected with the world (the real world), and the stress starts to melt away, so that when you arrive at day’s end, it feels like it could have gone just a little longer.  Probably a lesson for life in there somewhere.

Peace  fks