Tortuga Tour Day 39: Saddlebunch Keys

5/28/21

Destination today is Saddlebunch Keys to anchor – sixth night (a new record).  This is a short day and a sheltered anchorage.

Several days have passed since I wrote 5/27.  I may not remember as much but I will share what’s still there.

We wanted to leave early enough to be with the current.  When the Captain turned the engine on no cooling water came out which indicates a problem.  Our very knowledgeable Captain quickly diagnosed the issue as a clogged strainer.  This seems to be happening frequently in these waters.  It didn’t take long, and we were underway.

We began the turn into Saddlebunch about noon.  Another trawler, Stardust, had turned in ahead of us. [see picture above]  This a small anchorage so the Captain was concerned there might not be enough room.  We did have another option, but this spot was so beautiful and calm.  Stardust dropped anchor in the perfect location, but it seemed like we still might be able to find enough water with enough swing room.  Our first two attempts to anchor failed because the anchor dragged, and much of the area was shallow. The Captain of Stardust saw us struggling and radioed us.  He told us the depth of where he anchored and at second look it appeared there might be room in front of him.  “Third time the charm.”  The Admiral and Captain worked back and forth between the flybridge and pilot house with the Captain controlling the anchor and the Admiral controlling the throttle.  Success!!

The Captain is also a very considerate boater.  He hailed the Stardust captain and asked if he felt comfortable with our choice.  He was.  He then continued the conversation and mentioned that our teamwork reminded him of him and his wife working as a team.  She had passed away last year.  It brought tears to my eyes!  I then wished we were in a marina where we could get together, and he could share his stories. 

We now had cell service.  So many days with no service was wonderful in some ways – unplugged and free to do other things such as enjoying the natural world, having uninterrupted conversations, relaxing on the flybridge, no bad news!  So many days with no cell service – scary!  How many missed calls, emails, texts – what did we miss that we don’t want to know?  There was no need to dread.  Yes, there were lots of messages of one sort or another, but no shocks.

The Admiral did some preliminary cleaning.  Tomorrow Matthew, Miriam and Phoebe would be joining us.

This anchorage was beautiful and after all the small boats had made it back in for the evening it was peaceful.  The sunset and then the star show were spectacular!  (The star show may have been the night before, but we have seen more stars on this trip than we have for years.)