Key West to Fort Lauderdale

Well y'all, we finally left Key West (always by the hardest) for the trip up the Keys to Fort Lauderdale. With only Roy & I aboard we opted for a fast passage through the Keys to get us there. That would give us plenty of time to tend to boat stuff and handle provisioning for the 6 weeks in the Bahamas.

Boot Key Harbor - Mooring Field

Not much wind so we motored to our first stop at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Boot Key is the Key that's at the northern end of the 7 mile bridge. The harbor there is wonderful. Nearly land locked so total protection from all winds. Plus, as its one of the few perfect harbors in the Keys all boats use it as a stop-over, some never leave, and it has everything a cruiser needs. Its filled with marinas, shipyards, a West Marine, all sorts of mechanics plus the real important stuff like bars and restaurants. I understand that in the old days (60s-80s) it was filled with derelict boats and modern day outlaws - no one had a last name. A veritable pirate hole. Now, there's a wonderful mooring field run by the city of Marathon and you meet folks you've seen along your journey like Matthew and Julie in their Island Trader who will eventually head to Haiti with relief supplies. We'd seen them several times coming down the West Coast of Florida and were happy to visit more with them in Boot Key Harbor. http://www.matthewandjuliesail.blogspot.com/

The New Out Board goes on the dingy

However, our overnight stop turned into a 3 day event as it finally became evident that we'd need to buy a new outboard motor, yikes!!! We'd been having trouble, the thing was older then dirt. Roy was doing everything to try and keep it alive but it had given problems in too many places where it could have spelled serious trouble - like the dingy dive in the Dry Tortugas. So we decided it had to go. Roy got a great deal on a new 15hp Yamaha but still we watched with mixed feelings as the money changed hands. However, the instant start and steady drone, bringing peace of mind, has been its own reward. A dingy is your family car while out cruising.

Swinging at anchor

Stone Crab Supper, Yumm!

Our next stop was to be Key Largo and the great snorkel spots in the John Pennecamp State Park. We anchored off of Rodriguez Key, ate stone crabs we'd bought in Marathon, had a lovely night and realized we'd better put off the snorkeling until our way back. Time was running out to get to Lauderdale.


So the next night we made it all the way to No Name Harbor at the southern end of Key Biscayne, another well protected anchorage in a state park. No Name Harbor is used by cruisers waiting for weather windows to cross over to Bimimi. Its only about 45nm and will be our return run out of the Bahamas later on.

Miami in the haze of the Everglades fires - drought here in Fl

No Name Harbor - Miami in the background

Now we're in Fort Lauderdale and once again the number and size of the mega yachts is mind boggling. We've mostly been on a mooring ball at Los Olas Marina which works out great and the $30 a night instead of $160 at the marina dock is good for the pocket book. We've increased our inventory of spare parts and brought on extra provisions readying us and Wahoo for the next adventure.





We checked at Bahia Mar as we're moored near by - no sign of the Busted Flush. Found F dock but no slip 18. I just know he's here somewhere.

F dock today

 

The beach at Fort Lauderdale is beautiful even though its now highly commercialized - perhaps Travis and Meyer decided to head on out.

Andrew has arrived but, unfortunately, Austin has gotten sick so he and Annie won't be making the trip.

Hopefully, the weather report still looks good for tomorrow morning when we do our last check tonight. If so, its across the Gulf Stream and next stop West End, Abacos!!