Cruising the ICW

  Finally, the Florida weather we have been waiting for. Temps mid-high 20's (75 to 80F) with light winds and low humidity. Marathon is the next "big" town in the Keys, about half-way to Key West. We have been based here for 4 days, interspersed with a night at anchor in Bahia Honda Key, near the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge. We found a great marina/resort in Marathon, called Marlin Bay yacht club, which just opened in November, so not yet well known, with very nice facilities including pool and gym. Spent two days here, principally waiting for an ATT service call, then departed for Bahia Honda. Spent our time swimming, relaxing, watching the sunset, and reading up on service manuals.  Even met a couple from Alberta on their boat here. Bahia Honda is known as one of the best beach locations in the Keys, but it is a relative description, as the Keys is not known for great beaches. There is a south anchorage, and a north anchorage, and due to the constrai

Today we finally got away from the dock.  Day dawned sunny and light winds, although still cool by Florida standards.  With topped up water and fuel tanks, we headed south.  Today's objective was not too ambitious, a Key called Lignum Vitae, about 10 miles south. The trip required very focused attention, averaging 5 to 6 feet of water, and literally thousands of lobster floats.  They are not supposed to be in the marked channel, but that doesn't stop them. Traveled at a leisurely pace though, so no issues. This island is a state park, with a virgin tropical hardwood forest that was once common on most of Florida's Upper Keys; most of these forests have been lost to development on other islands. Lignum vitae is otherwise known as Ironwood, one of the hardest and heaviest woods.  This island is also notable for having the highest point of land in the Keys, at 19 feet! A Miami man bought the island in the early 1900's and built a private retreat.  The whole island

Islamorada has been our home base since we took over the boat. Islamorada is the first big community in the Keys south of Key Largo. The economic driver here is mainly sport fishing, boats, and resorts. Between numerous shopping trips to provision the boat, and outfit the galley with some essentials, we were kept busy the first few days. The highlight of our time here was the visit of Judy's cousin, Michael Whiteley, the superyacht captain, for the weekend.  We made a trip south to check out some of the marinas in our next stop, the Marathon area. And spent a very valuable hour in the engine room getting a "familiarization" tour of various systems.   We haven't been in a hurry to leave the dock though as it has been unusually cool, damp, and windy since we arrived here.  We have certainly had breaks of warm and dry, but mostly it has been blustery.  The "Arctic vortex" you are hearing so much about is of course pushing a bit of that cool air down th