More Pictures from as far South as we can go on land

We are still in Key West with Kris and Colleen, our kids from Fort Collins, Colorado. We dinghy in to the dock everyday and see the town. The first day we rented a golf cart again to tour the town and go get groceries.

Yes those are dollars attached to the tree at Willie T's

 Next stop is Marathon up NE close to the
7 mile bridge.
We will anchor here for a couple of days and
go to the Looper get together at the Yacht Club
on Sunday.  The kids will take the bus back to Key West on Monday to catch their flight back to the frozen north.  We will stay another day here at anchor and head up the east coast to Ft. Lauderdale.

Another Day in Paradise

Key West is a fun place to be.  We generally dinghy in for lunch and to walk around.  We tried riding the bus but I would rather walk because the entire island is only 4 miles long!  We rented a golf/electric car one afternoon and went to the grocery store.  The $100 was pretty high for a brief excursion around town but we got the lay of the land.

Maggi Montana enjoys her dinghy rides

One Valentine's Day we had a great breakfast at Harpoon Harry's and enjoyed our walk to the Mel Fisher jewelry collection from the recovery of the Spanish Galleon, the Nuestra Senora de Atocha which sunk in 1622 and salvaged by Fisher off the Keys in 1985. 

This is a friendship bracelet to show hands together.  Given by her love for Valentines Day to signify that together or apart the hands fit together.  Made from some of the silver recovered and a replica of the gold bracelet found in the wreckage.

We had a couple of bouncy days out in the moorings  but generally it is peaceful and away from other people as we are tied to a mooring ball.

 Lunch at Harpoon Harry's is always good and we can sit outside with the Maggi.

Office of Pan American World Airways where they made their first international flight from Key West to Cuba.  Now just a cafe on the corner and Pan Am is just history.
Our son Kris and daughter in law Colleen, are due to arrive Monday for a 7 day adventure with us on the boat.

Key West - As far South as we Can Go

After a nice week in Ft. Myers, the Orinoco headed south in the Gulf toward Key West.  On the way, we anchored in the waters of Everglades National Park home to 18 foot Pythons and huge alligators, deer, and millions of birds.
I insisted on closing the transom door to keep the snakes out at night although we did not actually see any, the thought of the crushing squeeze was enough to keep me awake at night.  The 180 degree swing of the boat at anchor did not cause sleep to occur either.  The tide came in and went out and with it the 48 foot boat swung on the anchor with a change of scenery out our windows.
We took Maggi and the dinghy into the town to check out the food and walk Maggi.  It was so shallow that a big boat would have to go on the full rise of the tide.

Everglade City  Nice houses and not many places to tie a dinghy except here at a rickety old dock with outdoor cafe.  Maggi gets to go to the outdoor ones.

Lots of water fowl.  These white pelicans were almost extinct at one time and here they are in the Everglades.  They like to fly in large groups and can eye their fish prey from 50 feet high.  The brown pelicans are more common and fly individually low in ground effect searching for fish.

Two nights at anchor in the Everglades was peaceful and enjoyable but the snake worry and anchor that was not set entirely secure was enough so off we go in dead calm waters toward Key West.

We arrived at Key West and gladly took a mooring ball for $18.08/day provided by the City of Key West with free pump outs (poop removal) and a dinghy dock a short ride away.  At least we are firmly attached to the ball on a rope and the ball is attached to the bottom of the sea.

 US Army Special Forces train here in Key West.  They have a big facility with hangar off of the mooring field  Yea for the Army

 These houses are floating and thus are called boats here.  Many were nice but some were semi sinking

 Dinghy dock at the main part of town is $80/month but is so very crowded that you have to push other dinghies out of the way.

One down and 5 to go then a free t shirt.  They are all about rum here in the south the Conch Republic.

Leaving Fort Myers toward the Keys

This morning the birds were walking and the pea soup fog was so thick, you could have it for breakfast.
We are waiting for it to lift to head out to the Gulf and down the coast toward the Keys.  I thought we could just file IFR and climb out but alas, we have no wings.