July 26-27—Boot Key, Marathon to Home

A nice breeze on Wednesday night helped us sleep comfortably, and ready to “take on”  the pesky lobster pots two different people had warned us were in our path to Marco Island on Thursday.  Slipping slowly away from our mooring in the darkness, being watchful of the shallow channel out of Boot Key Harbor, then under the Seven Mile Bridge by 7:00, and finally into the Florida Bay, all four eyes scanning the water for the infamous aggravating pots.  But where are they we kept asking each other?  There were hundreds of small fishing boats with dive flags, but not one pot among them.  For seventy miles to Cape Ramano we watched, ready to dodge, but still no pots.

The sun was pretty oppressive, keeping Fritz and I below except to relieve the Captain for an hour or two here and there.  Our hundred fifty gallon water tanks were three quarters full and provided relief with several cool showers.  Without enough wind to keep the sails up coupled together with the heat, this is really what we had expected once we crossed into Florida, but luckily had avoided until now.  The idea of skipping Marco, a place we dread getting in and out of, and doing an overnight all the way home was becoming very appealing.  The pros were obvious, avoid a second day of merciless heat, skip Marco, be home by 7:00 am Friday morning at high tide, instead of 8:00 pm Friday, low tide, which can make it too shallow for our 5 ½ ft draft, the night, according to NOAAH was to be storm-free, and there would be some moonlight.  The cons, traveling off-shore in unfamiliar waters, the possibility of hard-to-spot abandoned crab pots fouling the prop (very unlikely, as we had only seen a few even in the daylight,) navigating Boca Grande Pass in the dark, which we had never attempted even in the daylight, and being on watch twenty-four hours, in the end were greatly outweighed by the pros.

Our decision made, we waved to Marco Island from afar, and entered our next waypoint, Sanibel Island.  Arriving there ahead of schedule at 11:30pm, Captain entered our last off shore waypoint and navigational challenge, Boca Grande, ETA, 2:00am.  Around 1:00am the moon dipped below the horizon leaving us to make the rest of the passage engulfed in cooling blackness.  Entering the three mile pass very slowly and using the spotlight to identify the unlit channel markers, it took about thirty minutes to motor through and arrive in the familiar waters of Charlotte Harbor.  Even though still three and a half hours from our dock, it felt like we were home.  Now our only challenge was slowing down to give the sun it’s time to rise and light the canals to home.  As with any trip, it’s always good to be home, but sad to think that it’s finally at an end.

Over the next few days we will be posting some additional information, thoughts and feelings on the trip if you want to continue to follow along a little while longer.  If not we appreciate the almost 4,700 views of our blog.  Some of you we know, some of you we don’t, but either way, thanks for coming along on our journey and hope we have given you a just little taste of our adventure.