Jan 30- Feb 5 Marathon to Key Largo

Jan 30- Feb 1
We biked over to Sombrero Beach to watch the Turtle Hospital do a planned release of a large loggerhead turtle.  "Dorothy" had surgery after being hit by a propeller and recuperated at the hospital.  She was in her late teens/early twenties.  The staff was hopeful she would head out to catch the Gulf Stream towards the Sargossa Sea and maybe find a boyfriend.

Dorothy arrives at Sombrero Beach

Dorothy is ready to go to sea...

Dorothy is carried to water's edge

Boot Key Marina had a Superbowl party in the large gymnasium with a potluck dinner.  Always meeting new friendly cruisers.
Good bye Boot Key Harbor, what a great place!

300+ boats in the mooring field

Feb 2
We waited for a favorable weather window to sail up to Key Largo on the outside, called Hawk Channel.   We left Boot Key Harbor via Sister Creek and when we passed by the massive "Radio Free America" radio towers that are pointed towards Cuba, all of our electronic navigation systems went haywire.  The knot meter said we were going 45.0 knots instead of 4.5.  The wind meter direction started spinning around and the wind speed read _ _ _!  About a mile or two past the towers the boat speed and wind speed meters recovered but the wind direction remained 180 degrees off all day.

Today was forecast for light winds. But when we got out there it was 4-8 ft beam seas and 18-22 knots of wind. Carol was seasick for the first time this trip.  She used the anti seasick bracelet to help somewhat.  Bob had to man the helm most of the trip. We zoomed up the 54 nautical miles to Key Largo in 7 1/2 hours. Checked into Pilot House Marina and pulled into our slip.  Docked 100 yards from a bar/restaurant (having to get used to live music everynite).

Green roof is Pilot House Restaurant

We immediately went over for a drink, a late lunch and Carol indulged in an Ice Cream Sundae for enduring the rough trip.

The dive boats from Scuba Do Diving are in the slips right next to us.  That will make diving really easy!

Feb 3-5
We bicycled around Key Largo and located some points of interest to investigate during our month long stay. Joined the public pool here, Jacobs Aquatic Center. It is beautiful!  And just a 5 minute bike ride away. The city of Key Largo operates this in a huge public park facility. Includes playground, soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, and walking trails.

The water aerobics instructor kicked our butts one morning.  And Carol decided to try the Master's swim team program. 7-8:30am. Wow- what a workout! We are signed up to start diving this weekend and hope the wind settles down.