Key West - Day 4

There is always a sense of exhilaration when entering Key West harbor. We entered from the east side and passed the cruise ship docks and the customs house with its bright red roof on our way to our anchorage off Fleming Key. The last time I arrived in Key West by boat was onboard our motor yacht Changing Latitudes during our Great Loop trip in 2016. That time we came into Key West Harbor from the west after cruising from Marco Island on the gulf side.

Photo of the customs house with its red roof. Not my photo.

My brother Bill and his wife Joanne are staying in Key West for a few days. I texted him and they watched us enter the harbor. Later that day we took the dinghy to shore and met them for cocktails and dinner at the Conch Republic. It is two for one happy hour from 4 - 7 pm. Buy a drink and you get a wooden nickel token for your free second drink. I had the conch chowder. Amazing.

The Conch Republic was our favorite bar during the six weeks we spent is Key West in 2016. They have Space Dust IPA on tap.

Anchoring is never without drama. Finding that perfect spot where the water is not too deep ( preferably 20’ or less) and far enough away from other boats that you do not invade their social space or risk bumping them if the wind and current shift 180°. So far we are three for three setting the anchor. We have not dragged or received the “stink eye” from other boaters. Ken has an app on his phone that is an anchor alarm. He can set the radius and if the boat moves outside the radius of the original anchor set location the anchor alarm will sound. It can also be forwarded to another phone. Ken cannot take his phone off the boat or the alarm with think the anchor is dragging. Ken can monitor the position of his boat from any bar in Key West.

Here is a screen shot of our location in the Fleming Key mooring field called Man O War Harbor. We are the blue dot. There are several mooring fields in Key West but this one has the best holding and good protection from the wind and waves. Some heavy weather is coming on Friday night so we will go to the Stock Island marina for a few days until it blows over.

Bistari at anchor off Fleming Key in Key West. She is a pretty boat.

Going ashore in Key West is always an adventure unto itself. There is only one transient dinghy dock which is always full to overflowing. You must purchase a dinghy day pass at the Key West Bight Municipal Marina gas dock for $8. We arrived late afternoon so there was a dinghy departing. The dinghy’s are packed so tight that you have to force the dinghys next to you apart so you can force your way into the overcrowded dock. The space they had occupied instantly disappears as the other dinghys expand from being crushed.

This is a game of bumper boats to squeeze into a space on the dingy dock.

Our sail from Boot Key (Marathon Key) to Key West was one the best sails I have experienced. The wind was blowing briskly on our starboard quarter. We were well balanced with a full mainsail and half genoa jib. The waves were minimal and we were seeing 9’s and 10’s on the gps. We were nicely making way and transited the 48 miles from Boot Key to Key West in 6.5 hours including our stop to reel in the mutton snapper. That is a very fast ride. When we arrived in Key West we rolled up the jib and rolled the up the mainsail into the mast. Bistari has a mast furling main. It was a steep learning curve to furl the main without jamming it in the slot on the mast. That results in having to be hauled up the mast in a bosun chair and pull the mainsail out of the slot inch by inch with a pair of vice grips. This did happen previously but on this cruise we successfully deployed and furled the mainsail without incident every time. That is a successful shake down cruise. We think the secret to success is tacking the mainsail so the wind hits the sail from the port side and lines it up with slot before we roll it in. So far that has worked perfectly. Lynn is on the helm and Ken pushes the buttons on the electric winches.

Ken celebrating the first fish caught on his boat. Next time Ken will land the fish.