Key West to Boot Key - Day 9

Tuesday morning was busy with preparations to get underway. The water tank was filled and everything below deck that could fall when the boat lists 30° was stowed. The dinghy was lowered into its cradle and secured. We raise the dinghy up on the foredeck so we can open the forward hatch and get some airflow. At 8:30 am two dock hands, Angel and TJ came by to help us cast off. Boat neighbors from all directions came to help also. TJ said “just take it slow” which was a good omen for Lynn because the boat name Bistari which means take it slow. Ken backed the boat out of the slip like a boss and backed up the fairway. He spun her around and we were on our way to Marathon Key and the and the anchorage at Boot Key.

This GPS screen shot shows our course from Stock Island to Boot Key. We had a 9.9 mile head start by not starting from Key West. It was a 42 mile sail today.

Conditions were a little rolly until we unfurled the mainsail and jib. With SE winds 15 - 20 mph we only put the sails out at 50%. Even with shortened sails we were seeing 8-10 mph. The sails also steady the boat in large waves so we cut through them and don’t bounce a lot. Wave heights were 4 - 5 feet. We were at anchor by 3:15 pm. There is no protection from the island because the winds are coming in the side. Forecast is for the wind to go right and drop so it should be a quiet night on the hook.

Captain Ken on the look out for those pesky crab trap buoys.

The wind in her teeth and nicely making way on a Caribbean blue sea.

Arriving at Boot Key and ready to drop anchor for the night.

With a stiff breeze and a long water line you do not need much sail to keep her moving spritely.

A very large pod of dolphins swam past us. Several of the dolphins were gray in color. In addition some large Portuguese man o war jelly fish blew by. These jelly fish have an air bladder that rises above the water and the wind blows them around like little sail boats. The tentacles are several feet long and extremely painful if they sting you.

Portuguese man o war jelly fish is blowing past our boat. Photo by Ken and photo editing by Lynn.

There are about 25 other boats in our anchorage. We are on the southern edge of the anchorage. Our anchor alarm is on and we are not dragging. The other concern is will someone else drag down on us. No worries. Good night.