Today: 71 miles, 11.1 hours,
ICW St. M 1237.2
Total: 1350.2 miles, 209.35 hours
The alarm went
off at 5:30 and we were away from the dock by 6:16 am. As planned, we were able to clear the Key
Largo canals by Nautical Twilight. At 6:45 the skies began to lighten, but the
clouds were heavy and soon we encountered the rains. We were showered upon for
the next hour or so, and the sun began making an appearance. The winds were as predicted at 8-14 out of
the SSW, which kept our speed to the low 6’s.
Our plan was to skip Marathon and arrive in
Stock Island around 10 pm, before the winds kick up to 20-25. Around 1, the winds continued steady at about
18 so we decided to motor sail. We were
cruising at 7.8 mph as we passed Marathon.
Unfortunately, about 7 miles south of Marathon, on a starboard tack, the
engine choked. Multiple attempts to
restart it, even with the boat on an even keel, were unsuccessful. With favorable winds, we were able to sail
into Boot Key Harbor and drop the anchor.
Thankfully, Pete was able to bleed the air out of the fuel pick-up. Once running we let it continue running for
about an hour without any problems.
 |
| The clouds cleared and the winds freshened. |
 |
| We are not in the Chesapeake anymore! So many beautiful shades of blue! |
Reviewing the wind forecast for tomorrow,
we still feel comfortable with heading to Key West. Winds will be coming over the aft starboard
quarter which should be a comfortable ride.
 |
| Marathon Sunset & Twilight |
Taking Bailey
into the City dock via dinghy takes about 45 minutes including the return trip.
Pete took her earlier than usual for the last walk as we wanted to call it an
early night to make up for the early alarm this morning.
~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~ K & P
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