Yes, I sound like a broken record.....but....we decided to stay in Key West until Saturday. Cindy called and offered to help us take the boat straight from Key West to Sarasota. She took an 8+ hour bus trip down to Key West Friday afternoon. Friday night we met up with Doug and Chuck and had an early night.
Saturday we checked out of the marina (again!) and were off the dock around 7:45. We originally thought that it would be a 30 hour trip, but once we were on the water, Bill did a few more calculations and we realized we would be into Sarasota by early morning.
It was a perfect trip. The weather was great (a few showers and thunderstorms that we avoided), the wind was OK (we sailed most of Saturday afternoon before succumbing to the engine) the seas calm (beamy, but not bad). It was a stunning sunset and an even prettier moon set. Before the moon went down, the Gulf of Mexico was illuminated by the stars and orangey moon.
Bill did the 9 pm - 12 am watch, Cindy and I did 12 to 3, Bill did 3-6 and we did 6-around 8, which is when we got close enough to the cut to get into Sarasota that we needed to get Bill up. Both the marina and Sea Tow told us that - yes, the channel was recently dredged, but no, there are no markers; use the sun. And sure enough, it was sunny enough to see the shallow spots. We had two bridges to get under a bascule and a fixed 65 footer. We haven't had to deal with fixed bridges in awhile, and held our breath the whole time.
Sunrise Sunday morning
Despite living on a boat and traveling for more than a year, this was actually my first overnight trip. It was really nice to have Cindy there so I could sit with and learn from her during the watches. It was a good experience, and I do feel comfortable enough so that Bill and I could do an overnight by ourselves (although the more the merrier!) The water at night was beautiful; for me it was such a different experience being out there 'alone' (more or less) with the moon, the stars, and the flying fish.
All in all, it was about a 26 hour trip.
So now we are in Sarasota in our 'new home' where we will be for the next three months. We are in a great slip on the perfect dock and are happy to be here.
Sunday afternoon Boyd drove from Boyton and we all went to dinner and are calling it an early night. Everyone is wiped from the trip and lack of serious sleep.
More pictures of the trip
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