Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all from Key West. We have been here since December 7th and have moved our anchorage at least 3 times.. in search of a protected area from wind and all of the boat traffic and one unexpected event with our anchor chain. Somehow at some time our anchor chain wrapped around someone's anchor that had broken free of it's chain and it somehow caused our Rocna to drag. We had a very serious situation Dwayne was trying to free our anchor and I was at the helm trying to keep the SeaVeyor from hitting all the surrounding boats and worrying about Dwayne's hands, fingers, and his back. He was fighting not only the weight of the anchor and chain, but the tide, current and wind. Finally, he managed to free our Rocna off the derelik anchor. This could have gone so wrong. Dwayne had at one point thought of just releasing our chain and come back later and try to retrieve it. (400' of chain and our 73lb anchor) He could have been severely injured. God Blessed us and protected him. We motored around a little looking for a new anchorage and found one just off of Christmas Tree Island. We dropped anchor and both just looked at each other. WOW.......
It's been beautiful and warm, windy, a few days of rain. The only thing to fuss about is the anchorage.. I'm sitting here trying to type and as stable as the SeaVeyor is, we are rolling from side to side.. I think we are getting used to it! Ha! time to leave..The last few weeks here have been nice but you also have to maintain your vessel... Crossing the channel here in your dinghy can be quite interesting..but you have to do the laundry, grocery shop, and refill your water jugs, etc... Speaking of the wind and chop here, have you ever tried to put on mascara ( you know, eye makeup) with the boat rolling from side to side?? Dwayne has had to be mindful in the shower not to hit his head. Ha!!!!! I asked him yesterday, what, do we have a sign on the SeaVeyor that says.. "Go ahead, Cross our Bow doing 35 knots.. " Some people just don't get it...
Today we plan on pulling up anchor and head to the Marquesa's and then possibly to the Dry Tortugas... All is weather dependent..
Merry Christmas to you all and may you have a great New Year....Dwayne, Linda and the Cats.

1,039 MILES LATER....KEY WEST

After leaving the Lake Worth area, we continued our travel South. SO MANY BRIDGES! We are fortunate that we can lower our antennas, but there were lots that we could not get under and had to wait for the bridge tender to open... and the crazy boaters were still about!! Our next anchorage was in Fort Lauderdale area, very pretty and good holding... saw a beautiful rainbow just after lowering our anchor...Had a great evening after a stressful day.. Our next leg of the journey took us thru Miami and Key Biscayne Bay... not too bad,not as many bridges.. We made it to Sands Key and could see the Miami skyline in the distance... beautiful anchorage, we were the only boat there, probably due to how shallow the water was.. SeaVeyor only draws 3.5 foot, so we can anchor where some can not. Our next destination was Islamorda.. One of the issues both in the ICW and outside (Atlantic) are Crabpots... LOTS of CRABPOTS. It takes both of us to keep watch, especially when there is no rhyme nor reason to how these things are placed... After dodging these little critters all day, we made it to Islamorada and decided to dock at Lorelei's. At first it was a little confusing as to where there entrance was... I've attached a pic of the narrow channel between the mangrove trees.. Captain Dwayne docked the SeaVeyor with no problem.. although it looked impossible at first!!
Lorelei's was a great spot.. well protected and a great restaurant... Patches only jumped ship a few times ( she loved their dock) and loved watching the iguanas (lizards) in the mangrove trees. Nasty looking things!!
The next morning was beautiful, we decided to take the outside, just assuming there would not be as many crabpots and the wind was not as strong( less chop of the waves)
We found out there were almost as many outside as in the ICW.. We made our way to Marathon , Shea and Elizabeth(The Great Escape) met us in the back channel that led to the mooring field in Boot Key Harbor.. and also helped us attach the mooring ball to the SeaVeyor. Made it much easier with them in their dinghy.We had a great stay in Boot Key Harbor, very nice, protected anchorage. Had much fun with our friends on Rocking B, Ken and Margaret and Shea and Elizabeth on Great Escape. Ken and Shea came over one evening and helped Dwayne with some technical issues with the generator and invertor.. Thanks guys!! We had a great dinner on board the Great Escape and all of us on the SeaVeyor one nite.. Lots of fun and good dinner too.. Our friends from Lake Norman, Ric and Rose , were on their way down with their 28' BlackFin. They camped out a few nites at the Banana Bay Resort. Marathon was nice, but Key West was calling us..We left out with Ric and Rose to follow on their boat.. We made Bahia Honda Park and anchored between the two bridges. We used Ric's boat as a tender and made our way over to the park to scout it out.. Very nice. We were going to stay another day, but due to weather reports decided to head out for Key West the next morning... The weather is KEY to all you do and plan when cruising.. It's so important.
The main channel into the harbor at Key West was a washing machine.. so much traffic! We made our way thru it and scouted for the best possible anchorage . We decided on the Fleming Island area, just outside of Garrison Bight. The dinghy ride into town is not too long... That's important since you are using your dinghy as a taxi.... Ric and Rose tied the BlackFin along side the SeaVeyor... It was a beautiful afternoon, not much wind to speak of and very warm.. the guys napped and Rose and I read.. Beautiful sunset, great dinner.. wonderful evening... UNTIL!!!! Things can change in paradise in a heartbeat.. Around 11pm, the wind picked up, had some rain and then the wind really picked up. Had wind gusts up to 45mph and it continued thru the nite.At one point, Dwayne and Ric had to go to the bow to let out a little more chain to take the pressure off of the bridle, while I was motoring into the wind..What a nite.. Dwayne and Ric finally laid down in the cockpit to get a little rest.. NEVER A DULL MOMENT!
Today is Saturday,Dec.10th..Ric and Rose left out early to head back home. We had a great time...
We plan to hang out here for the rest of the month. Key West has changed (for the better) since we were here last.. It's much cleaner and lots of fun..Our anchorage is a little rough, but there are no good ones here.. So , take the good with the bad,and enjoying it all.... More news at 11.........Linda and Dwayne, Patches and MonkeyButt