Wee finished many days of preparation this morning. Hauled up our two muck covered anchors and went to the city marina and filled our water tanks. Got lots of ice, dropped off our trash and said good bye to our sweet friends Janae and Dave from s/v Wave Dancer (see link to their blog in the right hand column).

Motored out of Sisters Creek to the ocean on Hawk Channel and turned left. The winds were precast to be light and variable, and they have proven so. We raised the gennaker and were able to make way at 3 knots eastward. Sweet.

The seas are as flat as a calm lake, and the visibility in the water is fabulous for the middle keys. In 20 feet of water we can see the bottom. Our goal is simple: head northeast along the keys to get to our jump off point for the Bahamas by Friday. We have 70 miles to go and three days to do it in.

After a few hours, the wind went mostly behind us, so we pulled the genoa out on the port side and flew downwind wing and wing at a whopping 3 knots. That’s sailing! It’s making the best out of existing conditions. We are resolute not to use gasoline because it is so expensive, and it is twice as expensive in the Bahamas. We have 25 gallons total, and we want to make it last as long as possible.

So we’ve sailed all day, even though we got down to 0.9 knots at one point this afternoon. We resolved to just pull into our anchorage at midnight. An hour later the winds shifted to the northwest and picked up a little. We’re now sailing with the gennaker and main on a beam reach towards our anchorage in Long Key Bight. It is in sight, just 4 miles ahead. We should drop anchor just after sunset.

It currently looks like we will cross to Bimini, Bahamas on Saturday.

Thanks for checking in!
– Capt’n K & Lala

Location:Overseas Hwy,Marathon,United States