Key West trek - Day 1

We had a grand scheme for getting to Key West before the bad weather predicted for Wednesday night.  Strong winds are coming this way on Wednesday night and Thursday, and we thought we could move quickly and be at our marina by Wednesday afternoon.  So we left Ft. Myers this morning around 10:15.  We couldn't leave earlier because we had to get a pump out, buy diesel, and wait on low tide to rise.  I was suffering over the coastal waters forecast:  wind from the north at 10 knots and 2 - 3 foot seas.  I would like seas to be below 2 feet.

This Texan helped us get fuel at Ballard's Oil this morning.  When I saw his belt buckle, I asked if I can take his photo.  He said the buckle was of "Tennessee Red."  It has a woman's silhouette.

As we began, the water was quiet with following seas and calm winds.  Perfect.  We noticed that we were rocked by boats a mile away when their wake reached us.  That surprised us.  We motored at about 8.5 miles per hour out about 1.5 miles from the beach by Bonita Bay and Naples.  The shoreline is developed with countless high rises, grey blocks against the sky.  How can there be enough people to fill those?

The water was light green when the sun shone.  Twice we passed schools for tiny fish, making a ruckus and churning the water.  They looked like a wide stripe across the green.  Gulls were overhead, and probably larger fish were following.  We drove over one stripe and couldn't see the fish, just the disturbed water. We stayed on the lookout for crab pots, which stand alone but are laid out in rows.  We don't want to get those tangled in our propeller.

We did not get the sunny day we had expected.  Dark rain clouds hovered over mangroves. The sun always seemed ahead of us, just beyond our boat.  The waves built during our five hours, with 2 - 3 foot waves pushing us up to 9.5 mph .  Luckily, the wind was behind us, so we did not get wind and waves on our beam.  Every hour we heard the Coast Guard announcing weather warnings for Wednesday.

About 3:30 we turned into the channel for Marco Island and headed over to our anchorage spot behind Coconut Island.  I went below to listen to the updated weather forecast.  George followed his chart to the anchorage, but it was shoaled over.  We were looking at a white sand island, a beach with no entrance.  I wish I had a picture, but we got busy then, calling marinas.  Three didn't answer their phones.  Then we found Rose Marina, and that's where we are now.

We looked at the weather forecast, and it does not look as if we can go to Key West until at least the weekend.  We could move tomorrow to an anchorage in Shark River in the Everglades, but we'd be stuck there for days. There are no marinas south of here until we get to the Keys.  We got a good rate here, so we will explore Marco Island this week.

Living so closely with sea birds is a pleasure (except for the poop).  This is from Ballard's Oil too.

These two guys greeted us at Rose Marina, Marco Island.