We are meeting so many interesting people.

Remember the 28 foot sailboat that we anchored too closely to last night?  This morning we met the whole family - mom, dad, 8 year old son, and 6 and 4 year old daughters. They were kind and energetic and helpful.  George and I had planned to stay anchored until they left because we were worried about swinging around and into their boat.  However, we were ready to go at 8:00 am.  The dad said they would be moving more slowly.  We relaxed:  George read, and I did some yoga.  Then we heard the kids.  We watched as all three children (wearing life jackets)  rowed around in the creek.  Mom was watching from the boat.  They were having such fun.  They oozed confidence.  The boy, Owen, knew how to row and get somewhere.  We talked to Jaime, the mom, and heard that they had met in the keys 15 years ago, married, and settled in Ohio on a farm.  They home-school the children.  They left Ohio three months ago and are traveling on the loop.

Carmel, Andy, Addie, Jaime with Owen in rowboat.

When Andy, the dad, realized we wanted to leave, he went into action:  Andy moved their boat farther away from us.  Then Owen and Andy rowed to us and disconnected the two lines tied to mangroves.  They picked up the extra anchor.  We were so grateful for the help. We offered them a bottle of wine.  Andy asked if we could give them water (12 gallons). That would save him a trip to the store.  Yes, we could share water.  We threw in the wine as a bonus.

It was fun to meet this charming family.  The kids were having a ball.  The parents were not rushing or stressed.  They helped us both physically and spiritually.  As we were leaving, Andy asked about our path for today and said we should take Hawk Channel to the Channel 5 Bridge.  After all our work and worry last night about where to go today, we said, "Ok" and took his advice.

We had an easy travel day of 45 miles, about half in Hawk Channel and half in the bay.  As the afternoon wore on, the sea became quieter and sunnier.  It actually got hot out there.  I switched to shorts when we arrived at Mangrove Marina in Tavernier on the south end of Key Largo.  When we came in, Mark Hill, our friend from Stock Island, grabbed one of our lines.  Small world!  There are several looper boats here.  We are staying here two nights because the wind is picking up again on Friday.

 It was good to be on the water and moving again.  I am grateful for the sunny, calm day.

Took this photo in the afternoon as we approach Key Largo.