Dry Tortugas , Key West and Marathon

Continuing about the Dry Tortugas. We watched a catarmaran come in through the east channel into our anchorage area. They were able to sail almost to their anchorage.We met them a little later.Greg the owner of  the 'cat' had talked his sister,Cindy, brother Tim and cousin,Brendon into joining him on his wooden home made  'cat' to work their way down from Panama City [on the Florida Panhandle] to the Dry Tortugas. We also met Dave and Bob on 'SaYes'. They  and their wives both own sailboats on Lake Winnepeg and Dave and Wendy keep 'SaYes'in Florida and spend part of the winters there., Greg on the 'cat' invited all of us on their boat to go over to Loggerhead Key to do some serious snorkelling. So 8 of us sailing to the neighbouring island was already fun.The swim to shore and then off to the reefs was a highlight.Coral, colourful fish, baracudes and some even saw a nurse shark.. To top it off we anchored near a wreak after lunch and 5 of the group checked it out.Bill joined them and was amazed at all the different forms of coral attached to the wreck. We had a great day on the crafty cat.

   Monday morning it came time to say good-bye to the Dry tortugas and Ft. Jefferson and make our way to Key West. We had to motor.Mid afternoon we found our way into the busiest harbour and place we'd seen in a long time.Tour boats ,party boats taking people out on dinner cruises or sunset tours . This is also the harbour the Dry Tortugas ferry leaves from. We were glad to get into our slip at Galleon Marina. Wash off the salt water and start experiencing the busy town of Key West. The weather was amazing. There were 3 cruise ships docked on the west side of the island They  must have left during the night because we didn't see any more while we were there. The Ryndam flew the dutch flag so we took a photo on our way in. This marina offered a swimming pool and hot tub so we took advantage of them.There were so many interesting places to see here . We toured the oldest house in Key West[museum ] and the back yard was used for parties.The 'Mel Fisher Museum' was especially interesting. All the discoveries and treasures he and his sons and crew made between 1976 and 1984 on the spanish ship, ' Atocha' a galleon type boat      .We took  lots of photos of  the 2 storied veranda homes of Key West. Also one of Earnest Hemingway's home and the Sloppy Joe Restaurant[ Hemingway's favourite hangout].

  Another highlight was the Butterfly Conservatory. So sad our camera battery  gave out when we entered.. But butterflies, birds, trees and flowers were 'awesome', even fish in the ponds were vibrant with colour.One butterfly landed on my shirt and kept me company on the whole tour.
 Again we were joined by our Swedish friends and another Swedish sailing couple who are sailing on 'Flying Penguin'--for dinner in a waterfront restaurant.
 Friday a.m. we were on our way again . We had a great sail to Marathon. We have very friendly neighbours.Saturday we dingyed  over to a large mooring area and saw a big Dutch flag on a sail boat. Pim and Paula had crossed the big waters a year ago and were enjoying the sunny south. It was neat chatting with them . While on their ship we saw Jim and Christine[the man who coordinated the trucking of the masts] motor by and they anchored very near this spot.We had not seen them since our masts went up in Mobile so we planned a supper outing that eve. so we could catch up with them.We spent a quiet Lord's day on board. The plans were for us to move on on Monday. The winds and waves were too strong to leave so we were thankful we could keep our slip for a few more days. Plans are for Wed. now.Till our next story,goodbye.

Loggerhead Key and Lighthouse

Motoring on the Catamaran

The Ryndam in Key West

Hemmingway's House

Sloppy Joes ,Hemmingway's hangout

 Harbour view from Adriana 1

Typical Key West home

Fort Myers Beach to Dry Tortugas- and to Key West

We are back
Monday we arrived in Galleon Marina in Key West. What a busy water area[ferries and tour boats, etc]and a busy town.When we arrived there were 4 cruise ships in the harbour.One flew a dutch flag so we took a photo of the Ryndam.
 Now I will back track to Fort Myers.'Moss marina' was a very friendly place to spend a week. and the town and beaches were humming with people and activity.We did enjoy the walks and even took the trolley to get our provisions.Saturday we decided to rent a car so we could check Fort Myers marinas. again we enjoyed talking to fellow sailors on Havs Drom[Sea Dream].  That p.m. our dingy gave us a ride over to where many boats were out on mooring balls and the same area had lots of shrimp boats and more marinas.We always like looking at the names of boats. we saw one named Anna Lee and another called --Maddie.That eve.Hank and Cecelia on Malaysia111[the boat across from our dock] invited us over for happy hour and this was followed by a nice dinner outing. Great company.
 We were able to worship in Cape Coral URChurch on Sunday.We met Bill and Anna-Marie Bartels at church.On Monday we were treated to a visit from them on our boat.They own a Florida home on the Calossahatchie River. This river separates Fort Myers from Cape Coral and actually crosses right across Florida.
  Monday a.m. we were surprised by a call from our Swedish friends who were  moored on a mooring ball just past us.They would give us a visit on their dingy that evening. So neat to hear about their experiences in Tampa bay area etc. and the great time they had with their sons and  family from Sweden over Christmas.
 Tuesday afternoon we took our dingy on another tour of the mooring field and to the waterways past many condos that included boatslips
We enjoyed more great conversation with Hank and Cecelia on Adriana 1 Tuesday evening. Hope we meet again.
 Bill had  heard and read a lot  about the Dry Tortugas west of Key West so Wed. morning we embarked on a 120 mile crossing from Fort Myers Beach for our next destination.. With no winds we motored to Palaske Shoal Light arriving there at 2a.m. and dropped our anchor with only 20 miles to go the next day.The winds came up and with the waves building we left this spot after a quick breakfast ,for Garden Key that would give us a protected anchorage close to Fort Jefferson, all part of the National Park that makes up the islands or Keys called the Dry Tortugas.We anchored next to 'Havs Drom'. Total surprise. and on the other side was a sailboat called Veleda iv. Bill recognized it right away as the boat that had seen many countries and some of their stories showed up in our Canadian sailing magazine 'Gam'.Aubry and Judy are fellow canadians.
  We enjoyed our first swim on a quiet beach near the fort and shared some time with the folks on Havs Drom.By this time the island was quiet since the Dry Tortuga Ferry coming from Key West had departed. Another way to access the Garden Key is by Float plane. They go back and forth afew times a day. With  the easterly winds and beautiful weather we were enjoying three of the 10 boats or so in our harbour left for Mexico on the Friday morning.We said farewell to Veleda and Havs Drom and 1 more boat.This was our day to do some snorkelling and at 11 a.m. we were given a history lesson on Fort Jefferson and a short tour with the plan to tour it more over the next days.we will tell you more about our great stay at the Dry Tortugas.

Anna Lee,at Ft Myers Beach

Shrimp boats at Ft Myers Beach

Dry Tortuga Ferry at Ft Jefferson

Lighthouse at the fort

Ft Myers Beach

Adriana 1 anchored at Ft Jefferson

Greetings to all

Palmetto to Fort Myers Beach

Around 11 a.m. Monday  we left our slip at Regatta Pointe Marina staying on the inner waters and followed makers to Longboat Key. The channel markers became a little confusing at one spot since there were two sets of makers. Yes, we found some skinny water and plowed through 4 and a half foot waters for a few minutes. Adriana1 proved herself again and we found our channel to the intercoastal waters and to the Longboat key  anchorage just as our coach, Carl, had suggested..We enjoyed the sunny weather and were glad our first day out was a short trip, about 3 hours..The next day we headed out to the ICW channel to the bridge that would let us out into the big waters. We had to call the bridge tender since this was a bascule[lift bridge].We were heading for the bridge when the bridge tender called us to turn to starboard to avoid another shallow area.
He received a big thank you from us when came through the bridge opening.One more time we managed to find skinny water just before we made it out into the bigger waters of the gulf. After that we enjoyed a nice sail to Venice.Besides learning about tides in our travels we also had to watch out for crab pods-lots of them-like a mine field in some areas. We don't think we would do any damage [we're pretty sure they are made of styrfoam] but since they ran in a row we could avoid them quite easily.I don't have a photo of them but plan to take some the next time we are out. The Crows Nest marina offered a nice place to stay. We stayed for 2 nights since the weather forecast was rain and maybe thunder storm.After sharing happy hour with our boat neighbours ,Carl and Gail we went out for a lovely dinner.Wed. turned out nice enough to go for a walk downtown Venice.A pretty town.We made it back just before the rain.
 Thursday was a perfect day for a big sail and we had  just the right winds to stay on the course we needed to get us to the bottom end of Sannibel Island and into the channel for Fort Myers beach and the Moss Marina [just before the bridge that take you to the Island[Estero] that has the beaches on it].We walked to the beach but since the weather was a little cool[about 66] we walked along the street .In the afternoon we dingyed to the mooring area the other side of the bridge and saw many-many boats on mooring balls.Now that the dingy is ready to go we will likely do some more exploring tomorrow.We plan to stay here until Mon. or Tues..greetings and adios 

Palmetto- home and back to Palmetto

After spending a week in Palmetto enjoying the warm weather and the company of friends we were on our way back to our home in Markdale.On Dec.13th, John and Ann Bultje and the Nobels drove us to Tampa airport and Lydia ,our daughter was there to meet us in T.O.to take us home. It was great to be on home turf again. The weather had been milder there so it was green for this time of year.Except for small snow falls we didn't see the 'snow'  we are used to until Dec 27th. That was the day our children and grandchildren came to Markdale for skating at the arena and family reunion at the campfire! property and lodge right behind our farm.A fun day was had by all .The packing snow was turned into an igloo and a big snowman. Since 3 or 4 families slept at our house on Monday and Tuesday evening Bill and I retreated to our cozy cabin for a quiet sleep those nights.It was great being back at our home church and spending the week of Christmas with family and friends.
 On Jan.4th a neighbour, Rob. Kinnear drove us to the airport. Our suitcase was packed with goodies from our kids! Thanks to you all for gifts and company.We were picked up in Tampa by Michael from our -'Regatta pointe Marina' and back on our boat  in sunny Florida around 4p.m. We were up early the next day so we could clean the boat.9 o'clock the phone went.  Flo and Steve and Marilyn and Doug , our RCR realty friends from Owen Sound [presently in Palmetto]wanted to visit us . It was so neat to visit with them on board and then go out for lunch on 'the Pier' on Anna Marie Island.. What fun. We were also delighted to connect with Ina[Bill's sister] and Pete[Ina's son] and Carolyn  for the evening and out for dinner.Pete and Carolyn were flying back today so we are so glad we could spend time with them.
 Steve abd Flo didn't need their van today so they offered it to us so we could shop for provisions and a few other items.
 Now it is planning the next stage of our trip .A kind boat neighbour,Carl, had travelled the Florida and Bahamas waters many times and was wiling to give us tips and pointers on the areas we plan to go.We plan to leave on Monday,Jan. 9.

Sunset at Regatta Pointe Marina

Igloo,Snowman and Lodge

Cozy Cabin

 'til next time.