The Adventures of Adriana1: 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