The northeast wind blew a steady 15 knots all night. The waves weren’t quite as big as the night before and everyone seemed to have rested better. We pulled anchor at 7:30 am and ventured out toward the Marquesas Islands and the Dry Tortugas. The temperature was 58°F, skies were cloudy and the wind was chilly. Once we were away from Key West about 5 miles, we turned to the southwest and kept the wind over the starboard beam which made for very nice sailing.
We arrived at Boca Grande Key about 11 am and checked out two possible anchorages for the night. From there we traveled another 5 miles to the Marquesas Keys to see if we liked that spot any better. The Captain and crew did not feel comfortable trying to sound our way all the way into Mooney Harbor with a water depth of only about 2 or 3 feet at high tide. We had a long sailing day ahead of us tomorrow and needed to leave in the morning at about the time the tide would be at its lowest so there was some concern about our ability to get out. The final decision was to drop the anchor in about 3 to 4 feet of water outside the entrance to the harbor where there was still good protection from the wind and the waves.
After a nice lunch, Gale and Joel lowered the dinghy and set a second anchor for safety. When they were satisfied with the holding, they grabbed a couple of fishing poles and ventured out on a mission to bring back fresh fish for dinner. Maureen and Mary were happy to stay aboard Blue Heron where it was warm and dry. The fishermen didn’t bring back any fish, but they did have a beautiful orange starfish with them that we all admired and then released back to the sea. We enjoyed our backup dinner of hamburgers and baked beans after the sun went down and spent a couple of hours reminiscing about the adventures Gale and Joel shared growing up in the same neighborhood.
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