Weather Windows

 After visiting Dry Torgugas I was left wondering what comes next since I had gone as far south and west as I could in Florida. I guess it's time to leave. But sometimes that is easier said that done, with the trade winds blowing full force it is next to impossible to sail back to the east coast of Florida. At Key West the trades blow from the east and the gulf stream flows to the east making the sea a big mess of heaping waves that want to stop forward progress and swamp your boat. I would have to wait for a weather window to escape Key West. You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.

Plan B consists of a side trip while I waited out about a ten day blow from the east. I would sail north! North from Key West puts you on the West Coast of Florida, the first stop, Naples. To get there I had to sail around to the west end of Key West, dodge a squadron of sightseeing schooners and then head due north. Another unexpected weather anomaly, the wind doesn't blow on the west coast during the day, it all goes up as the peninsula state heats up, then it blows at night as it cools. I would sail at night! 

I left Naval Air Station Key West at Boca Chica at 11am and arrived at the Pearl Bank just north of Key west at 2pm, anchored, napped, had an early dinner and at 5pm set out for Naples lying 97 nautical miles to the North sailing on the easterly trades. Then they shifted slightly to the north heading me off my intended course. On I sailed through the night all alone except the fishermen who stayed out of my way as required. At first light an unnatural cloud appeared on the eastern horizon. I was unsure of its origin, but a quick google search, when I got back in cell range, revealed the stratospheric jellyfish to actually be the doing of a Space X rocket launch. I probably missed seeing the launch while taking a series of ten minute naps. 

The wind direction did not give way and at 8am I was forced to motor straight into the dying wind and arrived at Naples in a few hours. Naples is much like Fort Lauderdale in that there is a river and canals everywhere and a very wealthy vibe but they have a friendly attitude to cruisers. Their city docks include two small mooring fields at reasonable prices that include access to bathrooms with showers, a laundry room, a place to park you dinghy and a restaurant and bar at the end of the dock. Everything a cruiser needs upon arrival.  

Including a great coffee shop!

I was surprised to find Banyan trees in Florida, they are native to India, but here they are. Strange and beautiful. Unfortunately that was about the extent of my good finds in Naples, the part of the city with the marina is residential and only has restaurants and expensive art galleries, no groceries or other shopping. I was looking forward to watching a Florida west coast sunset from their pier, but it had been destroyed in a hurricane years ago and they had only just started reconstruction. I decided to leave Naples after two nights. I made a stop at the fuel dock before leaving and asked for a head holding tank pump out. They said, sure, it's free. Nice, that is how it should be! In Fort Lauderdale, they said, we only offer that service for slip holders. Which city do you think has cleaner water?

My next destination was Marco Island, just 14 miles south of Naples. Marco Island has a nice open harbor with room to anchor, so I did. They also have a tiki bar with a dinghy dock, so I went, as sailors do. There I met Ian who was on the neighboring boat in the anchorage and Doug who I had just seen on the fuel dock in Naples earlier in the day. I introduced myself and invited them to the tiki bar. It was standing room only but we managed to get in a drink order and got some conch fritters. Not bad. Ian had to get back to his boat, but Doug and I talked for a couple hours and I agreed to give him a hand with a few projects on his boat in the morning.

Sure enough, Doug was anchored next to me in the morning so I went over to see what I could help with. He had a dead battery so I agreed to help install a new one. We moved his boat and my dinghy to a slip at the local marina, walked to the hardware store, lunch, West Marine and the grocery store! Marco Island is very boater friendly and convenient. All this less than a mile from the marina, I might have to come back to this place! We got everything we needed and when West Marine delivered the battery to the marina, we installed in on Doug's boat. I told Him I may catch up to him in Marathon in a week or so. 

The next morning I was intent on making it back to Key West without doing an overnight sail. Marco being a little closer to Key West allowed me the chance to get there before sunset if I started out before sunrise, the race was on! There's a catch of course, going out in the dark meant I could not see crab pot floats on the water, I had to sail once out of the harbor, and I did. Jib, staysail and main were flying by 5:46am. Crab pots aren't really dangerous if the propeller isn't spinning, so this works, but I was only making 3.5 knots. Once the sun was up, the motor went on, there was time to make up. I was able to kill the motor for another two hours later, but the wind doesn't blow much here in the day. I watched the sun set as I entered the anchorage north of Wisteria Island near Key West.  

Five minutes later my anchor was set and I was done for the day. 89 miles in 15 hours, a long day but less punishing than an overnight trip.