Well, as you can tell from our SPOT posts, we are finally under way, heading north. It has been mostly good, but last night we had an unexpected and unwelcome adventure.
We stopped in a place called Tarpon Basin because it is protected 360 degrees from the wind. The forecast was for northwesterly winds starting today, and we wanted a good spot to wait out the weather. We dropped the hook in Tarpon Basin, near the NW corner to be out of the NW wind when it arrived.
Well, as I've said many times, NOAA stands for "I have NO A Idea what the weather will be." Once again, our great government weather program got it wrong - dead wrong. Instead of a strong NW wind, we got a strong EAST wind at 2:00 AM! The boat twisted around suddenly, ripped the two anchors free of the bottom and before the anchors could reset we were in the mangroves.
Thankfully, we suffered no damage and were able to kedge off this morning once the wind died down. After that adventure, we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a marina to get a good rest before tackling the open waters of Barnes Sound, Card Sound and Biscayne Bay. The weather doesn't look promising (north winds) until maybe Sunday, but we are going to play it by ear. There are few anchorages suitable for a north wind in this part of the Keys, so we have to be very wary about heading out.
That said, the rest of the trip so far has been great. Nice quiet anchorages and relatively calm conditions for travel. We even got some sailing in here and there. After our stop at Lignum Vitae, we actually sailed off our mooring! That's something we don't get to do often.
Tonight, we'll go to the local Tiki Bar for all-you-can-eat shrimp night, and tomorrow, just sit and watch for a weather window on Biscayne Bay.
Here are a few random shots of the last few days.
(You may recognize the "broken bridge" shot. It's the place where Jamie Lee Curtis almost fell into the water in a car in the movie "True Lies.")
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