Hidden Treasures

We’ve had a great two days of moving slowly up the Keys.  We left the harbor early on Wednesday and spent about an hour and a half refilling our fuel and water tanks – wow, we were DRY!  400 gallons of water is a lot to fill through a garden hose!

Last morning in Marathon

The seas were light and the winds weren’t quite favorable so we ended up motoring our way at sea about 30 miles before making the cut at Channel Five and moving into the intercoastal waterway.  Just around sunset, we dropped anchor in the Cowpens Anchorage and had a glass of wine at sunset and a leisurely evening.

I caught the sunrise yesterday morning and it looked like we would have a great day.  The winds had shifted and we were able to sail through most of the day with the exception of the small channels leading between different keys.  The scenery here is just beautiful and we made a good 5-6 knots headway. 

We really didn’t have a specific destination in mind for last night and figured we’d see how far our progress took us.  Until the winds died mid-afternoon, we thought we might make it to No Name Harbor, our intended weekend destination.  With the fall of the wind, however, we saw we’d need to choose another spot.  Unfortunately, I just couldn’t find one that had the kind of reviews that made me feel comfortable.

 As we were working our way down the “path”, two sailboats came up on us from behind and I hailed on the radio, raising Cutter Loose, a 46” Island Packet owned by Eric and Pat Fulmer, to find that they were headed to an anchorage I had totally overlooked.  So we joined the small group of boats heading in that direction and made our way to Boca Chita Key.

What a surprise we had in store!  We motored into the bay and then into the cut and then into the cove and found a miniature tropical paradise.  There’s a long finished wood wall to pull boats up to with camping facilities and bathrooms.  The property is on the National Register of Historic Places and is part of Biscayne National Park.  The island was bought and developed in 1930 by Mark Honeywell who sold it after his wife suffered a fatal accident here 7 years later.  The park service bought it and has maintained it since the 50’s.  They’ve has done a beautiful job keeping up the area and it’s said that weekends bring throngs of people coming and going, crowding in.  We’re glad to be here before the craziness but are thrilled to have found another “secret treasure” to keep on our cruising list!

I did my first docking job in a space with about 5 feet to spare and did okay, I’m glad to report.  We had our own “sundowner” on board and settled in for our first night tied up to a dock since the first week of December.  One thing we hadn’t thought about was mosquitoes!!!  We spent quite the night trying to dodge the incessant attacks by flying jaws.  Oh – the trade offs!!! 

Once again, it’s a great morning and we’ll be pushing off to move the last 10 miles to No Name Harbor today.  Rob’s diving under the boat now to check the prop after we heard funny noises “from below” yesterday and then we’ll be off.  ONWARD!