Merry Christmas
We wish you Peace, Health, and Happiness this Holiday Season.

From Larry in the beautiful Florida Keys.





I am visiting my Mom and family in Ponca City, OK. A blizzard yesterday insured a white Christmas for most of Oklahoma.

Marathon, FL Boot Key Harbor

We left our Lake Worth anchorage late in the afternoon, Thursday, December 10; soon we were viewing this gorgeous sunset over downtown Palm Beach. We had a great overnight sail past the bright lights of Fort Lauderdale and Miami. We sailed past the Key Biscayne channel and into the Hawk Channel around 8:00 a.m., with lots of sunshine -just as we planned. Nice when the plan works.


With 15-20 knots of wind, sailing was still great. By Friday afternoon, we turned off the course to anchor just off Rodriguez Key, well-past Key Largo, but about forty miles from Marathon. We anchored in about eight feet of water. We were off again before 8:00 Saturday morning. The wind dropped to 8-12 knots and the water was smooth. We just relaxed and enjoyed the slow ride and the clear blue water. Hawk's Channel is well-marked and is mostly 13-20 feet deep. It runs between the ocean side of the Keys and a line of natural reefs, so the seas are smaller than outside the reef.

We motored into Boot Key Harbor and picked up a mooring ball. The Christmas Light Boat Parade was later that evening, so we had a nice show. In addition to slips, the Boot Key Harbor City Marina boasts a large mooring field, with about 225 moorings. It's used primarily by sail boaters, both seasonal visitors and live aboards.

We're getting adjusted to living without being plugged in to electricity at a dock. We'll see how well our new solar panels work for us. We're still working on projects, and still adding to the list. Most importantly, we have new places to explore and new cruisers to meet.

An Ambitious Run

From the Deep South of historic Brunswick, Georgia to cosmopolitan Palm Beach, Florida, a 305 nautical (350 statute) mile jump.

Our two-night run down the coast started at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, December 6. Going out with the tide on a chilly, cloudy day, we had a fast trip out the fifteen-mile Saint Simon channel, well under two hours. In the Sound, the fast ride was rough, due to a stiff northeast wind meeting the strong east traveling current. Out of the channel, the seas were more comfortable than in the sound, but not much. With a forecast for wind and temperature changes as well as possible rain and a slight chance for squalls, weather conditions were not great. Knowing this, our plan was to stay within three nautical miles of land when possible; seas just get bigger the further away from land that you sail.

But even close in, the waves were six feet and rolly. The wind was NE, then East @ 20 with sustained gusts of 25. We were on a beam reach and heeled over enough that moving around was accomplished only by holding on to handrails. We had complete cloud cover and rain showers, then the moon and stars joined us for a while as we continued our fast voyage.

By Monday, the wind was mostly north and the ride more comfortable. The wind continued to change often, N, NE, and E. Like the wind direction, the wind speed was just as unpredictable, from light and variable to 20 and gusty. Monday night brought the right wind and weather. With a good point of sail, we had the perfect sailing night. We thought we would go in either the Ft. Pierce Channel or the Lake Worth Channel, depending on how many miles we covered. We passed the Ft. Pierce Channel around 4:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, so of course, we continued to Lake Worth, fifty-some miles further south. South wind was forecast for Tuesday night, but it arrived earlier. As long as it was southeast, we kept our speed up as we motor-sailed, but when it changed to due south, we were making less than five knots. We still made it to the Lake Worth Inlet in time to travel in the short inlet and have the anchor set by 2:30.

We had wanted to leave Wednesday afternoon for a one-night trip to an anchorage just south of Key Largo, a distance of seventy-five miles. The last thirty-three miles are in shallow Hawk’s Channel and should only be done in daylight. But the forecast was still South wind and 20 knots, so we stayed at the anchorage in Palm Beach for one more night, which gave us another night to rest. We'll leave early this afternoon to make that next leg.

Being on the hook again! Lovely!