Day 113, Year 10: So Far, So Good
Date: Saturday, January 31, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Windy, E Winds 10-15 (up to 20 late evening)
Location: Anchored in Caesar Creek Cut, Just South of Elliott Key, Florida
Mark’s strategy for anchoring in Caesar Creek Cut to get a little protection from east winds today has worked. Although we are basically anchored in the pass (well, just a bit off to the side), the anchorage has been comfortable with no swell. But then the winds today were only 10 to 15 knots. It is a bit windier tonight with readings up to 20 knots. So far, so good. Tomorrow we will head on to Rodriguez Key on the south side of Key Largo. Some cruisers call this a ‘swell’ anchorage (pun intended), but the winds are supposed to come from the south starting sometime tomorrow night and anchoring on the north side of Rodriguez is about our only choice. It could be fine or it could be uncomfortable. We shall see. But we suggested to Lee and Lynda that they might want to take the inside route from here to Long Key or Marathon as it offers more protected anchorages. Their boat has a 4’ draft versus our 6’3”. There’s no way we can go inside, but they are going to try it and meet up with us again on Monday or Tuesday. It will be fun to compare notes. We had them over for dinner tonight and discussed this next leg of our journey. We have been constant companions for 33 days now, so I figured we should have a farewell dinner. We’ll probably come back together on Monday night in Long Key and I figure we’ll have to have another dinner to celebrate our reunion!
Mark and I went for a dinghy ride to Adams Key, just north of Elliott Key on the Caesar Creek Cut that joins Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean. There is a boat dock, a picnic facility, a couple of homes for employees working in the Biscayne National Park, and a nature trail. Mark and I walked the trail, but I had to retreat just after entering and put on a long sleeve shirt to ward off the voracious mosquitoes. Once we got going on the trail, the mosquitoes were not so plentiful, so we were happy about that. The trail leads you through low lands bordering the water and we got an up-close look at the flora that grows here. The first tree we encountered had peeling bark like the gum trees in Australia, but this tree was reddish in color, not gray like the gum tree. I had read that there are gumbo limbo trees here. I just love the name and it has ‘gum’ in it, so I told Mark I would call this one a gumbo limbo. When I looked online tonight, I think I might be right. There were seagrape trees and a vine with prickly seed pods that we saw so many of in Madagascar. These seed pods in Florida are called nickernuts. So although the trail was not fantastic, I enjoyed the introduction to Florida swamp country sans alligators—just lots of spiders and mosquitoes. On the way back to Windbird, we met Lee and Lynda in their dinghy out for a little explore. Their motor now works and the hole in the tube was successfully patched by a guy in Fort Lauderdale. They are good to go.
I talked to my sister Patsy tonight. She talked to her doctor today and he is hoping that surgery will not be necessary, but it is still too early to tell. Her diet consists of ice chips and only ice chips. She is not even allowed a sip of water at this point. She is good patient and will follow the doctor’s orders. Hopefully that will get her through this episode without further complications.
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| 150131 Day 113 Florida, USA–Visit to Adams Key |
