Woefully we paid for another week on a mooring in Boot Key Harbor. The winds are relentlessly blowing from the Northeast, the exact direction we plan to sail up the coast of Florida and across the Gulf Stream to get to the Bahamas where we make our first stop at Gun Cay. (Pronounced Key) Our motor isn’t powerful enough to sail into the wind for a 12 hour trip. If we did, when we arrived in the Bahamas there is another front predicted which would bring unpleasant anchoring and adverse winds for a long sail east across the Great Bahama Banks. So we sit.
Making the best of it, we spent the day enjoying beautiful Florida weather. It is warm and sunny for the spring breakers. Just not favorable winds for a long sail. We dinghied to Sombrero Beach and spent the afternoon sunning ourselves. Tonight the wind is supposed to pick up again and be strong with Gale warnings north of us. I can hear the wind howling in the shrouds which usually means it is over 20 Knots. The boat is rocking back and forth on the mooring. It could be a noisy night. We feel secure here and will work hard to spend another few days in this great little boaters community.