No Wind Today!
19 November 2017 | Off Boca Chica Key
Helen/Mark
Slept in until 8 today as we listened to Stanford's winning football game and didn't get to bed until midnight. We had a problem with many tiny black flies that decided to join us. Mark set the spinnaker as we were expecting 10 knots of wind, but when it was set and flying there was only 2-4 knots of wind and we were sailing at 1-2 knots. Mark took the spinnaker down and we motored. We selected an anchoring spot just off the Key West Naval Air Station on Boca Chica Key as there was good water depth and we didn't know the situation in Key West harbor. The channel can only be entered with permission from the Coast Guard. The water was flat so it was easier to spot all the crab pots. After anchoring we put on our snorkel gear and cleaned the hulls and got the barnacles off the keels. Also found that the depth sounder transducer had been covered with masking tape and painted over with anti-fouling paint. That explained the poor performance of the depth sounder in shallow waters and should not be an issue going forward. The water was cold getting in and the visibility was fair. We could see some rocks and coral but didn't see any fish. We even had time for an afternoon rest. Did the research on accessing post office and dinghy docks. We will anchor out and put the dinghy water so we can get to shore. We have this anchorage to ourselves. It's flat water with a few wake waves. We did see several sailboats today, more than we have seen on our travels thus far. Popcorn is on the menu for evening snacks while watching 24.