Well I got up early this morning and it was cloudy and windy. I checked the weather forcast and saw that it was supposed to rain and winds were expected to be 25 to 35 knots. I thought about staying put but I was only planning a fifty mile run and Key West was beckoning.

I stopped for fuel on the way out and headed back out to Hawk Channel. This route is protected by a barrier reef on one side and the keys on the other but ANY body of water is going to get rough in 35 knots of wind. When I got out there, it was just as predicted... Windy, cool, rainy and rough!

The strong winds were blowing the rain under the dodger so I was wet and cold for most of the day. Fortunately, Hawk Channel is fairly wide so I was able to set the autopilot and huddle in the companion way with my feet in the cabin most of the time. However, I had to keep running to the helm periodically to hand steer around the lobster trap floats to avoid getting one of them tangled in my prop shaft. The idea of having to dive under the boat to cut it loose in this weather did NOT appeal to me.

There doesn't appear to be any limit on how many of these are out there or where they can place them. I swear you could practically walk to Key West on the trap floats! Anyway, I still made it through the day and arrived safely in Boot Key Harbor by about 3:30 in the afternoon. Magically, right after I picked up my mooring ball, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared. As pretty as it was, I couldn't help but think "Oh sure, where were you four hours ago?"

Oh well, this is a nice sheltered anchorage. Some of my fellow boaters have apparently spent time in the Bahamas as I heard a few of them blowing their conch shell horns at sundown. I had almost forgotten about that tradition. The weather forcast for tomorrow is for sunshine, warmer temperatures and a more moderate breeze. Lets hope!

Here's a picture of the sunset from Boot Key Harbor.