Tightening up the solar panel

We have now been sitting in Boot Key Harbor for 4 days, which is twice as long as we had planned to be here. As predicted, a cold front blew in the late afternoon of the day we arrived bringing north winds up to 25 kts and a small dowsing of rain. The winds stayed in the 15 to 20 kt range for the next two days gradually shifting from the north around to east. This has kept the seas stirred up with waves 5 foot or more in the Hawk Channel and much higher in the Gulf Stream.

All this time, we have been comfortably moored on one of Boot Key Harbor's mooring balls. The Harbor is completely ringed by the city of Marathon and a tree covered island which blocks the worst of the winds. The only time the weather has had an impact on us has been when we rode the dinghy over to the dock. The speed had to be kept slow to keep spray from blowing over the bow.

Our forced stay here has had its benefits. We would have been hard pressed to complete our planned "to do" list here in just the two days we originally planned to be here. We washed six loads of clothes at the excellent marina laundry, walked one mile to the grocery store for provisions, walked another mile in the other direction to West Marine for odds and ends (twice), refilled a propane tank across the street, ate at Key West Fisheries just up the steet (twice, love that Lobster Reuben), walked a half mile to Home Depot for more odds and ends, and did a little banking just up the street. I spent the better part of a morning checking out the engine's vitals, greasing the drive leg retract mechanism and some other small tasks. We also took parts of a couple of days to rest and read.

The forecast for the next two days (Saturday and Sunday) still has waves in the Gulf Stream too high for us to cross. Neither of us wants to keep sitting here, so we are moving out tomorrow to head up the Keys on the bay side of the islands. Since the wind now is predominately from the south or southeast, the waves on the bay should be reasonably comfortable in the "moderate chop" category.

Another reason for heading north is that the Gulf Stream forecast looks better for an Angelfish Creek to Bimini crossing than the one we usually make via South Riding Rocks. So it looks like we are heading for either a Monday or Tuesday crossing to Bimini.