So there you have it - that was our day yesterday. OK, perhaps a little explanation is in order. Snorkeling at Looe Key was amazing - by far the best wildlife viewing experience to-date. I know, Bob and Dave won't believe this given their experience, but it's true. The water was so clear that you could see the bottom at 30' like it was right in front of your hand. I mention barracuda again only to say that as excited as we were to see one or two before, that seems like nothing now compared to what we saw here. They were everywhere, big and small. They are menacing looking (very toothy) but they go about their business and left us alone, so no more mention of these critters in the future. The variety of fish we saw was awe inspiring. They were everywhere so beautiful. We need to get a fish identifier on a laminated sheet to be able to take it along when snorkeling, and I guess they sell them at dive shops. Definitely at the top of our list. We capped the day there as we were swimming back to the boat - I heard Nikki mumble very loudly through her snorkel (she was slightly behind me), "HOLY CRAP!" She got my attention and pointed out a shark about 8' long swimming about 20' directly below us along the bottom. We think it was a nurse shark, but will confirm later. He never paid any attention to us and kept on swimming. We both decided if he had turned around we both would have shit and made a bee-line for the boat - maybe even walked on water! Anyway, what an adrenaline rush - a perfect end to the day. Sorry Connie, but this isn't the only thing you told your daughter not to do that she did anyway. More on that later ... Oh, and we also saw some dolphins today, which seems to be a rarity down here in the warmer waters.

I am rambling around here a bit out of order, but you get what you get ... On our way to Looe Key, we saw a bottle floating on top of the water covered in barnacles near the American Shoal (the coordinates listed above) . Almost did not give it a second thought, but decided to look at it through the binocs and could see that there was a piece of paper in it. We turned around and picked it up. How exciting! We had visions of finding something profound. The paper was slightly wet and we had to wait for it to dry before taking it out of the bottle, so the anticipation built over the afternoon. When we finally got the note out, it turned out to be a simple note that some kids wrote and it said "live, laugh, love" and their names. Actually, good words to live life by. But that was it ... Needless to say, we were a little disappointed, but that spawned the idea to put a message of our own in a bottle on the return trip at the same spot we found the other bottle. So we did, and that is one of the pictures attached in today's update. We included an email address. It will be interesting to see if we ever get a response.

Another seemingly innocuous thing happened that was actually touching in the end. Shortly after we found the message in the bottle, a little swallow-like bird flew right through the cockpit and landed on the deck. This was not a seabird and we were more than 4 miles offshore, so we figured he must have hopped a ride on another boat earlier in the day. He looked tired and we just left him alone. Over the next couple of hours we could see that he was struggling to keep his balance, and he finally just fell over and died as we watched. It was funny how that little bird who came to visit us ever so briefly closed his eyes for the last time as we watched. I guess that's the way things work in real life sometimes, huh. We are lucky enough to have people in our lives, sometimes ever so briefly, and they touch us in some way, and it is meaningful, if only we pay attention. Another little lesson that I won't forget.

We also got the solar panels mounted permanently on top of the bimini. See the attached picture. This was definitely a two person job and between Nikki and I, we got the job done. She is great with a wrench! Perhaps all of her jewelry making experience prepared her for a new career in mechanics. Connie, she did not have to shinny up the mast to do this - she was safe in the cockpit ... ;-)

We are on our way back to Key West today and are still hoping for a good weather window to get to the Dry Tortugas. Not looking so good right now, but we remain optimistic. In the meantime, we are going to charter to do some fishing, both deep and the flats. I want to learn about this and see what tackle, lures and bait is used so we can do this on our own. Believe it or not, I actually have found that I like salt water fish. See everyone, I am broadening my culinary spectrum! Baby steps ...

As I was finishing this note, Nikki just saw some dolphins again. How neat!