We (Deb's Mom & Dad) arrived at Blue Skies on January 20, 2015 around 2 in the afternoon at the Stock Island Marina. Jim met us and showed us where to park the car. We carried in the provisions that we had brought from Melbourne, Florida. After settling in we got the lay of the Marina, visited in the cockpit, had a great supper of lasagna & garlic bread. We talked for a while and went to bed.

On Wednesday we set sail for Marquesas Key about half way to our destination which was the Dry Tortugas National Park. The weather was good, the wind was fair and allowed us to sail part of the way without the motor. We anchored at the key, had time to chat about the day, and had a great steak, baked potato and salad supper. After the sliver of moon and 10 zillion stars came out we went to bed early. That fresh sea air and the great supper did us in.

On Thursday we finished the trip to the Dry Tortugas and anchored in front of the Fort. We had another great supper with Barb's canned spaghetti sauce and freshly cooked sausage, talked for a while and went to bed.

On Friday we took the dingy into Fort Jefferson, walked around the fort (largest brick building in the Western Hemisphere), had a guided tour by a very enthusiastic guide and Barb bought a shirt for a souvenir.

Deb decided it was a good day for taking a picture of Blue Skies under full sail (Jim wasn't so sure it was a good day to do it). Jim & Len manned the sailboat with Jim pulling up the sails and Len followed Jim's directions on where to steer the boat. Deb & Barb took off in the dingy with Barb steering and Deb taking pictures. The end result was that Deb got a great picture with full sails, a little tilt to starboard and the Loggerhead lighthouse in the background at the front of the boat. After taking the pictures we anchored at Loggerhead Key. Len decided to go to the Island outside of the dingy and Deb had an inflatable ring toy for buoyancy he could use, unfortunately the toy didn't support him enough to feel comfortable and Deb jumped into the water to save the day. The lesson learned for future use is that Len will wear a life preserver if he tries that in the future. We walked on the island and returned to the sailboat by dingy.

Jim and Deb checked the weather and decided that we would head back to Key West right after our supper. We had hot dogs, cheeseburgers and chips for supper and hit the road (I mean water). It was a very rough night and bounced everyone around, bruises were abundant.

On Saturday morning we arrived in Key West at the same time that the cold front arrived. Good call on leaving Friday night, we didn't have to sail in 5-7' seas. Deb & Jim cleaned up the boat, we rested, had grilled chicken, baked potato and a salad for supper. After cleaning up the supper dishes we watched the movie All is Lost with Robert Redford and went to bed.

On Sunday Jim & Len (mostly Jim) did a couple of things like replacing the bulb for the red & green running light, prepared the new generator for running, started it and tested it out. Deb & Barb made patterns for the dingy & generator covers.

In the afternoon we took the marina shuttle into Key West and walked around the touristy area. We had a wonderful Key Lime pie to celebrate Barb & Len's 76th Birthday. The pie is normally cut into 8 slices but we only had it cut into 4 slices because none of us could eat 2 pieces of Key Lime pie. We took the shuttle back to the marina, caught up on our email, had ham & cheese sandwiches & chips for supper, talked for a while and went to bed.

On Monday Deb & Jim left early. Deb was going to Kansas City, Jim was going to Milwaukee. Barb & Len were going into Key West to do some touristy things. They visited the Truman Little White House, the Hemingway House, the Key West Lighthouse, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and watched the Sunset from the park. Barb & Len stayed in the sailboat Monday night, they cleaned up on Tuesday and left for West Palm Beach.

It was a great week and this Blog merely captures a small amount of the fun we had and the memories we made.