The Keys are indeed cool. Jackets or sweaters are necessary at night and, sometimes even during the day.

Marathon has been our home now for over a week. We had not necessarily planned it that way but it has worked out well for us. Succeeding cold fronts have prevented us from taking "Sylestial Star" to Key West as we did from this same location on "Carpe Diem" 12 years ago. Instead we have been exploring this area, the heart of the Keys, and yesterday, along with Gary and Kathy, took the bus from Marathon into Key West for our seemingly annual Key West fix. We arrived early, had breakfast at one end of town and lunch at the other while walking along Duval and it's side streets.and taking in Mel Fisher's Atocha
shipwreck museum and the Hemingway's house tour.

We connected with Madeline Reni, owner and manager of "Spring Cove", our marina in Rock Hall, Maryland. Madeline winters here every year, working in a local charity and for her nephew Fran, who has owned and managed a number
of businesses in Key West over the years. We had lunch and later cocktails with
her at Fran's new Jazz club on Duval Street, "The Little Room" and paid our customary annual visit to Kermit's, purveyor of the world's best Key Lime pie products, or so we have been told.

Our decision to go to Key West by bus rather than boat was validated as the Key
West anchorage was beset by both choppy waters and high winds. The paucity
of dinghies at the Trutle Krawls dinghy dock attested to sailors inability to come ashore as this latest blast of cool north wind swept through. Our choice of day was also good as cruise ships were due to disgorge thousands of passengers into Key West on the days both before and after our visit.

We have met several other Rock Hall or Annapolis sailors while here in Marathon in addition to others we already knew from up north or met on our way south to the Keys. The sailing cruising community is indeed relatively small and close knit. And, of course, Gary and Kathy, who have now been here almost 3 months, have been terrific on land guides to what to see and do in Marathon.

We have also attended the annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival - so so, the very interesting Turtle Hospital and Pigeon Key, sight of the major center for Henry Flagler's building of the railroad from the mainland to Key West - parts of which were destroyed in the hurricane of 1938. The docent and small museum
were quite good. Otherwise, we have spent our time shopping, working on boat projects, reading and relaxing and watching several good movies here at dockside under the stars.