We have been here 5 days and as always the time is flying by. When we were here for six weeks, two years ago, we couldn't believe how quickly the time went by. We never visited any of the local parks or attractions (other than a day trip to Key West to get our LBO card). This time we are determined to see a bit more of the area. Problem is that we have drawn up quite a list of boat maintenance items that need to get done before we go to the Bahamas. But we have been doing quite well and ticking off a few jobs every day. Part of the problem is that the Cruiser's net (a daily VHF radio net - which is very helpful and informative) doesn't start until 9.00am. In the Bahamas the Abaco net starts at 8.00am which leaves a bigger chunk of the day to get things done or go places to visit. But that is my only, very tiny, gripe with Boot Key Harbor. This is such a great place for us cruisers - life is very easy down here. Of course the weather has been amazing since we got here - HOT sunshine and gentle breezes pretty much the whole time. It did rain last night - which was great as Osprey really needed a fresh water rinse to get the salt off. As this morning was a bit cloudy I was able to get out and polish at least some of the stainless before it got too hot. We have met some of the other cruisers and were delighted to meet up with Bruce and Dawn from Lady Hawk, whom we met 2 years ago. In fact it was Dawn who was responsible for organizing our buddy boat group for our first trip to the Abacos (although they did not actually cross with us - we met them over there). They went to the Exumas last year so we are having them over for wine and cheese tomorrow so we can get some tips from them.
The lead photo shows some of the harbor, this was taken by Tom from the top of the mast on Day 1. That was the first job to be done - remove a squeaky spinnaker block from the mast head!