Hello Friends!
Arrived at Key West in the early evening Thursday. On the way in we were respectfully waved away and cautioned by a couple

Coast Guard vessel's that stated they were testing a mobile submersible. It was a "drone" but the avoided calling it that. Sure enough here came another boat following the device about 50 yards in front of it......then they were gone??

The seas were up a bit when we anchored behind Wisteria Key but not to worry plenty of room. I put out about 80 feet of chain as we were only in 6 1/2 feet of water at low tide with a 2 foot tidal change. This is normally more than enough rode for that depth.....but.....then the wave height increased. Woke up in the middle of the night and we had moved about 200 feet and pretty close to another people less anchored sailboat! It dark and something needed to be done. I made the decision to let another 100 feet of anchor chain out which would position us passed the other boat. This would work great IF the wind did not change direction. Well it worked till morning! Thank you! At which time we were positioned behind and around the people less boat. The danger is fouling both of our anchors and floating away in the 25/30 kt winds. Thank God for Terrie's help as I could not be at the bow to direct the anchor haul in and at the helm at the same time. She directed me which way to go while bringing up the anchor while I was also trying to avoid the hitting the other boat at the same time being pushed around by the waves and high winds.
Success! Working together we got the anchor up, relocated to a more spacious area and re-anchored with 200 feet of chain out. We stayed in this spot for 4 days and held perfectly in high winds. What caused the anchor to move was that in the steep chop of the waves it got to a point the anchor chain was being lifted completely off the bottom and moving the anchor...probably a foot at a time. With the 200 feet of chain deployed the bow movement could not lift the long chain off the bottom. The goal when anchoring is to have the pull on the anchor as parallel and as low to the ocean floor as possible.
After the winds settled down we were able to dinghy into Key West (about a half mile) and enjoy what the town had to offer.

Hola!
We've had a fun visit to Bimini, entrance gate of the Bahamas's and explored the island from one end to the other. Had good meals, met neat people and enjoy the beautiful watercolors. Every shade of blue and greens one can imagine. A couple special treats were meeting Nate the Baker and experiencing his wonderful cinnamon/coconut rolls. Also having a couple of street venders make fresh conch salad for us to enjoy on the beach.
Fresh news, we have made the decision that it's time to turn around and start back towards Florida and Port Charlotte culminating this season's voyage. SeaSwift's new berth on the hard at Charlotte Boat Storage.
Unfortunately, challenge's getting the boat ready for this adventure caused delays that have caught up with us from a time standpoint. Originally, we had hoped to get underway in January and didn't get going until the first week in March.
A more important thing to us is the weather has been a challenge being an EL NINO year has really added an element to the fun. So far we been thru 2 serious thunder and lightning storms, big wind at anchor and a Tornado watch. I might add that waiting for weather windows caused further delay. Frankly I have not seen the weather this consistently inconsistent for Florida and the Bahama's?
We are now anchored back in Marathon after a sucky crossing AGAINST the Gulf Stream where we sometimes could only make 3 mph pushing against the strong current. Oh well........sometimes it's downhill (FUN) and sometimes it's uphill (HARD TEDIOUS WORK). Trick is to keep smiling'!!!
We finally got to Marathon then made a run to town for groceries and boat parts yesterday. Last night we made a seafood fettuccine with lobster and giant shrimp! Outstanding!!
Surprise visit in the early morning! I heard some voices outside the boat and jumped up to take a look at what was going on. There's a 30 foot sailboat dragging anchor and slowly heading for us about 25 feet off the bow! I scrambled forward and helped catch the boat before it hit. The three occupants on the boat were doing the same. They handed me the bow line which I lead aft and swung the boat around my stern and tied the off. Welcome aboard sv Vagabond!
Turns out their two anchors had failed from the 30 kt gusts during the night and from the boat swinging with the tide change and finally let go. Their main anchor a Danforth was definitely the wrong type anchor and the 20# CQR was too small. Both anchors had bent shanks beyond repair. The two men and boy were down from Miami Beach and traveling on a shoestring budget. We had met them a couple days prior as they stopped by on their dinghy. Terrie really enjoyed their visit and camaraderie. While they were trailing off the back of SeaSwift considering their fate Terrie and I talked over letting them have our backup 35# Bruce anchor which would be much better suited for the job. We decided to let them have it for a token fee. They were overjoyed! Vagabond was anchored snuggly nearby and never moved a bit during the rest our time at Marathon.
Tonight it's dinner reservations for town, More lobsta for Terrie! We gotta catch up with our quota!! Went to Burdines for dinner and for dessert "DEEP FRIED KEYLIME PIE!!
Actually it was excellent! See the pictures in the Gallery. We say by a German couple who just came back from the Bahamas. Struck up a conversation and introduced them to regular KEYLIME pie since it was their first experience with it. Nice people, they were driving down to Key West for the evening just to see it (50 miles) then off to Cape Canaveral tomorrow morning. Got a picture of them leaning over the balcony waving goodbye. They got a kick out of our "LITTLE BOAT" dinghy!
Looks like the next window to head for Key West is Wednesday. Should be a good downwind sail, but with a little bit of Gulf Stream to push against. It won't be nearly as hard as crossing from Bimini though!
Well that's all for now, all is good!
Miss Terrie and the Pirate B
aboard sv SeaSwift

HOLA!
Up early and preparing for the next leg. Crossing to Bimini, Bahamas. It's approximately 132 miles across the Florida Straits.
Appears to be another motor sail as the wind has been coming from the direction we want to go for a week now.
Had a good time in Marathon, Boot Key harbor. listened to some good music and had some great food. At the "Counch Cafe" Terrie feasted on Counch and Lobster...learned once again I should order what she orders!
Had a great sail across the Gulf Stream. With the current heading our way, we reached of over 9 kts and arrived at Bimini entrance 6 hours earlier than expected! We waited until daylight before trying the cut. We wound up a little late waiting to make the entrance which has a shallow bar to cross over.
So we bumped the bottom a few times getting over it! ...not to worry these bars are all sand so no possible damage to the bottom of the keel. A little free bottom cleaning. Others call it sailing by braile......lol
We got in just fine and headed for the Big Game Marina to check in with Cisco.
All is good,
T & B
sv SeaSwift