Crossing the Gulf.... Again
11 April 2013 | Key West, FL
Freddi
RAZZMATAZZ, FREE AGAIN, SEA ROVER and CHARDONNAY departed Marco the next morning, all of us headed for Little Shark Inlet. There is nothing but mangroves, and we arrived early evening so no one dropped their dinghies on this trip. Although all of us were headed to Key West, only CHARDONNAY made it in Sunday night. We thought we would have good winds, but they were not strong enough to sail sans engine so we motor-sailed the entire way. Even though Sir Robin had the helm, we had to keep a sharp lookout for crab pots, which were everywhere. We had heard that the fishermen were supposed to bring in the pots on April 1, but from what we saw that was an April Fools joke. More likely, they were required not to bait the traps, but they still stored the pots in the water. The pots were difficult to pick out of the waves as they bob and weave under the water and you don’t see them until you are on top of them. It’s a matter of luck more than keen eyesight if you miss them. Of course, there’s good luck and bad luck, and it was our time for bad luck. About 10 nautical miles from our entrance to the Northwest Channel at Key West, Scott noticed that we were towing a crab pot-- it was never getting any closer to the boat so the prop was not winding it in--but we had lost two knots of speed. We wanted to cut it away but we knew that if we slowed down the line would slack and wrap in the prop. Between the two of us, we figured out that by using a grappling hook we could pull the pot in close enough to the boat to cut the line close to the boat to limit any wrapping.. We were most pleased with our ingenuity. We did not see any line after the cut, the engine picked up speed, and we were able to anchor using forward and reverse.
We have been in Key West anchored in Man o’ War Harbor since Sunday night and we just sit here and listen to the winds howling, 15-25 kts, gusting to at least 30 kts. The problem is the prevailing winds have been from the east, and we want to go east for a few days. Knowing it will not be a comfortable trip into 20kt winds, we are waiting for a change in the prevailing winds (prevailing seems to mean they never change!). However, we are near the wonderful Half Shell Raw Bar, an easy walk (after a dinghy ride in) to a great local coffee shop, grocery stores, a bike shop (new chain for the Brompton), and a seafood market. So here we sit at anchor enjoying Key West sunsets. Cheers to all… we have to sit and watch another sunset...