We made it to Marathon last Tuesday evening after a short stop over outside Shark River to anchor for the night. Last time we were in Marathon in 2013, we cruised right in, picked up a mooring ball in the City mooring field at Boot Key and promptly parked ourselves for three weeks. Not this time! We were warned by a fellow cruiser in Marco Island that there was a waiting list so at least we knew not to count on a mooring ball when we arrived. I know most you reading this think we are the only crazy ones living on a boat and cruising around place to place, but as we found out this time in Marathon with a 50+ boat waiting list for over 250 mooring balls, it is quite a large group. Boot Key is the mecca of cruising and live-a-board and this time of year is the 'season' (I had no idea!), so we had to anchor out.

See all those little tiny specks in the water in the harbor? Every one is a boat. Over 250 on mooring balls and another couple hundred anchored wherever they can find a spot. We decided to stay out of the fray and anchor outside the harbor.

​I had a couple emails asking why our tracker made it look like we were doing circles around Marathon. Since we had to anchor outside the harbor we were hiding from the wind. When we arrived the wind was out of the south so we anchored on the north side of the island for two nights. The next day forecasted the wind to slowly clock around to the north so we jumped under the 7-mile bridge to the south side. The only problem was it took until almost 10pm for the winds to finally make it to north, so we bounced around all day. Yuck! Finally the winds slowed and moved to east so we grabbed a spot right outside the harbor. 

The other problem we've had in Marathon is having no place to land a dinghy. Since there are so many live-a-boards, the marinas are not very accommodating to dinghy tie-ups. They'd be over run with them. The only place to park a dinghy is at the City docks (the same mooring field mentioned above) and that costs $23/day. Not terrible, but with a mile ride in we wouldn't use it as much. We paid for one day, got showers and a provisioning run to the grocery store.

So we are ready to move on from such a busy and crowded place - it is a great place to meet people. We plan to cross to the Bahamas tomorrow (Monday, February 1). It will be another overnight crossing. The weather window looks promising for light winds and seas as we cross the Gulf Stream (fingers crossed!).

We won't be accessible by cell phone while crossing, but once we have signal again, we have unlimited international texting and data. So feel free to text or email us. We may not be as quick to respond as we have been, but we'll catch up eventually. 

We have been hanging out at Marco Island for five days now waiting out a little bit of weather. We arrived Wednesday evening and had a lovely dinner out with Ken's cousin Jackie and her husband Pat. Thursday we took advantage of having family local and borrowed a car to get a few errands done and then really took advantage by grabbing real showers and a home cooked meal.

Friday and Saturday were washouts first due to rain and then to wind. We did manage to get to shore Friday evening for a much needed walk. Saturday was sustained 25-30 knot winds in a very protected bay, but Ken still got out in the dinghy and deployed a second anchor to be sure we didn't drag - we didn't. We planned and tried to leave this morning, but I ran the boat aground this time :-} on too low a tide and a wide turn. By the time we were off, it was too late to make our next stop by dark so we went back and anchored again. It may have been a blessing in disguise (see me try rationalize!) as the winds did not die quite as much as projected for the day. So I may have saved myself some seasickness, at least that is what I'm telling myself.

We are keeping an eye on the weather, wind and waves and may try again tomorrow to move south to Shark River. Next stop, the Keys. One wrinkle we just found out about today is that the mooring field we planned to stay in Marathon has a 50 boat waiting list, so we will need to look for other anchoring options in the Keys as we start looking for weather windows to cross to the Bahamas.

Here are a few photos from Marco. This first one I posted on Instagram too because it was just so cool that he landed on the boat even if he did scare me half to death!

First, I would like to thank both Ken and Danielle for letting me tag along on your high seas adventure.  I would hope and pray that you have experienced the worst weather of your entire trip in the four days of this passage between Gulfport and North Ft. Myers. In comparison, the rest of the trip should be smooth sailing.
 
You would normally think that the passage between Gulfport and Ft. Myers would be a leisurely cruise. Come-on this is the Sun Coast, well known for its balmy sun drenched weather and one to two foot waves breaking on the beach. This passage was the exception. 
 
We left Gulfport on a cool (50 degrees), but relatively calm, morning on January 16th, expecting 10 to 15 knot winds offshore from the south. However, stormy weather kept the Gulf of Mexico riled up and we encountered 8 to 10 foot swells out of the west as we motored through the Pass-a-Grille cut. The 15 knot south winds put a frothy edge on swells and since we were heading due south for Sarasota we had to rely on the motor for this passage.  Ten plus nautical miles west of Egmont Key we turned south and rock-and-rolled our way towards Sarasota. The official “Jones,” definition of sea conditions was “bumpy,” and both Danielle and Kaylee experienced bouts of sea sickness during this 35+ mile passage to Big Pass. Kaylee sat in the cockpit with her favorite seasick bowl, and was very brave as the bouts of nausea came and went.
 
Big Pass loomed out of the swells as we approached the coast of Sarasota. The mile wide throat of the pass was nothing but breakers pounding away at the sandbars. It looked impassable, but Danielle had researched the Big Pass website and gotten the most recent coordinates for the channel mouth. Ken had entered these way points into the Chart Plotter, so we motored past the breakers and made the turn east into the mouth of the channel.  Ahead were more breakers and no visible channel markers. Ken’s epic comment at the scene infront of us is worth noting.
 
“At times like this you have to trust the chart and commit.  There is no turning back in these conditions!  We don’t want to spend all night out here.”   
 
“There is a green buoy to starboard!”
 
“Where?”
 
“It is gone behind the breakers.” 
 
“A red to port! 
 
“Got it!”
 
“There’s the green again on the starboard side!”
 
By now the boat is gyrating wildly and everyone is braced in the cockpit scanning the waves for a glimpse of the next marker. The breakers were only 10 yards off our port side at times. On shore we see a line of beach chairs and a group of people watching boats coming in the pass. For a while, we were center stage from their viewing point and they waved as if approving our heroic attempt to reach the calm waters of Sarasota Bay.
 
We of course, made it through the pass and motored into Marine Jacks where we picked up transient mooring ball #5. We had a nice evening with Stacey Roberts and Kaylee skippered the dinghy to shore and then back to the boat around 9:00 O’clock.  We were secured for the night.
 
The storm hit around 3:30 AM, sheets of rain at first followed by gusts of wind and waves pounding on the hull.  Ken checked the mooring lines during a lull in the wind and declared us secure. The wind and waves increased over the next hours reaching a peak over 40 miles per hour. A full gale! There was nothing to do but lay low and hang on. While we were secure, the fear was that one of the other boats would break loose and come crashing across the mooring field. We waited and watched conditions worsen as the, “Security, Security, Security,” calls came across the radio from the St. Petersburg Coast Guard District. Apparently, there was a boat loose around Regatta Point Marina and a man in the water somewhere in Tampa Bay. My cellphone alarm went off around 4:30 AM announcing a tornado alert. “Seek cover immediately,” was the message but there was no place to go. The next day we heard that a tornado had touched down on Siesta Key, only a few miles from our mooring. The winds were steady in the 30’s and gusting above 40 mph for the rest of the night.  To say the boat was gyrating would be an understatement.    
 
While lying in the bunk through the night, I tried to analyze the layers of noise that we were hearing during the storm. There was the heavy pelting of the rain that increased sharply during gust of wind. There was the sorrowful moan of the wind through the rigging and the pounding of the waves against the hull ranging from dull thuds to booming crashes that would shudder the boat to its keel. There was also the annoying torch of the boats joints that caused an, “errrk,” sound. These noises were punctuated by the melodious voice of the NOAA weather station proclaiming, “winds at 40 gusting higher, with offshore waves to 18 feet between Englewood and Ft. Myers.” 18 feet!
 
We were trapped on the mooring ball through most of the day. Ken, Danielle and Kaylee finally made it to shore as the waves diminished around 3:00 PM Sunday afternoon. There was a minor battle over who would be the Captain of the dinghy. I think Kaylee won that fight.
 
Monday morning and we make preparations to head south to Boca Grande. Ken, said that offshore conditions prohibit getting through the pass so we commit to the Intracoastal Waterway. This was the most leisurely of the passages. We had 10+ mph winds out of the north while we passed ten bridges without a delay. We anchored early at the cul-de-sac anchorage that Ken and Danielle had used during their previous voyage. It was very secure from the wind and pleasant. Ken and Kaylee rowed the dinghy across the Intracoastal and fished for dinner. The only incident of note during the Monday passage was a brief grounding. Yes, the helmsman ran the boat aground and we needed a tow to get us free. I won’t say who was at the helm, other than to mention that it was not one of the Jones’.
 
We got an early start on Tuesday morning with forecasted northeast winds between 10 and 15 mph. Then the same helmsmen who messed up the day before proceeded to run the boat aground again, this time in Boca Grande Channel. In my, excuse me, his defense it was low tide and we were in the channel! It took us over an hour to free the boat from the sand bar. Ken had to row the 40lb Bruce anchor 150 feet off the stern and we began to winch the boat to deeper water, which only appeared to be a few yards away. Ken also asked an approaching cruiser to speed up and give us a lift with his wake to help free the boat. It all worked and we were afloat again and spent the next hour motoring down the pass with Danielle at the wheel while we stowed gear and prepared to set course south around Captiva and Sanibel Islands. I would note again that the wave conditions at the pass were intense with white caps and short intervals between waves. Once passed the outer marker we turned south and launched the reefed head sail. We were making a good 5 to 6+ knots during the run down the coast in 6 to 8 foot waves, the best actual sailing of the passage.  he wind diminished and we raised the reefed mainsail as we entered the southwest lee of Sanibel Island and the waves diminished to a one to two feet.
 
We picked up the last mooring ball in the North Ft. Myers Marine as the sun was setting, had tacos for dinner and went to bed early as the chill set into the cabin. Actually, it did not feel that we got above 50 degrees during the entire passage. We were layered up the whole time and still chilly in the cockpit. The Sun coast never favored us with the warmth of the sun.
 
I stepped ashore at the Diversified Marine Service dock at 9:00 AM Wednesday morning and waved as Aqua Vida headed for Marco Island.
 
Thanks again for letting me hang out with you three and I wish you fair winds during the rest of the voyage.
 
Roger 

We are all ok! Ken, Kaylee, Danielle and our crew mate Roger. Thank you for all the check ins. It was a wild run of storms last night here in Sarasota Bay in the mooring field by Marina Jacks. Other than rocking and rolling with winds upward of 40 knots, we were completely fine and secure on a mooring ball. We were awake, but not stressed like we would have been if we had been on our own anchor.

Winds are still fairly constant up to 30 knots this morning so we have not gone ashore - we'd be soaked in the dinghy!

We did have some drama here in the mooring field this morning with a sailboat that broke free from it's dock or anchorage across the bay and drifted right over into the mooring field. The Marina Jacks pump out boat came out and did its best to steer it away from hitting any boats, but eventually had to let it go because they just weren't strong enough to tow it. The boat beached itself on a sand bar to the south and is no longer a danger to anyone or any boats thankfully. FWC has been out to check on it.

Just wanted to get a quick update out here since the news is evidently reporting the storms and tornados. We are all good.

I didn't get a picture, but our friend Doug also made the drive down to us, visited the boat and we had a nice dinner out in Gulfport. It was great to catch up.

Today we motored to Sarasota (wind was on our nose) in 4-6 swells. Kaylee and I were a little queasy so we didn't enjoy the warm weather as much until we made it and moored in Sarasota. I'll be interested to read Kaylee's journal entry about today. I imagine it may not start out with, 'today was a good day' 😉

Thank you to everyone who has emailed, commented, called and texted! Kaylee is tickled pink to have so much attention and communication - and we are too :-) Since switching to T-Mobile we actually have more communication now that we are in central FL than we did while hanging out in Carrabelle, where we had NONE.

It was a great overnight crossing from Carabelle to Anclote Key (just outside Tarpon Springs). Those that have heard me talk about it know that crossings (out of sight of land and include overnights) are my least favorite part of cruising. Staying up all night, sea sickness, the dark, the cold, the wind and a wide awake kid the next day all make me dread the longer runs. Aside from the cold, this one was very smooth. The weather window forecasted for 1-2 foot seas and relatively light winds and it actually held true! Ken even cooked a hot dinner while we were underway, that's how smooth the seas were. We also had a third adult aboard, our friend Christopher, which helped break up the night watches nicely - we each only had one 3-hour watch. Our new auto-pilot was working beautifully so we didn't have to sit at and hold the wheel during our watches, allowing me to hide from the wind. The winds were constant and from the same direction all night so the sails were set and didn't need adjusting. It all combined for a beautiful clear night with amazing stars and no motor.

We made it in to Anclote Key well before dark Tuesday with some dolphins leading us in. I posted a short video on Instagram (at Aquavidasail). We also enjoyed a visit from the crew aboard SV (sailing vessel) Saol Nua who we met in Carrabelle and started the crossing a couple hours before we did.

Now we are hunkered down and anchored in Gulfport, FL (near St. Pete) waiting for some rough weather to come through tonight and tomorrow. We hope to move on to Sarasota Saturday.

Quick update . . . sorry no pics. The engine is back in the boat and running well. We are trying to put everything away now and see if it all actually fits. I'm already pulling things out that I thought we might want but now just seem to be taking up precious room. We are waiting for some weather to come through today and the winds to shift and slow by tomorrow evening. If the forecasts hold we are looking to leave Monday morning. Fingers crossed!