January 17th- Islamorada to Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

Despite the electronic chart showing that Catalpa would be crossing land, we instead found well marked channels. Steamboat was deeper than the rest of Florida Bay. Bowleggy Cut was a little shallower but we always had a couple of feet under the keel. Today was a combination of sailing and motoring. We kept Catalpa’s speed up to keep ahead of the approaching front. The only challenge was dodging crab pots. The weather was good most of the day. The last hour or so it deteriorated.

Florida Bay. Gotta stay ahead of those clouds.

The old and new 7 mile bridge.

Weather catching up to us. The wind had picked up but the sea was still pretty flat. The picture is 7 Mile Bridge taken from Hawk Channel.

Almost there. Marathon.

Boot Key Harbor (Marathon) is loaded with boats. The city administers 226 moorings. Besides that, there are at least another 150 boats at anchor or tied to wharfs.

Burdines Restaurant, tiki bar, and fuel dock. Looking forward to dinghying over for a meal. They put diesel in the mixed drinks.

Lynne called the City Marina for a mooring but there were none available. We dropped the hook in the very crowded anchorage area. We only had about 30 minutes to get over to the marina before it closed. We wanted to get on the mooring waitlist and take showers. They wanted vessel documentation papers and money. The sky opened up. The wind increased. We made it over to the office before it closed.

I mention the weather and the rush to the office in an attempt to explain what happened later in the night. Perhaps I was not 100% diligent in setting the anchor. This is a process where you back the boat down to bury the anchor in the bottom. I usually do this and increase the engine RPMs until I’m completely sure it’s set. Our anchor is sized for a 45′ boat (Catalpa is 28′). The anchor is also backed up by 50′ of chain and around 300′ of rope. We never move. We’ve sat out a few storms with no problems. We’re both sure of our gear. This time we were in a rush and it was raining. We quickly backed the boat down but I didn’t pay attention to the RPMs. In addition there was not much room to anchor so we were on somewhat short scope.

Eventually we headed back to Catalpa for the night. We were happy to have made it to a good harbor so we could relax for a while. Dinner, wine, and sleep.

January 18th & 19th – Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

This entry starts at just after midnight.

BANG. 24 hours later I still don’t know what made that noise. Did we hit something? I awoke from the racket, just after 12:00am, to wind howling through the rigging. I looked out the hatch to see a boat just feet away from us. Did we hit the boat? No one was on deck. I think the dinghy may have acted as a fender. The mangroves were much closer. The wind had increased to 25 knots with gusts from 30 to 40 knots. Catalpa was yawing wildly back and forth. Spray was kicking up. It was pitch black. No visibility. I knew our anchor was dragging and we had a big problem. All hands on deck (except for Oliver).

Somehow we got the the engine started and the anchor up. The wind was gusting so strong we could barely keep Catalpa under control. We managed to blindly steer through the crowded anchorage to the channel. My plan was to leave the harbor and anchor in the lee of the island. There were too many boats around and it was very dark. The gusting winds made the navigation more difficult. The crew threatened to mutiny. Luckily, before we had a complete breakdown of command, I saw a decent spot to drop the hook. The gusting wind made it difficult to re-anchor the boat. A couple more attempts later we were securely anchored for the night. We kept a watch for a few more hours. The drama was over by about 3am. Later that night we saw a dinghy fly by. Other boats had dragged around the harbor and were re-anchoring in the morning. It was a difficult night.

The next day I was a little rattled by the whole event. A day after that, the sun, salt, and sand have helped us to recover. We’re planning on staying here for a while. We have fresh fruit and veggies from a farmer’s market. We also ventured over to Keys Fisheries for some Mahi Mahi to grill. I now have our spare anchor (with chain) tied to the bow. It’s ready to fly if we run into a similar situation. We’re on the wait list for a mooring.

This morning we listened to the local cruisers net. This is a local VHF radio network that takes place in various harbors. It got us into the spirit of Boot Key Harbor.

Off the back porch today.

Ollie approves.

The old bridge to Boot Key. The center span has been removed.

Channel marker #16. This was extremely important when I was trying to locate myself during the night. I referenced this marker to determine whether our anchor was holding during the squall.