Last Night in the Keys

On our last full day in Key West (Monday), we walked the docks looking at boats and saw two manatees in the marina. We strolled up most of Duval street to find out that sadly, Dogs on Duval is no longer in business. Someone must have finally stopped the supply of puppy milled dogs to this place. Although, it was neat to see a pet shop that actually kept puppies in the window. We had Cuban sandwiches for lunch, hung out, and prepared to leave the next morning.

We made it back to Bahia Honda in one quick sail from Key West yesterday. Great breeze out of the south to reach back up Hawk Channel. We blasted thru 3-4ft chop at 11 knots for 4 hours. Scott had a great time steering the boat through the waves and getting sprayed by salt water. I had a little less of a great time with a killer motion sickness. Taking 3-4 foot Hawk Channel chop on the beam for hours will do that to most people. Once we got in we had lunch and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Today "we" did about 8 loads of laundry in our blue surgical bins (I can wash about 3 articles of clothing at a time). We've started packing up the boat but we're saving all the heavy lifting for tomorrow. We had a lovely dinner with Chris and Cliff, our friends, fellow sailors, and saviors from last year. They showed us a great pub called "No Name Pub". The craziest thing about this place was that tourists personalized a dollar bill and stapled it to a wall or ceiling. Scott saw an article from 2005 that said there was at least $70,000 dollar bills. Cliff said when he asked there was probably $100,000! It was incredible to see. After dinner they drove us to No Name Key to show us all the Key deer. We wanted to take one home with us. They were adorable and more importantly, Daisy would have loved a pet deer!


Tomorrow we plan to pack up and head up the state. We're going to stop for a sunset dinner at Gus' on Key Largo and stay over night at a hotel in Florida City. Our plan from there is undetermined. But most likely we'll take another night break from the boat and then launch the next morning and cruise SW Florida. Another adventure ahead!

Taking it easy,
Lauren & Scott

Our Surf to Key West

We woke up extra early today and left Saddlebunch Harbor for Key West. We had a great downwind sail in 15-18 knots of breeze with big waves to surf. Scott saw 13.5 knots of speed on the GPS, I only saw 12.4 knots (but I wasn't even trying). We sailed with the little jib to decrease the number of times we would bury the bow in the next wave.

So far this cruise has been much easier sailing than the last because we've let the wind dictate where and when we move. We aren't exactly sure how long we are going to be in Key West. There seems to be a weather window on Tuesday to head back up through the Hawk Channel. In the mean time we'll be getting our fill of the Cuban cuisine while we are here!

People watching on Key Weird,
Lauren & Scott