Miami to Marathon

FROM: The Captain –

Conditions: Overcast, humid, winds from the south/southwest 10-15 mph, occasional showers, 80 degrees  Light chop then 2-4′ swells.

Distance traveled: 98.3 nautical miles

Time underway: 9 hours 43 minutes

Average Speed: 10.1 knots

Max Speed: 19.4 knots

Fuel used: 151 gallons

Our day at Sunset Harbour Yacht Club was busy as we continued to work on our seemingly endless list of boat projects in preparation for the season and our welcome onslaught of guests.  We capped off our last evening there by attending a cocktail party being thrown by the yacht club.  It was a real treat for us as our Bahamas friends from the exceptional Burger Motor Yacht Escapist were there.  It was wonderful to connect with these boating soulmates and meet some terrific new people.  We’ve found another favorite place in Sunset Harbour.

After a fairly sleepless night (lots of anticipation keeping us up) Jasper had a rare, pre-sunrise walk and we were off the docks at 6:40 am.  The idea was to make the 7am opening of the eastern Venitian Causeway bridge but after an easy departure we were at the bridge at 6:50 and were able to call for an opening on demand.  We entered the eastern end of Miami’s Government Cut and ventured out to the Atlantic as the sun joined the day.

On our way out we faced two to three footers with the wind running against the tide and as we turned to the south we had a decent chop to start the day but not really a big deal.  It was immediately clear that our stabilizer upgrade made a big, positive difference in the way OLOH now rides.

We had a momentous occasion about an hour and a half into our nearly ten hour day when we spotted Red Head on our rhumb line, about two miles ahead of us.  Red Head is a 65′ Florida Bay Coaster, a unique and cool vessel with a very interesting heritage.  Its present custodians are Dylan, Dee Dee and Dora with their crew of Jeff and Karen Siegel.  Jeff and Karen are also the creators of ActiveCaptain which revolutionized the way boaters cruise.  We have been fans and supporters of AC since its inception and Jeff and I have been in touch over the years, ultimately culminating in this portion of each of our journeys from South Florida to the Keys.  He has been immensely helpful with his thoughts and advice on weather and ports of call as we got back on the water and we (and particularly Jasper) look forward to being dock-mates with the Red Head crew for a couple of months in Key West.  We enjoyed a nice chat on the VHF and shot some video and stills as we passed on the ones.  Thanks for everything Jeff & Karen (and the D’s).  Looking forward to those Dark & Stormies!

Once we were in the Hawk Channel, east of Key Largo and protected by the reef to the east, we enjoyed a bit of calm and that beautiful blue-green water of the Keys.  Once you are in the channel you’re rarely in more than fifteen feet of water or more than a mile and a half or so offshore.  Just after passing Red Head we had our first sighting of dancing dolphins which we always take as a sign of good luck.  I guess that can mean many things but it did not mean calm seas as predicted.  Smack in the middle of our day the seas became unexpectedly snarly, well beyond what we expected.  Three then four then five-foot rolling swells were coming at us on our beam forcing us to retreat to the pilothouse for better visibility as we dodged what seemed like endless crab pots as we worked our way to Marathon.  We did not hit a single one but marveled at how they all seemed to be placed near or on the charted path that many boaters take.

Fortunately we evaded the predicted thunderstorms and pulled into the spectacular Marathon Marina unscathed.  And what a great place this is.  We’re not sure how we didn’t know about it before but we love it and thank our friends on Miss Norma for the recommendation which was back up by the Red Head crew.  Key West is finally next!!!

See you out there…

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And that concludes your OLOH instructions. M/Y OLOH back to 1-6.