Key West!!

4.8.10

We left Bahia Honda on 4.7 and sailed over to Newfound Harbor for the evening. It was a gorgeous sailing day, wind was perfect and the sky was clear. We had a short trip and soon reached our anchorage.
We left early 4.8 to make the final push to Key West. We were traveling 30 miles today, which can be a full day of sailing depending on the conditions. A storm front was pushing through the area and was supposed to reach key West by Friday, so we wanted to be in before the rain hit.
Sailing conditions were supposed to be rough - 2-4ft seas and winds gusting up to 20mph. We braced ourselves for the worst and prepared to motor most of the way. We were pleasantly surprised then, when we got out onto the water and the wind was a perfect 15knots out of the E,SE. We hoisted the sails and took off westward. We had a boat following us, heading the same destination as we were and it was nice to have to company - sometimes you can feel awfully small out on the ocean by yourself!
We couldn't have asked for a better sailing day. We were on a beam reach the entire time, the sun burned the clouds away and although the waves started out rough, they had calmed down by mid-morning. We made amazing time and reached Key West by 2:00pm!!
We sailed all the way around Key West to the northern side where we picked up a mooring ball. This is our first try at a mooring field - we will see how it goes. It is much cheaper than a marina, but it comes at a price. You have no electrical hookup and you have to dinghy in to shore every time you want to go in. And it is a lonnnnnng dinghy ride. But, like I said, we will give this a try for awhile. Either we will get used to it and love it, or we will hate it and pull into a marina where we will pay an arm and a leg for the extra added creature comforts.
Wish us luck!