Ocean on one side, Gulf on the other

For the past few days we’ve been in a mooring field off Boot Key in Marathon Shores. The island has the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Florida Bay, which is basically the Gulf of Mexico, on the other side. Today we walked the distance from one side to the other, about a half mile, on our way to get some lunch at Keys Fisheries. All our amenities are at Marathon City Marina, but the boat is at least a half mile from the actual marina so it’s a pretty far dinghy ride to get there.

We plan to stay here for the week, and perhaps take some day trips out to some nearby coral reefs for some snorkeling and scuba diving.

The more we talk to others the more word we hear about how crazy it would be to go to the Bahamas any time soon. On our way down to the keys, we heard on the VHS radio coast guard station that three boats capsized on their way to the Bahamas. That could have been us if we decided to go east across the Gulf Stream in these kinds of winds, which have continued to be around 20 knots. We got thrown around pretty bad on the boat just going south via Hawk Channel.

Be that as it may, I keep hearing people say “the boat can take more than you can”. That’s understandable, considering I got green in the face from just four-foot waves while the boat seemed to just be in its element. It was made for stuff like that. As the expression goes, ‘Harbors are safe place for ships, but ships weren’t made for harbors.’ So the other side of me will always say, heck if Avalon could have made it to the Bahamas so could have I; even if I would have been spending half the voyage with my head hanging over the side of the boat.

Those who do plan to go to the Bahamas, even the most experienced captains here, are waiting about a month for the conditions to be right. Unfortunately we don’t have that kind of time. I need to be back for business reasons, and the boat needs to be north of Florida by June for insurance reasons since that’s when hurricane season starts. By the time we wait for the weather to be right, there just won’t be enough time to make a trip to the Bahamas worthwhile.

So, here we are in the Florida Keys, taking in the benefits of our Plan B. The culture here is very laid back and everything is on “island time”. Captain Ken said the other day that we had a lot of work to do on the boat, and by the time we finished we had worked for about an hour. Down here you can be sure that a man’s word is nothing more than that, and I mean that in a good way. The most stressful day down here would be equivalent to an office party in my life up north. So, I thank God for this chance to enjoy a two-month sabbatical. I hope my friends, family and colleagues back home don't get too jealous. 

Florida Bay just outside Keys Fisheries. Captain Ken photos

Sunset over Marathon