Key West (Port #55) – Jan 1st, New Years Day

We made it !
Me, Jonell, and sister Brenda, arrived at Key West yesterday about 2pm yesterday.

It was a glorious ride from Marco Island (port #54).
Our Wind/Wave APPs were showing calm seas early in the day on New Years Day, degrading later in the day, so we had a very early 6:30am start of the day and were out of the Marco Island Marina and into the Gulf by 8:00am.

The ride began with 1-2 footers, but we were able to maintain our desired speed of 18-19mph without issue. We normally travel only 10mph, but yesterday wanted to go faster because of the 108 mile journey over the Gulf of Mexico, and the predictions that the wind would change later in the day.

About half way during the ride the waters calmed down below 1 foot, and within about 30 miles of Key West, the water was completely flat & BEAUTIFUL LIGHT BLUE.
The waters were so clam , the crew looked totally at ease and comfortable.

We arrived and got tied up about 1:45pm, a 5 hour & 45 minute ride (yea for speed when you need it). We did burn about 150 gallons of fuel on the 100 mile journey. For all you potential Loopers considering buying a Trawler, remember that most Trawlers will only do about 8mph. That would have been a 13.5 hour ride in a Trawler yesterday. The entry and tie up in our slip was uneventful. The ride in was nice & calm, but  filled with lots of traffic & big ships as we got into the harbor.

We arrived about 1:45pm.
At about 5pm while we were washing the boat of the salt water, ferocious winds picked up and black clouds appeared out of no-where. The ride would have been quite a different story had we not gotten the early start and had speed.

We ended the day with a short walk down to Duvall street and dinner at Fogarty’s. The Key West Bed/Breakfast homes were still highly decorated with the Christmas theme.

We are now about half way through THE LOOP by miles, but only 5 months into the 13 month journey. We will now be stationary in Key West for 5 weeks, slowly come up the Keys in Feb, and slowly travel the Florida Atlantic coast in March. The goal is to not get too far north too early. We have to wait for that Cold Stuff to go away. Most of you readers know what I mean about that COLD STUFF.

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