We told you about the billions of stars in the sky on our overnight trip from the Panhandle. Now for the millions of crab traps all across Florida Bay.
We spent a beautiful night at Little Shark River and headed out early Thursday, due south to Marathon, across Florida Bay. The crab traps were everywhere. We usually use the autopilot to steer, which takes away some of the monotony & stress of sitting at the wheel. Not this long day. Constant steering back and forth dodging endless bouys really made holding a course difficult. What a pain in the neck, literally.
As we approached 7 Mile bridge, I went forward and looked in the water. I could clearly see hard bottom..."what's the depth?!" I shouted back to Chris..."ten feet!" Oh, never mind. Passing under the Eighth Wonder of the World officially puts us out of the Gulf and into the Atlantic Ocean!
We called Marathon City marina on the radio several hours ahead to ask about mooring balls. They reported there was one left. About an hour later, we hear another boat get assigned that ball. First come first served. Looks like we're out of luck. But we pressed on into Marathon and radioed back as we entered the inlet. Sure enough one more had opened up. It was in a much better location too. This mooring field must be at least a mile long. Totally full. We do have some luck on our side.
So we'll stay here for a week getting MORE projects done. I have an anomaly with the alternator, another one with the depth finder, I'd like to recharge the freon in the engine drive refer, we have some more shopping to do and the boat needs a bath to rinse all the salt spray off.
AND, we're off to Key West Saturday. We'll get a VIP tour courtesy of Tom & Brenda who we know from Jefferson Beach Marina and who have a place in Key West! Can't wait for the freak show! No, I'm not talking about Tom & Brenda (I think!).
Hopefully, we'll make it back from Key West relatively soon to post more for our faithful followers. Pray for us!
Posted by Ed aboard S/V Freedom
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