Got out of town on a boat for the southern islands...

This morning we left Miami sort of as we expected but it was all a bit tentative and problematic.

Our plan was to leave Miami today to head south to Marathon but as with many things reality got in the way. Forecasts for this weekend began going down hill early and threw in some excitement to our planning. Island Packet's are all weather boats. They perform well in bad conditions unlike some boats that are strictly fair weather sailers. But then that's why our last 2 boats have been IP's.

The forecasts indicated that winds this morning were going to be 15-20 out of the south southwest. Just our kind of forecast for going east but we were going south southwest. But the forecast also indicated it would be turning to the north and northwest after noon. So we dallied a bit this morning as we got ready to leave. We left our slip and pumped out our holding tank and sort of roughly planned to stop in Long Key by the Channel 5 Bridge this evening.

Well, I was hoping to take the quick way from the marina and take the main channel through the port of Miami. As they say the easy way is always mined. Well, this morning there were 6 cruise ships docked along the port any more than 2 makes it a security risk and the channel is closed. As we were turned back by the Miami PD the railroad bridge behind us that is usually open closed. So there we were stuck in the channel with no where to go while a train crossed over our route of egress.

Once the train cleared we motored out the alternate channel and made it to the ocean where the wind had started clocking round to the north and we were on our way.

The other disconcerting thing about the forecast was the possibility of big surf when we  tried to negotiate the Channel 5 bridge. But it now looks like we will be ok.

We managed to sail to an anchorage by Key Largo where we  dropped the hook in winds just shy of 30kts and had a nice quiet dinner although the winds are howling around us. There are actually several other boats anchored here. Tomorrow the temps are supposed to get chilly so we may need some heat in the morning. But right now the wind turbine is keeping the batteries topped off. So no need to burn fossil fuel tonight.

Thanks to all who commented or liked Linda's pix last night. We enjoyed the game and it was a fun thing to do on our last night in Miami.

Tomorrow on to Marathon and then we start to undo the boat and begin several additional projects.