June 12 – June 23
We had about 10 days to spend on Stock Island, the island just east of Key West. Stock Island Marina was to be the staging area for the TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Association) group going to Cuba. Since we had time to kill, our Plan A was to motor out to the Dry Tortugas, anchor and spend a night or two exploring, swimming, and chilling. The winds promised to cooperate with us for a few days before they were going to pick up. We had to abandon this plan after June pulled her back out and was assigned to settee duty and was prohibited by the rest of the crew from doing any lifting, pulling, pushing, twisting, etc. Plan B was to head out to Woman Key in a small cluster of islands north of Key West to anchor for the day and swim in the beautiful clear waters and wander on what was called “one of the prettiest white beaches in the keys”. Woman Key seemed to be all we had hoped for. Several smaller boats had pulled up close to shore and anchored. The water was crystal clear and we were ready for a relaxing day of floating. All we had to do was drop anchor and hope she held. Unfortunately that was not easily done. The boats we could see along the shore line were much shallower draft than Serenity and they could anchor in that beautiful white sand. To maintain the depth we needed we had to choose between grass and hard coral, neither of which made for good holding. We dropped the anchor a couple of times without success before the windlass decided to stop working consistently. Getting an anchor to go down is pretty easy, getting her up without a windlass was not something we wanted to deal with. So, with great disappointment, we headed back to Stock Island and on to Plan C. We had been told that not far from the marina was a nice beach that we could dingy to. By this time, swimming has become almost an obsession. We are in the keys, in absolutely beautiful, blue waters and we have yet to stick a foot in it. Surely there is someplace we can go by boat to swim. Right? John, Dorothy, and Tim were determined to find the spot while June took her spot on the settee. Preparations began- bathing suits were put on, a cooler of beer was packed, towels were stuffed in a dry bag. Off they went in search of a beach, of a place to wiggle toes in the sand and float in brilliant blue water with a cold can in your hand. Instead what they found was a rocky shore line with waves crashing along it. This was not going to be a spot to beach a dingy and it certainly was not the spot for lounging on a life jacket while sipping a beer. Strike 3.
Ok, so we never did swim, but we did eat. One of our greatest finds was hogfish. None of us had ever heard of hogfish before, but it has become a favorite. Hogfish is a mild, flaky, white fish. Grilled, fried, blackened it was always excellent.
Tim and June also took a road trip up the keys to Marathon. We wanted to check out the marinas there and see if we would want to come back when we start our own journey this fall. Tim had seen Google Earth photos of the area that showed a minefield of boats on mooring balls in the harbor. We’ve also read other blogs and comments from boater’s about how they have spent time in Marathon. We wanted to see for ourselves what was there. What we found was somewhat of a disappointment. Yes, there is a huge mooring area, but we couldn’t find easy docking for a dingy. We just aren’t sure that that is a place we’d want to hang around in during the winter for an extended stay before heading to the Bahamas. Now we are thinking we may just head across the Okachobee to the east coast of Florida and hang there. We’ll see. That’s a long way off for us.
Part of the fun of cruising is to meet new people and to enjoy time with old friends. We have been fortunate to be able to do both while in Stock Island. When we arrived, Stuart and Gayelynn Zarrow, aboard their Benateau, Magic Ride, were already there. They arrived one day ahead of us. We’ve had a wonderful time getting to know them and their teacup poodle, Sam. I now know that a dog can be more spoiled than Maggie. Luke and Julean Durdan pulled in on Sunday the 19th. Luke and Julean kept their boat across from Tim and June at Seabrook Marina. We’ve been closely watching their travels as they came south to join us in going to Cuba. Locke and Camille Bryan also came from Houston on their 52 foot Grand Banks, Hollywood Ending, and arrived Tuesday, the 21st .
Little by little TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Assocaiation) members arrived. We had 16 boats total going the 95nm to Cuba-8 power boats and 8 sailboats. Several of us wanted to get an early start and untie from the docks at 4am. We knew we had to arrive before dark. The channel into Marina Hemingway is very narrow and it is known to get a pretty strong cross current. We planned on running between 8 and 9 knots, but we also had the Gulf Stream to contend with. This being totally new to all of us, we wanted to err on the side of caution.
