Another crazy sail for the Keys

    Ray and I had such an amazing sail from Sanibel to the 10,000 islands. The sun was high and the water sparkled as the wind danced on the top of the teal blue mirror. I saw two very large turtles breech the surface for a huge gulp before descending once again into the deep dark unseen parts of the Gulf.

We had music playing as we passed far offshore. With our binoculars, we spied families wading into the warm waters, parasailers screaming with the wind carrying them high above the waters and fisherman weary from sun, salt and sadness. Our boat took to the waves, heeled over and took the wind with stride. We made great time sailing down the coast. We finally arrived in the 10,000 island when the sun was starting to play with the horizon. I remembered when the year before, we anchored off shore and were terrorized by mosquitoes. Our boat looked like the scene from a horror movie the next morning! Blood covered the top of our boat where we had swatted at the little bastards all night long. The morning sun had not even breached the horizon when our anchor was up and our sights were on Sanibel and air-conditioning!! Soooo we thought maybe we should anchor a little farther out. Indian Key has a wonderfully protected anchorage which we had used numerous times; however, our thoughts were on bugs instead of protection….

BIG mistake!!!! We anchored, enjoyed a wonderful evening with dinner, sunset toasts and music. THEN after crashing in our bunk, the wind picked up, the waves pounded and our boat rolled and tossed with the beat of the gulf. I love roller coasters!! I can ride them over and over, HOWEVER, rolling, turning and tossing for 10 hours straight is more than even this daredevil can handle. My stomach finally said, “ENOUGH!!”…… When morning came, the wind was still out of the west and still kicking up the seas. We pulled the anchor with me clutching my Rescue Remedy and Ray at the bow with the waves bouncing the boat up and down so much that I couldn’t see him when the waves receded. I gripped the helm so hard that my knuckles turned white. There was no way to hear over the wind, the waves and the engine. My mind kept going over scenarios of how to get Ray out of the water before an alligator found him. My heart rate always speeds up and I literally cannot breathe normally. Finally the anchor is up and Ray points to the way that I need to take NuTrix out. He comes back to the cockpit and tells me how wonderfully I preformed and all I want to do, is throw up!! The wind is out of the NW and Ray and I pull out the sails and turn off the engine. NuTrix is in her glory!!

She heels over and takes the waves like a lover‘s kiss. It is an impressive run for about two hours, but then my legs start to ache from the leaning. I cannot go below because my stomach has not recovered from a long night of being tossed and turned. I want to make lunch but all I can manage is grabbing Pop- tarts from the stores. I finally take a Benadryl and try to pass out on the starboard settee. The wind is high and we are making sometimes 9 knots down the coast. I finally came to and went into the cockpit to look around. To the south, I see a big black cloud looming. I said to Ray that maybe we needed to go closer to shore and anchor. It doesn’t matter if no one believes me, because I believe in myself, however, I can feel when the weather is about to get bad. Ray keeps telling me that it is going north of us, but I keep reminding him that I know these things and it will be on us quickly. I am not sure why he always forgets the crazy intuition that I have been given, but he puts the thought out of his head and presses on toward the Keys. It is not any time before the storm is on top of us. Lightening popped around and the rain blew sideways. Ray is an amazing captain and turned the boat into the storm. We had unplugged all of our electronics which meant he was navigating with the compass. The storm got worse and worse until we both thought that we were done. I was below and using all of my prayer and thoughts to send the storm away…. I watched as the rain hit him and the lightening came closer and closer. Ray stayed at the helm and kept me safe. He is amazing like that. I will always be grateful for such a powerful love and an amazing captain… crazy though he may be!!!  We made it through the storm!!!

We anchored in Fiesta Key near a campground. We were both too tired to try and go to shore. I made us a plate of cheese, crackers, carrots and dip. We ate in the cockpit and watched the sun go down. My body ached from all the traveling and Ray was beyond exhausted from standing at the helm for 12 hours. We fell into our bunk and slept like the dead. When conditions are right, a night on the boat is the best sleep that you can imagine. The wind was pouring down the hatch, the water was calm and our dreams were of the Bahamas. Soon the morning sun swept over our bunk and awoke us with a gentle reminder that we were in paradise. Ray made us coffee and we sat in the cockpit listening to music and enjoying the life that we have chosen.

Our Garmin was giving us problems as well as our alternator. I am sure that the passage between Cape Romano and Cape Sable is part of the Devil’s Triangle. Every time we come through, we end up with problems with our electrical systems! I know that some of my friends will blame me because, well, I have issues with electric and my emotions…. But really, every time??? Soooo once again we were in the same place where we always have issues. Ray wanted to go to Marathon, but I just said that Marathon was a black hole and if we went there, we would be there for two weeks. We both decided, thanks to his kind of understanding with my emotions and the weather that we would go to Key Largo. We had no sooner turned NuTrix for Key Largo than a large waterspout formed over the way we would have gone towards Marathon. Again….don’t care if you do not believe!!! Anyway, we outran storms from Channel 5 bridge up to Key Largo.

We laid to the dock at the Upper Keys Sailing Club. No sooner had we tied on the dock lines than the squall line hit and our boat was heeling. The wind blew so hard that I thought our fenders would pop and we would smash into the dock. Below deck, the AC kicked on and the beautiful coolness swept away any worries of storms. We had had a beautiful run up the ICW with the sun playing through the clouds and the VHF screaming warnings  of potential storms all around us. I had made us lunch underway and we enjoyed the humid call of the mangroves as our boat passed through. The gulf side is a whole different world. The water is a strange greenish blue color swirling with the sun and playing off of the clouds. We spied some dolphins who played hide and seek with our boat as the day dragged into the afternoon lull. The beauty of the watery world made our dangerous start a distant memory. The light played off of the water and lulled us into a complacency that which was what we had both been needing for months and months.

Here we are and frankly, we do not know how long we will be here. The weather doesn’t seem to be cooperating for a jump across the Gulfstream. After 2010, I will never cross that part of water without pristine conditions!! Mother Nature is no one to fool with! She will kick your butt and go to dinner without a care in the world. I respect her and I am no fool…

. Crazy, but no fool. The area around here is nice and we have restaurants, shops and even places to swim and snorkel should we feel the need. I am in no hurry. Maybe I have been subjected to the disease that is Island Time??? I hear there is no cure and yet, I am not worried. For too long, I have let the worries of my job, my bills, my house, my life… dictate my well-being…. Well, no longer!!!! I have released the pressures of life and embraced the “what will be will be”….. Bring on adventure!!! I am ready…… Life is waiting and I am tired of keeping her at bay!!! Soooo I go….