So Long Key West ..it's been a slice!

 Docked at:               Marathon Marina and Boat Yard
 Distance Travelled:   48 NM
Time Travelled :         5 hours

First off, a few pics from our last day, not from my camera but from my phone. My camera is still in recovery mode and at this point it is not looking good.

 BIG Fish

These were just part of a days catch from the Eva Marie!

Sunset from ...the Sunset Grill

There he goes again - the Blue blur got away!

Our last day in Key West - we started our day with coffee and checking the weather. Garth kept humming and hawing about the weekend weather as it looks like Sunday is going to be miserable. We would only have a short run and could do it inside from Miami up to Dollardale or we could hustle and leave today. We choose the hustle. I took Zeke to the beach for one last swim and a little bit of exercise. Garth called marinas in Marathon to see if we could get a slip and I told John the dock master at the Galleon that we were heading out. Jim, our other next door neighbor boat (Casey one way and Jim the other) said - why not take my slip in Marathon - OK, we called the marina and it was available.  We left the dock at 11:30,  had a beautiful day outside the reef, very few crab pots and calm seas.
You know you are back on the east coast of Florida when you hear three Pan Pan's in one short day. (for our non-boating friends that is the call to the Coast Guard when the safety of a person or the ship is in jeopardy) At one point we heard the Coast Guard say to "Glory Days" that it was OK they could hear the captain in distress - then later the Coast Guard was calling Glory Days. We first met Glory Days (fellow loopers) way up in Panama City and they were one of the six boats that crossed the Gulf the same day we did.  I am sure Joe is OK he was probably just trying to help or to relay a message.  I think boaters have an extra "helper" gene on some random chromosome.  As is evident with Casey helping us retrieve the camera and Jim offering us his slip tonight.
We plan to be up at OH DARK THIRTY tomorrow and run all the way up to Miami or Key Biscayne. We have called several marinas and they are either full or do not have space for a boat our size......could be an interesting night. Plan A is call marinas again tomorrow while enroute and Plan B is to drop the anchor in No Name Bay! Either way on Saturday we will end up in Los Olas Marina where this journey first began Thursday April 7th, 2011.

Good bye Key West

This big boy was in town today!

Marathon Sunset

 Our month in Key West went all too fast, at first I thought I would go stir crazy spending a whole month there but in hindsight it is a really cool little place. There was always something happening and the people watching was fabulous. The local paper gave a weather report everyday and instead of always listing the temperature sometimes it just said "another awesome day".  I like Key West, it has character and  a joie de vivre!!
Our arrival into Marathon this time was uneventful - what a difference two engines and daylight make.

I will try to curtail my sunset pictures for a while.