What happened with the crab trap you ask?
….Well- Captain Richard ran to the stern; got out the
fishing gaff; pulled up the line (WHILE THE BOAT WAS RUNNING!!) And cut off the trap with his favorite
kitchen knife! Then he tied up the line that was caught on our stabilizer fin -
to a cleat and we made way for the protected anchorage at Boot Key – just next
to Marathon. There was a bit of a
current in that pass – but the water was clear and blue and about 79*. We anchored in 8ft of water- with no drag
–and set the anchor alarm as usual.
Then Richard got on his bathing suit and a mask and made
himself a harness out of rope – tied it around his waist and jumped in! I held
onto the line and moved him to the stabilizer point where he dove underwater
and numerous times, until he cut the damn thing off! The current was strong and
I had to hold onto the line with all my might to keep him close to the boat and
safe! It took a while - but he did it! When he got back aboard I renamed him
“Captain MacGyver”! This man can do anything!
We had a celebratory evening after that – Sunset cocktails
and a wonderful dinner of grass-fed hamburgers on the grill and the rest of the
homemade banana cake. Life is good!
Early the next morning, we raised the anchor and headed on
our way to Rodriguez Key – our last stop before reaching Miami. We found another great protected anchorage
and noted two boats also anchored nearby. We dropped the hook and set the
anchor alarm and settled in for some of that relaxation time.
We had a drink on the aft deck – we have a great teak table
and chairs and I also bought some more comfy folding chairs to add to the
collection. We watched the nearby sailboat couple get in their dinghy and go
ashore just before sunset. We stayed on
board and had another great meal from our vast provisions (we have a slight
starboard list from all the food stored!). Around 10pm the sailboat couple
returned to their boat – without any navigation lights! It was pitch black and
they were going at a fast pace and I thought that was wrong and a bit reckless-
but I have seen others do this too.
After they got aboard their boat we could hear them screaming and
yelling at each other. One thing I’ve
learned – sound travels well over water! You can hear all sorts of things.
Their fight lasted a good half hour or so – then I imagined they passed out!
All was quiet. My imagination is working overtime with this cruising! I thought
– he could kill her, or one of them could push the other overboard in a fit of
anger! Maybe I’d see a body floating by in the morning?! Phew! Time for me to go to bed!
So we hit the hay – happy and content with this cruising
life and as I drifted off – I dreamt of being in a town with Richard and
looking out the glass doors of our 10th floor seaside condo and
seeing a huge invasion of space ships!
There were about 200 UFO’s in
this dream and they started to drop down mirrors from their ship (or was it
large flat screen TV’s?) and when the residents of the town all came out to
look at them -their image got on the screen and they were immediately sucked up into the
spaceship by the invaders! I ran to tell Richard and to warn him not to look.
We fled the condo and got into the inner courtyard of the seaside town to hide
from the UFO’s and those extracting mirrors. We were in a battle to survive and
avoid the UFO’s….BEEP!-BEEP!-BEEP!….what’s that noise? BEEP!-BEEP!-BEEP! I awake – still groggy - to a real life alarm
– OUR ANCHOR ALARM!! …Richard!! – I push on him and wake him up. We go to the
Pilothouse to check and we are not dragging – but we are having such a strong
wind that we are “swinging “further than our alarm sector. The Kadey Krogen
burgee on our foredeck is making mad flapping noises back and forth and our
canvas bimini top is singing and flapping with force. The boat is safe – just a
bad storm and we hunker down to a night watch to make sure all remains well and
we don’t drag. Such is the life of a sailor – a juxtaposition of calm and
beauty with peril and risk….
Tomorrow – Miami and seeing our youngest Maggs daughter! (Pictures to follow)
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