Sailing down the Keys....Fast

Tue 2:13 PM.... Well we rose early Monday AM to sail out the Biscayne Cut with the tide and turned south toward the Keys. Had to dodge a few more fishing boats flying their kites. See the small kite in the upper left?

We stayed outside the reef till we were abreast of Tavernier Key and cut across the reef and anchored off the Key. Had a great sail till we were slowed down by the edges of the Gulf Stream. We were sailing 8-10 kts ...then wham...the boat seed which is 20 % slower than the GPS speed, read 7.9 while the speed over ground was 5.9. If it was not for the current we would have been doing 10+. Anchored in 8.3 ft of water facing into 20+ kts of wind. We were anchored off a lee shore(meaning if the anchor drags the capt gets pissed, the beach is behind us) so we put out extra rode. We were behind the reef so the waves were only 1-2 ft. A little bouncy but good for sleeping. About 2:30 am I awoke to severe pain in my lower back....felt a tinge a few days back. 20 yrs ago, I had a kidney stone...one never forgets the pain associated with one of those small bastards. I got up logged on to the computer trying to ignore the pain. 15 min later Joyce is up to see whats going on. Ending up taking a percocet...a slug of rum to speed things up and went back to the bunk. Hit the head at 7am...sucess.....now Joyce gets online.... Googled kidney stones....diet now modified....being forced fluids ....thank God beer was described as a diuretic....so I do get a few beers doing the day....We left Tavernier Key about 8 am. Put out the pole and main and off we went....8-9.5 kts.... there was a sailboat about a 1.5 miles ahead...yep it's now a race. By 10 am or so we pulled even with him. Out went his mizzen...he was sailing under jenny alone as the wind was on the butt.

We blew by....and 30 min later we look back to see he now had his main up too. Just to make sure...I pulled out the mizzen...we accelerated to the high 8's low 9's, he was a speck in the distance as we turned to drop the hook behind Boot Key...near Vaca Key and the city of Marathon.

Will be here for a few days to visit Ken and Helen and John and Joanne from Baltimore. Joyce will try to get a dive in while we are here. On the way down, found the repair on the dink did not cure the leak...re -patched and now waiting for the epoxy to cure...will drop in the water tomorrow. We can't get under the bridge to the lagoon on Marathon. So we have anchored on the outside and will be dinking in.