The two day weather forecast was for perfect weather - light winds (which means we could maybe dive) and highs in the 80's. So yesterday we headed for Key Largo - 25 miles east of Treasure Harbor. This is where we first discovered renting condos! When we (Steve, me, Wendy and Becky - and probably Paul and Miriam, not sure) first walked into the place we thought we were in heaven! It was SO nice!!! This was some years ago of course and it was Becky's 16th birthday. Poor kid was never home for her birthday as it was always in the middle of summer - prime boating season. Anyway, she LOVES lobster and saw this 5 lb lobster at the grocery store so for her special dinner - that's what she had! As I recall, she ended up needing some help to finish it off :-)
The day yesterday was as predicted although still a bit rough to dive. So Steve snorkeled and while he was in there, decided to try to climb into the dinghy from the water. We had often wondered if we would be able to do that. Turns out, we can't! But a short rope tied to one of the handles is all we would need - put it on the 'to do' list for sure. The water is beautiful but takes some getting used to seeing the colors and realizing the depth doesn't change much - just the composition of the bottom. A sand bottom produces the very light blue water while a weed bottom give the darker blues.
John Pennekamp State Park (the only park that covers a reef system) is about 1 1/2 miles back a winding channel through the mangroves. It was a very nice ride and clear enough to see the sting rays swimming. Getting off of the boat was an experience as they don't have docks here - just 4 poles to tie to so off the front of boat it is!
Today's weather was even better!! We went 12 miles to the Elbow reef and caught a mooring ball. Almost all of the reefs now have the mooring balls so instead of everyone anchoring (and destroying the coral), you just catch a mooring. Much easier - just pass a line through the loop in the line and we are good to go. The dive today was MUCH more successful than the other day due to the calm seas and visibiltiy. Lots of fish :-) Steve had made sandwiches up before we left the dock (we do get smarter some days) as it is really bouncy in the main cabin when there are waves but turns out it was so calm today he wouldn't have needed to do so. They were great anyway!! We had lots of company before we left: snorkelers from the Pennekamp park boats - we thought it was an invasion :-)
So Jeff Foxworth says "you may be a redneck if you have a rear view mirror on your boat" ... mmm does this really mean we're rednecks? We had picked up this convex mirror but had never used it. Very helpful for watching for fast boats coming up behind us - but it does need a better home. Somewhere in my normal line of sight instead of being attached to the flybridge canvas.
Steve also was fishing again - with good results. Two Mangrove Snappers which are cooking as I write this. Fish again??? I think I may begin to really like it! Maybe it's the freshness ..... 4 hours from swimming to plate. The marina is quite nice (and we actually are tied to a dock tonight as the boat that was here left this morning) - 3 snorkel boats and 1 tour boat.
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