We are on our way to Wendy and Jeff's wedding on Little Palm Island. This wedding is a little different. we won't be driving, we are sailing there!
Little Palm Island (http://www.littlepalmisland.com/) is just a little east of Key West. The only way to get to the island is by boat. We decided to take our own. Actually we have been planning this for a while and have been very excited, it's the first big trip on Carpe Vita.
The first night we stayed in Miami. It is one of the most beautiful views of a city. The hard part, when we got there to anchor. it was raining so hard we couldn't see! So we just motored real slow into the anchorage watching out the front, the radar and gps. About 20 minutes after that, it stopped and we began to look for a good place to anchor. We tried about 8 times with no success to find a place where the anchor would hold.
Then we hit another boat! But it wasn't my fault. it was under water! We came to a sudden stop and the bow of the boat surfaced!
We finally found good holding and had a wonderful view of the city for the evening.
The next day was very windy and the seas were supposed to be a little rough, so we stayed on the inside down Biscayne bay. This was our first great sail on the boat and we were thrilled with the performance of the boat. In 18-20 knot winds were were consistently over 8 knots. See the GPS proof in the picture.
We anchored just north of "Cow Pens". They got this name from when the Indians used to heard the Manatee (Sea Cows) through a narrow area in the reef. They did use the meat in their diet.
The starboard engine was having a little vibration the day before so I thought it might be air in the fuel line so I decided to see if I could bleed it. It didn't work and now we couldn't get the engine started. We decided to continue on south to Marathon on one engine and work on it there in case we needed help or parts.
It was a little stressfull. It was still very windy which is bad if we got into a difficult situation with only one engine. Going through the tight 7 Mile Bridge was very scary, but we made it and went into Marathon where we fixed the engine the next day.
The big worry is Tropical Storm Noel that is hopefully going out to sea.
We have a couple days until we have to be in Little Palm Island so we decided to take a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor. It is probably one of the largest live aboard communities in the world. No wonder at $18 per night. We are there now and we are supposed to get 40 knot winds tonight. We feel very safe here and we are glad we aren't anchored some place.
Yesterday we went to Key Fisheries to get their world famous "Lobster Reuben". Sounds strange but it is great! We discovered it on a previous trip and have been treating alot of people back in Pittsburgh, everyone loves it.
We are fortunate to be able to work here on the boat. I am working on bills and albums right now and the atmosphere is great. We have had to occasionally turn off the wind generators when the winds get high because they sound like the are going to explode!
