Long Key to Grassy Key

Day 18: Thursday, March 10, 2016

And onew more sun rise on Long Key

And the wind blew and the boat danced.  I was up several times during the anchor drag situation and found no problem.  We arose at our usual time and enjoyed bacon, eggs and the last of our bread as toast. 

After breakfast we were lounging around when Janine looked out the window and said, “The guy in the Seaward 26 is coming toward us.”  I failed to mention yesterday that this guy passed by and yelled that he was going to go into the marina to the east of us.  We agreed to talk on the radio but as the evening progressed that conversation did not occur.

As he passed by, he invited us to breakfast after he got anchored and we told him

Seabird Marina

that we had already eaten but we would accept his invitation to have coffee.  We scurried around and climbed into the Dink and headed over to Lil’ Penguin.  The skipper, Doug, is another of the single handers that we have run into down here.  He has a 2004 boat that from the outside looks exactly like ours.  Of course, although basically the same, there have been a number of different options offered over the years plus, like me, many owners do their own modifications to fit their situation.

Another Seaward 26RK - amazing

Doug owns a brick manufacturing equipment supply business in Sugar Creek, OH and supplies many folks around the country with parts and supplies.  One of his biggest customers is Ludowici Tile in New Lexington, OH and also Star Engineering.  He travels to New Lex frequently and it is amazing how many folks we know in common.  He was planning on crossing to the Bahamas but with the wind and weather as it is has decided to head on west towards Key West.

In our conversation, he talked of a really nice well protected anchorage about 12 miles west of here where he spent the night several days ago.  With the wind blowing from the southwest, it would be an easy run down there from here so we agreed to join him in the trip.

We raised the anchor at about 1:15 and head out.  With bare poles, I was blowing

Doug's Iil'Penguin

along at 4.2 knots.  We unfurled our jib and screamed along at times up to 6 knots.  We hugged the shoreline as close as we could to take advantage of the calmer waters but during the last part of the trip, we needed to travel about 2 miles off shore to avoid some shallow shoals.  That far away from shore allows the waves to build and although they were not as bad as we had encountered crossing from Cape Sable, it still made for a thrilling ride.  While in route, I checked the weather report and found that we were traveling in 20 knot winds that were gusting to 25.  This was by far the strongest wind that we have ever sailed in.  But as before, this boat handled it well.  We arrived at the Grassy Key in about 3 hours time.  It is an amazingly quiet cove surrounded by some of

the biggest homes that I have ever seen.

Doug offered Janine his Sun Shower that he had been heating on deck and she partook in what she described as a wonderful experience.  While she was cleansing, Doug and I enjoyed a beer and cheese in the cockpit of Lil’ Penguin. 

Doug doesn’t have a dinghy so we picked him up at around 6:00 and headed for the Grassy Key Beach on our way to an actual onshore dinner!  The beach turned out to be 20 yards of thick oozing seagrass that was exposed at low tide.  We sloshed out way onto dry land and made the 1.5 mile walk

One of the huge homes on Grassy Key

to the Hideaway Café in downtown Grassy Key.  This very popular resort restaurant was crowded and served by a very efficient, no nonsense staff.  The wine offered ranged in price from $26.00 to $75.00 per bottle.  There were only 2 choices at the $26.00 range with most running $40.00 or more.  Janine and I ordered a glass of the cheapest Merlot.  The waitress told us that we might as well buy a bottle because 2 glasses was almost a full bottle.  We declined, assuming that the per glass cost would be close to the full bottle price. 

The special was hog fish prepared a number of ways and Janine opted to have it baked in a white wine/lemon sauce of some type and I had a whole roast duck.  We both had a salad and a bit of mashed potatoes, carrots and 8 green beans. Truly, it was an elegant meal.  I brought home 1/2 of my duck wrapped in aluminum foil formed in the shape of a duck!

We walked back to the dinghy in total darkness, motored back to the boats and called it a night at about 9:00.  A fun day!