Not All Travel Days Will Be Lumpy

We leave Key West Bight Marina in the morning and have a beautiful run east. The wind has died down and the seas are calm. We are headed to Bahia Honda State Park. We know the depth in the docking area is 12-15 feet with only a foot or so of tide. However, there is a small channel to get into the park and the chart data marks it as 3 feet. Our draft is 4.5 so even at high tide it is unlikely we could cruise in. I call the Dockmaster's office and speak with Melissa. She is extremely kind and helpful which is refreshing after our experience at KW Bight. She tells me that the canal was dredged after hurricane Irma so the depth is about 4.5 feet at median tide. Noteworthy - sandbars move with the tides. The ocean will pick them up and move them with the push and pull of the water so sandbars can be unpredictable. We have seen several boats sitting on sandbars. If they are lucky, they stay balanced and upright and just wait for high tide to float them off. Also, Floridians talk about Irma. It seems each person has a story and enjoys sharing it.

Like I said, we have a beautiful run to BH State Park. We can see Fort Zachary and the shoreline of the beach we were on yesterday. It's a fun perspective. When Gord and I have been fortunate enough to go on a tropical vacation, we've often watched the boats cruising just off shore and as they disappear out of sight, wondered where they were headed. Now Holy Cow and the Jopling crew are one of those off shore boats and we are headed to Georgian Bay.

Today is a great travel day, we sing, listen to music, we can move around the boat and the security team (dogs) is allowed on the back deck to enjoy the wind in their face.

We pass the southwestern Keys, island after island and admire the bridges. There are 18.8 miles of bridges from mainland Florida to the Keys. I think a total of 42 bridges! As we approach the Bahia Honda Rail Bridge we see a cut where we can get through to the bay just outside the state park. We also see what we think is a large size boat disappear around the

corner into the short canal to the docking area. Maybe we can get in now too. I call the Dockmaster and Melissa answers again. We let her know we are approaching the park and we ask her about the boat that just pulled in. She offers to find out what their draft is and she will call us back. We are hopeful. When the phone rings, it's Melissa to tell us that the 44' Carver that just entered

only draws 3.5 feet so we decide to anchor in the bay and wait out high tide. It's good practice for us. We need to get a feel for this Rocna anchor. It doesn't set the same as the anchor we had on the Silverton. This time, when we anchor, the Rocna sets in a more aggressive manner which is always a good feeling. As Holy Cow's nose locks into place, the boat swings around and the chain makes a lovely metal twang. We are set.

Gord and Jaxon work on getting the dinghy off the bow. I start on lunch. The plan is to have a snack and then Gord and Jaxon are going to check the depth in the small canal leading into the park. After lunch, Gord marks up a telescoping pole in 12" increments so he can plunge it in the channel to get a better gage of how much room we have to spare under the props. It's just about high tide so Jaxon and Gord zip over. Brodie wants to go too, but he is left behind.

The boys bring back good news when they return. There's six feet of water in the channel so we pull up anchor to head in. In salt water, we've been told the chain on Holy Cow gets bunched up in the anchor locker sometimes. Apparently this doesn't happen in fresh water. The anchor chain seems to be rolling up smoothly, but suddenly a pile of chain starts forming on the deck. The Windlass is bringing up the chain but it has nowhere to go. Gord and I are talking on our iPhones. Because of the distance between us when I am on the bow and the glassed in helm, we are unable to talk to each other without communications devices. Headsets are in our future. Although we've never watched the show, I feel like this puts us one step closer to an episode of "Below Deck." I let Gord know the chain is jammed and I hurry back to the cockpit, inside the boat and up to the V-berth where the anchor locker is. Once opened, it's easy to see the chain just needs a little tug and it falls in place as it should - so back out to bow I go.

On Holy Cow, I control the anchor chain by two foot pedals. On the Silverton, Gord controlled it at the helm. I start to bring in the chain, another pile forms on the deck. Back to the anchor locker for me. This could be a job for the deck crew, but we left Jaxon in the dinghy so he could drive it in when we dock and I don't want Brooklyn doing it on her own incase of a squished finger. It's an easy fix, although it happens three more times. Back and forth and I go until the anchor is finally up and locked into place. It's funny what comes up with the anchor. In Georgian Bay it's muck, clay and weeds. Here it seems like a muddy concrete mix of sand and shells.

Gord steers Holy Cow towards the canal and I stay on the bow to watch the water as we pass through. It's unnerving because it is reasonably shallow, but the water is so clear, the bottom is visible which gives the illusion of exceptionally shallow water. I think I hold my breath. Gord looks relaxed at the helm and lets me know that the electronics tell him we have 1.3 feet under the props. We cruise into the docking area with dockhands smiling and there to help. Gord puts Holy Cow on the dock with ease and we tie up. We chat to the team that helped us arrive and then get to the chores that need to be done upon arrival including hosing down Holy Cow. Jaxon hoses the boat and Brooklyn is in charge of squeegeeing the windows. Great team work!