Boca Chica to Marathon

It was only 5 hours, but it felt like a "marathon." We left Boca Chica Sunday morning after a lot of weather study by Mark and John, in conditions we felt were "doable".  We vacillated back and forth on whether we should head out or not. (Did I mention that John left us here to drive home? Smart guy!) It was doable, but there's a world of difference between doable and enjoyable! The waves were 2-3 feet- that may not sound like much, but depending on where the waves hit the boat, 2-3 feet can be plenty uncomfortable. We pitched and rolled the entire trip. We have a Coleman cooler in the fly bridge tied from one of its handles to the table pedestal to keep it secure. The motion of the boat was enough to break off the handle in short order. Yikes!

Then there were the crab traps. We cruised 2-3 miles offshore, and those tricky things were sprinkled randomly everywhere. They were difficult to spot in the breaking waves- especially those with white markers. We had several close calls, so it certainly was not a boring ride! Sighting the Seven-Mile Bridge was certainly welcome, and entering Boot Key Harbor had us breathing a huge sigh of relief. I don't have a single photo documenting our wild ride, since taking pictures was out of the question. We were not in any danger, just uncomfortable.

Maybe we are wimps, but we took yesterday off to recover our wits. We took a long walk to Home Depot and otherwise relaxed. Today we will tackle a few things on our list of boat chores. It looks like we will be here a few days waiting for the wind to subside.

Sailboats in Boot Key Harbor