New Years eve cruise

Woke up Early and set sails into an unknown situation. The forecast was calling out 15 mph winds that was going to be 20+ by afternoon. I have sailed in both and there is a fair amount of difference between the to wind speeds.
Short story is , I made it to a spot(that could have easily been occupied but wasn't) and set anchors out and tied to this handy dandy mooring someone put here, all before the heavier wind picked up!!
I sailed in 3-4 foot seas all morning and now(3:46pm) are a good 5-6+ seas and choppy.
This spot I found on google maps showed a boat here. but researching further found out that there was 8 ft of water !!
I got things set up to live here a day or two and then proceeded to try some fishing, some little pcs of shrimp got me some bigger bait for later so I tried to use a lure , (setting down a baited hook) and stepped in to get the lure , when my fine furry friend decided it was edible.
She ate hook and all....
The hook was one of those little gold hooks used for bluegill and bait-fish.
3/4 in long w/ 3/8 radius.
And now I get to worry through New Years eve and beyond , waiting for her to , A. pass the hook, or B. start acting like the hook has set inside her somewhere,While listening to the wind howl and scream through the night!
Folks , this could be a bad way to start the year.
By the way, Boca Chica is an Air Force base and is about a mile east of me and the airport for key west is about 2 miles west of me....I guess it's not my first time being anchored by an air traffic zone.

I hope everyone else has  a great New Years Eve and make it home through amateur night!

on the edge of ready to go

I got things ready to go which means the inside of the boat is one big pile and not much room to move .
That's when the rain began. It rained on and off all day. It seemed to be timed so when I was in the cabin the rain would let up and when I would go up on deck it would start again....
oh well , was only gonna move about 8 mile anyway. the north wind isn't supposed to get nasty till tomorrow night.
I will just have to climb over stuff to go to sleep tonight , no big deal.
If it's raining tomorrow I guess I will just have to get the soap out , I hope there isn't a law against bathing and driving....

Mangrove tree

I was talking with my brother Sean Wiest the other day and I tried to describe what a mangrove tree looks like and failed utterly....I told him I would post a photo or 2 of them.
so here ya go Sean!

as you can see these trees have big roots and little branches.. like an upside down tree....

Cruising to Sawyer key from Little Pine key.

 

 

 

Yeah , you see, she has here dark side, but only when the sun is out....

 

 

Lil buggers are fast.....

 

This blimp , I have been told is part of the border protection in these parts. it is attached with a cord of some sort and they raise and lower it from time to time.
I think the folks here have a name for it, I just don't remember it at this time...

My dolphin/ manatee alarm.

 

Sawyer Key near Cudjoe Basin

 

 

 

Kitty was shocked when she thought it was beach and jumped off the dink only to splash into hock deep crystal clear water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 ft forward and 30 ft to the left was where the rattle snake noise was at. the dink is behind me here but I was forward from here on the other side of the grass you see...
I think I'm scarred for life.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitty got spooked of the strange boat that appeared ahead!
It didn't take her long to know a DAWGFISH when we got closer to it.

relocated

I had to move today cause last night the really low tide set me down in the gravel and the wind had me rockin so I woke to a shushing/scraping noise at around 3-4 am thinking "that dam snake followed me and is climbing aboard!!!!"
I was glad it wasn't the snake.
So I waited till the tide was going my way and motored into the wind to google coords 24.695855,-81.455102
I have a bit more water here but less protection. may try and move again tomorrow.
Heck for all I know this could be a nice spot , but since I arrived after dark I wouldn't know....
It's neat waking up to a strange surrounding that looks nothing like it did when ya went to sleep...

Exploration

Today Kitty and I went for an outing. We went to explore the backwater and beaches on the north side of Sawyer Key.
We paddled some walked some paddled some more and then saw a conopy frame laying so decided to go ashore there and check it out.
Kitty was off in an instant, it had been a while since she got to run.
I look at the campsite that was grown up with weeds and then walk around it through lower weeds to go see the gulf that was 30 ft away.
I got about 2 pictures snapped before I heard this LOUD rattling and turn to see kitty bounding towards me from out of the brush(ears back and tail tucked), that's about the time I heard the leaves crunching towards us!
This all took about a second before my mind jumped and realized this was a  reeeaaallly BIG and HUNGRY rattle snake and it was on our trail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since I couldn't see it visually that made it even worse!!
Frantically calling Kitty( hoping she don't charge to attack), she responded according to me bolting right to me and mid step towards the dink I scooped her up and took BIG hops through the low grass (hoping like hell there wasn't more snakes there) .
We get to the dink and hopped in with relief wondering if rattlesnakes swim !!
Needless to say that ended our land excursions for this island.
The water out here is clear as glass unless ya disturb the bottom where there is grass.
It was difficult to row because I was mesmerized by the sight of "see through" water. I didn't want to miss anything going by!
There is also a lot of crab trap bobbers hung up in the mangroves also, the island seems to be decorated for the holidays!
I will post some pix later when I have more signal.

Thank you!

Thank you Aunt Patty for the Christmas card!!!

Good day

I was able to move closer to the end of Florida today!
The wind pushed me right along and when I got out in the Gulf, I found out just how sheltered the archipigelo end of the keys are .
4-6 footers greeted me before I was free of Big Spanish Channel.
I eventually made it to my target of Cudjoe Basin (Sawyer Key) around 4:ish pm , but the first spot had too much wind and too much current. The second spot I found was very sheltered from both! plus it had an extra 2 bars of signal!!!
I was going to travel on tomoro but I am itching to explore the island a bit so I may delay a day .
Clean clear water and bright white sand !
It's about time!!

Constance

I dont have much signal here but I wanted to Thank my wonderful Mother who during this whole trip has maintained the upkeep on what it takes to post all these awesome pix and flix.
If you really like these things please take a moment and  leave a comment stating your thanks to my Mom, who really is a sailor at heart!
Love ya Mom! Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!

objective complete

One of my main personal goals for this trip was to go swimming on Christmas Day.
And once the shock of 45 degree water passed I was able to get cleaned up a bit , go snorkling  and get about half my hull scraped before the dun disappeared and the rain moved in.
Feeling much better!
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas also!!

Christmas Eve Cruise

Leaving Boot Key Harbor today was a test of patience. I had stayed up past 1:am trying to get things situated and get all my ducks in a row , only to finally say "enough, I'll get the rest in the morning".
I woke up as the Boot key radio net started(was hoping to be out and running by then),
 and finished prepping DAWGFISH for the likelihood of heavy wind.
I am not sure when I hoisted anchor but it was after 9:30am and I was skeptical on whether I could make it to a safe spot before the wind picked up.
I got my sail up when I got to the channel in the harbor. And creeped along at 1-1.5 mph westbound.
The float plan didn't account for that either.
I did manage to snap a shot of this cool ship that was unique to the harbor due to it's mast angle.

I stopped and tried to give Dave his camp stove back(which he gave it to me when I tried ) and said bye again.
So after finally getting out of the harbor channel markers at about 11-12 I was fairly bummed out and dreading the battle I knew was coming, until a chick on a wave runner passing waved and yelled " I am sooo jealous!"....I grinned and waved with a laugh and continued on in brighter spirits!
Leaving the confined, claustrophobic atmosphere of boot key ( which now was boasting well over 200 vessels , all bigger than mine) I see the sight of "endless expanse of water".....spirit soaring, I hoist another sail and head for the opening in the 7 Mile Bridge, and trying to think up a new Christmas song along the way!
I almost was at the bridge when the cold front (that was predicted for way later) arrived like a hammer!
The seas went from near flat to 2' chop in a blink.
Since I was kind of expecting something like this I was ready and had one sail down and one sail reefed in under 90 seconds. "Game on " I thought.
The "east northeast wind" that was predicted ended up being a north northwest wind that had my full attention for the rest of the trip .
I sailed to the opening of the 7 mile bridge and motored through into 4-5 foot chop with whitecaps blowing spray....
.....jaw clenched , motor singing and Kitty lookin at me like I was a talking cheeseburger, we motored northward to the "ICW" (which is packed with crab pots down here) catching air a time or 2 and getting more than just damp but not soaked, just wet enough to keep camera and phone below.
Upon reaching the ICW we turn west, north wind now abeam, genny reefed ship at 25-30 degree heel cruising at 4-5 Mph...... Absolutely loving ever second from that point on!!
after setting anchor by Little Pine key I got some pix finally!

 This is the bridge between Bahia Honda Key and the island the holds Boy Scout Camp Sawyer.

I saw this lil sailboat on the way in and recognized it as the same one Dave Deihl had when we sailed tandem down the Mississippi River!
It's a 23 ft Macgregor Venture and I can't seem to get away from it! I am not sure why they anchored so far out though, it'll be a rough night for em....

Looking north, Little Pine Key anchorage. 1.5 ft of water at low tide. sand bottom and a slight septic smell blowing from the north from time to time.....

finally found some clear water! I know I could see the bottom if the wind was low!

While it's not the greatest sunset, It's December 24th and I personally took this Photo wearing shorts only on a boat I learned to sail solo from Illinois to here.
I honestly couldn't wish for more.....

Seasons Greetings from Little Pine Key, Florida!

Thank You!

I'd like to thank Scott, Collette and Zoe Wiest for the incredibly packed care package.
I actually thought I was a good stacker but Ms. Collette has me beat , hands down.!!

Just to make my point this was all in the box below.

The handle you see sticking up is the handle from my "backpack with wheels" which I felt was absolutely necessary for getting this 50 + pounds of box to the ship which was about 2mi away...on foot, fortunatly there were no hills involved but the temp hit 85+ and I was soaked by the time I got it back to the marina.

Thank You!

Thank You Jennie Stilts for helping out with the new donation button!

The ol pre-paid card pile

I am not sure why I didnt think of this before , but for a few years I have been trying to find an easy way to use up the last few cents on my vanilla visa prepaid cards.
As a test I tried one on my Blog Donations button. I have it set to let contributors set their own amount.
And abracadabra! transfer complete!
Fairly easy to do also!

New Blog Gadget

Due to the difficulties with the recent activities regarding Post Office unreliability , 

I have now installed a DONATE button on the left hand side of my blog.

This button will help out when anyone wants to help out!

The button will deposit money to my Paypal account and will accept most credit cards.

If you have been wanting to help but was unsure how to go about it,

 then this may take the hassle out of the process.

I realize going to the store AND shipping things can get pricey . 

The cost for shipping a care package could be easier used in gasoline at this point anyway.

Most of you know I do not motor unless absolutely necessary, usually when it IS needed , the weather conditions warrant excessive fuel consumption for safety sake.

I am not asking for money,

 I started this trip with the knowledge that I would eventually do without a lot of things,

 on the other side of the coin,

 I would humbly accept any help that come through this button and unless otherwise specified will announce the names of the contributors, happily and with gratitude.

Thank you in advance ,

                                Rookie Sailing South,

                                      Robin Wiest

                                       Owner/Operator

                                   of

                                      DAWGFISH

New

I was recently sent some smoked oysters by Glenn and Joann Dean who I met cruising . 

I got to try some today.

I ate em out of the can using pretzel sticks to get em to my mouth. (No clean up).

I have to admit these are really tasty!!

I know they aren't much to look at but it's worth the initial bite to get to know what they taste like.

I can't wait to try em out with various other foods .

They first thought that same to mind was to wrap em in bacon! 

Will surely post the results as they appear!