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.