Hi from Key West!!!

Well we made it to Key West!!!!

We woke up at 5am on Wed morning and had anchor up and underway by 5.30am for the 80 mile sail from Marco Island to KW. We had good winds which were predominately 15 to 18 knots most of the way, and arrived here 12 hours later at 5.30pm. It was a long day, a little rough at times for most of the family, but the boat went well. We had a couple of 9 to 10 knot speeds right near the end as the wind really picked up.

Here is a link to the YouTube video we posted of the sail yesterday:
Video of sail to Key West


Unfortunately along the way our radar stopped working again (its been acting up over the last month), so we decided to pull the trigger on buying a new one today. A big thank you to Mac from McRigger for giving me his direct Port Supply pricing on this big ticket item. Key West West Marine did not have it in stock, but are overnight shipping it, so we should get that tomorrow. I will wait till we are in Panama to actually fit it, once I have the help from my best friends Garrick and Adrian. They are joining us around 18th May, to do the 1st part of the Pacific crossing with us. Garrick thanks for bouncing ideas and options around today to finally decide on replacement of the radar. All considered, I think a wise choice. Poor Garrick has become my sounding board for all critical decisions over the last year ;)...but it's much appreciated and valued!!!!

The other hiccup I discovered today was that our brand new main halyard had chaffed almost completely through about 1 1/2 feet down from the top of the mast. Not sure why yet, and I will go up the mast tomorrow to cut out that small section and re-tie to the top of the mast. The big thing while up the mast is to try and figure out what caused that chafe in a 3 day sailing period???

Guds did the final arrangements today with the Galapagos agent (you need permits 1 month prior to arrival) so that is now in motion and committed. My sister is wiring funds to them for us tomorrow....thanks Kim!

Last night we walked around KW in the evening...saw a great sunset off the back of the boat. Unfortunately today it rained almost all day, so we did laundry, and many boat tasks....poor kids just want to go swimming etc, and are tired of Guds and I working on the boat all the time ;)

Lastly we all want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for their interest in our trip and leaving comments on the blog. It's always nice to get feedback, updates and hear from friends and even people we have not met, so thank you all!!!!

Given the few extra unexpected tasks we need to do, we will likely only now leave KW on Sunday and head to the Dry Tortugas. We will stay there a day or two, and then likely head straight to San Blas Islands....about a 1,000 mile trip and roughly 7 days at sea. So it is important we are rested and the boat completely ready for that segment as its just Guds and I doing the sailing.

Here are a few pictures of the trip down and in Key West:

Dave and Ben facing the elements on the KW trip

An attempt to show the choppy seas

Passing the weird tower / fog horn in the middle of nowhere

Enjoying the sunset on our first night in Key West

Another Key West sunset - Thursday evening