Day 29 - Marathon

Ringle had decided to wait until yesterday, Monday, to leave Ft. Lauderdale and Kite had promised to wait in Marathon for Ringle to catch up. So on Sunday, Kite felt in no rush to leave Anchorage Marina for Marathon. The forecast for Sunday called for large ocean waves in the Hawk Channel south of the Keys and strong winds from the west. We decided to stay an extra day at the Anchorage Marina and helped many of our new friends from yesterday’s race with their lines as they left to return to Miami. There was a period of rain in early afternoon as we were eating lunch, and then Lyn and Peter enjoyed some time in the pool while Kevin explored the nearby surroundings on foot, and shot photos of them at the marina. Richard and Debbie aboard At Last had left Marathon on Sunday morning to return to Jacksonville, and reported to Lyn that they were experiencing uncomfortable large seas. Lyn suggested that they should take Channel Five to get into the protected waters of the ICW and anchor just outside of Anchorage Marina. They took her suggestion and were happy to be in calm seas for the remainder of their trip to Miami. They showed up at the anchorage late in the day but were unable to join us for dinner as we had hoped.

At Anchorage Marina, Key Largo, aboard Kite

Lyn and Peter at Anchorage Marina

Kite got an early 06:45 start towards Marathon on Monday, knowing she had a long way to go and would be fighting the waves and increasingly strong winds for the last 25 miles of the trip, in the Hawk Channel. She motored through the calm waters of the ICW at a decent pace of over 5 knots, and reached the Hawk Channel at 13:00. The wind was still a little northwest and the waves were under 2 feet, so we decided to sail towards Marathon even if it meant tacking a few times. The sailing was wonderful and we were averaging over 5.5 knots for about 3.5 hours. Then the wind shifted to southwest, the direction we wanted to go, and freshened as the accompanying waves got bigger and bigger. We furled the head sail and trimmed the mainsail in tight and motored directly into the increasing waves and wind, as our speed diminished to under 4 knots. It was frustrating to see the boat going so slowly and being unable to do anything to speed up.

Enjoying brisk sailing in Hawk Channel

On top of that, we saw some rain storms brewing on the horizon and sure enough, at 18:30 we were caught in a sudden downpour and increasing winds for about 5 minutes. We tried to furl our mainsail, but it jammed and we had to come up into the wind and let it flog in the wind until the storm passed five minutes later. Peter was then able to unjam the furling system and we furled the mainsail and motored on, pounding through the waves at under 4 knots for another hour until we, finally, got to our mooring in Boot Key Harbor, otherwise known as Marathon. We were soaked but happy to be in a safe harbor, and celebrated at dinner with glasses of red wine. Shortly after we arrived, at sunset, Lyn blew the traditional note on her conch shell, and it was returned from many boats in the crowded harbor.

Happy to be safely at mooring at Marathon

Today, after a delicious breakfast of sausage and pancakes, Kevin and Peter inflated and launched the dinghy, and we all took a dinghy ride to the City Marina to register for 3 nights on the mooring, including last night. We also walked a mile to Publix to shop for meat and fresh produce, (and more beer) and then took an Uber ride back to the marina with our groceries. Back aboard Kite we ate a late lunch and rigged her shade cloths against the hot afternoon sun. Kevin and Peter took the dinghy back to the marina to fill Kite’s spare propane tank and buy some ice cubes for evening drinks. When they returned, the entire crew enjoyed a swim in the warm, clear waters off Kite’s stern.

We are looking forward to the arrival of Ringle in Marathon tomorrow afternoon.