More Visits, Parties and Key West

End of February brought better weather and more visitors. First up was a looper party (go figure).

There is a couple who winter in Marathon on their boat that did the loop several years ago. Seven years ago they began hosting a looper "Sunset Celebration" every year for those of us in the area. This includes people contemplating the loop who happen to be in the area. We all bring appetizers and the sponsors provide the drinks and cover the band. This year there were over 160 people attending....that's almost double the number that complete the loop each year! Several of us from Faro Blanco Marina went by dinghy and a good time was had by all (I think).

Hello, My Name is.....

Next up was a visit from friends Vickie and Bryan who decided to get away from the cold north weather for awhile. Problem was it wasn't cold when they left Cincinnati but was when they got back, oh well....I think they enjoyed the lower latitudes anyway. You regular readers will remember them from the Nashville trip last summer. I think they now have the "most nights on Chasing 80" award. As most visits began we took them to Sunset Grille to get acclimated, I think we must sit in the same seats every time!

Also we took the trip to Key West as we did with all the visitors. It would be a shame to be this close and not get to see it! I believe they had fun taking the quick tour around town, I know Jill and I did!

What did he say?

Next up was another visitor from our old marina in Cincinnati, Troy or as his friends call him T-Roy.
We can't go in to many details of his visit since this is a family blog but I believe he may have had the best visit of all....

While he was here I had a few boat bottoms to clean and he jumped right in to help (not the water). If I ever start to make money diving I may have to hire him as an assistant. I'm pretty sure he was ready to find a job and move down here after his stay. The wind had been blowing from the north again so the diving was a bit interesting with all the sea grass.

Creature From The Black Lagoon

Most of the loopers here had been scheduled to leave on March 1st but for one reason or another most extended their stay by a few days. Funny thing is the restaurant scheduled the unveiling of their new menu party for the 2nd....coincidence? I think not. We finally got some free food and drinks out of this place and made the most of it.

Well, the next day and after a bit more than 2 months in Marathon we finally got underway. Most folks began heading up the Keys toward Miami and points north...not Jill and I. We decided it would be a shame to be this close to one of our favorite towns and not take the boat, so we headed toward Key West for the weekend....we thought.

7 Mile bridge

It was great to be moving again and a nice smooth ride down the outside to Key West. Once we passed under the 7 Mile bridge we were officially in the Atlantic Ocean. A short 5 hours later and we were passing the southern most point in the US and making the turn into the Key West ship channel. That's a pretty cool thing to be doing in our own boat I will say....

Key West Harbor

The "plan" was to be here till Monday but Mother Nature decided to kick up the winds so we'll be staying put until at least Friday. Our friends Ed & Kyle were here at another marina and left yesterday morning to head toward Ft. Myers...they are now docked next to us waiting for the winds to calm down too. Ed said it only took one time to stuff the bow into a wave to remind them that this is pleasure boating and there is no need to be on a schedule....wise man.

I know it's hard to be sorry for us being "stuck" in Key West but don't be surprised to see me starting a GoFundMe page after more than a week here...it may blow the whole March budget!!

Find Chasing 80

Come Friday you can start tracking us again as we head up the keys toward south Florida.

Until next time...