22 March 2020 – Circumstances at the marina aboard NAS-Key West had begun to get tenuous, as the military, understandably, began to prioritize mission-related functions. While the marina was not closed outright (yet…), there were some policies being enacted that convinced us that we’d best find an alternate situation if we wanted to ‘stay put’, as opposed to simply pressing on North as part of a vast maritime refugee flotilla.
We were fortunate to act quickly (ahead of a very stringent Monroe County edict that effectively shut down the Keys to visitors and tourists), and secured a month lease at Skipjack Marina back in Marathon. We elected to make the move on Sunday, rather than wait until Tuesday, when wind and sea conditions would have been better.
We pulled out at sunrise, and headed out the channel for the 45 mile ride back up to Marathon.
Might not have been to perfect day to cruise, based on sea-state, but it was an undeniably beautiful day, mostly sunny with 10-15 knot winds.
We crossed water of a range of hues, along with many other north-bound boats (well, east-bound actually, here at the very end of the Keys).
The crab-fishing industry hasn’t abated much – just as many crab-trap floats to dodge, as on the way down, and watermen in their boats out collecting from those traps.
We stopped for fuel on the way into Boot Key Harbor, to make sure that our tanks were topped off for whenever we pushed onward from here. As we pulled through the mooring field, it was not quite as imposing a sight as the first time – it kind of felt like coming home, in a way, even though we were headed past our Sombrero Marina slip to a different marina this time.
Friends on a number of boats waved and called out hello as we idled past, and we were quickly welcomed in by our new neighbors at Skipjack Marina, a few of which (San Souci, Short Vacation) we already knew from meeting previously on the Loop.
Now to settle into a new routine for the next month.
