Captain TomCat

As usual, Salty was happy to have a lap to sleep in. 

The first night, Sunday, Mar 6, we spent at the foot

of the 7-mile bridge.

Cruise ship docks at Mallory Square.  There must have been two of them full of nothing but twenty-one year olds!  Duvall Street was crawling with them!

Coming in to Key West Bight in our lttle rubber boat.  How cool is that?

Got in just in time to have a drink with Jim and Shirley! 

Of course, Tom was right at home!

I'd heard the Key West wasn't dog friendly any more (look at the sign over the door).  I guess dogs can't read.

The Schooner Wharf will still let them belly up to the bar, thank goodness for Salty!

Spent the night in the Marqueses, nothing really there but a bunch of white pelicans!  At dawn, Wed March 9, we left for the Dry Tortugas.  Here's a first look at Fort Jefferson.

It has a moat all the way around it.

Huge open courtyard inside the walls

You know, he's thinking: "How can I get this big cannon on my boat?"

Got back to Key West on Thursday evening.  Some of us thought it was good to be back in civilization, some of us could have stayed in the middle of nowhere for a couple more days :-)

Anyway, got back just in time to be greated by the Coast Guard!

Actually, they were towing that schooner out.  Don't know the whole story.

We enjoyed some raw oysters with Weener and friends at the Half Shell.

Here's to a successful voyage!

Day two: Monday Mar 7.  Coming in to Key West.

If you look really hard, to the right of the lighthouse , is the 'Southernmost' monument. (That red spot)

Cheapest parking spot in Key West.  6 bucks for the whole day!  Can't beat it!

And we think we finally came up with an answer to an age old question:

Check out this video on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBBq8y-puqM

I guess you had to be there, but we laughed about that for days!

Someone from Fortville Indiana has been here!

Next morning, Tues Mar 8, we were on our way.  Next stop: the Marqueses!

Nice protected anchorage with a few other people.

Lady Triana anchored in the background, just under the light!

Left for Key West, via the Marqueses, that afternoon.  We were cruising along just fine, admiring this interesting line of clouds that was forming behind us.  It ended up being a big squall line with some gusty winds, but luckily, it was coming from behind us, So the Captain put a reef in the main and rolled up the jib and Lady Triana did great.  It just gave us a good shove.  Wish I had a waterproof camera because, in the middle of the storm, surfing in the waves behind us was a whole school of little spotted dolphins.  They looked as if they were really enjoying the ride, and some of them were jumping up out of the water doing flips and belly flops,  It was priceless!

Spent the night at the Marqueses again, along with a few fishing boats.  It was dead-calm after the storm passed.  Looks like their floating on air, doesn't it?

I think I lost a day in there somewhere.  That happens in the Keys all the time!

Anyway, the crew was hard at work on the trip back north. It was Salty's turn on watch ;-)

Back in Marathon, once again at the foot of the 7-mile bridge for sunset.

We did a little video, of the cannon firing especially for George.    Mind you, we didn't get any rehearsal time on this, it just kinda happened!

Check it out on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpmd3SK-gjk