Goodbye to the Keys

The time has come for us to leave the Keys. We need to go to Miami to prepare for our next adventure. It takes us two days to make the journey, one day from Marathon Key to Key Largo, the next day from Key Largo to Miami. The boat in general goes about 5 knots, which is about 6 mph—a slow jog for those athletically inclined.

The first day there was no wind at all so we had to motor. We put out two trolling lines and within the first hour we had caught our dinner for the night– a nice Spanish Mackerel.

We still have a lot to learn about fishing. Kim expected me to reach inside that mouth with all those teeth and get the hook out. However even with gloves on I was hesitant. So I carefully used the pliers and just as I grabbed the hook the fish shook its head back and forth. The hook tore an area in the floor of its mouth, and as it shook its head it splattered blood everywhere! We quickly put it in a bucket, dumped some alcohol on its gills and it died. Then spent the next 30 minutes cleaning the blood off the boat, little specks of blood all over me, all over Kim, all over the back of the boat.

Look closely, there is blood everywhere!

We had some extra time in the afternoon so we stopped for lunch and a quick snorkel break.

We finished the day with some fresh fish on the grill, and anchored at Rodriguez Key right off Key Largo.

The next day was a beautiful sailing day, a beam reach (meaning the wind was coming over the side of the boat) for most of the day. We hung out, streamed some church, had a beautiful sail. I love travelling for free.

Unity on the Space Coast with Rev. Roxanne

We had one incident as we were sailing. We needed to jibe and I was working the traveller, holding those lines. The traveller changes the direction of the boom, which swings from one side to the other and turns the boat. I all of a sudden blanked and couldn’t remember which line I needed to tighten and which line I needed to release (don’t tell Capt Jen). I’m standing there thinking “ok so the green line controls the starboard and the red line controls the port and the wind is coming to starboard to port and we want it to go from port to starboard then we want to loosen the red one, no wait the green one, no maybe the red one”. In the meantime we are barreling towards the shallows. I asked Kim, “Which one do I release?”. She hopped down from the helm and quickly opened correct line lock to release the traveller. Unfortunately I was still holding onto the line, without gloves. The line jerked through my hand, causing a pretty nasty rope burn. I yelled, Kim felt terrible even though it wasn’t her fault, kids came running. We put ice on my hand, I got a decent blister. I should have been wearing gloves, or not holding onto the line, I know better. Fortunately it was a minor injury, and a good opportunity for us to work on our communication, a time of tears and forgiveness, and a reminder that I need more practice jibing so it becomes second nature.

This is sailing, this is boat life. Highest of highs, lowest of lows—my opinion a lot more highs than lows. It was good to have two days of reinforcing our favorite parts of being on the boat: beautiful water, nice breeze, sailing, snorkeling, and fishing— with a little fish blood and rope burns mixed in just to keep it real.

12 Comments

  1. Awe! God Bless you all! So good to see pictures of you all! Be safe!

  2. Seems like there’s always a little bad with all the “best” good we have in life.😎❤️❤️

  3. I love you all! Will you let me aboard if you see me swimming next to your hull! 🏊🏻‍♀️🏄🏻‍♀️

  4. You had me laughing with the fish story, killing it with alcohol. 😂

  5. Will Skipper go potty on the boat?
    Water and sky look beautiful.

    • Yes. Skipper has a little tray that used to have fake grass on it but now doesn’t. We put it on the back near the transom and that’s where he goes. Easy to bucket rinse once he’s done.

  6. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. I have never gone fishing so I probably would be wringing my hands dancing on tippy toes with anxiety on how to remove the fish! Love your family update

  7. Bill could teach you a lot of those things about fishing. I believe they throw the poor things on ice. I won’t even touch a fish,so good for you! And, Bill will be happy you are your catch! He’s a big catch and release guy!! What great adventures! I used to just love snorkeling! I want my grandkids to have that experience, esp on a reef!
    The funny stories will stick with you to be enjoyed over and over–like Bill hoisting the anchor perfectly but it wasn’t tied to the boat, or having a hook in his hand removed at a beautiful resort, our little boat tied up amongst the yachts, by an older doctor with one eye!
    Enjoy and be safe! Love to all!!

    • We do throw back what we don’t eat. And once we have our fish to eat that day we bring in the trolling lines. No point in catching another one—we don’t have enough room in our freezer.

  8. Overall, sounds like an amazing journey.

    Order a “fish lip gripper” from Amazon, and thank me later.

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