92 miles today- Holy Cow!

The good news of the day, we made 92 miles.  The bad news of the day was tonight's attempt at docking in hard dark, in an unfamiliar marina, with no lighted bouys resulted in Divorce Docking 101.  Not our finest moment....

A steady east wind all day, and a full jib thrown out, kept us going at a pretty good clip!  We went right at 7 miles an hour all day, sometimes even more.  Better yet, it was a comfortable sail, too.  Mind you, this was motor sailing, of course, but Bessie continues to surprise us with an easy start without a wrench whipping.

Look closely at about 2 o'clock- a dolphin!  I have tried for days to capture
a picture of one, but Donnie says they must be part Amish :)

No sooner had I snapped my pic, then we passed this boat- I needed
the guy's camera up on the bow of this dolphin research boat.

We passed by lots of pretty unspoiled little islands- reminded me of Survivor!

...and lots of 'spoiled' mansions.  Their guest house is bigger than our log cabin!

Even Willis came out for a peek about.

We couldn't see any baby ospreys in this huge nest. Willis was looking hard.

As the day wore on, we were clearly making good time, so we decided to make a run for Nettles Island Marina on Hutchinson Island.  92 miles today.  We called ahead for reservations, knowing full well everyone would be gone by the time we got in- after dark, again.  I went down and made hamburgers, baked beans and sweet potato fries for supper, and we ate just as the sun was setting.  Then darkness set in- quickly.  It was a challenge trying to navigate with narry a lighted marker to be found.  I resorted to sitting on the bow, with flashlight in hand, trying to call out markers and directions for Donnie.  Little did I know the bigger challenge was trying to get off the ICW and in to the Marina.  A sharp left after the #1 marker, (that we could not see), and it seemd the marina was straight ahead.  NOPE.  A residential community with private docks was straight ahead.  About halfway in, we realized our error, and Donnie kicked it in high gear- in reverse- as there was no turning around room in the dark.  A quick consult of the map, a few choice words, a flashlight or two on a marker or two, and we seemed to be back on track.  Soon the marina was upon us.  I wish I could say we quietly and safely docked...but this was Divorce Docking 101.  We've got to come up with a better system.  Better yet, it's best to dock while the sun is still up.  It's all good.  We've had showers, the laundry is all clean, and we've made a decision.....

We are continuing south, and not taking the Okechobee Waterway.  This will put us in Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow, we hope, and into Key Biscayne the day after.  It seems we will make it to Banana Bay very close to February 1st afterall.  We plan to anchor out the next couple of nights, so no blog.  I'll catch y'all up the next time I pick up a WiFi.  Till then...