Sailing to the Dry Tortugas, Day 1

We convinced the folks to come at 9:00pm (after Survivor, of course!) on
Wednesday night, since we had a 5:00am wake up call.  They're
all smiles now, with the excitement of their first ocean voyage on a
sailboat.  We had a good laugh over Mamaw's phone call with her sister.
C:  "Be sure to pack your umbrella and sunscreen."
M: "I already got the sunscreen packed, but why do I need an umbrella?"
C:  "In case it starts raining, of course."
M:  "Oh, if the weather gets bad, I'll just go down below."
C:  "You mean to tell me their boat has a basement?!"

Coffee made, and lines were casted off at 5:30am.  We made the
Seven Mile Bridge at daybreak. We let the old folks sleep in! :)))

A picture of the sunrise, this time.  I'm normally sound asleep this
time of day :)  It looks to be a gorgeous day for sailing!

M:  "This is just great!"  Mamaw had her morning coffee, was served
a good breakfast, and was 'babying' Willis, who was already looking seasick.

Willy T was glassy-eyed and panting like a wild cat.  At least he had the
good sense to come out in the cockpit for some fresh air.  If only we
could train him to keep his eyes on the land...we're sailing about
five miles off shore, coming down through the Keys.



Donnie gave Paps a lesson in taking the wheel. He did alright :)
You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!!  (and his Dramamine worked
like a charm the whole trip, no sea sickness for him.)

As we were rounding Key West, we passed this fishing charter boat.
We saw some people on the stern pulling in a fish or two.

There's a group of islands further west of Key West called Boca Grande.
One of them is privately owned; with just one house, a few tiki huts,
their own private beach, and one very long dock.  I wonder who
owns it, and how much THAT cost them?!

Land ho!  After 12 hours of motorsailing, (the wind was directly on our
stern, we really needed a spinnaker sail) and over 75 miles, we reached the
Marquesas Islands.  They are a tiny group of islands, all are uninhabited,
but provide good coverage from the weather and a sound anchorage.

We set foot on Marquesas Islands!  The namesake of our Marquesa.
That was very cool, not gonna lie.

"What do you think, Pop, you just made your first ocean sail to
an island in the middle of nowhere!"  Paps was all smiles.
The boys took off exploring...

I went the other direction...walking down the beach looking for treasures.

This was taken on the beach in about two inches of water.  Every tiny
shell had a creature, I couldn't believe it.  The corals were beautiful.

This little hermit crab was trying to make a great escape! Each
time I tried to approach him to take a picture, he'd hide deep in his shell.

Mamaw chose to stay on the boat rather than going
ashore to explore.  She wasn't quite ready to tackle
getting on and off the dinghy.  This was a great view
our boat coming back from ashore.  Paps brought her
back a seashell from the beach, how sweet.

 Willis was worn out from the twelve hour tour.  He was
happy to be sleeping on a boat that was not rocking :)

After burgers on the grill for dinner, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
No green flash, as you can see there were low lying clouds on the horizon.
All in all, Day 1 of our little sailing trip was a success!