The green flash

When we decided to call it a day after leaving Everglades City that morning we pulled into a great little spot in Rabbit Key Pass only to find Roger and Patty Martin there on their boat Presto. They had us over for tea. Seriously. Steve and I rowed over to say hello on the recommendation of Michael and Ida. And they had us come on board for tea. Great couple. And somehow the green flash came up in conversation. So here's a pic from all of us watching for the green flash that night.  

Everglades city

So before entering the Wilderness Waterwsy we spent a great night docked at the Everglades Isle RV park and Marina. This allowed us the splurge on a great Bfast the next morning befor heading off to what will forever be called the African Queen portion of our trip. Thank goodness this is the only alligator I saw.  

Pop top

So when it's nice out, this is what the Poptop is supposed to look like.   Lots of ventilation. 

The FL state bird

The mosquito. It's and old joke but good gawd. We have spent two whole evenings where all we do is fortify our boat trying to close up every possible way in.  The two hour killing spree really did me in. For every one you got two more could be fond sucking away on your person some where else. We are both covered in bites. This pic shows dirty laundry being used as gap filler/mosquito netting.  

He's not gonna be happy till he runs us aground

So down here in the Everglades there's this thing called the Wilderness Waterway. Ever hear of it? Yeah, me neither. It's this route that kayakers and canoers and super eco challenge type folks get a hard on for. And Steve got told by his brother Matt (who fits the description above) that ELF, our 24 foot Neptune, would fit through this waterway so we should go check it out. When asked if I was interested my response was I was up for it but under no circumstances was I interested in an African Queen moment of having to slog our boat through the brush. My name in Kate but Kate Hepburn I am not. Now here's a pic. Last one I got a chance to take before I was too busy keeping the branches out of the way of our boat. Yep that's a 10 feet wide waterway, our boat is 8 feet wide.   Oh and did I mention it was shallow? Like scrape the keel while hunting and pecking our way through no water. So yeah we ran aground but only once. 

We survived and I saw a Spoonbill, like super up close, so now that I'm sitting in a nice protected cove with turtles swimming around I guess I can say it was worth it. I guess. 

1st world problems

So the engine was giving us a bit of a resistance and we damaged a turnbuckle when raising the mast. So we decided to stay an extra night in our Hyatt slip. So of course we had to check out the pool! 

Lopez River

We choose not to fight the shallows on Chokoloskee Bay and instead fought the flood current to exit Everglades City.  With sails and motor, we were only making about 3 knots despite running at hull speed through the water.

Once out in open water, it was a lumpy beat against south wind. Just as we were turning north toward a sheltered anchorage, the wind started gusty irradically and we dropped the main.  I was impressed with the boat's ability to point within 50-60 degrees of the wind and maintain a slight weather helm while flying only the #2 jib.

We were lucky enough to find Roger and Patty Martin anchored in their Presto 30 in the same spot.  Having been introduced to them via email by Ida Little (thanks Ida!), We rowed over for an afternoon visit that was the highlight of our day.

We got to watch the sun sink into the gulf and for the first time in my life had a chance to watch for the green flash. No luck this time, but hopefully there will be more opportunities as we continue down to the Keys.

19.30 NM at 3.9 KT over 4:58.  Total odo 218.03 NM. Next, it's up the Lopez River to the wilderness waterway.