A Week in Islamorada

We pulled up the anchor 8 January and headed to Islamorada. "Islamorada" in Spanish means "Purple Island". Actually, it consists of several islands (keys): Upper Matecumba, Lignumvitae, Windley, Indian, Teatable, Wilson and Plantation keys. Eighteen miles in all. Pulling up the anchor was a little more challenging than normal because the last 30 feet of chain was covered in sea grass and the anchor ⚓ had a huge clump of sand and mud on it. Once the anchor was secured we left Tarpon Basin and went through the very narrow Grouper Creek which was lined with mangrove trees on either side.  The trip was only about 20 NM but took us through some very shallow water. The shallowest being 2' 3" below our keel. We draw four feet. The trip was beautiful (I think) but most of the time my eyes were glued to the depth gauge and navigation apps. Naturally, that was also the time when Sharon decided to start reading to me comments about a post from someone who likes bacon but doesn't like bacon grease on his [boat] stove.

Did we bring a rake?

One of the last legs was Cowpens Cut. Cowpens was named for the pens used to hold manatees, which were once used as food. For whatever reason, the ICW appears to end at marker 78 (miles 1153.7). The 'Magenta line' is still there and beyond (on the charts) but the yellow squares and triangles no longer appear on aids to navigation. From 78 to 84 we didn't have a track/route to follow -- first time since we left Maryland, but simply followed navigation aids although they were spaced VERY far apart at times. Sharon was a huge help in our final leg. 

Sharon called the marina, Coral Bay, for our slip assignment. The Netflix show "Bloodline" was filmed here. She does everything possible to help us figure out where we're going to dock. That means Google Maps, marina website, etc. Here were the directions she received: "Go through PVC poles, go past big Hatteras (Kwiki), past basin, pass motor yacht, make a left, 1st slip, bow in, port side." Naturally, we went right past that "first left" because it wasn't a slip but a canal and the motor yacht was about two feet beyond the canal entrance. So, I had to turn around in a channel about the width of our boat 🚤-- 36 feet. Somehow we did it and got docked. The slip was really nice! Lots of mangrove trees to shade us and well protected from wind and wakes.

The marina was ok. It's a working marina but we got a nice (for the Keys) weekly rate and a fantastic slip! We were instantly greeted by a couple 👫, Tom and Debbie, from Edgewater, MD who came here last February and never left. We got settled in and headed over to Lorelei's for happy hour 🍸. Lorelei's is a favorite stop of ours' when driving from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West. 

Our 'slip'

Thursday we met friends of ours from back 'home' at Lorelei's. Brandon and Karen and Mike and Anne were on their way to Key West and stopped to see us for a late lunch. Turns out, another friend of ours', Mark, lives on his houseboat  in the marina right next to ours! Small world!!! We spent the afternoon with them before they continued their journey south. 

Mark, Mike, Anne, Karen, Brandon, us at Lorelei's

Friday, we did some sightseeing and had dinner at Islamorada Fish 🐟 Company with our friend Rebecca who lives on Islamorada. She's in the process of moving to Marathon. It's always fun seeing Rebecca!

Shops, coffee cafe and Badboys Burritos

This store had some really cool stuff!

Dinner at the Fish Company with Rebecca

Saturday morning we received a text from a couple, Bill and Molly, that had pulled into Coral Bay the same day we did. They are fellow "Loopers" and invited us to have 'docktails' and join them for dinner at Badboys Burritos (right behind our marina). Badboys was good! After dinner Sharon and I headed back to the boat to watch a devastating play-off loss by the Baltimore Ravens 🏈.

Sunday, we walked about a mile to the farmer's 🚜 market -- an event Sharon can never pass up. We stopped at the Hurricane Monument along the way. The farmer's market didn't have much but we bought some cheese, fresh bread 🍞, fruit/vegetables 🍑🍅, chips, salsa and tamales. We met Rebecca there who drove us back to our boat 🚤 to drop off our food. She went grocery shopping with us at Publix. After that, the three of us stopped by her parents' house (absolutely beautiful!) and then went to the Islander Resort for lunch and some pool 🏊 time! Rebecca left around 4 and Sharon and I left around 5. 

Hurricane Monument

Farmer's Market

These iguanas were going at it in the street and
froze when Rebecca's car stopped in front of them.

Lunch and drinks at Tides Beachside Bar and Grill
at the Islander Resort

Sharon and Rebecca

We decided to swing by Lorelei's in case Mike, Anne and Mark were there.  Go figure! There they were. They were just getting ready to leave for a sunset 🌅 cruise on one of Mark's boats. Mark invited us to go along and took us past our marina/boat, another basin and through Bird Island. Bird Island was a trip! We saw hundreds of pelicans, cormorants and frigates (I'm sure there were other species) all jockeying for tree branch space. After the sun set, Mark dropped us off right at our boat. It just doesn't get any better! 

Bird Island

More Bird Island

Mark, Mike and Anne pulling away after dropping us off at our boat.

Monday was another pool day at the Islander Resort. Mark, Mike and Anne joined us for a couple of hours. We headed back to the boat to shower around 4 then headed to Lorelei's for happy hour. It turned out to be quite the happy hour with Mark, Mike, Anne, a couple Anne knew from Key Largo, Rebecca and her parents.

Beautiful beach at the Islander Resort.

Tuesday was like Monday except it was just us and fresh 'Mut' fish from Rebecca for dinner.

Wednesday morning we hit West Marine, said our good-byes to our 'live aboard' friends and went a short one hour to Lignumvitate Key. I did notice the ICW yellow squares and triangles did appear on markers around 91A. There are five mooring balls on the leeward side of the island which is a state park (naturally it was closed Wed). We grabbed a mooring ball and enjoyed beautiful turquoise water, a sunset and even had a sea turtle sighting!