With Christmas around the corner, Randy and I decided to get away from the marina for a quick weekend trip. This was also a great opportunity to test out our new windlass system that we had installed a couple weeks ago. We headed out Saturday morning, December 22nd, and planned to come home the morning of Christmas Eve to spend time with our families. Randy’s father, John, also came along for the ride.
Once we reached Merwin Key, we were able to get anchored successfully. The weather that day was very windy and at a high of 66 degrees, very cold (by Floridian standards)! I stayed indoors to keep warm and fired up the generator to make a pot of chili. We had a quiet and peaceful evening. The next morning was gorgeous and thankfully, not as windy or cold. Randy and his father worked on a boat project or two in the a.m. before we headed out on our kayaks in the afternoon.
Kayaking in the area is fantastic. There is plenty of wildlife in the area for fishing, taking photos or sightseeing. We spotted an abundance of dolphin, manatee and birds as well as fish.
We made it home around noon on Christmas Eve with Just enough time to clean up the boat and head to my sister’s house to spend the evening with family. We are really looking forward to our next big trip to Cayo Costa (from Dec. 27th-30th) and then on to Palm Island Marina to spend New Years with friends.
Looks like a great trip! Amazing photos of the pelicans- especially in flight and taking off. The ibis is beautiful too. And how did you catch that “Johnny in his usual pose” photo? A rare shot indeed. Poor Sophie, left alone on the Blue Turtle. . .