Key West

We finally made it to Key West yesterday and tied up to the end of a dock.  It's an unusual arrangement for us.  There is not really a face dock here so we have our stern tied to the outer most piling of the first slip on the main dock and our bow tied to a piling at the end of the main dock.  It works, sort of, but we have to step over the lifeline at the bow in order to exit the boat.  At low tide it is a exercise in gymnastics.

On the way here we anchored in Newfound Harbor, about half way between Marathon and Key West.  There we met a fellow cruiser who lives in that area when she's on land.  We had first met her last fall when we were bringing the boat down from NC.  We were both anchored in a remote creek somewhere in SC and enjoyed sundowners together.  One of the really positive things about cruising on a boat is that you meet the nicest people.  The cruising community spreads out all over the world and you never know when you will run into again some people you met at another time and in another place.  Even if you didn't meet the people on a particular boat, when you see the boat again in a different place, it is a little like seeing an old friend.

Tom had his fishing lines out on the way to Key West and caught this nice Spanish mackerel which we promptly cooked for dinner that night.  He's been reading everything he can find and talking to different people about fishing and it must have paid off.