FRIDAY JANUARY 8

We left Factory Bay as soon as we had enough daylight to read the numbers on the markers. The sun was shining and the seas were calm. This made for a very pleasant ride and spotting crab pots was a breeze. Saw many dophin and even saw a sailfish leap out of the water. By the time we arrived at Key West, the water was calm. The color of the water has changed to the aquamarine color of the Caribbean. After spending hours out on the open water without seeing land or even another boat, it seemed like chaos as we arrived in Key West. Jet skiers, snorkel cruise boats, parasailers, fishing boats, sail boats, jolly roger party boats, you name it! The temperature may be cold here by Key West standards, but it felt warm to us.

We got settled in to our slip. No floating docks here so had to figure out tying up to pilings again. Here is a shot of Ross securing a line around a piling. Yeee ha! High winds are expected tonight so want to be secure as possible. You always have to keep in mind the tides and that there is enough slack in the lines to accommodate it but still keep the boat from bouncing around.




We noticed some funky looking fish under the dock near our boat. I grabbed the camera and went to investigate. I’d lean over the dock and they’d be gone. I’d go to the other side and slowly lean over, and they’d be gone again. Guess they didn’t want their photo going out over the internet. I finally got some photos but still had no idea what they where. Thanks to the internet I figured out that they were Caribbean Reef Squid. They measured around 12-18 inches and travel around in small schools and are able to change their coloring in an instant. They have highly developed brains and eyesight. Their eyes are nearly as complex as humans’. I’m going to stick with the thought that it was their excellent eyesight that they could see me up on the dock trying to take their photo that made them move back and forth under the dock. Not their highly developed brain and communication ability making me do stupid human pet tricks. “Hey guys, watch what I can make that human do up on the dock!”.












Took a short walk around the area of the marina. Loads of shops and bars. Stopped for some conch fritters at one place. I’m thinking they must be a close relative to a Hush Puppy, only without corn meal and chopped conch meat added. There is lots of conch on the menus down here: conch chowder, conch fritters, cracked conch, conch ceviche. As a food source conch meat has great nutritional value and has a very high protein content. It is also known as a natural aphrodisiac! Maybe that is the reason, more than the nutritional aspects, why the Queen conch has been harvested to the extent that they are now an endangered species. There are plenty of other types of conchs so you don’t need to worry they’ll run out!