Saturday, December 5, 2020
Smathers Beach, Key West, FL
ODOMETER: 80,549 | MILES TRAVELED: 2,604
by Grant
We have booked a Jet Ski tour with Key West Water Tours where we get to circumnavigate the island and it’s an absolute blast!!
It’s a two hour excursion and we got a guided tour in the best socially distanced scenario possible. Ellie rode with me and Jack skippered while Jana took photos and video. Ellie said it was like going to an amusement park AND getting a guided tour all at once.
Our tour guide, Kyle, was great and we learned a lot about the island’s history. Most importantly, it solved the riddle of why the Southernmost Buoy point is actually not the most southern point. Apparently the military added onto the island in the 90’s (read more here).
It started raining just as we finished the circumnavigation so we headed back to the RV to dry off. Jana dived back into the website and it feels as if every spare moment she’s spending trying to get it established and up to date, which is a mammoth task. I spend the afternoon replacing the cracked sink in the RV. It was cracked when we bought Thelma, but we didn’t realize it was leaking until well into the trip. Jana continues her massive project of building this blog website.
The wind has finally died down, so Jana and I FINALLY grab our paddle boards and do a sunset paddle across the bay toward the Boca Chica Marina. AMAZING!! A simply brilliant sunset with lots of wildlife above and below the surface.
It is so good to paddle again and awesome to be able to see the bottom of the bay. That said, when your fin’s dragging on the bottom seeing that far is not that difficult. There are lots of shallow sections along this channel. When we cross the navigable channel, we spot a big shark swimming under the boards. The sight of this 8’ predator under the boards definitely gets some adrenaline moving. I’m sure he had his sights on other tastier things though.
We arrive back at the beach at Boyd’s after sunset and have a simple dinner and we all watch “The Beach Bum (R)” which is largely set in Key West. It was a great day on the water and a lovely night in Key West.
There are lots of shallow sections along this channel. When we cross the navigable channel, we spot a big shark swimming under the boards. The sight of this 8’ predator under the boards definitely gets some adrenaline moving.
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We are currently sailing the South Pacific to Australia.
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