Departure Day

Marina Hemingway

The internet is spotty in Cuba most days and some days nonexistent.  Well, of course, on the day when we REALLY need to check the weather the internet is nonexistent.  And we had lots of company - seems everyone was looking for that window to return to Key West.  All we could do at that point was rely on the last weather report we had and pray that nothing had changed.  So.. on Thursday the 14th of January we made the decision to bite the bullet and leave on Friday.  Friday morning we headed to the Marina office to settle up the bill.  The harbormaster told us we needed to take off - weather was coming on Saturday and if we dallied we would be in trouble.  Even though a couple of weeks had passed the gale on the way to Cuba was still fresh on our minds - we were not looking to repeat that experience.  Several others had decided to wait until Saturday but we heeded the harbormasters advice and set sail.  

Talaria docked at Marina Hemingway

We were finally able to depart around 1030 and the weather was fine.  Good wind and lots of sunshine.  Around 1400 we started to see a squall line heading straight for us.  We put a reef in the mainsail and in the next minute it was upon us.  It got very rough for a bit but fortunately it was short lived!  The rest of the day and night was fairly smooth sailing.
By 2330 we were seeing the lights of Key West!!  Yippy!  We decided to try and slow down a bit in order to reach Key West in daylight.  But we quickly decided that was futile and we would just enter Hawks Channel in the dark and do our best to dodge the crab pots.  By 0230 we had reached Hawks Channel and were making our way to Marathon.    

  

Some other folks that visited Marina Hemingway - they left their mark!

By 0930 we had reached Marathon and were safely tied up to the dock.  And by early evening we were thanking our lucky stars that we had left as the weather turned wicked.  Fierce 30 plus knot winds all from the north would have made it very difficult to make any headway.  We were never so happy to be having cocktails in the safety of the marina as we were that evening!!  And no-one dared mention that we had departed on a Friday - all sailors know that leaving for a trip on a Friday is bad luck.  When we got back we all mentioned it and acknowledged our fear of that departure day.  And then we congratulated ourselves for beating the odds!