Holy cow, did we ever feel like raggedy vagabonds last night! We entered Gordon Pass and took Claiborne Young's first suggested anchorage off the channel. It turns out we wandered through some of the plushest neighborhoods we have EVER seen. We ended up anchoring in a cul-de-sac about 150-200 yards wide in late afternoon as the rich folk were taking the evening air on their back lawns and patios. This has to be the place where the Fortune 500 executives came to retire starting in about the 80's or later. The evening was blissful with no insects (they wouldn't DARE disturb these folks) and no need for air conditioning and the resultant generator noise. We were as quiet as church mice and stole out of Dodge in the pre-dawn light.
I saw my first-ever tarpon rolling in the water around the boat as it fed, and I pointed it out to a nearby fishing boat. They had no luck that I could see.
As I type, the sun is coming up, and we are rolling along at 8.5 knots with a long, slow swell of about 2 feet astern providing an easy ride.
The heavy winds out of the north are still predicted for tonight and the following days, but with any luck we will be at Everglades City by 1330 this afternoon. If the weather predictions come true, we may learn lots about that place.
We continue to be quite alone as the only trawler around. We see other boats out in various pursuits upon the great waters, but none seem bound upon a journey. This is NOT a complaint, but one wonders if it is the economy, time of season (with most voyaging trawlers crawling up the east coast), or what?
We have been seeing lines of crab pot floats at an acute angle to the coast about every half mile or so making them relatively easy to dodge. It is understood that once in Florida Bay, they will be MUCH thicker.
