Jan 6, 2015

We left at 0730 in low tide and in the middle of a wide channel, bumped the ground at 6.8 feet.  Good thing all we did was bump, cuz it was disturbing my nap.  We had a long day at sea, but Rich and Kathy apparently had fun playing a game called "Dodge the Crab Pots".  They play it with their autopilot to make it more fun, but it just makes me dizzy.  There were some breaks along the way, but there were fields of them for miles.  That was somewhat entertaining, as was watching the flying fish.  Yes, you heard me, FISH that FLY!!!  Man, they were all over and looked like when Rich skips a rock across water.  Then a huge sea turtle popped up right before us.  Rich said his head was as big as a football.  He went back into the water before Kathy could take a picture of him.  Pretty cool, but I missed a lot of beauty sleep today with all this action.   Bitts must look out of the other side of the boat, and just watch because she is awfully quiet.  For those of you complaining about the cold, well let me tell you that wearing this fur coat in a no wind condition is not fun either.  Kathy had to pour water on us and herself to stay cool.  We went to anchor in the "Little Shark River" in the Everglades.  The wind picked up nicely and Rich and Kathy had a beautiful sunset and "Happy Hour".  Speaking of that, I don't understand what this "happy hour" thing is all about, as they seem happy most of the time.  Anyway, the sun went down, the breeze stopped, and a fog of mosquitos descended on all of us.  To Bitts and I it was just annoying, but to Kathy it was hell.  We all had to go inside and had to shut the hatches and port lights (windows), which made it really hot.  Then to make it worse, it rained and the humidity was killer.  Kathy's face looked like she was having triple hot flashes, and if it were not for the fans on the boat, I think she would have fainted.  She actually had to take a cold shower, and sounded like Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle" while in there.   There was just no getting cool.  Bitts and I got to sleep in the cabin, due to the mosquitos.  Kathy said she could hear one buzzing around her head so had to keep the fan on most of the night.  We were all glad to leave here this morning, and head south to Marathon.  Note, we all think the river should be renamed "Big Mosquito River", after all, it is in the Everglades, and we did not see any sharks.