Matt: As our time out here in Florida is drawing to an end, we thought it would be good to do a quick blog posting covering all the great things we have been up to over the past three weeks. Jess came out first on December 22nd and I joined the party after Christmas on the 27th so the first thoughts on Christmas aboard a sail boat will be all Jess' work!
Jess: My first week was great! We went to Key West, and got the boat ready for Christmas. My favourite part of it was sitting in the sun, using the dingy, checking out Marathon and exploring Key West (and of course Christmas). Christmas day was great because we opened all the presents on deck in the bright sunshine plus i got eggs Benedict and a full turkey dinner. The day Matt got out here we went to Miami and had dinner on South Beach at a great Italian restaurant but sadly i didn't see Horatio Kane during our visit. After dinner we went to pick up Matt at the airport, he looked really tired but very excited to be here.
The next day we drove to Key West to introduce Matt to the Key's way of life and get a bit of shopping done whilst we had a car and boot space! We also went for a cheeseburger in paradise and I had a Margarita at Margaritaville. Once we got back to Marathon we started our journey South with the goal of reaching Key West by New Years eve!
Matt: So after being kindly given a day of R&R off the back of my travel day it was agreed amongst the established contingent that they had been in the same place for too long and it was time to set sail. So on the 29th we sailed down to an anchorage called Newfound Harbour on Big Pine Key for a night and then it was on to Key West the next day.
We anchored just off Wisteria Island by the opening to the marina where we could dock the dingy when we wanted to come ashore. The next few days were filled with more shopping, eating, kayaking, sunbathing and tandem riding. The latter saw us hire two tandems and explore the town visiting the southernmost point, the lighthouse and having the biggest ice creams in the world. All this activity was interspersed with some great "on board" meals courtesy of both the kitchen and the BBQ and the highly competitive cocktail competition which was won comprehensively by Katherine... the only vote she didn't get was her own!!
All in all we spent four full days in Key West and had a great time with glorious weather throughout but, sadly come Sunday it was time to start heading North again.
Jess: After leaving KW we headed back to Newfound Harbour to stay overnight. It was a bit of a rough sailing day but we are sailing with experts so it didn't seem hard at all. I got to read my book on deck so I was happy. We stayed at the anchorage over night and then we were on to BAHIA HONDA!
We anchored at the Bahia Honda national park for 2 whole days. It was a great spot and anyone who goes there should ignore the books that discourage people from staying here. While we were here we went to the park and walked to the top of Flaglers bridge which is pretty amazing. We also went snorkeling and sat on the beach or in the shade for some of us.
You may wonder what we did in the evenings after the sun went down every night. After toasting the sun and competing in our cocktail competition we would play games. So far we have played articulate, bananagrams, and liars dice. So we kept just as busy in the evening as we did during the day.
When we left Bahia Honda it was a short trip back to Marathon but we got to sail there as well. Now we have made it to Marathon and back where we started all that is left is to pack up and head home. :( But I can say for both Matt and myself we have had a fantastic trip, probably the best ever!
Matt: It has been really great and although there is some grumpiness about heading back to the cold of England, we are totally relaxed and sporting good sun tans so its not all bad news!!
Lastly a big thank you to Katherine and Steve for putting us up (or should that be putting up with us!!) for the last two/three weeks. It has been great fun and we very much look forward to you visiting us in Windsor next month.
PS pictures to come later!
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