Past couple of weeks have been busy , busy ..it seems that way now many of my sailing friends have left Boot Key Harbor.

Jim and Pam on "Screech" F39 left a few days ago up Florida Bayside on there way to the Bahamas for a month or two . ( love to sail those waters someday -- maybe next year !)

Dick and Anne on "Greyhound" F33 headed down the Keys towards Key West and maybe out to the Dry Tortugas for awhile .

Mark flew in for a long weekend of great weather with some decent winds for him to savour before he left this morning back for Welland Ont. We finally had a day when we could snorkel out on the reef yesterday !! Lots of fish and the water was 79 but still a little murky from the 25 to 30 Knt winds of 3 days ago.. churns the sand up real good when it blows from the NE heavy. We had a great few days of sailing and I am sure Mark left with some good sailing under his belt. Mark is May's nephew and just started sailing last year on Lake Erie with his Sirius 18 sailboat.

Another interesting boat in the harbor... It's maybe 7ft wide and 30ft long .. flat sides and 2 wood masts that are on pivot points so you can lower them quite easily.. both ends of the boat are open .. the stern has a OB motor and the bow is were they owners climb on up from their dinghy.. It"s got to be a boat designed for the narrow canals of England, France and the like..Not something I'd want to sail on in any kind of wind or sea .. It's got to be quite unstable I would think.

Had a visitor this morning when I opened the cabin hatch .. It seems this 2 ft Iguana had somehow managed to get out of the water and onto my boat .. How the H.... he jumped out of the sea got me puzzled. The dinghy was tied up real close to the boat last night and maybe he climbed up the dinghy motor, onto the dinghy then jumped a couple of feet onto the boat ??

I will never know. The rascal just sat their and stared me down for 10 minutes while I made some coffee and ate a banana ... finally I figure he wanted breki to so I tossed him a piece of banana .. he never moved. So out into the cockpit I went and made him "Walk the Plank"he took of real quick swimming his little reptile heart out for points unknown .. I was hoping for a big fish to jump on the boat deck and cook him up for dinner .. Don't fancy grilled Iguana.

Sailed ou to the reef a couple of days ago with 5 sailing friends I met down here.. 6 adults on myF27 and cruising payload made for a loaded up boat .. great wind around 16 kts plus 4ft seas so it was to rough to pick up a mooring ball on the reef and snorkel as we had planned.. these sailors had never been out to the reef and could not believe how clear and blue the sea was out there.. Shall be back out there when the water is a little calmer... see if my 4 ft Barracuda buddies are there again from last year.

Well ... the weather really got nice for the last few days of Clive being down here.

. Wind set in around 20Kts a couple of days ago and off we went for a great sail in 3 to 4 ft waves in the spectacular aqua sea around the reef. Next day more of the same with a little less wind .. We spotted Dolphins both days .. wonderfull creatures !! Feb 9 was another great day with wind in the 10 + range and temps around 78 with sunny skies. We headed out under the 7 mile bridge and out to East Bahia Honda Key around 10 miles west. we figured maybe do some fishing .. No luck but a great last day before Clive flew home to TO.

Now for some time on my own and rest up after 3 weeks of fun with my buddies.

Well ...... he arrived in Miami just when Terry and Dino flew out on Tues.... Clive came down for a week of R & R... No !! he did not catch this fish despite what he may tell you. .. We toured Key West yesterday as Clive has never been down here before .. loved the town.... yes we stopped off on Duval St and had a couple of beers and saw the sites.. great day. Its been real windy down here for weeks and a little cooler than normal.. but no compliants other than its blowin 20 to 25 kts all the time and thats a bit much for a fun sail.. hoping it quites down in a couple of days and we get some sailing in around the 15 to 20 kt range.

Visited some friends from EYC today who are staying just over the 7 mile bridge on their boat.. We plan on meeting up tomorrow for lunch and go for a sail on my boat later in the day if the wind easy's up a bit.