Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Sailing in Key West on the Blue Ice

We drove from our rented house in Islamorada to Key West on the Friday of our week in the Florida Keys to sail and snorkel on the chartered Blue Ice sailing yacht.

When we reached Key West, we drove to and parked in the Key West Bight Parking Lot to access the Blue Ice in Land's End Marina at the Key West Historic Seaport. The parking is pricey for a smaller city, but convenient for access to the Key West Historic Seaport.

The Blue Ice holds up to six passengers in addition to the captain and crew member, so our party of six had the sailing yacht to ourselves for this half-day excursion.

It had mostly been a windy week in the Florida Keys and this day was not an exception.

After sailing out a mile or two, it became apparent that the waves were only getting worse and that snorkeling at the reef would be difficult and likely not very rewarding. We discussed the situation with Captain Ron and decided to return closer to land to a snorkeling area he described that would have significantly calmer conditions.

We stopped near Wisteria Island and Sunset Key to snorkel in an area that included a small artificial reef created by a sunken boat in the relatively shallow water.

The sunken boat made for more interesting snorkeling than I expected for this area.

The boat was interesting and there were several different species of fish swimming and hiding amidst its ruins.

After we finished snorkeling and while sailing back to the marina, we were provided with a nice tray of cheese, crackers, and fruit that was especially tasty after having expended energy snorkeling for a couple hours.

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