We slipped out of Key West about 20 minutes before sunrise this morning. There was little other activity in the harbor, Key West fishermen apparently not being adherants of the, "early bird get's the worm" philosophy.
The winds are blowing at 15 to 18 knots out of the southeast, and there is enough south in the wind to let Alana beat along her track to Miami - barely. The forecast is good today and tonight, with a drop in wind speed predicted for tomorrow. I suppose I’ll sail through the night in order to take advantage of the breeze while it lasts. I’m following Hawk Channel, a very convenient natural channel between the Keys and the offshore reef. I had toyed with the idea of sailing outside the reef in order to take advantage of the Gulf Stream, but since safe passages back through the reef are few and far between, I elected to stay inside; it just provides more options, even if I’m giving up a little speed.
Alana enjoyed a brief race with some crazy Germans in a 47-ft catamaran. In the end the cat’s longer waterline proved too much for Alana and de Fuhrer blitzed past on our port side.
Barry’s mischievous nature got the better of him again. I caught him playing Russian roulette (with a single-shot flare pistol) and narrowly avoided tragedy by slapping the pistol out of his hands. I wonder if he has any idea how much a face full of burning phosphorous would hurt, never mind the fact that he could easily have started a hard-to-extinguish fire!
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