Keys Vibes & Nostalgia

For most of my life, I (Nina) have visited the Keys at least once a year for a fishing trip.

These excursions were usually at the end of the summer swim season before school started, which usually lined up with lobster season. As a kid, we would sometimes tent camp at Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge. The days were spent in the boat until we reached our limit of sunshine. We’d come back to jump in the pool and then go fish the bridges for snapper at night.

I look back now and don’t quite understand how or why we camped during the hottest part of the year, but they’re some of my fondest childhood memories. For the last few years, we rented a house (with actual air conditioning) in Marathon.

After taking our little break from society, we were excited to continue heading down toward the lower keys. We took advantage of a half day of work on a Friday to leave Biscayne Bay through Angelfish Creek. It was an incredibly calm day so we motored to Tavernier, making water and baking bread along the way to take advantage of the power surplus.

It was so calm at Tavernier that we anchored on the outside with the whole Atlantic Ocean as our backyard for the evening. Once again, we had this anchorage all to ourselves.

Knowing the calm sea state would be short-lived, we planned to head to Marathon on Saturday. We woke up to a lot more wind than forecast and had 15-20 knots on our back quarter for almost the whole day, which made for a really comfortable sail. The only issue was the myriad of lobster pots we had to navigate around all day long.

At this point, it had been about two weeks since we picked up groceries so our fruit and veggie supply was running low. We opted to grab a mooring ball so we could get off the boat and walk to the Publix about a mile away. From everything we heard about Boot Key Harbor, we expected the mooring field to be full so it was a nice surprise.

It’s a very strange feeling being surrounded by people again after a few weeks alone. If you’ve ever been to the Keys, you know it's a unique vibe, which made the transition even more unsettling.

We enjoyed a slow Sunday morning of coffee, a long walk and lunch at one of our favorite places, Keys Fisheries. Traditionally, this is the lunch stop on our first day of a Keys trip so it was only fitting that we treat ourselves to a fresh mahi sandwich.

Our initial mooring reservation was only four days and we planned to head to Bahia Honda the following weekend. Per usual, the weather had other plans.

A series of cold fronts have been pushing through so we’ve held onto our mooring ball to wait them out. As much as we prefer to be at anchor, the protection of this harbor is hard to pass up in 30+ knot winds.

It’s always frustrating when the weather doesn’t line up with our work schedules or plans to move to the next spot. Did we come to the Keys to sit in a crowded mooring field? Of course not! We make a very conscious effort not to complain about this lifestyle we choose to live but also want to share our honest experiences.

Mooring fields pack a lot of boats in a very small area. There's very little privacy. We can't swim or make our own fresh water. Depending on your mooring assignment, your neighbors can make a big difference. The constant dinghy traffic drives the dogs a bit crazy too. While at anchor, we typically leave the door open so they have free reign of the deck and they love to lay out in the sunshine.

In the big scheme of things, we are in a very safe place, sleeping comfortably at night and have easy access to land. It can always be so much worse and we always try to keep that perspective but it's a tradeoff. While we haven’t made it to the lower keys yet, there are far more terrible places to be “stuck”.

We’re using the extra time here to provision for our upcoming Bahamas trip and get in a lot of exercise. We may even end up back at Keys Fisheries for another fish sandwich.

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree is up and we’re hoping the weather breaks soon so we can spend the holidays fishing and diving. For now, we’re doing our best to keep looking for those silver linings because we are pretty darn lucky!