As planned, we changed our plans. Rather than Marathon, we are making a day of it in South Beach in Miami. We could find worse ports to wile away a sunny day.

We were trying to cut through the Florida Keys near Marathon in yesterday’s day light, but it didn’t quite work out. We consequently had a pretty adventurous evening. As we approached the Keys early Sunday evening, we were weaving around sand banks, following a complicated path dictated by the charts. At one point, we were consulting four different sources: a guidebook, NOAA charts on my iPad, the ChartPlotter, and the old fashioned paper charts. Thankfully, with GPS capabilities today, we were always able to tell exactly where we were. Of course, the problem was that where we were was really, really shallow. Indeed, for several miles, we were in only 6 feet of water, worrisome for a boat whose draft is 5 feet, 3 inches.

By the time we got to the most complicated S curve through several sand bars, we were in complete darkness. Archie used the iPad charts to bark out orders (e.g., “3 to 4 more degrees to Starboard, now!”). Somehow, we made it through without touching bottom once.

We were not so fortunate at the top tip of the boat. As we headed under the 65′ vertical bridge under U.S Route 1, the antenna on top of our 63′ mast hit the bridge. Fortunately, no harm was done.

Because we would have arrived in Marathon late at night, we decided to just continue on through the night to Miami. We arrived this morning and have spent the morning washing the salt and seaweed of the boat, making some small repairs, and sleeping. This afternoon, we’ll go swimming and then head out to Lincoln Road for dinner.