currently in:  Marco Island, FL

I should have known not to count my miles before they're hatched, as it were. If everything had gone according to plan we'd be in the Keys today - but as is usual when cruising, very little has gone according to plan!

Blame the weather, the deterioration of our equipment while in storage, and our own stupidity (aka the deterioration of our cruising brains while on land!). Our first problem was entirely our own fault - forgetting to check the tide level when we anchored in 7 feet. Come 10 pm, we were bumping the bottom; we let out a lot more anchor rode to get ourselves into deeper water, and set the alarm for 5:30 am so we could leave at high tide. We set out groggily the next morning and had a decent sail down to Marco Island, although the wind was more north than northeast (perhaps it was even northwest!) which made for a nearly downwind run on jib alone. Negotiating the sea of markers just inside the entrance was a bit tricky, but we made our way to a nice anchorage near an uninhabited little island, and - checking the tide - settled ourselves in.

The forecast for the next day didn't sound promising so we opted to stay for the day. After doing a few boat chores, we decided to take a dinghy ride and explore the area. This was the first time we'd run the outboard since recommissioning it, and at first it worked fine. Then...it didn't. Fortunately, we weren't too far from the boat, and although it died a few times on the way, we didn't have to break out the oars - good thing, because the wind and current were both against us!

So we spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what was wrong with the outboard, to no avail. We put everything away that night expecting to leave the next day, but I was still a little concerned about the forecast for continued strong winds, and when we woke and NOAA was still predicting 25 knots, we opted to stay put for another day. Britt decided that he needed some help on the outboard, so we (cautiously) dinghied in to the Marco River Marina, where a mechanic suggested we change the spark plugs. We returned to the boat - the motor sounding worse and worse - and changed the spark plugs: no improvement. After lunch, Britt dinked back in to the marina, while I stayed "home". A few hours later, the marina launch pulled up next to Windom, our dinghy in tow.

The mechanic had loaned Britt a can of carburetor-cleaning-gunk and advised him to remove and clean the carb, and if that didn't work, to come back the next morning with the motor and he'd fit it in to his schedule. Britt found a missing bolt, and a cracked bit of plastic, but even after he'd fixed these and used the cleaning stuff, the motor showed no improvement. So we moved Windom to an anchorage within rowing distance of the marina, and this morning, Britt returned to the marina, hoping the mechanic would be able to diagnose the problem - and show him how to fix it.

Not long after Britt left, he called me on the VHF. Turns out the mechanic didn't show up this morning, but called in...from the hospital. Nobody's quite sure what's going on. Britt's still there, in a corner of the shop, trying to fix our outboard. He rowed back a few hours ago, picked up some tools and some granola bars, and headed back to the marina. Well, whatever happens - Britt's going to learn a lot more about outboard motors!

We absolutely have to have a working outboard before going to the Bahamas. It's a big part of our enjoyment, being able to zoom out to remote snorkeling areas, being able to explore places far from our anchorage. So it's not a planned delay, but it's a necessary one, and this doesn't seem like a bad place to hang out for a while. But hopefully we'll be moving again - with a happy dinghy motor - soon.

Oh! Breaking news, just in from Britt over the radio. It seems to be the fuel pump, so we're ordering one and having it sent ahead to the Andersons in Key Largo (who have already received a half dozen packages we've had sent there!) I guess we'll be on the move again soon, although we've missed our weather window and will likely have to motor rather than sail the next few legs. It will be nice to get further south before the next cold front comes in this weekend.