Holy Cow! What a day on the “high” seas. Little did we realize that the dark clouds hiding a peaking sun right after our daybreak departure was an omen of a rough day at sea.


Fires were raging in the everglades and the dockmaster wondered if we were going to have a “honkering” day. We guessed that was a local Key West term for breezy but were wrong, honkering must be a howling wind. By 8:00 AM we were rocking and rolling to 6-8-9 foot seas (prediction was 3-6) and we had nine and a half hours of gust from the east pounding our starboard bow.

All of the crew had the queazy feeling, but all earned their sea legs and more… The destination would be Marco Island and with the auto pilot for the boat still on the blink after four days of work, we just filed this day under “boating.” Very few vessels were out in the Florida Bay. Off of our port side we were parallel to another trawler but when the waves rose we lost sight. One fast boat sped directly to us out of nowhere and as it zoomed on by heading to the roughest seas I could image at that speed that they would feel in popcorn in one of those Jiffy Puff bags by the end of their journey. Seeing land is always rewarding, so this was particularly true this day. The route into the marina at Marco Island was a bit tricky but we were meeting America’s WETLAND Foundation Board member Berwick Duval and his wife Alexis who radioed to us with directions for the final leg. The Duval’s live in Houma, have a wonderful Mainship trawler, “Moondance,” and they have great stories of family outings with her. After checking out each other’s boats, we told boating tales at dinner.
Berwick and Alexis were coming from the Everglades and the Shark River on the tip of Florida Bay. We made sure to out “Moondance” with an official America’s WETLAND flag, helping to send the message out broader about the importance of saving coastal Louisiana. The night ended with a big wash down of the boat. There was salt everywhere from the crossing, as if we had been through a salt shower. Tomorrow would bring a much shorter journey north to Ft. Myers. As the day ended, it was hard not to feel the movement of the waves even on dry land. Happy Sails!

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