After three days and nights at our base camp at Sea Base, it was time to embark on the true sailing portion of our Keys Sailing Adventure. We all woke early, took a final shower, performed cleaning of the restrooms (required of each crew before leaving) and boarded our sailboat for the next three days and two nights. The 40' sloop named the Black Sea, captain by Mihai who is originally from Romania but now resides in St. Augustine and has been a captain at Sea Base for over 5-years.
Mihai did a great job letting the boys do much of the work on the boat including getting us untied from dock to allow the voyage to begin!
After motoring to a beach for a swim, we were able to find some wind, hoist the sails, and cut the motor for some true sailing.
On board the boys did all of the cooking and cleaning. Mihai and the dads did provide some guidance and suggestions, but all items were prepared by the boys including pulled pork and a steak and mashed potato dinners.
Our trip was based on us moving from location to location. First going to Indian Key Historic State Park which is a boat access only island that used to be a thriving town and original county seat of Dade County, but now is a ghost town inhabited by hermit crabs and large iguanas. Additional stops included Alligator Reef and Cheeca Rocks reef. While sailing from one location to another, the boys had a great time with minimal electronics socializing with each other, doing some fishing (we did catch a black fin tuna which was a delicious appetizer before our steak dinner), and learning to sail and drive a boat. The evenings and mornings were punctuated with amazing sunrises and sunsets.
All agreed that the highlight of the trip was the snorkeling. The colors and vibrancy of the reefs were amazing and unexpected. The boys all did a great job and even started to get adept a free diving by the end of the week allowing them to get up close to the wildlife below the water. We were able to see thousands of fish, multiple sea turtles, lots of moray eels, a nurse shark and even two tiger sharks along with acres and acres of thriving coral reefs.
In the evenings some slept below deck in the front bedroom, while the rest took out a camping sleeping mat and found as flat a spot as possible on deck and slept under the stars (there were a lot of stars). Sleep was only interrupted when it was time for anchor watch. Per Coast Guard requirements, the boys created a schedule of 2-hour shifts where two scouts or dads had to be awake and alert ensuring the boat did not break anchor or have any other issues while others slept. The boys performed their duties well with no complaints.
Ultimately, it was time to go return to base, cleanup the boat and ourselves and return back to Atlanta. This was by far an adventure where lifelong memories were made and all had a great time.
While at Sea Base, we logged approximately 50 miles on the motorized pontoon boat going to Donut Reef and the Pillars Reef areas (blue and green routes above). Our sailing adventure included another 50 miles traveled with the yellow route being our first day's journey to Indian Key, the red route being day two to Alligator Reef and Cheeca Rocks (note the long run in deep water where we were successful in getting a tuna), and then capped with the purple route back to base on the third day. We also logged approximately 5-miles of kayaking/paddle boarding around the island areas of Sea Base. An exhausting but fantastic time on the water!
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