Big thanks to Casey for the especially detailed (not to mention marginally edited for family consumption) account of how we chased the limits of overindulgence during his visit in Key West!

No more than a couple of days after Casey left, the North end of Christmas Tree island where we were anchored got brutally slammed by a Northern wind front. Our friend Mike, one of the great people we met in Fort Myers Beach, took this picture of the storm as it was heading our way…

As it happens, I was on land stealing Wi-Fi from a nearby restaurant when this sinister storm roared into Key West. I jumped in the dink and hightailed it back to Contigo. Fortunately for all of us, we’ve got the greatest crew this side of the Atlantic. Major credit to Adam and Paul for getting ahead of the game and getting the boat prepared before I made it back. Well done fellas! Those instincts of yours certainly saved the night!

Bursting through growing wind-driven rollers in that little inflatable on the way back to the boat, I saw Mother Nature wreaking havoc on the sloppy little anchorage. Two boats were crashing into each other, their rigging intertwined, pitching and rolling in a watery wrestling match until a miniature fleet of dinghies came in to separate them before even more damage was done.

With Adam and Paul onboard Contigo and the recently crippled engine miraculously powering through the rising waves to keep her away from other thrashing boats, our anchor rode got tangled with another. Since I was already on the dink, I sped over to heave it free. I was barely able to untangle the 3/8-inch chain and 35 pound anchor when the excessive weight halfway submerged and disabled the dinghy’s little six horsepower outboard motor. I was adrift, but Contigo was free. Adam and Paul were able to duck and weave the heavy Morgan 38 through the chaos and out of harms way toward a clear space in the anchorage, and our new friend James came in to tow me and the dink back to the mothership.

It wasn’t over yet.

We got the boat anchored, but the brief sense of relief that came with a lull in the storm was quickly spoiled by the panoramic view of a massive impending second stormfront following just behind the first. We needed to set a second anchor, so we started the motor and…

BAM!

With the sound of a cinderblock crushing into a concrete slab, the motor told us it was stuck. It wasn’t hydrolocked, it was caught on something. I dove down to find the friggin’ dinghy tow line, which I’d haphazardly tied to Contigo in the mayhem, had drifted under the boat and wrapped about a dozen times around the prop. I mean that thing was really really stuck.

…. Damnit.

With dusk fast approaching and this second wind front racing to beat it, daylight was becoming an issue. I took the coveted Capt. Sonny Hill “Oh Jesus!” knife and dove down, the hull crashing up and down over waves just above. I can’t hold my breath nearly as long as I thought I could…. but after more dives than I could count, the prop was free and Contigo was again mobile. We set two anchors and swam a third line out to a stray mooring ball, then we settled in for a wild night.

From Contigo’s bow, I measured 35 knots sustained. Over the VHF we heard another captain report a gust up to 50 knots. BoatUS was flying around doing whatever they could. The Coast Guard was all over channel 16 alerting everyone to the numerous boats adrift and a missing family somewhere farther East who’d just called out a Pan Pan. Less than 200 yards away, we watched a singlehanded sailor desperately trying to furl in a violently shredding headsail.

Later that night, the wind howling all around us, we noticed the dinghy had broken loose. Fortunately someone else found it the following morning and tied it to a nearby boat. We never met them, but thanks to ya, wherever you are! The Gettin’ It, our beloved dinghy, is safe and sound.

That night our thoughts went out to the damage done and people missing (who we believe turned up safe) and we jumped headfirst into a glass or three of chardonnay each.

Behold! the power of the wind!

—- Sorry I don’t have any pictures of that wild ride, but we were a bit busy wit the whole…. well… you know….

Check back tomorrow for the rest of the Key West experience!