Key West: July 6

At 6:19 am we glided out of our slip at Plantation Yacht Harbor. A stiff breeze stirred the water and ominous clouds dotted the horizon. 

We jacked down the air conditioners and unplugged before heading out a second day without the generator. The sun stayed behind clouds for a while. 

Bottlenosed dolphin surfed our wakes for miles. But eventually the sun came out and the inside of the helm area turned into an oven.

Without a generator, the air conditioning and freezer did not work. The cats found that the top of the freezer was cooler so they fought over that spot. Gaffer had it in this shot which is why Peanut was panting.

We opened the windows to no avail…  the wind was coming from behind us at the same approximate speed we were going! Flipping unreal! We took the cats upstairs to cool off but they were pretty terrified.  

We pulled into Miami Beach Marina around 2 pm, precisely the time Debbie had told the generator mechanic. 

But no mechanic was there. Happy hour came and went. Finally, at almost 5 pm, he called. We figured we’d see him tomorrow. But instead, he came to the boat and worked on the generator for two hours with an assistant. He was absolutely amazing  

Since we are paying the most we have ever paid for a slip- $300- we figured it was going to cost a fortune. But I would have paid double his price not to go through THAT again! 

Even at 37 feet, we are dwarfed by almost all of the other boats in the marina. We are the little blip in the middle near the mast that is not even ours. 

We are hoping to head out offshore in the morning with renewed energy  and TWO freaking air conditioners!