Today was a very active day! Bike #4 proved to be a charm for Barry, and we ended up taking our longest morning ride yet, across the Long Key Bridge, past Long Key State Park (where we didn't have money to enter), into the next town along the lightly traveled bike path.
Conch Key is off to the right, that little cluster of buildings beyond the water -- it's a very small Key!
Hawk we saw on our ride
Paths like this run most of the length of the Keys & make for good riding.
View of Long Key State Park from the road since we had no money to get in!
Our mileage was in the 12-13 mile range, a little harder than it sounds since there's no coasting on Florida's flat roads. We noticed that the wind was way down, which didn't bode well for sailing.
Since there was very little wind, we decided to go kayaking after breakfast. This time we tried a Wilderness Systems (same brand as our touring kayaks) tandem kayak and found it to be much faster than two singles, so, feeling ambitious, we paddled all the way to Channel Key, a small island about 1.5 miles away, inhabited only by birds.
Cormorant drying its wings
Birdwatching
Channel Key in the distance
Seeing and hearing hundreds of cormorants flap off as we approached was a sight to behold. There were also numerous Great While Herons, gulls, and other birds.
Cormorants leaving en masse as we approached
Great White Heron on Channel Key
Hard to see, but there are Great White Herons up high in these mangroves.
You can see the heron up high better here
The wind finally picked up a little after lunch, so we headed out for a sail at 2 o'clock. We had a bit more wind than two days ago, but it was still a leisurely sail, where our speed rarely topped three knots.
I got a little captain in me after all!
Still looking for wind...
More glassy water, but it was still fun. Too bad we didn't have a spinnaker onboard!
It's odd to us that this same week in Key Largo last year brought such fresh breezes that we sailed under main alone a couple of times. We have not had that problem this year! The marine forecast calls for a little more wind on Friday (10 to 15 knots), so we're keeping our fingers crossed. We're definitely getting very confident aboard Captain's Lady, and docking today was a breeze. Wish it were as easy to bring Logos back to her home slip! It's been really fun sailing with tiller steering again; I definitely prefer it to Logos' wheel steering.
Stingray in water at dock back at cottage
After showers, we made the now-nightly pilgrimage to Seven Mile Bridge, where we finally got a perfect sunset and a nice two-mile walk.
Dinner was at Cabana Breeze, right on the Atlantic, and it was a very nice setting and seafood meal. I had seafood enchiladas with black beans and rice, and Barry had tropical mahi with rice and plantains. We decided to bring half of our entrees home so we could splurge on dessert. We shared a slice of deliciously piquant key lime pie, and a melt-in-your mouth layered chocolate mousse (white, milk, and dark chocolate). We had to roll out of the restaurant and hope that our day's many activities will keep it from all settling around our waists!