Yesterday was a picture perfect day to be out on the water in the little boat. Having friends in town from North Carolina is the perfect excuse to sneak off to the quiets of the mangrove keys that lay just north of Key West. Sharing time with nature is one of the real benefits of living on the water down here. To be able to just head off and float down a Disneyland like channel that runs through the mangroves is my idea of heaven on earth. This is almost like falling down the rabbit's hole and visiting wonderland where you can just drift where the currents take you and once in a while come upon some unique and different sight.
Yesterday was all about stingrays and birds that seem to be following us everywhere we went. As we traveled from one mangrove Key to another we saw very different things, sort of like going from one planet to another. We ran across a group of cormorants sitting at the top of a mangrove tree and seemed very intent on what they were staring at. It was like a panel of judges sitting and scoring an event. The stingrays were every where yesterday, probably say 6 or 7 of them all ranging in size from 2 to 4 feet. This is a beautiful creature to watch as it seems to be gliding effortlessly through the water just off the bottom.
Our next stop was at a very uninhabited beach that I've visited several times as I floated through the Mud Keys. Here we just sat neck deep in the 85 degree water and watched as all the little almost transparent fish swam around our feet and legs. This is a very peaceful place also where we could just be and enjoy all that mother nature has made for our enjoyment. A walk up the beach found that in a month or so many of the flowers will be blooming and just another excuse to revisit this nice quiet beach.
The sun has take it's toll on all of us and the sunscreen isn't doing that well so it is back to the "Mothership" and have a few cocktails as the sun sets on another fantastic water day in the keys. The trip back is so cooling as we cruise along at about 20 knots on our way home. Along the way home we see several others that have been out to their secret places of relaxation and all seem as happy as we.
The day like all really fun things has to come to an end on the back of the "Mothership', as we enjoy our rum cocktails and watch another fantastic Key West sunset as we watch through the rigging of the sailboard behind us. ;o)
