Dinner Key, FL
25.43.546N
80.14.010W

Have you ever noticed how things look different at night? Last night when we pulled in, we picked a spot on the chart and pulled in until Dale called back saying that it looked like we were getting too close to shore. This morning we woke up to find ourselves about a half mile from shore. In any event, no one woke us up to tell us to move and the water wasn't clear enough for us to tell if we were in grass or not, so . . . no harm, no foul.

We moved on about mid-morning across the Biscayne Bay down another very narrow channel to Dinner Key Marina. When asked about fuel, they told us we could get fuel at the marina next door. We tried hailing them on the radio, then tried calling them on the telephone; with no answer we decided to motor on up and hope the fuel dock was open. We were in luck! No one was there, but we could hear the rumble of a cigarette boat coming from a different direction. Sure enough, a bright yellow go fast boat approached from a different channel and zoomed in to the fuel pier. The nerve! That's alright there was room for more than one boat. But NO! another go fast boat came, then another, and another. At least 6 of these noise makers came zooming up and cut in front of us creating a circle into the fuel pier and then back out. The attendants at the fuel pier were handing out cards to them and waving flags in a fashion that we just couldn't fathom. What to do? We got into the circle with them and circled up to the pier and said that we needed fuel. Unfortunately, we had stumbled into a poker run and were told to come back at another time. Think we could just cycle out? Heck no! There were now 20-30 of these monsters circling around us and we had to cross their lines to get back to our marina. With much nashing of teeth (I'm sure from both sides) we finally crossed back to our marina and easily slid into our slip.

We plan to stay here for a couple of days. There's a laundry and internet connection right on location and we can have our mail forwarded to us here overnight. Also, we're plugged into electricity, so I might get some more sewing done. No rest for the weary; or last least for those who still have projects to complete.