Key Biscayne, FL
25.40.613N
80.09.800W

Gamma! Gamma? We don't need no stinkin Gamma! Just as we made the decision that it's now or wait for another week, Gamma makes an appearance. It didn't matter to Dale, there was a window and he wasn't going to miss it.

This morning as we pulled out of our slip and into the very narrow little channel leading in, the wind piped up to 22-24 kts. I suggested going back to the slip and wait until the squall passed by. Dale wondered why. I gave him the wheel. If we're going to run aground, I would prefer if he's at the helm; that way I don't get yelled at regardless of what happens. We managed just fine.

We crossed the Biscayne Bay and went down by Stiltsville (just to say that we've seen it) and then pulled into No Name Harbor. It's a great little anchorage in a park area at the very southern end of Key Biscayne. There were 3 sailboats and probably 6-9 powerboats anchored during the day, right now there is just enough room for the 4 sailboats left to spend the night on anchor. This gives us great pre-positioning prior to jumping across the ditch.

Throughout the afternoon, Dale set up his fishing rods so that he can troll across the bank when we come up on it. With the thought of a possible hurricane or tropical storm bearing down on us, I was consumed by the weather. I know that we have about a 24 hour window in which to cross and we only need about 12 hours to do it (worst case scenario). We've also chosen the shortest route we've ever used to cross the Gulf Stream and we've been in worse seas than what is predicted but I was nervous about Gamma; talk about a door being slammed after you leave. After dinner tonight, we turned on the tube to catch the latest news just in time to hear them saying that South Florida was breathing a sigh of relief and had dodged this one. I never did catch what had happened, I'm just glad that it's not chasing after us. We're heading to bed early for a 2:00am start. Wish us luck and say a prayer. Once again, we're off.