Trip to Molasses Reef

All eight of us (Pekabu III has weekend guests Ann and Howie) boarded the glass bottom boat Key Largo Princess for the 10 o'clock trip out to Molasses Reef. The reef is part of the John Pennekamp Coral Reef Park and is about 6 miles off the entrance to Port Largo Canal. The trip out took about 45 minutes and other than the excitement of watching Ann and Pete feed Cheetos to the terns that followed us out the trip was uneventful. We spent our time on the upper deck watching the birds and occasional Portugese Man O War jellyfish. Once we reached the reef everyone moved down to the lower deck with the glass panels and spent the next half an hour slowly drifting over the reef while one of the crew explained what we were seeing. She stressed the fragility of the reef's eco system and pointed out several fish and different types of coral. It was interesting, but it doesn't compare to actually diving on a reef!

After lunch I did a little sewing for another sailor here at the marina and then joined Dan at the pool for a swim and relaxed with a book for a while. When we returned from the pool, we Skyped with Katherine and Zoe and Kinsey, and got to watch Zoe pull out a loose tooth! I got a hankering for a Dark n Stormy, so I worked on making some ginger beer syrup with moderate success I think. Which means I had to send Dan to Walgreens for some dark rum. Yes, Walgreens has liquor here in Florida! Dinner on the veranda - this time supplied by Pekabu III, chicken fajitas with all the fixings. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Betty and Dan swapped pictures yesterday.

The trip out of Port Largo Canal gave us a different view of some of the amenities along the way. Lower left shows "crash corner" . We also saw the manatee on our way out.

The Key Largo Princess took us out to the Molasses Reef, marked by this tower. The water began to show color changes as we approached the reef. The view through the glass bottom was very clear.

These guys are just looking for a handout.