15 June Land ho!

Three days and twenty hours, half sailing, half motoring, and we arrive at Key West at 3am.

We had glided around Cabo San Antonio on the western tip of Cuba in light wind, flat seas and clear skies an hour before dawn on day three. That night were caught in a thunderstorm with lightning and thirty knot headwinds for two hours off the north coast of Cuba. Once the storm had passed the rest of passage was delightfully uneventful.

a quiet afternoon

Entering Key West in the dark is easy with the channel clearly lit, but finding a safe spot to drop the hook in a busy anchorage was not so clear. We opted for a spot mid channel for safety and re-anchored when the sun came up and we could evaluate our options better.

Because of Coronavirus the downtown Customs office has been closed. Crews now have to report the office at the airport 4 miles out of town. Our first impression of Key Westerners were what kind people they are. First, we popped in to West Marine chandlers to ask where to find a taxi. They phoned one for us. Then at the airport the Customs officer couldn't have been nicer or more welcoming. He never asked to see our clearance papers from Caymans. Within fifteen minutes we were legally entered into the USA; six month visas for us and a twelve month cruising permit for Jackster.

Next item on the list for arrival in a new country is a SIM card and data plan. Another taxi dropped us off at the T-Mobile store at the mall where we got our SIM and signed up for a monthly plan. The last errand before we catch an Uber back to the dinghy dock was a dash into the supermarket. Phew. With very little sleep last night for either of us we needed, and had earned, an afternoon nap. But we are now legal in the US until mid December if we want to stay that long.