Florida Sea Base News

Yesterday was a routine day for me, but the seasonal staff at the Florida Sea Base had one heck of a day.  Most of Monday’s crews arrived late, very late, due to weather delays.  The staff was up before daybreak and had the crews swimming right at first light.  That was followed by snorkeling instruction and then final loading of the boats.  About the time they pulled off the dock, the Coral Reef boats arrived for their Sea Base day.  That had the staff small boat sailing, kayaking, tubing and playing volleyball.  It was pretty warm today and some of the participants got more than enough sun.

I haven’t heard from Ranger Joe yet.  Hopefully all is well and he survived the New Zealand earthquake without incident.  Since we had no crews checking in or out, Ellen Wyatt took much of today off – she deserved it.  Capt. Dennis Wyatt, Capt. Alan Robinson and a third captain left Key West this morning to make the boat delivery to Belize.  Capt. Rich organized the delivery but delays meant he had to stay here to run program instead of making the trip.  He’s very disappointed.  The trip would have been a great adventure.

We bottomed out overnight at about 67º.  We are headed for a high of 81 today under mostly clear skies with very gentle winds.  The water temperature is 72.3º.

I didn’t sleep well.  I woke up around 02:00 and let some of those job related issues creep into my mind that just won’t let you go back to sleep.  There is nothing worth watch on at 04:00.  I’m going to try to get a couple more hours of sleep.  The day officially starts at 07:30.  I hope you stay warm and dry today.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape