Heading for the Walkalator

02/24/2021

My daughters Jessalyn and Kaitlin were raised in airports. In a pre-911 world it was possible to get a friend to meet their plane in Chicago and walk them to the next gate. It was a great moment when they graduated to “Unaccompanied Minor.”

As such, Jess was a frequent user of what she called “walkalators;” those moving sidewalks that would speed her travels down the concourse.

We spent last night at Rodriguez Key, just south of Key Largo, and today we are headed straight east in search of the Gulfstream. That will be our walkalator ride north to Ft. Lauderdale. Winds are from the east, ocean is calm, should make for perfect sailing.

Yesterday we circled back to Christ of the Abyss. We lassoed a giant marker ball at the edge of a shallow reef, and set about looking for the underwater statue. The first problem was when we were almost boarded by the area’s “Mooring Ball Maintenance” boat, telling us to get off the marker and find a proper mooring ball. We fight authority, authority always wins.

The reef at Christ of the Abyss was disappointing. Coral appears bleached out, some healthy fans, but not a lot of life. I did spy a handful of angelfish, which is important, since that is my granddaughter Margot’s favorite fish.

Finding the statue was a chore. Visibility was low, and we were swimming in an area about the size of a football field, ringed by mooring balls. Julie spotted it from the surfboard she was lying on. Sarah and I were being tossed around on Julie’s paddleboard. I was able to dive and get a good look.

Item one: it’s hardly an abyss. My pond back home is deeper. Item two: the Christ statue is small. I guess I was expecting Rio de Janiero scale—but the statue off the coast of Florida is just a little dude.

Tyler rightfully pointed out that it was a great self-guided accomplishment finding the damn thing at all—and he was right about that. There is a feeling of confidence and self-sufficiency rising on this boat.

We saw a group of black backed gulls on an abandoned looking scow, moving our bird count to 45.

This morning we awoke to a stunning rainbow which backlit a cabin cruiser moored near us. We got the picture, and dispatched Julie on her paddleboard to make contact so she could text them an amazing shot of their boat. When she returned, a dinghy approached from the other direction. It was a couple from the catamaran next to us. They came to get our number to text us an amazing photo of our boat backlit by the rainbow.

Love it. Some Covid free contact with strangers.

With the shoreline vanishing behind us, the walkalator awaits…