Glad To Be Here

Boot Key Harbor

You may ask why we come to The Keys year after year. There are two main reasons. First, the lively cruiser culture that I've written about. Second, the excellent winter weather.

Our other favorite place to sail is on Lake Champlain. Jenny sent a recent picture of Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont. Much of the lake is frozen already. We don't want t be there in January.

Our friends Darrick and Sharon just returned from Wisconsin. It will be 4F tonight there, and in recent days it has been well elow zero. We don't want to be there in January. Other friends Bob&Sandra are in Virginia and they write complaining about the cold. We don't want to be there in January either.

We spent last winter in New Bern. It will go down to 17F in New Bern this week. Don't want to be there in January.

Our friends Jeff and Wendy are in Bimini, Bahamas. They sailed there 6 days ago, but have been stuck there ever since because of weather. They are cold, wearing winter clothes, and they are being rocked and bounced around by gale winds and high seas. (Bravo to Jeff&Wendy for managing to have a great time exploring the island of Bimini despite the weather.) Don't want to be in Bimini in January either. Indeed, we usually wait until mid April to go to The Bahamas when the weather is much better.

Our friends John&Mary Ann live in idyllic Sedona, Arizona. They will see 24-62F next week. We don't want to be there in January.

What about the rest of sunny Florida? Well, Vero Beach will see temperatures as low as 45F And highs 60-70 next week. On the average, it is 10F colder than here, day and night. Brrrrr.

Here in the keys the lowest temperature will be 56F, most days the highs will be 75-80F and lows around 65F. Winds are 10-15 E-NE most days. So the short answer is, "It's the weather, stupid."