We cruised out to the Molasses Keys today just for fun.




These are two small, uninhabited keys in the Atlantic Ocean side about 4 miles from Marathon Key. This is where we started to go before (when our daughter Ann was here) but didn't have enough time to actually get there and the waves were running 4 ft. or so. Today, the waves were about 1 to 2 ft. and we had all day to goof off, so we went out. The problem with trying to get to any of these small, pretty islands is that the water is so shallow around them that it's hard to get in.
We anchored Nonchalance in calm water in the lee of the islands in about 8 ft. of water and then took the dinghy in to the island. That's Nonchalance in the distance out about 500 yards and the dinghy about 100 yards out.
We could only get within about 100 yards of the beach before the water was only 12 inches deep, too shallow to run the dinghy, so we anchored the dinghy and walked the last 100 yards. Daisy's life jacket (she swims great) is really used mostly for its handle to pick her up for loading in the dinghy from Nonchalance.
We all enjyed shelling on the beach and in the shallows around the island. Obviously, we were the only ones on the little island.
Daisy loved romping in the shallow water and retrieving a stick thrown into the water. The other island behind Daisy is the second of the two islands in the Molassas Keys.

We found lots of simple shells like scallop and oyster shells, plus a few fancy shells and a very large sand dollar shell. This snail shell had a hermit crab in it. It's one big claw is purple and that's one of it's legs that is red. The one leg and the big claw "close the door" to it's shell when you pick it up.
I also found a very nice conch shell when I was walking in about 1 ft. of water, but I couldn't keep it because it was still occupied by the conch! The conch is like a big snail inside the shell and it has a large single claw and a powerful muscle for the claw. You can see the claw sticking out of the shell. It uses the claw to scratch and scratch away at clam shells until it wears a hole in them through which it can eat the clam.
The conch also has little blue eyes on stalks. You can just see the two eyes starting to peer out right below the point of the claw.

Tomorrow we're cruising up to Key Largo, just below Biscayne bay and Miami. We'll be staying at a slip at John Pennecamp State PArk, which is an underwater reef park. They have a dock on the key and dive and snorkle boats that go to the reef.