Key Largo

We had a very noisy night with winds howling in the shrouds and water splashing our bows in the darkness. There was nothing around except dark skies and shallow stretch of an unknown island in which lee we were seeking shelter that night. We raised the hook first thing in the morning to proceed towards Angelfish Creek. There we crossed over to the Ocean side to make our way towards Rodriguez Key, where Randy, describing himself in his email as an old man, was supposed to meet us and guide us at the high tide through narrow and shallow channels to his private dock. In our emails we described our boat and mentioned that we fly a Canadian flag on our backstay. When we got there we thought we'll make it easier on him and raised our massive, 5’ Canadian flag. When we found the place we dropped the hook and took a dip in warm, salty water. We made some food waiting for Randy to come. He came in a little sailing dinghy. He had a good chuckle at our flag and my comment about an old man we were waiting to meet. That's how we met Randy. That's also how we come to experience Randy and Nancy's hospitality. He helped us to navigate through shallow canals. We scraped the bottom only couple of times. Soon we were at his house in Key Largo. Comfortable couches to sit on, real shower, laundry machine, big, soft beds in a very spacious place. Funny, how much we appreciated otherwise everyday things. After almost three months floating in a very small space with no luxuries at all this house was a palace abounding in excesses like running water and high ceilings; rooms fit for kings and queens.

Randy and Nancy were the party. I have fallen in love with these people right away. Within just an hour of our arrival we were able to also meet their close friends who were gathering for their weekly cookout/prayer party. They were into the things of God with their pure hearts and with no pretense. Food was excellent and the company even more so. Johannes and I were thrilled to share such a sweet fellowship with truly great people. We felt at home at once.

Saturday was a day of cleaning up the boat and enjoying the house we now had all to ourselves. In the evening we were able to spend more time with our generous hosts. We are still blown away how accepted and loved we felt. Taste of heaven made available by loving Christians.

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