3/5/15
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

Happy birthday to our eldest grandson, Bradley! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you. Glad we got to FaceTime at least. We can’t wait to see you all in May.

The solar installation guy, Dave, came today and we got the system wired up. We got the first of 3 panels delivered and hooked it up late in the day, and viola…turned dwindling sunlight into electricity. When we aimed the panel at the sun directly, we were getting 7 to 8 amps, and 1 to 2 amps when it was laying flat…and this was at 5:45 PM…very impressive. I’ll dedicate a post to the installation with pics so other boaters can see in more detail. The other 2 panels are on back order so it will be a few weeks before they arrive. Tricia is going to sew the bimini with velcro flaps to hold the panels down.

Once again, the window we had to make the trip to Key Biscayne and then cross to the Bahamas has been slammed shut. If we had been ready to go, we might have been able to get to Key Biscayne, but the winds pick up to 20 to 30 knots early next week, and why would we subject ourselves to that ass kicking when we can stay here in Marathon! Not to piss anyone off up north, but the weather here has been incredible the last week and a half. Wind out of the east, highs in the low 80s, lows in the mid 70s, and clear skies. The last couple of days have been really hot, and I have been getting into the water to clean the underside of the boat to cool off. It is really hard to motivate ourselves to leave. We have a couple of trips to the grocery and Home Depot to finish provisioning and we give the car back to Shelly tomorrow, so we will get ready to go and leave when the weather allows a safe and comfortable passage.

Here is a sunset pic. We haven’t posted many since we got to Marathon because our at our marina, the sun sets behind land and the pictures have not been as good as we are used to. In a week, the sun will begin setting over the water again and we can step up the pictures (if we are still here).

3/3/15 Marathon FL Posted by Bill On Sunday, our friend Shelley that lives in Key West came and picked us up, drove us back to Key West, and we spent an afternoon at the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor. It was a really nice beach and a wonderful day to chill out there. Then Shelley gave us her car for the week…wow, an amazing act of kindness! On Monday we were supposed to have a solar powered system installed to keep our batteries charged and to reduce battery consumption during the day. As it turned out, the installer had a different sense of reality than the person who put the quote together, and we had to regroup. We went with a different type of panel (more to come later on that) and agreed to try again on Wednesday. We also noticed that a weather window was opening to make the crossing to the Bahamas over the coming weekend, so we started to get our act together and see if we could make the window. To make the window we needed to get the solar installed, put some diesel fuel in the big boat, buy some gas for the dinghy and generator, buy (provision) enough food and liquor to sustain us for 2-3 months, fill the water tanks, clean the bottom of the boat, return the car to Shelly, and get everything ready for passage. When you have sat in one place for 6 weeks like we have, it is hard to get momentum to achieve such a goal, but we had the car and it provided us a perfect opportunity. Today, we set out early in the morning for Miami, venturing into what we call the “Real World”. This is only the second time since we started cruising that we went into the “Real World”, and the first time was a shocker. The second time was even worse…. We started by taking the batteries back to Walmart. If you recall from previous posts, our new batteries died in 4 months, and I have spent far too many hours trying to get our money back, setting the stage for the actual visit to a Walmart store. I was fully expecting to choke the life out of some poor innocent clerk when they told me that the batteries were fine. I also expected the charging and testing of said batteries to take 4-6 hours of my day. We walked in, took the batteries to the automotive section, told the clerk we wanted our money back and that we had talked to the store manager. She promptly hailed an assistant manager to approve the transaction, and we got a full refund…in less than 30 minutes…no testing, no charging, no choking. Awesome!!!! We then loaded up the cart with crap we needed to provision the boat, went to lunch, went to Costco, went to a liquor store, went to a dive shop, and then drove home. The “Real World” was full of traffic, crazy drivers, crazy people…most speaking no english, packed stores, and total stress. I was so glad to get back to the Keys and park the car…double martini pronto. We decided (for the second time) that we don’t like the “Real World” and don’t want to go back there. However, we did get most of our supplies and provisions, and at a better price than we can in the Keys. Thanks again Shelley…you really helped us out. On Monday, I got into the water and used a hookah rig that we borrowed from our friends Matt and Shirley on Sofia Jeanne. The hookah is a 50 foot long tube attached at one end to a scuba regulator (that you breathe with) and the other end attached to a compressor or scuba tank. It works just like scuba diving but you leave the air source on shore. It allowed me to stay under and clean the bottom of the boat. Now the rush is on to get all of the other work done so we can leave.

2/28/15
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

Today was a big day. First, it was day 2 of the national pig day celebration…something Tricia was really excited about, given her love for pigs. It included pig races which we bet on. She picked the names for the 3 races we bet on, picking Shakin’ Bacon, Katie Piggy Perry and Lindsay Lowham. We won 2 out of three and it was a hoot.

Before we left for the pig races we saw a manatee swimming next to some of the boats in the marina, and when we got back it was swimming by our boat…

…and by our neighboring boat of friends Bob and Cat. It hung around for close to an hour and was very tame. It loved having it’s belly rubbed:

It was very cool to interact with this manatee. Cat got into the water and the manatee was pretty spooked and swam away. We noticed scars on it’s back and chunks out of the tail, indications that it had some run-ins with boats…a real bummer to see:

A really cool day!

2/18/15
Key West FL
Posted by Bill

There are some pretty strict procedures that one must use to enter and exit the country, and some specific rules for boats, one of which is having to report to Customs and Border Control when you return to the States. Only the captain of the vessel can go ashore until the boat and all passengers have “cleared in” with the authorities. Homeland Security has made the process much easier for pleasure craft with something called Local Boater Option. You essentially fill out an application online, schedule an appointment with a designated Customs office, present yourself and your passport, and they give you a card with a unique number. When you get close to shore when returning to the US, you call the phone number on the back, give your number, and 99% of the time you don’t have to show up in person. Gotta like that!

So this was one of the things we needed to do before we went to the Bahamas. Completing the application, we noticed that there was an office in Miami and another in Key West. We have heard that the Miami office could be pretty stringent about following the letter of the law, so we picked Key West. It is closer than Miami, and who doesn’t like an excuse to go to Key West for the day!

We took the bus from Marathon. The bus has an automated system where you can text the stop number and it will tell you when the next bus will be there. We scoped it out for a few days to see the normal pattern, which for our stop included a pick up around 10:30…perfect. So this morning I text around 9:30 and it says 55 minutes away…cool. We get our crap together and at 9:55 I text again, and it says 10 minutes…shit!!! We hurry, close up the boat, and make it to the bus stop with no time to spare…but no bus. I text again and it says 177 minutes…WTF! Every few minutes I text and get various answers, and finally the bus arrives around 10:35.

It’s always fun to take public transportation and this was not too bad.

An hour and a half later, it drops us off a block from our favorite place to eat in Key West…BO’s Fish Wagon. This place is basically a small camper type thing, surrounded by makeshift patios with roofs and seating. Some people look at it and think “never going here”, but the food is always fantastic. Here are some pics:





I always get grilled fish and fries. Today Tricia got shrimp.

Our friends Bob and Cat on Sea Lyon decided to drive down from Harbour Cay Club and join us as we worked our way around some of our favorite spots in Old Town, including:
The Green Parrot


Captain Tony’s

A pig and acrobat show at Mallory Square

We ended the day watching Pete and Wayne (another one of our favorites) at Sloppy Joes:

Our meeting with Homeland Security was a breeze and we got our Local Boater Option cards. It was a fun day!

2/14/15
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

This is the Tiki Hut at Harbour Cay Club. Every day around sunset, everyone brings cocktails and gathers at the Tiki Hut to watch the sun go down and socialize. There is a sign hanging in the hut that reads “The Cone of Knowledge”. Sometimes there is a good exchange of knowledge, and some days a good exchange of bullshit, but it is usually a fun time.

The other day,at the Tiki Hut, I learned something new that I think everyone would find interesting. There are many phrases and terms that we use in our everyday conversation that are derived from nautical origin, and often it is not obvious. Such is the origin of a term that we use quite frequently, and one that has multiple meanings.

In the 1700s and 1800s, the northern part of New England was primarily a crop producing area. Cattle and livestock were typically raised in the southern New England states. As such, there was a lucrative market for fertilizer in northern New England, where there was no animal waste to fertilize the fields. The cattle farms would save the animal waste and mix it with hay, forming it into bails. The bails were loaded into cargo ships and transported to northern New England in the typical bilge storage. During the first series of shipments, the water that naturally accumulated in the bilge of the ship mixed with the bails of fertilizer, creating a less than desirable environment for a ship, and they quickly learned to store the bails higher in the cargo area and away from the bilge water. Consequently, they labeled the bails to insure proper stowage: Stow High In Transit, abbreviated S.H.I.T.

There you have it…direct from the Cone of Knowledge!

2/13/15
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

I have realized a full recovery…yay!! Tricia is not feeling 100% but she is close, and we have been out and about again. We have been working on boat projects most of the week, changing oil in the generator, changing oil in the outboard engine (dinghy engine), sanding teak, polishing stainless steel. Yesterday we took our bikes and went to K-Mart and the grocery store. It still amazes me that it takes an entire afternoon just to go to the grocery store!

We stopped by Boot Key Harbor, which is the mooring field that is run by the City of Marathon. They maintain 226 mooring buoys that you can rent, have restrooms and workrooms to do projects. It is always full this time of year, and there is a waiting list of about 20 boats waiting to get a mooring. Here is a picture of the dinghy dock at Boot Key:

There are a lot of boats waiting for a weather window to jump to the Bahamas. Typically, you want light winds with no northerly component. Winds with a north component oppose the Gulf Stream and cause a nasty sea state that no one wants to transit. This year, there has not been very many weather windows in January or February. Winds that usually clock through the north in a day or two, have been sitting out of the north for four or five days at a time, abating only for a couple of days and then going back to north again. It has been a very rare pattern for this area. Those of you living up north can understand why this is so…the storms up there have been relentless. You not only need good weather for a crossing, but depending where you are landing in the Bahamas, you need a few days of good weather to get somewhere that has some protection from the north winds. All of this has caused a pretty good back up of boats from Fort Lauderdale to the keys, all waiting for a window. I am glad we did not plan on crossing until later as the weather has been pretty rough in the Bahamas so far this winter.

The north winds cause us to rock and roll at the dock, but other than that, the weather here is really nice. Most every day looks like this:

Locals have been bitching because the temps have only been in the 70s during the day and mid to high 60s at night this winter. I know we aren’t bitching! The people here at Harbour Cay Club area really nice and we have made some good friends. Everyone pitches in to help when ever anyone is needing it. The other day people pitched in to help Dr Frank go up the mast:

We met Tricia’s friend Shelly for lunch at Brudines and saw this sailboat being towed in for repair. It was dis-masted, the mast broken off at the spreaders:

That really makes for a bad day!

2/10/15
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

Not too much to post about lately. I am just getting over what we found out was the flu, and now Tricia has it. It kicked our asses and it has been going around here in the Keys, spreading like wild fire. My flu shot didn’t help a bit this year. Based on my experience, it looks like it lasts the better part of a week, so we will be laying low at least until the weekend as Tricia fights it off.

Unless something exciting happens, there won’t be much blog posting until we are back in action.

2/6/2015
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

Been busy for a few days. I told in a previous post of friends that have a house on Big Pine Key. They came and picked us up Tuesday afternoon and we spent a few days at their house. They bought the house a couple of years ago and did some remodeling. It is really nice! Great way to get away from winter. Tuesday night we attended a neighborhood gathering with them, played in a cornhole tournament (lost in the first round) and partied through the night. Wednesday, some of the same neighbors hauled their scooters to Key West, and the rest of us rented them for the day. We hopped to a few places for drinks and then the group went to a movie. We opted to continue to enjoy the scooters, the weather, and all the insanity that Key West has to offer. We also met one of Tricia’s old workmates, who now lives there, and had happy hour with her. After that we caught up with the group again and had some drinks, listening to a guy playing guitar, and then scootered around some more. We ended up going home close to 11:00. It was great fun.

The next day we had to go back to the boat, as we had a guy coming to help us with the battery saga. Turns out the batteries are bad, so now we are back to dealing with Walmart (oh joy!). I also ended up catching a nasty…NASTY…bug. It started Tuesday and by the end of the day Thursday I felt like total shit. We found out something is going around, and they don’t know if it is the flu or a bad cold. I finally had to resort to taking some 600mg of Motrin leftovers from a previous surgery to cut the aches and pain. Hopefully, I didn’t pass it on to anyone, especially Tricia.

Despite not feeling up to it, we took a bike ride to look at new batteries and get some fresh Hog Fish and Shrimp for dinner. Pretty much wore me out, but I am looking forward to eating it.

Many thanks to Jim and Jackie for their hospitality and for hauling us around for a few days. They want us to come back, and we do too. Need to get well again and get some work done on the boat, and then we’ll see if they are still free for company.

1/31/2015
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

We had a visit from our good friends Jim and Jackie today. They have a boat in our home marina on Catawba Island in Lake Erie, and we have become good friends with them over the years. They also have a house on Big Pine Key which is the next major key west of Marathon. They stopped by to say hello and work out a schedule for when we could come and stay with them for a few days. It was really great to see them! We are planning to go to their place next Tuesday for a couple of days and are looking forward to it.

One of the advantages of staying in one place for more than a few days, is getting to know your neighbors better. The Harbour Cay Club is a real social group and we have made many new friends already. We really like the people here. 2 couples in particular have invited us to tag along on several occasions, and we have really had a lot of fun with them. Today we put together a happy hour trip to Keys Fisheries. The bartender at another bar told us this was the best happy hour deal around. They have a seafood market, a restaurant, and a tiki bar on the second floor overlooking Florida Bay. To top it off…stone crab claws for a $2.50 during happy hour. Let me tell you, that is a deal!

We told lots of people about it, including the 2 couples I mentioned above, and they were the only takers. We decided to ride our bikes. Now, most cruisers that have their own bikes have what we call “clown bikes”. They fold up and have little wheels, take up little space on board (for a bike), and are very functional. We pulled our gang together and set out to terrorize Marathon, kind of like Hells Angels on clown bikes.

It was a good happy hour, and we had a lot of fun. We really like these guys and have had a great time every time we get together. Pictured below left to right: Me and Tricia, Marjorie and Jeff on Far Niente, Cat and Bob on Sea Lyon

Oh…and the stone crab claws were outstanding!

1/31/15
Marathon FL
Posted by Bill

Even after only 2 days, we are settling in to Harbour Cay Club, and it feels pretty good. Here are some pics of the grounds:

Looking North from the docks.

A view of the Tiki Hut from our boat. This is where everyone meets with drinks for sundown.

Another view north.

Looking east from the docks.

Looking back at the docks. Clubhouse on the right.

Firepit and salt water lagoon.

Today, after some boat maintenance, we went on a recon mission (a.k.a. pub crawl) to find the best happy hour. We also checked out the food menus of the places we came across. Here is where we stopped:


Porkys.


Burdines, on the entrance to Boot Key Harbor.

Looking back into Boot Key Harbor. This is the main anchorage and mooring field on Marathon.

7 Mile Grill.

Lazy Days…the best happy hour of today.


Views from Lazy Days.


A pelican trying to down his fish.

Tricia with her pirate friends.

Some roosters we saw on the road to Lazy Days.

And finally, today’s sunset: