An Eclectic Day!

Lay Days: Friday & Saturday, January 29 & 30, 2010 Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL MM 1195

Weather: Both days were partly cloudy; temps reached the low 80s and dropped to the low 70s at night; Winds were at 15 knots diminishing to zero on the evening of the 30th. We enjoyed a spectacular full moon on Saturday night.

Comment: On Friday we went to the movies with the Fritz’s. Avatar was a most interesting flick with incredible special effects. During the day, we did boat chores including the laundry and two water runs.

On Saturday, we spent the day with Joe and Dee. First we had breakfast at Stoudt’s and followed that up with a visit to the BIG Second Annual Flea Market at the Out of the Blue Marina on Coco Plum. It was a bust! After five minutes, we saw everything offered for sale, none of it was even remotely interesting.

Lighthouse/Boathouse in Key Colony Beach

We went back to Banana Bay and Joe and Dee took us out for a boat ride in their Larsen 25.. We found the ramp they’ll use to retrieve the boat tomorrow morning. Then we found Vaca Cut and toured the harbor of Key Colony Beach. By this time, at least one of the crew was “officially” hungry, so Joe docked at the Islander Tiki Restaurant. We sampled several appetizers and had a great time. The place has a Helipad that is used by guests who come for the food. While we were there, Three different helicopters took off and landed there so passengers could enjoy the delectable food or tasty cocktails, or both.

...No Problem!

The waitress told us their most famous fly-in customer, who many times arrives by car as he has a home in Key West, is Kenny Chesney. As it happens, the restaurants motto is, “no shirt, no shoes, no problem.” The slogan can be found on their main sign, their menus and other signs throughout the establishment. She swears it was their slogan long before Kenny recorded the song of the same name! The owner is reported to have said that he now get a copyright for all slogans and mottos!

"Pegleg"

Back at Banana Bay, we watched some boat charterers return with over one dozed good sized Spanish Mackerel. Whilst the crew was cleaning said fish, some pelicans and two Egrets waited patiently for a handout. One Egret was missing all of its toes. The crew took pity on it and threw some scraps just for him.

She said, "YES!"

The last charter boat to return had the owner of the fleet at the helm. A young couple was aboard. The captain was directed to take the couple to Mollasses Key, where the couple disembarked. Ostensibly, they were on an eco-tour and hoped to find some unique shells, while in reality, the young man proposed to the young lady. The captain, anchored a bit off the key, heard a loud shriek. Shortly after, the couple rejoined him and the boat. The young man reported that she said, "YES!"

Back aboard the Larson, we congratulated the couple and we toasted the sunset before the crew of SUNSHINE bid adieu. We had to get back in time to run the generator for an hour or two before quiet time.

We enjoyed the day immensely and wished Joe and Dee a safe drive home. We had a great fun spending time with them in Marathon!

Herbies!

Lay Day: Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL MM 1195

Weather: Wind ENE @ 15 knots; temp in the low 70s day and night; mostly sunny

Comment: As usual, we followed our routine (already established in a previous post). After breakfast and the Cruisers' Net, we usually do some boat chores. The wind kicked up a bit of a chop in the harbor, making for a wet dinghy ride so we postponed the chores until tomorrow.

We did make it ashore however, and watched a fifteen minutes worth of TV in the marina, played shuffleboard at the Community Park, and then walked to meet Joe and Dee at Banana Bay Resort and Marina. After some conversation, we were off to Herbie’s for dinner. Everyone but me ordered the Grouper Basket *$8.50) and reported that it was very good. I had the Stuffed SHrimp in a Buttered Rum Sauce ($17.95) which was “out of this world” delicious. It has to be the very best shrimp meal I have ever had! There were seven lightly breaded stuffed shrimp in a tasty buttered rum sauce that was sweet to the palate. The meal was served with string beans and a baked potato. There was enough buttered rum sauce to put a nice coating on the potato.

For desert, we shared the Herbie’s Bananas. Another treat that was delicious. It featured sliced bananas with hot fudge and a buttered rum sauce and a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. What a treat!

Herbie’s is a charming, very low key casual eatery. The main dinning room consists of picnic tables. there were four or five large (seating for 6) and an equal number of small tables (seating for two or possibly four small people). When the wait staff asks for your order, you had better be ready. They don’t like to wait around for you to make up your mind. It there is any hesitation, the server will “be back a little later.”

Herbies is famous for conch fritters and chowders. We didn’t try either on this night but will be back. The establishment is open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch (opens at 1100 hours) and dinner. We have thought about going to Herbies for years, but each time we walked or rode our bikes past, the place was closed. Now that we have a bead on their hours, we’ll be back!

It's Routine!

Tuesday and Wednesday, January 26 & 27, 2010 Days 116 & 117

Lay Days: Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL MM 1195

Weather: Sunny and nice, but a bit cooler; high in the uppeer 60s & low 70s and lows in the low 60s; N & NE winds @ 15 to 20 knots with higher gusts

Comment: We are officially on Island Time. We’re never in a hurry and take life as it comes! Our routine is established. We eat a light breakfast while listening to the Cruisers’ Net. At the same time, I work on the logs and do other computer work. The generator is usually running at this time.

After the net, we do boat chores. Yesterday, we finally purchased the proper finishing collars for the screws that hold the monitor down. TOday, we installed the collars. We also filled in the nail holes on the mural that our good friend Terry Moulton designed and made. The piece looks great on the main bulkhead in the salon. It is one of the nice decor changes we made to the boat this summer. Following these chores, we made a run to the fuel dock to fill our jerry jugs. We have four two gallon jugs in which we store the gas that runs the generator. When underway, we sometimes use the gas in these jugs to supplement the main fuel tank. We only do that if a fuel dock is not available when we need one.

Because we had a northeast wind, the ride back to SUNSHINE was wet. Anna Marie got soaked. We decided to postpone a trip to the fresh water station until the wind dies down a bit.

By late afternoon, we joined our friends (Joe and Dee) at Banana Bay. After some conversation, we went to the Dockside for Prime Rib night. The Dockside is not a fancy place by any means. Most of the structure is a tent with clear plastic sides. Unfortunately, the tent blew apart on Thanksgiving. They haven’t put up a new one yet so it gets pretty chilly there in the evening. On this night, they lit a propane heater for us. It made the evening bearable.

The rib was very good and reasonable at 1$4.99 We especially enjoyed the music of guitarist/singer Adrianne who seemed delighted that we payed attention to her music.

We were back aboard SUNSHINE by 2130 hours and, after a few games and some reading, we hit the sack.

Back in Business!

Got my computer back from the repair shop in Key West. Seems that the power source here on the mooring ball caused the problem. We now have a Belkin Battery Backup with Surge Protection. It also provides automatic power management.

The Majesty of the Seas departs the dock in time for viewing the sunset from the Sunset Deck in Key West

Over the past week, the weather has continued to be pleasant. We continue to have a great time with friends. A couple of days ago, we took a trip to Key West where, among other things, we enjoyed another beautiful sunset.

At a church supper in Marathon, we enjoyed the best dolphin (Mahi Mahi) dinner we ever ate. On another night, we attended a five course meal prepared and served by the Marathon High School Culinary Arts students. Both meals were great and cost only $10.00 a piece.

The remodeled building at the City Marina

We continue to marvel at the remodeled marina building and enjoy spending time there, although our usual activities (walking, visiting friends and biking) don't leave much time for using the facilities.

Computer Glitch!

I haven't posted recently due to a problem with my computer. Using the iPod is a bit more laborious.

The big news here in Marathon is the clean-up and remodeling of the city marina. Note only did the facility get a new coat of paint of interior they added wainscating and a chair rail. New work and picnic tables have been added and the walls are adorned with nice photographs of the harbor. Two new flat screen TV's have been mounted to the wall, and stadium seating for eight was put in each of the two viewing rooms.

It is a pleasure to spend time there. Over the weekend, we watched a football in one of the viewing rooms and had a very nice and comfortable time!

In addition to these changes, additional dinghy dockage has been installed. I'd guess the dockage area has been expanded to about four times the size it was.

Combine all of these improvements with the new bath house and laundry facility, and you have a first class city marina in Marathon, agreat destination for any cruising sailor!

I'll post pictures after the computer gets fixed.

Back in Boot Key Harbor!

From: Tarpon Basin, Key Largo, FL MM 1140.0

To: Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL MM 1195

L/L: 24 42.40N 81 05.34W

Distance Traveled: 56.7 miles

Hours Underway: 8.6

Average Speed: 6.6

Weather: Mostly sunny; low 43, high mid 60s (75 in bubble); N wind @ 10 to 15 knots light to moderate chop in the waterway, light chop in Hawk Channel

Comment: After a chilly morning, it warmed up nicely in the bubble. Traveling was easy and we made good time, arriving at the entrance to Sister’s Creek before 1500 hours. We continue to see fish floating on the surface, apparent casualties of the cold water temperature. Today we saw another victim,. This times it was a sea turtle was floating lifelessly on the surface. We have read that turtle rescue centers have had more calls than they can handle and are unable to respond to all of the calls they are receiving. An recent news article explained that the cold temperatures cause the iguanas to lose conscientiousness an fall from the trees on which they are perched.

Even though the high temperature reached the 60s today, we saw people ashore dressed in ski parkas with ear muffs and gloves.

Dead Fish!

From: Dinner Key Municipal Mooring Field, Coconut Grove, FL MM 1095.3

To: Tarpon Basin, Key Largo, FL MM 1140.0

L/L: 25 07.76N 08025.90W

Distance Traveled: 47.0 miles

Hours Underway: 7.7

Average Speed: 6.1 mph

Weather: Mixture of sun and clouds; still cool the high might have made it to the low 60s and it was 45 at wake up time. N wind @ 15 knots

Comment: SUNSHINE got underway today at 0800. Yes, it was still a bit on the cool side, and the predicted 65 never materialized, still, it made it to 70 in the bubble. When the bubble temp reached 60, we unrolled a bit of jib and motor sailed through the lower end of Biscayne Bay, and through Card and Barnes Sounds.

Sadly, we saw hundreds of dead fish. Fellow Sailor/Blogger Dick Mills (see Tarwathie’s link on the right) has reported seeing dead fish in Vero Beach. The speculation is that the unusually cold temperatures are the cause. Back in Lake Worth and the Fort Lauderdale area, we observed water temperatures in the mid 60s. Today, the highest water temperature we recorded was 52 degrees in Biscayne Bay! Now that’s cold (for this area).

Oddly, On July 23, 2009, the following headline and teaser appeared in the Miami Herald:

“Heat may have killed fish in Florida Bay - The chief of biological resources at Everglades National Park said the thousands of fish floating dead in Florida Bay this week may have died from the heat.”

Check this link to read the entire article.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1153597.html

Of course, the unusual cold weather in Florida is having an impact on the fruits and vegetables. I suspect those problems have already caused higher prices at the grocery stores.

The Crew Goes Ashore!

Lay Day: Dinner Key Municipal Mooring Field, Coconut Grove, FL MM 1095.3

Weather: Sunshine, N wind @ 20 knots; low temp 43, high in the mid 50’s

Comment: Land, we made it ashore and walked on land. The last time we got off the boat was on Friday! We had to take care of some business today and rather than use the local metro, we took a cab to and from our destination. After attending to our task, we checked out the CocoWalk. We were last here in February of 2006 and nothing looked familiar! We enjoyed lunch at Chilli’s, on the CocoWalk and then made our back to the marina where we took the launch (free) back to SUNSHINE.

The temperature in the bubble reached the high 70’s and we luxuriated in the warmth enjoying the sights and sounds of the harbor.

We spent the evening aboard watching movies and getting ready for our departure tomorrow morning. Anna Marie prepared homemade chicken soup for dinner last night and tonight, we enjoyed the leftovers. Great stuff!

Another Cold Front!

Lay Day: Dinner Key Municipal Mooring Field, Coconut Grove, FL MM 1095.3

Weather/Comment:: Here we go again! another cold front is busting through south Florida. We are having high wind (N @ 20+ knots), the temp at 0900 is 57 degrees and the mooring field is “lumpy.” We are sitting in the salon enjoying breakfast. The heater is keeping us warm and, outside, the generator is running since we are between showers. We are as comfortable as possible, but will probably stay aboard today.

We made it to Biscayne Bay!

The Miami skyline from our mooring in Coconut Grove!

From: Lake Santa Barbara, Pompano Beach, FL MM 1056.8

To: Dinner Key Municipal Mooring Field, Coconut Grove, FL MM 1095.3

L/L: 25 43. 24N 080 13.74W

Distance Traveled: 39.9 miles

Hours Motoring: 7.5

Weather: Another sunny day! Temp in the bubble reached a balmy 81 degrees. The outside temp was comfortable (mid 60s), considering all of the super cold weather FLorida has been having. THe wind was light and out of the south.

Comment: It was a good day for traveling on the waterway. There was minimal boat traffic., a good thing considering this is our second day in the so called canyon. The canyon is a 35 mile stretch of waterway that has bulkhead on both sides, each lined with all sorts of housing (single family, townhouses, condos, apartment buildings and many high rise structures. Usually small fishing boats travel at full speed and their wake reverberates off the walls of the canyon. When they pass, we rock and roll for at least ten minutes. We’d never want to do this stretch on a weekend because the number of boats is multiplied by a factor of 100 or more!!

Fortunately, our timming for the twelve bridges that had to open for us was excellent. We didn’t have to wait for any of them. SUNSHINE arrived at the Sunny Isle Bridge about five minutes late for its opening, and it looked like we’d have to wait for twenty five minutes for the next one. The bridge tender offered that he had to open for maintenance and that we could go through when the spans were opened. Thank you very much!

We breezed through Ft. Lauderdale, the myriad of beach towns on the coast and finally Miami before passing under the Rickenbacher Causeway and into Biscayne Bay. At 1400 hours, we picked up a mooring at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove. We may be here a day or two as we wait for the next cold front to blow through.

Ashore, we settled up with the folks at the marina and walked into town. The famous Coco Walk is only a block away. Our goal was to stretch our legs and look around. Weather permitting, we'll go ashore tomorrow to really check the place out.

THe Dinner Key mooring field is out in Biscayne Bay and rather exposed to the wind. It is a long dinghy ride to the marina facilities and shore. The marina offers free water taxi service during daylight hours.

It Warmed Up a Bit!

Weather: We enjoyed sunshine again today! The wake up temperature in the bubble was 35 degrees and it warmed to a balmy 81 degrees by 1500 hours. It was even comfortable outside the bubble for several hours. We observed several people sunbathing on shore. The wind was out of the northeast at less than ten knots all day. All in all, it was a comfortable day1

Comment: We have set the stage for our entry to the Keys tomorrow! We’re only 36 miles from Richenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne and Biscayne Bay and the northern most keys.

For today, we made it through a maze of bridges, seventeen in all. We have to wait at most of them for anywhere from five to thirty minutes for the openings. They tend to slow our progress but we were able to do almost 45 miles anyway. We were surprised by the number of boats on the waterway. We thought most other boats were either in the Keys or the islands by now.

During the course of our travels today, we saw three manatees and a dolphin, not to mention an assortment of shore birds. At one point, we observed about fifty vultures soaring and roosting in trees.

After setting the anchor, Anna Marie talked on the phone and made dinner while I worked on the logbooks. We’ll probably watch a DVD before hitting the sack.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 Day 096

From: Nettles Island, FL MM 979.3

To: North Palm Waterway, West Palm Beach, FL MM 1012.5

L/L: 26 49.73N 080 04.19W

Distance Traveled: 36.1 m

Hours Underway: 7.08 hrs

Hours Motoring: 8.5 engine hours

Average Speed: 5.9

Weather: Cold 41 degrees at wake up high of 73 in bubble although it barely made it to the mid 50’s outside! NW 12 - 15 knots; sunny all day water temp 48.6 degrees.

Comment: Milestones today include: Long anticipated departure from Nettles Island; Manatee sighting (yes in this cold water!); crossed statute mile mark 1000 (ended at 1012.5); opened six bascule bridges; and observed the water change colors to a beautiful turquoise. THe water color change is always a welcomed sight and a harbinger that the Keys are not too far away!

All Systems Go!

The rental car was returned early this morning. Once back aboard, now without a vehicle, we are getting all the systems operational. First and foremost, is heat. The overnight temp was 32 degrees and the weatherman promises a high of 55 today. We have decided to stay put today and use the electric heater while we get things together. Tonight's low is expected to be 28 degrees!

Our tasks for the day include draining the water tank and refilling it with fresh water; start the engines and make sure they are running properly; fill the stove with alcohol and add the accessories we purchased over the hiatus and finally we have to check the electrolytes in the batteries.

By 1200 hours, we have accomplished all of our tasks. All systems are go.. We will definitely leave Nettles Island tomorrow. Accuweather tells us that its ten degrees warmer in West Palm Beach and perhaps as much as 15 degrees warmer in the Keys.

THat sounds good to us!

Back Aboard!

We returned to SUNSHINE today. It will be strange traveling the waterway and not being able to call Mom to share our adventures with her. I miss her so much.