2018 Cruise - Week 1

Week 1

January 6 - 12, 2018

Work Stuff - Well, it’s warmer here than it is in N.J., but it is definitely not tropical! Still, it is nice to be wearing a sweater rather than a parka. The weather at home is below 10° during the day.

Our immediate tasks revolved around getting the boat clean and livable. We removed road grime and salt, plenty of salt, having driven salted roads for three days.

Once that was done, we stripped and then waxed the hull. It took us three days to make the boat presentable and, just before sunset on  Monday, January 8, we launched SUNSHINE and secured her in Slip 4.

We still have the forward and aft cockpits to clean, but we’ll do that at a leisurely pace.

Fun Stuff - Attended a showing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi at the Community Theater. At the Tropic in Key West, we saw Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. We really enjoyed it.

If you count dining out as fun (who doesn’t?) we hit several of our fav’s: the Hurricane, Burdines, Island Fish Company, Sparkys, the Marathon Grille and the Cafe in Key West.

Renewing Acquaintances - The liveaboards we met last year are all here. Barry, the manager of the facility, is living in the upstairs room. His boat sunk and his RV was destroyed by Hurricane Irma. Denny and Sandy on Bay Coaster returned from Charlotte Harbor in the fall. Their boat sustained minor damage. Pat and Joanne, aboard Tackin’ It Easy, an Endeavour Cat, and their dog Honey Belle also sustained minor damage. Sadly, Tuck,their other canine family member has passed. Captain John Michael who lives on his charter boat Cool Change, is new here. Allan and Shelly, who stayed aboard Indiana Keez with David and Marsha last year, are here with their own boat this year. It’s a 30’ Bayliner Cierra. David and Marsha arrived a couple days after we did. They cleaned up their boat quickly and launched it the day after their arrival. Tim and Jan aboard Lamb Chop are here. They left their boat in Charlotte Harbor for the summer. John and Susan aboard Nuclear Fishin' arrived a few days after us. They spent a couple days in one of the motel rooms while working on their boat which was stored at the Marathon Boatyard for the season. Luckily, it sustained only minor damage during Hurricane Irma. Newbies and slip neighbors Dale and Sandy aboard Sweet Dreams, a Sam Devline designed Surf Scooter that Dale took seven years to build are here for the month of January. They're hoping the weather is warmer here than at their home in Wiki Wachee.

The Weather - During our first week, we had a partial day of rain.we had a good mix of sun and clouds and the high temps were in the mid to low 70’s. The lows were in the 60’s. The winds were mostly northerlies and generally less than 15 knots.

SUNSHINE awaiting future adventures in the Florida Keys

SUNSHINE lis looking spiffy in her slip at Blackfin