Happy Valentine's Day

Weather: Cooler weather prevails! Today’s temp range 67 – 75 degrees. 15 knot wind out of the SE; mostly sunny

Comment: Happy Valentine’s Day!

We had a loose plan to celebrate. After the net, we rode the SmorgasBoat into the marina and walked to Inflatable Boats of the Florida Keys. Eric recommended a 9’6” Achilles to us. The boat weighs 115lbs. and had a load carrying capacity or 1300. It has a wood floor system and is very solid underfoot. The boat is very stable; one can stand upright to board and disembark. It might even be possible to stand up while underway.

Eric put the boat together in his shop. It looked huge to us, although he said it was about the same size as our old boat. We were concerned about the lifting points. A new boat would have to fit on our existing davits. Eric offered to deliver it to the marina and let us try it out for the day. We accepted his offer.

On the way back to the boat, we stopped for a Valentine’s lunch at the Keys Fishery. Anna Marie had a crab cake sandwich and said it wasn’t very good. I had a blackened Tuna sandwich which was very good.

We got back to the marina in time to see Eric put the boat in the water. We rode the SmorgasBoat out to SUNSHINE to pick up the outboard. Once back at the marina, we affixed said outboard to the transom of the new boat and tooled around the harbor a bit. Anna Marie really liked the stability of the boat. We still needed to see if it fit on the davits. It was big, but after some trial and error, we found a way to raise the boat on the davits. To do it permanently, we’ll need to position two “D” rings bout 10” behind the existing lifting ring. Still, the boat was snug between the hulls of SUNSHINE. The rear tube would constantly rub on the hull. The area is reinforced so chafe wasn’t a concern.

We rode the rust buckets to inflatable boats to seal the deal only to find that Eric had inadvertently assembled and gave us a more expensive 10’ 4” boat to try. He would let us have that boat or we could get the 9’ 6” boat. We opted for the shorter boat because we felt it would fit on the davits better. It was near the close of business before everything got straightened out. Eric asked if we’d mind finishing up the paperwork and exchanging the boats tomorrow. No problem for us!

After a brief break back on SUNSHINE, we rode the dinghy back to the dock. We were off on the rust buckets to the local cinema where we would catch the 1900 showing of “The Bucket List.” Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman were excellent!

We arrived back aboard SUNSHINE at 2100 hours. We worked on the logs and then chilled for a bit before we hit the sack.

We ran the generator for an hour this morning. It’s been cloudy for a couple of days, so the solar panel hasn’t contributed a lot to the battery banks. Today was a different story. At 1700, both batteries were clean and green. The solar panel alone had them fully charged. The panel does a great job when it is pointed in the right direction and the sun shines brightly!

A Mixed Bag O' Nuts

Weather: Last night’s sky was ablaze with flashes and bolts of lightening that was accompanied by roars of thunder. It continues to be windy (20+ knots) and the night time temp was 76 degrees. The morning dawned bright and sunny with winds subsiding to about 18 knots from the east. By 1230 hours, the sky had darkened and we were in for some serious weather. Radar showed several cells of thunderstorms accompanied by high (gale force) winds. The first storm hit at 1200 hours. It brought twenty minutes of high wind, torrential downpours, lightening and thunder. Another cell of similar strength and duration came by an hour or so later. After the storms, showers were the order of business for the rest of the evening.

Comment: After arising at 0750, I started the generator. It is one of the first things I do in the morning. I try to do the logs while the jenny is running. In addition to the batteries, it charges the computers, cell phones and the other rechargeable batteries (C, AA, AAA, blender and drill) that we use. We try to run it for at least one hour in the morning and another in the evening. I’m told the batteries charge up to 85 to 90% in an hour but it takes significantly longer to get them any higher than that. So far, between the generator and the solar panel, we’ve been having a pretty easy time keeping the batteries topped off.

Today is chore day. Our list includes:

• Take the dinghy in for repair;
• Do the laundry;
• Wire the wind gauge, and;
• Clean the BBQ grill.

We decided to have the dinghy professionally repaired by Eric at Inflatable Boats of the Florida Keys (ifbkeys.com). It’ll be a ride on the SmorgasBoat and then a Taxi ride to his place of business. Since the boat weighs 60+ pounds, walking the mile or so to his store is not an option.

While I take care of that detail, Anna Marie will do the laundry. It’s been 12 days – the longest stretch we have gone between clothes washings. We just about out of clean clothes!

Eric said he could repair the dinghy so that the Admiral could be confident that it won’t spring a leak. I forgot to get an estimate, so I called him back. The estimate (about 40% of the value of the boat) was high enough for us to question whether or not the boat was worth the investment. The boat is the least expensive one I could find. I got it from E-Bay for a better price than I could have from West Marine. It is a PVC (as opposed to Hypalon) unit that is susceptible to UV deterioration. We’re going to talk to Eric tomorrow about some ideas for a new boat.

We didn’t get back to the boat before the thunderstorms hit. We waited for an hour at the marina. It was interesting to see the weather roll in and we watched in amazement as the harbor became a frothy, foamy white. When the wind diminished, the froth and foam disappeared almost immediately.

During a break in the action, we took a cab to the Dockside for lunch. We humped the laundry and several bottles of spirits (40% off at the Overseas) to the cab and then to the Dockside. The SmorgasBoat picked us up at about 1515.

Back on the boat, we cleaned up the BBQ grill and ran the generator and worked on the logs.

Pat and Ray ran their dinghy out to our mooring so we could go to the comedy (2100 hours) show at the Dockside with them. Ray Fogg (rayfogg.net) held court for a couple of hours singing bawdy songs and telling bawdy stories. Some of his groupies were in attendance but most of the crowd was boaters from the harbor. Before Ray’s show, Tommy Tunes was entertaining assembled throng. Many of those in the audience were pretty far gone before Ray took the stage. Several tables were boisterous but Ray played through the noise. At times he was funny but we all thought he was repetitious.

We were all pretty tired, so we left before the show was over. Ray ferried us back to the boat. We were ready to hit the sack.

Haircuts on a Boat

Weather: Today is the third consecutive day of 20+ knot wind (ENE @ 20+), this time accompanied by thunder showers; temp range 73 – 80 degrees; some chop in the harbor; SUNSHINE and all the other boats in the harbor are swinging in wide arch’s around their respective mooring balls.

Comment: After the cruisers’ net, we contacted “Lo Que Se A” to cancel our haircut appointments. After hearing of our dinghy woes, Gene and Judy, being the nice folks that they are, offered to provide dinghy service to their Great Harbor 37. Having a haircut aboard someone else’s boat was a new experience for us. We were both more than satisfied with the service and tonsorial skills that Judy displayed.

While aboard, we glanced around their boat. It is magnificent! Instead of ladders, they have a real staircase to get from each of the levels. The cabinets are built in have superior joinery, and appeared to be cherry wood. The kitchen (no it really is a kitchen) has a 23 cubic foot side by side refrigerator/freezer. The bedroom was exquisite!

Judy is a writer for Power Cruiser Magazine (I think that’s the name of the publication). Her current article documents the trials, tribulations and solutions to the problem of having pumped 30 gallons of diesel fuel into their fresh water tank. It should be a great article although humbling for Gene.

We rolled up the dinghy and called for the SmorgasBoat to take us to the marina where we would summon a cab to take us to the Inflatable Boats of the Florida Keys store. After a forty-five minute wait, the SmorgasBoat arrived. We had already started another project so we passed on the ride. We’ll try again tomorrow.

Our other project was to connect the wind instrument cable to the wind instrument. We made a temporary connection to see if everything was working and found that the wind direction function worked properly. We weren’t so lucky with the wind speed function. Instead of the wind speed, four dashes were the only symbols that were displayed. We tried recalibrating the unit, checked all the electrical connections and jiggled the wires, to no avail. We couldn’t get any wind speed reading.

I’ll play with it again tomorrow.

Pat and Ray, “Reflection,” came by for a little get together. It was great to hear what they’ve been up to. We’re planning to go to Open Mic Night at the Overseas this Saturday. They’ve never been! If we can get a ride, we may meet them at the Dockside tomorrow evening. An “adult” material comedian is performing at 2100 hours.

Goodbye Gary and Jim & The Overseas Lounge

Weather: Another windy day – NNE @ 20 gusts to 25; mostly sunny, cooler, temp range 71 – 75 degrees; light chop in the harbor

Comment: It was early to rise for all hands today. Skipping breakfast, for the time being at least, we hailed the SmorgasBoat (VHF channel 17) for a ride to shore. We were underway in Jim’s car at about 0730. The plan is for Jim to drop us off in Homestead (we need to take care of some business and go to WalMart) and drop Gary off at Miami International Airport, where he will fly back to the frigid cold (10 degrees this AM) NJ winter. Jim is heading over to the west coast of Florida for to meet friends and go kayaking.

We bid a fond goodbye and watched Jim and Gary drive off. For the first time since we returned to the boat in January, we were without guests! This realization didn’t hit us until much later, when we had dinner aboard. Cooking for two drove the point home.

We enjoyed having our guests.

We arrived back at the City Marina, boarded the SmorgasBoat, and were back aboard SUNSHINE at 1600 hours. We worked on our logs and planned our next couple of days. We need to repair the dinghy and make the electrical connections for the wind gauge. We have appointments for haircuts, aboard “Lo Que Se A,” but without a dinghy, we probably will not be able to keep them.

We also researched our options if the dinghy can’t be repaired.

Anna Marie prepared pork chops and sauerkraut in the pressure cooker. We sat down to a great meal and reminisced about the fun we had with Marje and Ed and Gary and Jim.

We also talked about the sad news that the Overseas Sports Bar and Grill is going to close down in a couple of weeks. We wonder where the cast of characters will end up.

The following is a reprint from the local newspaper:

End is Near for a Keys Landmark

By Ryan McCarthy Posted-Friday, February 8, 2008 6:55 PM EST

Loan's called in, Overseas Lounge likely to closeMarathon's oldest watering hole and a Middle Keys landmark, the Overseas Liquor & Lounge, is closing its doors for the last time by the end of February.A dispute with the estate of property owner Joseph Ardolino has left business owners Roy and Beverly Dickens no choice but to shut down.Roy said the bar has been open as Overseas Liquor & Lounge for 59 years.

“When we came in, we bought the business, the equipment and the liquor license. We have a balloon on the liquor license [due] March 1, [meaning] you would have a payoff or renegotiate,” Beverly said. The couple owes $143,000 on what was a private loan from Ardolino totaling $275,000.Beverly said the estate has requested the loan be paid in full by March 1 and the couple then go on a month-to-month lease paying an additional $1,100 per month rent.Now, Roy said, the Dickens' stand to lose everything if the $143,000 is not paid by March 1.

They've been unable to secure a loan on the license to pay the estate. An option to renew for 10 years was in the original lease.“Then I had it sold in Key Largo and the county won't let us move it. They said it takes three months; I said, ‘I don't have three months' and he said ‘I'm sorry,'” Roy said. He said he was told Friday morning he would have to appear before the county Planning Commission to try to get the liquor license moved to the Upper Keys.Beverly said the estate sent her a letter saying nothing can be removed from the property - including furniture in their upstairs apartment and some $347,000 worth of equipment the Dickens' have put into the bar.

The Overseas began as a fishermen's bar, Beverly said, and has long been a hangout for residents of Boot Key Harbor. The bar even offers WiFi so boaters can bring computers in and have access to the Internet.“They keep asking every day is anything changing and I keep saying ‘No, we don't have that lease straightened out,'” Beverly said. “I have good days and bad days; today is kind of a bad day after [Roy] went to the county. That was our last resort, to move the license so we don't lose everything.”Roy said he felt he was being “shafted” after eight years giving back to the community.

“We've done anything for this community. We've fed people for seven years in this town who didn't have a place to eat and I've always paid for everything,” he said. The Dickens' have for years offered a free buffet Sunday mornings. The Overseas also serves as an unofficial hurricane shelter for Boot Key Harbor liveaboards when hurricanes rock their boats beyond the point of being able to stay on them.Beverly said she does not know what the estate has in store for the building, but said she has reiterated to the estate the license will be void when the Overseas closes.“I wrote them a letter and said ‘Do you not understand? You're calling our bluff, but I'm
telling you when this building is out of business, this license is done,' ” she said.

POST SCRIPT: The 2/11/08 cruiser’s net was abuzz with chatter about how the boating community could help. Needless to say, the boaters couldn’t come up with the amount due, but they did take up a collection… to buy as many lottery tickets as they can with the donations. The tickets will be given to Roy and Beverly with the hope that they “hit it big!

You might also be interested to know that the Overseas is selling their packaged goods at a discount of 40% off to the boaters!

The MAN!

Weather: Windy – NE 20 knots gusts to 25; Sunny to cloudy with appearance of rain that never materialized, to partly sunny; temp range 75 – 78 degrees.

Comment: We were up at 0800 and ready to head out for Key West. The only thing standing in our way was a small boat project that Jim volunteered to undertake. SUNSHINE’s wind instrument (anemometer and vane) hasn’t worked since we purchased the boat. We had the instrument head and transducer serviced and after reinstallation found that the gauge was still inoperative. After further searching, we found the cable was severed. We ordered a new cable with mast head fitting, but haven’t met the right person to climb to the top of the mast.

Jim offered that he was in fact, the MAN! He spent last evening planning his strategy that included a make shift harness (made out of a dock line) and a foot hold. Gary and I hoisted him with the main halyard attached to the harness and the spinnaker halyard attached to the foot strap. With Gary at the port winch and me at the starboard, we winched Jim up about 49 feet over the water. For the better part of what must have semed like a week, Jim sat (in the harness), stood (in the foot hold) while his “boys” were getting real familiar with each other and the dock line which threatened to crush, sever or send them packing (depending on Jim's various positions in the makeshift harness). Okay, so it wasn’t really a week (more like an hour or two) but when the "boys" are slowly and methodically being squeezed, hours can quickly turn into weeks.

We fished the new cable through with no difficulty. The final procedure way at the top of the mast was for Jim to remove the old fitting, mount the new fitting and reattach the anemometer and vane. A problem arose in the attaching. The old fitting was much thicker than the new therefore the “old” screws were too long! To Jim, failure is not an option (it was certainly acceptable for us). He came down the mast with a little (very little) assistance from Gary and me. He sat down to let the “boys” separate a bit while Anna Marie and I searched the spare parts bins for appropriate sized screws. Once found, it was back up the mast for Jim. He took to the heights armed with the necessary tools, screws and calk. The screws fit just fine and he returned to the deck in just about ½ hour. The installation was complete.

It was now about noon, so we lunched before heading ashore. Much to Gary’s chagrin, we forgot all about the free buffet at the Overseas. It was too late for Key West. The SmorgasBoat stops running at about 1845 hours and we needed to ride it (or we wouldn’t be able to get back to the boat) because, if you recall, our inflatable dinghy lost a bout with a sharp underwater object yesterday.

We tried West Marine for a PVC dinghy patch (no luck) and a five pole fitting for the wind instrument cable (no luck finding the fitting, but I found a 6 pole bus bar that should work). We’ll wire it up next week sometime.

Our treat for the day was a trip to the Dolphin Research Center located on Grassy Key. The center dates back to the 50’s. There are 19 dolphins that live at the center and are the subjects of various research projects. I had a conversation wit one of the trainers. When I asked about training and background, he replied: “None, only what I’ve learned here.” I offered that there must be hundreds if not thousands of marine biologists who would love to work at the center. He countered that marine biology might be too broad for work at the center and that Psychology would be more appropriate to the kind of work he does with the dolphins. They way he described it, the males act like typical 8th grade boys (they have a tussle and forget it) while the females acted like typical 8th grade girls (they go to separate corners and don’t interact with each other for hours or longer)!

We were all awestruck by the words on a banner (and “T” shirt) of Baja Diumbe which are as follows:

“We can only conserve the things we LOVE;
We can only love the things we UNDERSTAND;
And we can only understand the things we are TAUGHT!”

Our trip to the center was capped off nicely by dinner at the Island Fishery, a place we discovered with Marje and Ed a few weeks ago.

After being dropped off by the SmorgasBoat, we were back on board by 1800 hours.

Holed!

Weather: Heavy rain and thunder storms are predicted as a cold front moves through. The morning offered light winds and bright sunshine and a temp in the mid 70’s.

Comment: Anna Marie and I began the day at the nautical flea market held right here at the city marina. We purchased a swivel block ($5.00), teak mirror ($3.00) and a chart book holder ($10.00).

We enjoyed breakfast sandwiches at the Stuffed Pig (expensive at $4.00 a pop) then rode the dinghy back to the boat for some R&R. Gary stayed aboard, foraged for breakfast and made reservations for three of the crew to go snorkeling. Anna Marie is going to forego snorkeling in favor of some shore side activity. Marlin Bay is having an open house and the Pigeon Key Art Show is at the Community Park. She may attend either or both.

We rode the dinghy back to the boat for some R&R, ran the generator for 1 ½ hours and with Gary, we took the dinghy back to the dock. Anna was off to do her own thing and Gary, Jim and I were off for a snorkel adventure. We boarded the Sunset Catamaran (just past Porky’s) and went with five other customers to Sombrero Reef. We swam around for almost two hours before heading back. While on the reef we saw a plethora of fish, including barracuda, parrot fish, tile fish among many unidentified others (we needed a fish identification guide!).

On the way in, Captain Steve stopped the boat so we could watch a pod of dolphin working the area. There were many including several very little ones, Apparently the “fishing” was good!

Jim, Anna Marie and I took the dinghy back to SUNSHINE, while Gary waited for one of us to come back to get him. We were chugging away nicely on our way to the mothership when the OB started to run sluggishly, as if it were running out of gas; funny, because it should have a pretty full tank. Before knowing what happened, we heard a loud Pfffft. The starboard chamber deflated and we started taking on water. SUNSHINE was about 250 yards away, and it looked as though we might loose the OB before we arrived. Fortunately, the port tube kept us afloat although there was eight inches of water in the boat. We made it to SUNSHINE, hurriedly removed the OB, pulled the dinghy to the bow of SUNSHINE, and muscled the water filled piece of PVC to the deck. A quick inspection revealed about a 12 inch hole in the bottom.

This didn’t dampen our spirits because Jim still needed to experience Boiler Pan Man (BPM). Our plans changed from dinner aboard to dinner out! We had no way of getting Gary, so we all taxied ashore on the SmorgasBoat. Gary, who almost boarded a dinghy skippered by a couple from Barnegat Bay, heard our tail of woe as we walked to the Keys Fishery for Lobster Rubens. After a fine meal, we trudged back to the Overseas for Open Mic Night (OMN). Sadly, we had to leave at 2130 to catch the last SmorgasBoat for the evening. Jim did get to see BPR-man and his instrument, but we had to leave before he took the stage. Sorry you didn’t get to experience that piece of Marathon culture, Jim.

Potpourri

Weather: Another glorious day in paradise! Temp range 75 – 90 degrees; S wind < 10 knots; brilliant sunshine all day

Comment: Potpourri! Today was a potpourri kind of day. Gary was in desperate need of some exercise so he set out on a walk about. He was gone from 1000 to 1700 hours, walking to the Boot Key Harbor Bridge. Bridge Captain Harold told him that the bridge was closed to both foot and vehicular traffic. After some pleasant conversation during which Harold said he was from Point Pleasant, Gary did an about face, retraced his steps to the moat and turned south toward Pigeon Key. Along the way he stopped for a beverage, found a quiet spot bayside and enjoyed a nap with his feet dangling in the water. His nap was cut short and he was rudely awakened as a passing power boat threw up a wake that gave him a good soaking.

Gary proceeded to the old RR Bridge and walked to the entrance to Pigeon Key, where he turned around and headed back. He probably walked about 10 or 12 miles.

At about the time Gary left on his walk about, Jim left on a kayak adventure. He paddled out to Pigeon Key, but did not land as the fee of $11.00 was a bit much). He paddled under the bridge, found a shallow area to snorkel and then paddled along the bridge for a bit. He saw some rays in the shallow water paralleling the bridge. Jim returned to Sunshine in the early afternoon.

The Admiral and Skipper set for a bike ride; picked up a bucket of compound from Bobby Hardy (the fiberglass guy), returned to the dink to pick up the gas tank, then walked to the gas station for a gallon of gas. We then hopped into the dinghy for a tour of the harbor. We especially wanted to see the iguanas that suned themselves on the branches of the mangrove trees. We saw two large ones, but didn’t get any good photos. The iguana’s camouflage was perfect except for a bright orange belly that didn’t show up well in the photograph. We’ll try for a photo at another time.

We returned to “SUNSHINE” before the others and chilled for a couple of hours. I used the time to finish Michner’s “Caribbean.” Anna Marie read some magazines about Marathon and environs.

We all met at the dinghy dock at 1730 for the walk over to the Overseas. It’s Friday, wing (and slider) night! Gary and Jim left before the “Geckos” (a cover band) began its first set. Anna Marie and I stayed for two sets. They took the SmorgasBoat back to SUNSHINE, leaving the dinghy for Anna Marie and me.