Goodbye, Keys; Hello, Miami!

Who would have thought that a light to moderate chop is much worse than moderate chop to choppy?!  We made contingency plans for a slip at a marina on the other side of Marathon (we were on the ocean side and wanted to move to the intracoastal waterway) in case the 10 miles under the 7 mile bridge to the other side in moderate to choppy proved to be more than we wanted to deal with, after getting beat up on the light to moderate chop we had traveled in Saturday to Marathon.  We had our best saltwater cruising ever and are in Miami, 120 miles traveled on Wednesday March 14.  Marine forecasts are no more reliable than those on land (but we're still glad to have the guidelines).

A good omen for the day, but notice all the crab and lobster pot floats.

St. Christopher was with us today, Linda and Ken-Mary spotted a float while the boat was on plane.  She called out to John and assumed crash position (the same position Jeffy chose when he realized the goose was going to hit the car).  The float appeared behind the boat.  Double whew!

The intracoastal in the keys is varied and beautiful, but tends to be shallow, much of it is only 5 feet deep.  The greatest depth was 20 feet.

You want to be sure to stay in the channel!

Just like driving on the highway, there are many competent boat captains and some who make you wonder.... The sailboat on the left in the picture chose to overtake the smaller sailboat in a narrow channel while we were approaching.  Yup, we had to pass between them.

Later, as we were approaching the fuel dock by the bridge at Jewfish Creek, we had to reverse as a catamaran crossed immediately in front of us where there wasn't room.  We moved on to the fuel dock, the catamaran approached an anchorage and ran broadside into an anchored sailboat.  He then moved across the river and anchored to wait for Florida DNR law enforcement officers.  The dock attendant told us the boat was anchored within the boundaries of Everglades National Park-no anchoring allowed.  It would have been interesting to stay to for the end, but we had miles to go...........

Approaching Miami:

The docks belong to the condos on either side.

It was a VERY long day and we were tired when we docked.  John washed the salt off the boat and we ate and went to bed, but Mary watched an episode of Criminal Minds-the first we've had tv in 3 months!

Goodbye, Boca Chica

We left early Saturday as planned and made it all the way to.............are you ready?.............Marathon!

It took us about 3 hours to travel about 40 miles-our normal cruising speed is 25 miles an hour-and we were happy to find an open slip at Burnside Marina so we could wash the salt off the boat, inside and out.  Conditions were not as predicted (what else is new) and in our home waters the spray would have been rinsing our beautiful hull, but here was spraying corrosive salt over everything, including the dash, as we needed the windshield vent open for ventilation.  There seem to be fewer floats marking crab pots and lobster traps or maybe it's that we've decided to just look ahead, where we might actually run over them.  We did have one close call (that we know of).  We both saw a float at about the same time, too late to go around it, so John quickly shifted the engines into neutral and we drifted until we could see it behind us-whew!

One of our neighbors here at Burnside:

Mary noticed a few sprinkles of salt on one of the cabinets in the cabin and discovered that one of the portholes (windows) in the salon (living room) had leaked a little.  Maybe she hadn't quite latched it all the way when she cleaned glass and mirrors last week.  The stunt kite, which lays in the sill, and the end of the curtain were a little wet, so we cleaned and dried them.  Sunday Mary noticed that her new lighthouse book, bought at the Key West lighthouse, looked wrinkled, so she pulled it out of its spot and it was soaked.  Guess more water came in through the porthole than we realized!  We are glad-yes GLAD-the paperback Guide to Existing Lighthouses in the US is soaked as it saved, for the most part, the boating log we've kept for the 8 years we've owned this boat (wrinkled outside corners only), the log for our previous 3 boats (a few wrinkled page bottoms), and the books we've made (using Shutterfly) for each month of this adventure (thanks for the idea, Sally and Greg).  Mary cleaned the seals for the portholes and John rubbed on a silicone lubricant, which will hopefully solve the problem.  Having a boat is a lot like owning a house-there's always something else that needs to be repaired, replaced, cleaned, etc.

We know it's springtime in Michigan and hope to see a few crocus peeking through when we go home soon for doctor and dentist appointments, but we've certainly enjoyed the endless summer this year:

There is a Mainship 35 Trawler 3 slips down from us.  Even though we know the other Mary and John are in the Bahamas, we each did a double-take when we noticed it.  An employee here at the marina told us there really are less floats, as crab and lobster seasons are coming to an end so some traps are being pulled.  We saw a boat that had so many traps aboard that it looked as though the crew was hanging on the outside-the only place there was room for them.  These traps are on land, but there are stacks as big or bigger than this all throughout the keys.

Sunday we rode our bikes to Pigeon Key and actually took the tour this time. We saw 3 rays on the way:

There are interesting pictures in the museum from the time the key was a work base for the Oversea Railroad and when it became a base for the engineers and other supervisory personnel.  Eventually it housed bridge maintenance workers and bridgetenders to open the bridge for boat traffic. Now it is an historic and education site.  This was the assistant bridge tender's house.  This palm tree reminded John of the climbing tree in the yard when he was a child:

We rode only  8.3 miles, but deserve extra credit for the 2nd half of the ride into the brisk winds that are keeping us here.

Monday John cleaned deck carpet and Mary continued "spring cleaning" in the cabin.  We just checked the marine forecast, which had indicated that Wednesday would be a good water travel day, and it has changed.  We made just-in-case April doctor and dentist appointments (we want to leave the boat further north when we next go home) and will call local marinas tomorrow to find a place to stay until the traveling is good again-maybe sometime next week?

Still at Boca Chica

We've taken the dinghy out a couple of times and rented kayaks.  NOAA is predicting one good boating day tomorrow, so we plan to get out of here early and travel as far as we can.  Mary Frances IV can handle waves but, as stated earlier, the floats for crap pots and lobster traps are hard to see in even a little chop and we sure don't want any lines wrapping around the props.

 

We've enjoyed our time here and look forward to returning next year BY CAR.  The couple on the boat 2 behind us came here for 4 days 4 years ago and their boat is still here.

Just another day in Paradise

The marine forecast gave us 1/2 day of good travel weather Wednesday, so we could either move to Marathon and pay $2.50 per foot per night plus electricity until the marine forecast improves in about a week or stay here in Paradise and pay .85 per foot.  Hmmmmmm.....tough decision, eh?

While Jo was visiting, John drove to Key Largo, the nearest SeaRay dealer, to buy a new lockset for the bathroom door.  The latch had stopped working and we had grown tired of folding 3 layers of John's bath towel into it to make it stay closed.  Neither marine supply store or the Ace Hardware in Key West had what we needed, so we had to suck it up and pay the $300.00 SeaRay charged.  Oh, well.

Several Canadian units have been here at Boca Chica for training.  One of their C-130's had a hydraulic  fire shortly after takeoff.  It was set up as an aerial tanker so had an additional 3,000 gallons of fuel aboard.  The crew landed it safely and the fire chief told John they were about 100 yards from the plane and running like crazy when the firefighters arrived.  The fire-fighting team did their job and the damaged plane still sits here as a Canadian team investigates.

Today marine forecasts call for very rough seas and winds to 35 knots with gusts up to 45.  Small craft advisories have been issued and no improvement is called for through Thursday, so it looks like another FEW days in paradise........ Uh oh. John just called.  He rode his bike to the nearest gas station to get a Sunday paper and now he's hiding from the rain under the overpass at the entrance to base.  The VERY black, scary skies have moved on, but it's pouring now.  At least the salt is getting washed off everything.

Our time in the Keys is coming to and end

Friday, February 17th, Mary's parents, her sister Sue, Sue's husband Denny and their daughter Sara arrived just in time to enjoy the fish dinner special at Navigator's, the marina bar and grill.  In the morning, they checked out the beach at Boca Chica:

then rode the Conch Train.

 While we were waiting for the Conch Train ride to end, John got a little fresh with Marilyn:

After lunch at the Cuban restaurant on Mallory Square

we went to Truman Annex to see the goats and lizards then relaxed on the beach nearby.

Mom and Dad went back to their room on base and the rest of us attended the sunset celebration then had dinner at Hard Rock.

Sunday was a planned relaxing beach day and we executed our plan perfectly:

Sara joined John on the 12 mile bike ride around Key West while the rest of us began our day of leisure.

Mary and Sara swam to the island at the swimming beach,

we had a picnic in the Tiki Hut, John did some laundry, and we enjoyed our own quiet sunset.

That evening Sara and Mary beat Sue and Mom at hand and foot and we all went to bed early, tired after our strenuous day.

Monday we went back into town to do some shopping (all except Dad, who was reading Dana Stabenaw's latest Kate Shugak mystery on Mary's Kindle).  We checked out 2 cruise ships docked at Mallory Square, went to Kino Sandals and some other stores, and had lunch at Hard Rock.  John ran some errands and returned to base to wash the boat while Denny kept the parking permit current and brought us back to Boca Chica so Sara could paddleboard and kayak.  She wasn't too crazy about sharing the water with this jellyfish:

Sue was successful on the paddleboard, also:

and Sara and Sue took a kayak for a spin.

John grilled for us for dinner, but a mosquito hatching (the first time we've had any bugs here!) drove us indoors early.  Mary's dad and Sara went on the Ghost Trolley and really enjoyed it.

Tuesday we packed up the cars and Mary went with the rest of the family to the Everglades while John attended a presentation on "Marathon to Norfolk".  But first we had to visit the goats one last time, as Sara had promised them she'd bring each of them a sugar packet.

John joined us that evening at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead and our company left early Wednesday morning to drive back to Michigan, arriving Thursday just ahead of a snow storm.

We visited Biscayne National Park on our way back to the Keys.  We'll be here by water soon.  We stopped at a Pro Bass Shop at mile marker 81.6 to visit a "sister" boat of Hemingway's Pilar:

Now it's time to put everything away and give the boat a good cleaning, do laundry, reprovision, return the rental car, and prepare to get back underway on the next leg of our journey.

More fun in the Keys

Wednesday, February 1st, we interrupted our bike ride to walk out on the docks at Galleon Marina to see if Rich and Carol on Salt 'n Sand were aboard.  They had let us know they were coming to Key West and it was wonderful to see them.  We made arrangements to spend time together on Friday.

We showed them the lizards and goats, of course, and would someone please tell these 2 lizards to "get a room"?!

We told them that we often see flowerpot sponges along the bike path by the ocean so we stopped to pick a couple up:

 No matter how many times Rich rinsed them, however, they still smelled.  Now we understand why some local shop owner doesn't gather them each day to sell.  We went to Garbo's Grill for lunch, showed them our marina and took them shopping (remember, landlubbers, most of us on this trip don't have access to a car very often) then they treated us to dinner at Flaming Buoys.

Monday, 2/6, we went to the airport to meet John's sister, Jo.  After lunch we took her to see the lizards and goats:

 We took Jo on a driving tour then to the boat.  We saw and did a lot during Jo's visit, including watching special forces troops jumping from helicopters into the water:

 The eagle chicks are finally big enough that we can see them:

We went to the Key West Botanical Gardens:

 and to West Martello, the remains of a Civil War fort that the Key West Garden Club has transformed into a gorgeous, peaceful oasis:

When we ate at Sloppy Joe's, we had unusual company:

Saturday we took Jo to the big flea market and to see Key Deer at Big Pine Key.  Sunday we drove to the Everglades.  On the way we had a view of Fat Albert that we hadn't seen before:

 The weather was cold and windy, so alligators were scarce, but we hardly missed them, as other animals and birds entertained us.

A wood stork:

These vultures were actually tearing a rubber strip from the top of this car:

A better view of a Roseate Spoonbill than we saw with Sarah and Benj:

Crocodiles!

 The manatee were putting on a show and we saw a single Black Skimmer, who stayed behind when his flock left for the winter.

Jo had to leave Tuesday, Valentine's Day.  It's wonderful to have family visit, but a little sad when they leave.  That evening we had dinner with Carol and Rich at Pepe's, the oldest restaurant in Key West.  We joined Kathy and Garth from Algonquin at their table.

More planes:  We've spotted a C-17 and the electronics version of the Intruder.  Students training for aircraft carriers were here for a few days.  The runways were painted to look like carrier decks and they practiced here before venturing out for landings on a real carrier.

Only 3 days before more company arrives.  Have to do laundry and clean the boat.....

Happy Birthday, John

On January 25th, John celebrated one year of being old enough to collect social security.  He heard from his in-laws and his sisters and received from Mary an external hard drive, a sunshade for the camera lens (we think the last one bounced out of the bed of the pickup back in Hudson), and the book Last Train to Paradise about the building of the railroad to Key West; from Matthew and Christine the dvd 1941 and the book Battle, the Story of the Bulge; and from Benj and Sarah the dvd Blues Brothers and the book Midway! Incredible Victory.  He decided he wanted to do a Duval Street pub crawl so we rented a room at Truman Annex so we could walk home afterward.  Our usual pub crawl companions (all 2 we've done in the last 10 years-both on Mackinac Island), Jackie and Paul, are wintering in Arizona, so we were on our own.  Steve and Kris accompanied us all on the last Mackinac Island crawl, but they're home in Saginaw.  We started at 4:30, had snacks and drinks and listened to singers at different bars and were tucked into bed by 10:30.

The next day Mary had a nice surprise.  She was standing in front of Sloppy Joe's waiting for John to pick her up and along came Terri, a retired library media specialist from Michigan.  It was terrific to see her and they had a nice visit.

We've seen some additional planes here:

The AWACS (air force radar plane):

 A T-6 trainer and an F-8 Bearcat, WW2 planes here for a change of command ceremony.  An F-18 and an F-5 in the background.

 

Saturday, January 28th, we drove up to Marathon and walked the 2 miles on the old 7 mile bridge to Pigeon Key, which was a work camp when the railroad was being built.  This picture of the camp was taken from the new 7 mile bridge:

This is where the bridge was "blown up" in the movie True Lies:

After our walk we drove through some of the marinas to look for other loopers.  We said hello to John and Rita from Brandy as they dinghied past then visited with Julaine and Fred on Boreas and had a double treat as Marc and Michele from Marc's Arc were aboard Brown-Eyed Girl where we visited with them and Ginny and Craig. We had dinner with Mary and Bill from Harbour Reach at the Marathon Marina restaurant then drove back to Boca Chica.  Wednesday we drove to Marathon to a Looper potluck.  We were pleased to see Chris and Kerm from Southern Belle again.