Windy In Boot Key Harbor

We're still here, the wind picked up again Friday night 20 to 25 knots and gusts much higher. We could think of worse places to be marooned. We lost some sleep a few night in a row due to the wind but last night we made up for it. The wind died down below 10 knots for most of the night. It doesn't look good for a trip to Key West and the Dry Tortugas. We had some wind and fronts moving through last year but we don't remember it being so constant as this year.

The picture is of the three Hunter boats in a row taken yesterday morning on our way to church. While we were gone the wind of course picked up but when we checked the GPS we were in the same place as when we left. We got back just in time to see another front move though and the wind gusts were 25 plus knots. The wind is great for the wind generator but we are getting tired of listening to it howl.

We plan to stay for the week here in the harbor. Tonight we will attend a gathering of the cruisers at the Dockside Bar & Grill. Everyone here is friendly and looks out for one another. Many boats have dragged during the nights of high winds. Other boaters help by dinghy to reset anchors. It's very community oriented here.

This afternoon I will do laundry and Larry will get a propane fill in one of our tanks. We have just hung out on the boat this morning because it has been very chilly outside. The sun has begun to warm things up a bit, time to go out and enjoy.

LCH When we say 'hanging out', it is never sitting back and relaxing. While it is nothing big, my morning was spent mounting a dansforth anchor on the bow of the boat so it is ready when I need it. I also killed a bit of time trouble shooting our JVC receiver/dvd player which died last night. I traced the 12v from the circuit breakers to the radio connector as the 12v tothe radio is fine. I then spent the next 45 - 60 minutes calling JVC and Hunter to get the radio sent in for repair. Hunter says it has a 2 year warranty (good!) while JVC says 1 year (not good!). But Hunter did give me the name of their distributor for the radio who they say will handle the repair. I have a voice message with them waiting for a call back. I also am waiting for Hunter to call me back in regards to our propane tank. We now have had a third tank have a valve failure. So far Hunter has replaced them but this gets tiring. I will be adding a 20 lb lp tank on the stern rail this summer so I don't have to depend on the 4 lb tanks that came with the boat. The advantage will be more time between refills and I can just swap the 20 lb tank at a propane exchange and not worry any more about bad valves. Lots of little stuff to waste a morning!

It's Raining in Paradise

As you can see by the picture of the Hunter 33 behind us it is very much raining. A cold front has moved though the keys and brought with it a storm. We are expected to get winds around 20 knots and higher gusts. The rain is supposed to become less this evening.

We are still at anchor in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon. The extended forecast did not sound good for moving on to Key West, so we opted to stay put.

This morning we went by dinghy to do some provisioning at Publix and before that we went to a wholesale fish market. The fish is very fresh and what a price compared to other fish stores and the grocery stores. We should be set for a while now. We made it back just before the down pour hit.

This is a picture of Iggy the resident iguana at Crane Point Historic Site. We rode our bikes yesterday to see the museum and walk the nature trails. There is 63 acres of property. We visited the Wild Bird Center, where injured birds are cared for and released when well. We saw the Adderely House, the oldest house outside of Key West. We also visited the Museum of Natural History. All in all it was a very interesting trip and a very sunny and warm day.

We do not know when and if we will go to Key West before heading up the West coast of Florida. It will depend on if we get a weather window to do so.

Marathon, FL (Boot Key Harbor)

We arrived here in Marathon Friday afternoon. The winds had picked up again Thursday night and were blowing 15 knots plus, we were bouncing on the mooring ball and it was time to leave. We motor sailed on to Marathon. The sun was shinning bright but we both could not relax at the same time, the crab pot population was very dense. Even with the auto helm on one of us had to be watching. What possess the crabbers to put their traps in the charted course is beyond my imagination. They must have many of them taken out by boat props. Last year when we came though here during a heavy storm we did not see one and fortunately for us we just shredded the Styrofoam float ball. The line can get wrapped on you propeller shaft. What a mess that can be. The wind was blowing quite stiff by the time we arrived and was still blowing until this morning. It is blowing around 10 knots now and is to get even lighter over the next few days.

The picture is only a small portion of the mooring field. It is large and with many boats, some of which are waiting to go to the Bahamas and some to Mexico. I'm certain many will leave today and tomorrow the winds are out of the Southeast.

We have been hanging out on the boat and at shore over the weekend. Friday we went by dinghy to the City Marina and purchased a pass to land our dinghy for the week. We also purchased tokens for the showers. This will reduce the amount of water we have to cart from the dock to the boat. Larry does most of the work, I just help. We have been discussing a water maker, we keep going back and forth about one. Cost verses convenience, where you can use it, space to install it and more. Here in the US it is quite easy to get water and this is the first time we have had to pay (.05$/gal. pretty reasonable). The main thing would be the time and energy used here to fill the tanks. In the Bahamas would be the lack of availability and drinkable and distance to carry the water. We prefer to anchor out over getting a dock. Some of the islands are quite remote and would be where we would like to anchor. A water maker would make it convenient to stay on the hook for extended periods of time. We severed our tie with the land and now are working on some independence. When you live aboard a boat full time and are not attached to land you realise how spoiled we are as Americans. There are some creature comforts I refuse to give up. We enjoy this life style but we are not camping. We do see many small boats with few comforts if any on them, not for me, I'm still spoiled!

Saturday we took our bikes to shore by dinghy and did some provisioning at Publix and the boating stores. We also found the Dockside Bar landed our dinghy and had dinner. We have some history with this bar. About 15 years ago we came to Marathon on a scuba diving trip with Tildens Dive Shop. After getting to know one of the dive masters we discovered he lived on a Hunter 25 here in Boot Key Harbor. We, at that time, also owned a Hunter 25 one year newer. He was living our dream. We found the Dockside Bar to check out where he lived. We found out that for $25 a month the bar provided mail service, shower facilities, laundry, parking and dinghy dock. What a deal! The wheels started to turn and we kept that in the back of our minds, Larry more than me. Well we chose not to come down and stay put, wanderlust in our blood, but we needed to go back to where it all began. The write ups in the cruising guides say they are no longer boater friendly since the city put in a mooring field. Three weeks ago a new owner took over and is changing things back to what they used to be years ago. We plan on the next trip though to anchor off Dockside and see what it is like.

Sunday we went to the Marathon Community UMC for church service. We had planned our time to get to shore and take a shower with plenty of time to bike to church. I guess we are too used to showering on our boat and didn't think about a line to wait in. After a 25 minute wait we finally got showered and went to church only a few minutes late. We'll plan better next time. The pastor gave a very thought provoking sermon and the small church was quite full. He himself was quite young with a young family but the congregation ranged from young children to folks many years our senior.

Today while I'm writing this Larry is getting fuses from the West Marine store and water from the City Dock. We have some things to do on the boat and will later go to shore for a shower. Hopefully there will be no lines. Tomorrow we will visit Crane Point Museum and Nature Center. It is a short bike ride from the City Dock. We plan to stay anchored here until Wednesday.

Lignumvitae Key

Wednesday morning after breakfast we lifted anchor and traveled less than 5 miles to Lignumvitae Key. Lignumvitae is a state botanical site open for tours Thursday though Monday at 10 AM and 2 PM. There used to be five mooring balls to tie up to but the storms have taken out all but two. We were the only boat here last night and until noon today. Other than the wind and current moving the boat about it was a very quiet night.

We took the tour this morning at 10 AM and Jared gave us a very informative tour of the house and fauna on the grounds. The Key is named for the Lignumvitae tree that is native to the keys and has been all but been logged to nonexistence. The key has been preserved just the way it was when the last inhabitants resided here from 1935 until WW II. The famous "Labor Day Hurricane" in 1935 damaged the house by taking off the roof and one side. It was repaired with some changes to make it hurricane proof. In the picture you can see a lignumvitae tree that is 30 years old. The wood from this tree is so heavy that it sinks in water and contains a natural oil that when it is cut and sanded it naturally has a finish that looks like it has been varnished. It is easy see, when Jared informed us of the uses that the tree has, that it was all but wiped out.

This Key has a very interesting history having been owned by different people throughout. I found the last owner to be of particular interest to me. William J Matheson a well known chemist from Miami purchased the key in 1919, he also was the founder of Matheson Chemical Corporation. My father worked for Olin/Matheson (the same company) when I was growing up. The company is now known as Olin Chemical, those of you boaters out there might recognise the name from on safety flares aboard your boat.

LH The cruising guides all state that Lignumvitae has 5 mooring balls on the NW shore. When we arrived, we could only find 2. Where were the missing 3 moorings? We tied onto one of the 2 and I felt uneasy. What happened to the other 3? Once we got settled in I dove the mooring, unusual since you tend to dive your anchor. The shackles on the mooring were new, the pennant from the buoy was new. But when I checked the line through the buoy itself, it had chafed 1/3 of the way through. I dove the mooring dragging a spare anchor line with me and secured a backup mooring line should the mooring line fail. What we do for a good nights sleep!

This afternoon I had to tighten the packing gland on the shaft of the engine.....again. I will pick up some new flax and add some stuffing for now. When I haul to paint the boat this spring I will repack the gland. Later I had to tighten screws on 2 different cleats to try to find a leak in the v berth. Tropical Gale Winds is just a year old but it is constant use. Small jobs add up but you have to keep caught up.

Treats From Nature

Yesterday was one of those rare days when you get not only one amazing treat from nature but two. As you can see from the first picture it rained yesterday morning and you guessed it a rainbow with a second one in the back ground. The first one was a complete one but unfortunately we were two close for me to capture it in its entirety. It was incredible and I wish I could have shared the entire rainbow with you. May be next time!

Larry and I went to church at the Matecumbe UMC a short walk from where we landed the dinghy. After which we went to the Great Outdoor Sportsman affiliated with Bass Pro Shop to do some shopping with our Christmas money. We were looking for shorts the kind we bought last year that repel the water. Sometimes our dinghy rides are wet ones like our return trip last night. After we got back and watched the sun set the water began to glow in tiny spots all around our boat. It was phosphorescent algae floating in the water. It was a spectacular light display. There were thousands of them. They looked like tiny glow sticks in the water. Nature sure can be full of surprises.


Today we decided to visit our condo on the bay, that is where our mail gets delivered. We visited Seth and Holly at Voyager Mail Forwarding Service. We went to shore by dinghy with our bikes aboard and then rode by bike six miles on Highway #1 to get there. The ride its self was not difficult but the head wind we were riding into and the traffic made it seem very long. The fact that we have been at anchor and not getting exercise didn't help. I'm sure we will sleep good tonight. Our plan is to stay here in Islamorada one more day then move on to Lignumvitae Key.

Enchanted Ride

Our enchanted dinghy ride began at a small opening in the mangroves at shore just ahead of the anchorage. We traveled though a canal umbrellaed by the mangroves. The wind has been howling for days now but you would not know it in the protection of the mangroves. It's easy to see why when a hurricane is predicted to hit many boater seek refuge in the mangroves up a canal. It was totally calm on our ride. In fact it gave us a break from the constant blowing of the wind. It's nice to get the opportunity to take advantage of these little gems along the way.

We have been at anchor now in Tarpon Bay for four nights. This Northeasterly wind is getting to be a pain and every day the weather prediction adds another day till it stops. We felt that our anchor is set in well so why move and have to set it again. It's been a week today though since we have walked on shore. It's time to move onto Islamorada for some shore R&R and supplies regardless of the wind.

LH We added a Kiss Wind Generator during the summer and it has been well tested this trip. I have not run the gas generator for a week because the wind is spinning the wind generator well enough that we haven't needed additional power. One feature of the wind generator is that in high winds it 'free spins' to prevent over heating. Yesterday it was blowing 25 knots and we were not getting sufficient power from it. I assumed that it was 'free spinning'. WRONG! After the winds calmed down and sufficient time elapsed, we still had under charged batteries. I found that I had blown the fuse from the wind generator to the batteries. Changed it and we have fully charged batteries again. Learn something new every day!

At Anchor in Tarpon Basin

This is Alex, Joann and Adrian, they live on their 27 foot boat in No Name Harbor for the Winter while their Husband/Dad (Alister) works as a captain aboard a 103 foot motor yacht. Joann says they are camping out for the winter to be close to him. Joann gave us a ride in her car to get our generator and some supplies. She is home schooling Alex and works very hard doing all the chores for daily survival, laundry, supplies and water to name a few. They have no power or running water or head aboard. They chose to remove tanks in lieu of storage space. It was fun being with her and the boys, she is 4 years older than our oldest daughter and the boys are the same age as our Grandsons. If they stay in No Name we will probably see them on our return trip.

Yesterday after lunch we pulled up anchor and motored though Jewfish Creek (Key Largo bridge) and stopped at Gilberts for fuel and water. Of course we forgot to toss the garbage. Well isn't that what the garbage scow (dinghy) is for. We arrived in Tarpon Basin to anchor about 4 PM. Unlike the night before when there was one boat with us, we were with 7 other boats, 5 sail and 2 trawlers. The winds continued to blow and increase late in the evening but we had visuals with the anchor lights on the other boats for our postion. We were also fortunate with no wind direction shifts. This made for an easier night but our sleep was still broken to make many checks on postion during the night. Three of the boats left early this morning the rest of us are staying put to wait out the Noreasterly that is blowing though. The wind is to come out of the east by tomorrow and we will have protection to anchor in Islamorada off Lorelei's. We will see if the weather prediction is correct and decide tomorrow morning to move or not. By Sunday the wind is to ease up and we may be able to go out Channel 5 and sail down the coast inside the reef. We are in no hurry but it woud be nice to have calmer winds.

Pumpkin Key - Key Largo

Night before last we anchored off Pumpkin Key and were treated to an incrediable sunset. The kind that when you take multiple pictures not to miss any possible views, it's hard to pick just one shot to use. The clouds were heavy along the horizon and gave us quite a show. We had a very quiet night along with one other boat that came in just at susnset. About a mile away off Angel Fish Creek we could see our friend Michael at anchor. When we rose the next morning he was gone maybe he crossed to the Bahamas.

Yesterday morning we put out our mainsail brought up our anchor and sailed down Card sound to Card Bank where we brought in our sails and motored though the narrow channel. We tucked up in East of Steamboat Creek and dropped anchor in about 7 feet of water. The winds were predicted to lessen to 5 to 10 miles and then switch out of the Northwest after midnight. About 3 AM we woke to the winds picking up and the boat changing direction. It is a very muddy bottom and we moved about 60 feet then the anchor set again. The winds are supposed to be out of the North and Northeast for the next few days. We may stay here until tomorrow we haven't yet decided. We plan to be in Islamorada by Friday or Saturday.

LCH One thing that has been quite a change for us down here is that we anchor in open areas. On Lake Ontario we always found nice protected anchorages. Here you make sure you have protection from the forcasted wind direction and hope they are right. Last night we tucked up within .3 nm of the north shore and behind us is 5 or 6 miles of open water. Same for the night before. Some times we have no choice and we are wide open to the winds. Some nights we just do not sleep, Pumpkin Key we were lucky!

Still in No Name Harbor

We have been here for over one week now. Time to get moving. Ben and Margaret on Diva left for the Bahamas a few days after New Years Day. Doug has left for his return trip North and it is time for us to move to the Keys and enjoy the journey.

We got our generator back a few days ago, it's good to have that source of power and freedom again. It lets me run my computer, vacuum cleaner and TV, which we watch only about a couple of hours a month. It's nice to know you can watch it when you want. Of course we will only get Spanish channels when we get closer to Key West. Guess we'll have to learn the language so we can understand what we are seeing.

We spoke with friends from up North yesterday and firmed up a date for their visit. Rich and Julie have been sailing buddies of ours for about 20 years and they plan to live this life of freedom in about 3 years. It's good to get as much experience as you can before you actually take the plunge. Even then it's still not like going full into it but it's a taste at any rate. We are excited that they are going to join us. We will meet up with them on the West coast of Florida. Some of the areas we have been to by boat or by car but most will be new for us too! How exciting is that!

I have up graded this blog and I'm learning some new changes. I'm attempting to load a picture of Michale an 80 year old sailor we have met here in No Name Harbor. He has made 25 trips to the Bahamas single handing. He is still here in the area but is waiting for a good window of weather and will cross. God Bless him! On one of his attempts he blew out his track for his boom on his main sail. Larry and I and another cruiser helped him fix it so he has been sailing in the bay to test it. It worked well and now we his ready to go.