Key West Diving

The best time to dive Florida is in the summer time come to find out....for clarity...but I just had to go so I would feel ready to catch lobsters later...I was a little disappointed with the first dive...not very much living coral on this famous reef... Then on the second dive a little more clarity and more life.....
The other couple that was part of my group was from Holland...I was the only one with a camera. They took my camera and this is me...and the Dive Master! It was great that they were in my group...as I would follow fish and look for things to take pictures of...THEY WOULD FOLLOW ME...not the dive master...so he had to stay close to US!!! It was great! Excited to have more dives and hopefully learn to catch lobster while still here in the Keys!

Merry Christmas from Sunny and Warm Key West

Christmas Day 2:22 PM Greetings and Merry Christmas from where it is warm. Yesterday we traped around Key West doing some last minute shopping. Made the last run on the city buses while they were still free to the supermarket. Go back to paying tomorrow. Found a nice piece of prime rib, which we cooked for dinner....just wonderful...recipe will be in the book, medium rare all the way through...just like the high dollar restaurants. We were up with the sun to start our Christmas celebration. The cook (me)received some new titanium cookware....stuff is too cool...$$$$$, but worth every penny. Had omelets cooked in the new pans. Will cook tonight ham in another one. Joyce is now ready to fill the freezers with lobster. She has a new lobster kit and this dive computer thing that according to her tells her how long she can catch our lobster dinner, when she should come up and even tells her which way back to the boat. She is going to go diving tomorrow morning...then next week down to learn how to catch the little lobsters. Now for my side of the bike-a-thon. They gave me a girlie-girlie bike...it was anatomically incorrect....and remember I don't feel much in my feet..so I couldn't tell when or where my feet were on the pedals. Well I made it back to the barn without any major accidents...very tired...quads were like jelly. think I will get the trike next time.

As you can See Joyce got me a new T-shirt...others have suggested that I do at times need some supervision.

We are getting ready to go ashore....2 cattle boats in today so its business as usual here in Key West. Matt and his girlfriend get in Thursday for a few days R&R, he will be going back to Iraq for his 2nd deployment next month. Yes I'm the proud father of a US Marine. Will be cooking his favorites for a few days. But he will get the honor of dragging my new anchor down to the dink and on-board the Lady.

Well we are only getting about 100 amp hours of power out of the batteries before the voltage drops too low. We will make it back to Miami for new, but extra gen-set time is needed to keep them up. Off to the happy hours for Christmas Day here in KW....

Happy Christmas Eve Day...Happy Birthday Matt!

We met some more cruisers from Wisconsin...Jim and Roberta...on their 45 foot boat "Chipper". They came by in their 800 pound, 35mph dingy after we re-anchored at a different spot for the third time here in KW. This time the police came by...the tides and wind had eased us into a little used channel. Interestingly enough, someone must have left as Paul found a "hole" and we now have the BEST "parking" spot closer to the dingy dock. Anyway, we met Jim and Roberta for happy hour at The Conch Restaurant and Bar and I had my FIRST "dark and stormy"...well, my first...and since they were two for one....a few more!!!! We then had them over to The Lady H also! Roberta has the same birthday as I do!!!! Here is the dingy dock...usually very crowded and you have to pull boats apart to get on the lower dock...
....AND this is the best picture....but truly you would have had to have been there....and oh...how I laughed....and laughed...but....only once we were back and I knew he was safe and wasn't going to crash did I laugh in front of him!!!! And, for those that know me....some may ask why he is in front of me on the bike??? Probably better explained for those that know Paul....after I told him that I was going to take his picture....he took off and never looked back....could that have been because he can't turn his neck...or because I didn't know where I was going so we had already gone through a stop sign/light or two...or did he think I might post his picture to the blog riding a bike....we will never know....
And...the REAL Key West "sunset"....taken from the nightly sunset celebration on Mallory Square...been there...done that!!!!

$$$$ Damn Battery Gods are pissed...$$$$$

Wed 6:30 PM You heard from Joyce about the bump in the night...I thought my anchor that never dragged had dragged....but when we went to move the anchor was still well stuck on the bottom. We had been anchored there for 3 days with 20-30 kt winds....when the wind died down the boats swing different... Yes we have been walking the town....back and knee getting used to the mileage... but we must stop for beer breaks.... Over he past week I have noticed the voltage on the batteries has been lower than usual. Have been checking the water level, but using very little....another cruiser said he is using a quart a week....I have not used a quart in the last 3 months. So I checked the specific gravity of each battery....damn....dead or almost dead cell in almost all the batteries, over the last 2days I equalized the batteries...this where you "cook" the batteries by overcharging them to burn off the sulfate on the plates.....well no such luck...better but all but 1 battery has a weak cell.

They are 13 months old with a 1 yr replacement and a 3 yr pro-rated warranty. Damn...should have checked the damn cells last month. Now we will have to do a battery swap when we get back to Miami...lots of work and $$$ and I know Joyce will not let me lift a 50 lb battery....Guess I will have o take her out to dinner after the swap. A dozen batteries from the boat to a cart to the car to Sam's to the cart to the store and back IS WORK and some more $$$$$ . You might ask why they failed so soon. Long story...batteries on a sailboat almost never get charged to 100%. We usually charge to 90% since the last 10% can take 1 1/2 hrs...This is hard on the battery. Remember this is an electric boat...2 freezers, a fridge, that run all the time..and now Joyce's computer is downloading all those movies 24/7. The batteries should last about 18 months, ...the alternative is much more $$$ and they will last longer...had hoped we could make it to next yrs boat show...can get a good deal and the Rolls ..they are the best. Maybe next time....just too many things that cost the big bucks this yr.

Rather than watch the gay guys cook on TV, I discovered a website that allows you to download movies and TV programs for free....for a few bucks you can get unlimited downloads. Now Joyce's computer is in overdrive downloading 40+ episodes of NCIS, the same for Law and Order, House, Grey's Anatomy and a bunch of movies. I figure by the time we leave phone/Internet service when we head for the Bahamas next month we should have a few months worth of evening entertainment to supplement the evening "entertainment" provided by the wackos on the charter boats as they attempt to anchor each evening. Yea...I know I used to be one of those myself...and from time to time do provide some entertainment myself in the anchorage.

We had 2 cruise ships in today...cattle boats....and the cattle get off and are led from the bars to the boats and attractions. This boat get $35 bucks a head to sail for 2 hrs and sail by the Sunset location downtown.

Getting to know the neighbors....

Very sweet couple...Terry and Pam from Wisconsin...Terry woke up at 2:30 am Monday morning...looked around and noticed that their trawler and theLady H were side by side. They woke us up and we quickly proceeded to re-anchor temporarily for the rest of the morning. We invited them over for happy hour the following evening after we re-anchored out in deeper water. Seems they have had this occur three times in the last three weeks. The tides and wind make a trawler swing much different than a sailboat....anyway just a note to let you know that the sunsets are much better from this anchorage anyway!! We are enjoying going in to Key West every day to walk and shop...

Still Windy...

With the hope of more sun (thus more warmth) after a load of laundry, we decided to venture to town this morning after spending yesterday cleaning on the boat. We walked to the Post Office and then went shopping.... Of course we took the time for Paul to check out his favorite bar....and yes,for "that" he really can climb those steps!!!!
Then....two for one margarita's here....but we had had enough...so off to find a few t-shirts. Then to a restaurant more for the "locals" where I had a snapper sandwich (shared) and Paul had a chef salad...good food! Wind was even stronger than when we left (perhaps up to 25 knots) so our dingy ride back to the boat was a SOAKER....fun but WET!!! I was ready to jump in and swim back as it felt like the water was warmer than the air!!! It was in the mid 70's...but by the time we got back to Lady H, I was chilled to the bone!

Key West...well it's Key West

Sunday 9:30...We awoke to wind and rain....35 kts from the SW. A little lumpy....We were up early ye3sterday. I checked the TV reception...6 channels...3 Spanish, 2 local attractions....and 1 that plays old movies or TV Shows. We watched a gay cook and a guy dressed in drag prepare some mahi mahi....the add spots offered a clothes optional snorkeling cruise...guess there is lots to see under that boat. Then there are the ads with 2 guys giving each other a ring for Christmas....an ad for WGAY TV station We dinked ashore, paid for our dink parking($5.50 per day) and walked. Fist stop was West Marine..checked on the anchor I had ordered last week. Should be in next week. Walked up to Duval Street, Key West's rendition of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Lot of bars and junk shops. Joyce decided to take a pass of the Garden of Eden bar, a clothing optional bar on the roof of the Bull and Whistle Bar. The T-shirts were a little on the risque side...well so is the whole town. We stopped at one of the waterfront bars for lunch and a few beers. They had a local guy singing...sounded like Jimmy Buffet. Back to the boat ... A few notes on Key West. One must remember that Key West is the end of the US and the end of US route 1. All the burnt out hippies from the 60's find themselves down here. The southern most city in the US. When they feel that Key West is getting too calm...they move on to Cruz Bay on St John in the Virgin Islands....more from there in a month or so.

Zoom, zoom..damn

Fri Dec 14th..Well we hoisted the hook about 8:15am...one boat already had an hour head start. By the time we had the sails up and going he was 6-7 miles ahead.....yep another race...a small speck of white on the horizon....wind in the am was 15-18 from the E-ENE.....we were going high 7's low 8's.....that speck kept getting larger...by noon he was within range.....passed him about 2pm....damn we are good.

This is where they hold " SUNSET" evey night

Then the wind dies and we motored into Key West and on to the anchorage....had to try getting the hook in the right place 3 times.....better now than when the wind is 30kts and you are on another boat....had our best pizza yet...(yes, absolutely the best pizza) hmmm....maybe we should think of a Pizza and Fajita boat to pay for our cruising....another story...later....

Walked till My Butt Hurt

Thur 5:30 pm. Yesterday we played around till 11 am or so and dinked in to Marathon. We found Ken and Helen's boat as well as John and Joanne's. They had driven down to Key West for the Day. I had not walked off the boat for 2+ days, so we checked into the City Marina Dingy dock...$10.50 thank you very much and headed for the Home Depot. Must have been 3/4 of a mile. Found our stuff....on sale and then decided o continue another 1/2 mile or so to the supermarket. More food ....that's all we need...hiked back to the Marina...the Capt was whooped...barely made it to the dink. We had been gone for over 4 hrs...and was 5 o'clock somewhere. Muddler time....a muddler is a Capt Paul concoction left over from his working days. Been known to kill the pain of any known condition when consumed in moderation, more is better when you hurt. Was an early evening for the skipper. Awoke at 2:50 am...yep....PAIN...back and butt in spasm...downed a muscle relaxer and cranked up Jenny's laser....kept falling back asleep till the Laser made its shutdown noise. Joyce started to stir about 6:45am...offered to deep massage my back and feet...wow...almost bearable. She got up to make that special tea in copious amounts to keep my kidney stone happy By 8AM the Capt was almost human. We putted in about 11AM ...into 15-20 knts of wind....so much for the laser and Joyce's back massage....the dink on the Lady H is a %^&%$#*&^%. It's a hard bottom inflatable...(the Capt got it on sale.....get what you pay for....seems the hull is too flat and it pounds into even a moderate chop. You are guaranteed to get wet from the spray. The Capt has been on the hunt for a AB dink....can be purchased in Venezuela for around 2K...but has not been in the budget due to other things breaking...IE sails...radar...generator.....so his back will have to suffer a little while longer...)

....to say nothing of how I suffer when I get ALL WET and salty!!! But Paul strayed from why we were dinking in to begin with....to have lunch at the Dockside Restaurant. We ordered (for Paul a prime rib french dip...for me a Mahi Mahi reuben) and Paul walked down to Ken and Helen's boat. They walked down and joined us as did John and Joanne. We had a great time chatting with them and spend the rest of the afternoon talking boats, weather, travel plans, and kids.

"Skinny" water...

This boat has been there long enough to be on the charts and have a green bouy...Paul calls it "skinny" water...five feet to twenty-five feet all the way down from Tavernier to where we are now anchored in three feet or so (okay that is below the seven foot keel).
This is the beginning of the seven mile bridge...the bridge connecting Marathon to Key West. This picture was taken from where we are anchored.

Sailing down the Keys....Fast

Tue 2:13 PM.... Well we rose early Monday AM to sail out the Biscayne Cut with the tide and turned south toward the Keys. Had to dodge a few more fishing boats flying their kites. See the small kite in the upper left?

We stayed outside the reef till we were abreast of Tavernier Key and cut across the reef and anchored off the Key. Had a great sail till we were slowed down by the edges of the Gulf Stream. We were sailing 8-10 kts ...then wham...the boat seed which is 20 % slower than the GPS speed, read 7.9 while the speed over ground was 5.9. If it was not for the current we would have been doing 10+. Anchored in 8.3 ft of water facing into 20+ kts of wind. We were anchored off a lee shore(meaning if the anchor drags the capt gets pissed, the beach is behind us) so we put out extra rode. We were behind the reef so the waves were only 1-2 ft. A little bouncy but good for sleeping. About 2:30 am I awoke to severe pain in my lower back....felt a tinge a few days back. 20 yrs ago, I had a kidney stone...one never forgets the pain associated with one of those small bastards. I got up logged on to the computer trying to ignore the pain. 15 min later Joyce is up to see whats going on. Ending up taking a percocet...a slug of rum to speed things up and went back to the bunk. Hit the head at 7am...sucess.....now Joyce gets online.... Googled kidney stones....diet now modified....being forced fluids ....thank God beer was described as a diuretic....so I do get a few beers doing the day....We left Tavernier Key about 8 am. Put out the pole and main and off we went....8-9.5 kts.... there was a sailboat about a 1.5 miles ahead...yep it's now a race. By 10 am or so we pulled even with him. Out went his mizzen...he was sailing under jenny alone as the wind was on the butt.

We blew by....and 30 min later we look back to see he now had his main up too. Just to make sure...I pulled out the mizzen...we accelerated to the high 8's low 9's, he was a speck in the distance as we turned to drop the hook behind Boot Key...near Vaca Key and the city of Marathon.

Will be here for a few days to visit Ken and Helen and John and Joanne from Baltimore. Joyce will try to get a dive in while we are here. On the way down, found the repair on the dink did not cure the leak...re -patched and now waiting for the epoxy to cure...will drop in the water tomorrow. We can't get under the bridge to the lagoon on Marathon. So we have anchored on the outside and will be dinking in.

A day Sail with Phil and Joanna

Sunday 12:30 PM We have been social butterflies over the last few days. We met Mike and Vic, 2 cruisers from NC and went to the Argentine Steak House for dinner with them. Awesome chunks of meat ..all you can eat with a bottle of wine for 27 bucks..We were able to fatten ourselves and drink all 4 bottles before finding our way back to the boat.





Phil and Joanna drove down for a day sail...First time Joanna had ever been sailing. Lots of questions and of course her sailing jitters. Report is in...she did wonderful and enjoyed it...We sailed out of Biscayne channel by the homes on stilts



Seems they were built in the Prohibition days as a way to drink and gamble. No power or water...supposed to be very expensive......must be grandfathered in the local laws.....no new ones but as you can see they have been updated. Real skinny water out here ...going through the channel the water was only 8-8.5 ft....



We had a great sail..had to dodge the crazy fishing boats that were flying their kites....they always want to head into the wind and don't care who is sailing down on them...they will go right in front of you and expect you to change your course to include missing their kite 75 yd behind them. Then there are the go fast boats zipping around. 28 ft with 4 300hp outboards....1200 hp...wow..there went my fuel bill for the year....

We got back to Dinner Key about happy hour. Mike and Vic came over for happy hour....Mike had cooked us desert...Flan....yummy. They had dink sat for us. Instead of dragging the dink, we left it with them. I cooked Fajitas ..Phil's favorite...as usual the cleaned his plate.
Up early this AM. I went to work on the damn switch for the gen set....thing failed again last night. I swapped it with a new one...chattered...would not latch and hold the current. So I wired the gen direct, eliminated the shore power....never go to a marina anyway. Something that's back on the to-do list. Now charging the batteries and washing a load of clothes. We will dink ashore and make a run to the food store. Plan on leaving tomorrow AM early on the high tide and knock off 50 miles of the 150 to Key West. Should have good wind all day. Will rig the starboard pole as the wind will be on the butt.

Dinner Key Sunset

Friday AM 8:49 Last nights sunset . Still anchored off Dinner Key in Coconut Grove. We put the dink in hooked up the trusty outboard and nothing. Joyce insisted on pulling the starter rope in deference to my back. Good thing...had to put the outboard back on the rail and clean out a clogged fuel line. Started on the 1st pull. Dinked in and took a walk....found the Fresh Food Market...just like the one back in Chattanooga. We drooled over the fresh veggies, awesome meat, cheeses, cookies..(imagine a oatmeal Heath bar cookie...) 8 for 5 bucks...we were able to get out with spending a dime...but we wil visit before leaving for the Keys. Phil and his wife are coming down tomorrow for a daysail. We will then wait for wind to head down the Keys.

Snowed in Fort Lauderdale...so we're in Miami!

Okay...I'm kidding...it was fake snow...quite a few of the homes along the New River were decorated for Christmas...
Had a wonderful SAIL to Miami, will let Paul give the details...this picture is looking back at downtown Miami...under the bridge we just went under...
This is where we are anchored off of Dinner Key. Paul is making pizza for dinner, so I'm staying out of his way...his pizza is the BEST!!!

Well we left the New River on a strong outgoing tide, Just as we cast off the Jungle Queen...that big ass tour boat rounds the bend and swings his big big butt toward us forcing me up against the wall....outboard against the piling...now bent rail...$%#@^%$#@ among a few other sayings. Had a great sail against the current...boat sailing well but SOG (speed over ground) said 6 kts ..boat speed at 7+. Sailed into the main ship channel and hooked a left into SHALLOW Biscayne Bay/ We were motoring in 8-13 ft of water till we found the channel to Dinner Key. Channel was 8-9 ft. At times there was only 6 inches under the keel. Went through the marina and back out the other channel and anchored with 18 inches under the keel...We will see how good the pizza is....

The Sails Arrived...

Okay...so how many figured Paul is talking about the boat??? We did go for a walk today and I did get my ice cream...so I guess I am a "happy lady" now....Ha ha ha!! AND, we both were so tired today that we mostly rested (except for the walk, laundry and dishes - thank heaven for the dishwasher and the washing machine). The Lady H does look so much better than she has since I met her and Paul...we are slowly making progress to getting her the way she should be. We finally got the sails from the sailmaker late this afternoon...the Jenny - kind of a "fix" enough to last another couple of years...and the new main - putting on the "telltales"....got them too late to put them up today...but we will do that in the morning. Also plan to go for another walk tomorrow (as it is very good for Paul to get off the boat and walk) and then head for Miami. I will only say that I thought it was cute when Peter, the sailmaker said that he would go "moose hunting".....ask Paul...ha ha ha!!!

One Happy Lady

4:30 PM Monday...I will have to take some pictures tomorrow...this is becoming 1 clean boat...After lasering my butt for an hour,,, went topside to see Joyce finishing up the decks...with 303. Joyce wanted to check out my scuba tank. Well oil everywhere...seems after cleaning out the dead man locker a quart of gear oil had leaked all over the place. So we...Joyce emptied and cleaned up the mess....I supervised..under duress. We ...Joyce finished went aft to shower, I made the G$T's with our new batch of key limes...Long day but the boat looks great

Letting the decks dry

After waxing (Paul with the handy-dandy whatever it was called) and buffing (me with a handy-dandy what started out clean cloth)...I needed to rinse and scrub a few places on the decks again where the wax had gotten on them...now waiting for them to dry so I can put the first coat of 303 on them. It is like sunscreen for boats! Once that is done we may be done cleaning....for today anyway! I'm thinking another walk later too. It is a beautiful day here. I am nice and warm during the day (80's) - except it does get a little cool at night (70's)...and, yes, we have heard about the storm in the Pacific Northwest and hope everyone there is as warm as you can be and most importantly safe.

Lunch time update

Joyce is doing the decks...won't let me get down on my hands and knees...I started to cleaner wax the shinny fiberglass on the topside...well it's not to shinny...by hand this was going to be a 2 week job...Had Joyce dig down in the dead mans locker for the buffer....of course way in the back of the locker....Called the sail man...not till tomorrow night...so we keep cleaning....

That sail was too heavy

Monday AM 8:15 Well the last 2 days have been busy. Phil and his new wife Joanna were over for dinner on Friday night. They let us use 1 of their cars Saturday and Sunday to run some errands and restock the fridge...not that we needed anything, there were things on sale....can't let those go by... Just before they arrived on Friday the shore power breaker tripped. Damn.....generator still worked but the shore power did not....that switch replaced back in Baltimore became suspect. Sat AM I pulled out the switch and the 220 panel in the boat. To get to this switch I must bend over the Genset and work against the port side hull. Not a comfortable position for a guy with a bum back. Once the switch was out....magic...everything worked....put the switch back...breaker trips..so I left it hanging while we went shopping. 1st stop was Sailorman....this is the premier boat junk store...had a hard time walking from the car into the store...wow...ouch...from there we went to West Marine to check on a new anchor...staff never heard of a Rocna. Well I found it on their website for them....I'm trying to put the purchase off till the end of the month so it goes into January's billing cycle. They only show 1 in the system...would have to pay for it now and then sail back to Ft Lauderdale to get it...Damn..so we will try to order in Marathon or Key West...Think that will work..

By this time the Capt is in a "percocet minute". The Capt screwed up by lifting that damn sail bag. Now paying for that and working on the switch At Home Depot we looked for a replacement breaker....nothing even resembled the damn "Frenchie" thing. They did have 5 gallon gas can on sale for 6 bucks...usually around 10-12 each...bought 6...that's all that would fit in Phil's car. Last yr I didn't have any jugs to put the $ .40 a gallon diesel in while in Margarita. Now I do...$2 bucks for the fuel, 6 bucks for the can...I'll have $8 bucks in 5 gallons....St Thomas fuel price now is approaching $4 a gallon....so I come out 3 free gallons for each of the 6 containers....By this time the car was full, so we went back to the boat unloaded...Joyce stowed the stuff while I lasered my backside....

Joyce suggested a walk..well there is a bar down by the 2nd bridge...so we walked down...hobbled might be a better term. Back to the boat..crashed early....me up at 3am...lasered till I fell asleep again.. Joyce let me sleep till 9AM....felt better...well some...attacked the switch...was able to strip back the insulation on 1 wire and get more of it in the clamp...I think that was the problem...not enough contact causing too much resistance and the breaker trips....everything now working...We waited for Phil to call about getting the car back...decided to go out and get 5 gal of dink gas and well 1 more trip to the supermarket....now ready to head south to Miami...just need the sails... Phil arrives about 3 for the car.....we will see them 1 day next week ...they are coming down for a day sail.

We then walked down to the other side of the river to take some pics of the boat....Joyce really wanted ice cream...Except for the sails...ready to escape this fishbowl.