Key West-We move from mooring field to marina

What a surprise this morning brought us--cold and blustery weather. We've had such warm, humid days since arriving in Key West, we didn't expect the change. Jay, Pegg and Kodo departed early for their 7+ hour drive back up to St. Augustine. Kodo was none too keen about the dinghy ride into town, but at least it was downwind. Dan was wet and cold when he returned. So much for his plan to dive this morning to check the zincs on the propeller and shaft! With Key West Race Week over our chances had improved for finding a berth at a marina and Pete was busy working on that plan because he has to fly back to Philly for a business meeting on Monday and didn't want to leave Kathy stranded out in the mooring field.

At noon we all slipped our lines off the mooring balls and headed around the corner to take slips at Conch Harbor Marina. The trip took about 45 minutes and I neglected to turn on the computer GPS to track our progress, so our "icon" still has us in Garrison Bight. Hopefully I'll get it moved by morning. We are now in a slip with extra lines tied all around as we've been experiencing a real blow (which seems to be coming all the way from Mexico across the Gulf) since early this afternoon. As I was cooking dinner tonight I gave a thought to gimballing the stove, not something I've ever even considered while tied up in a marina before! We spent the afternoon doing "household" chores, including pumping out holding tanks, washing down the boat, filling water tanks and doing laundry. We did find time for a trip to West Marine, and Betty and I joined Pete and Kathy's lunch date for a "Dark n Stormy". Quite an appropriate drink considering the weather! On the way back down the dock we stopped to watch a fishing boat as it cleaned it's catch. We weren't the only ones interested in the activity. The pelicans were having a field day.

Glen and Maureen came by to join us for dinner and are lamenting their plight. No one seems to be able to provide them with a new transmission until March 23!! Not good! They can't decide what to do with themselves while they wait for parts. We all keep hoping a transmission will show up somewhere a lot sooner and they'll be able to continue this grand adventure with us. We'll all just have to wait and see. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

A quick reminder, especially to new readers, if you click on a picture, you'll get a larger version of it. Then click the back arrow to return to the blog. M

We were sorry to see Jay, Pegg and Kodo leave this morning, we always have such a good time when they are aboard.

As we watched the feeding frenzy at the stern of a fishing boat, we noticed that one of the brown headed pelicans had a gaping hole in his beak pouch. The crew cleaning the fish and tossing bits tried to direct their tosses to this guy as much as possible.

It was quite a sight to seen the seemingly orderly bunch all flap at once as they attempted to get a morsel. The aforementioned injured pelican (bottom center) did his best to fight like the rest of them!

In town at Key West

We took so much flack last night from the other members of our little flotilla, that we had to set 10:00 as a gathering time for today. Brunelle's crew headed in to the heads/showers at 9:30 while Dan headed to the local Shell station to fill gas cans and the propane tank. He headed back out to Brunelle to install the propane tank and turn off the generator while the girls gathered to walk around town a bit. We had made arrangements to meet at the Conch Republic Seafood Co. for lunch. The gathering included our flotilla (minus Pete who was bringing home the bacon back on Pekabu III), Jay and Pegg, and Walt and Sue Dennison. Walt and Sue (longtime members of CCYC) have wintered down here for 16 years and brought each of us a "bundle" of information of what to see and do while here in Key West. It was good to catch up with them and hear a bit of local gossip.

After lunch Glen and Dan went to survey the Sevilla situation over at Robbie's Boat Yard, a few miles north of Key West, while Jay and John wandered the streets looking for Race Week stuff and the girls headed off in Jay and Pegg's wheels to SHOP! We hoped to also find a place for Maureen and me to get a hair cut, but no such luck. We basically ended up heading for Publix! We're like homing pigeons whenever there is a set of wheels! We re-convened at the dinghy dock around 4:00 and decided we would need more dinghy space to get everything back to the three boats, so Pete was enlisted to come in and help taxi our provisions out to the boats. Glen and Maureen had already headed back to their new headquarters on the Navy base while we all faced a rainy trip out to the mooring field.

Pekabu III felt it was their turn to cook, but asked Andiamo to host as 8 on a Catalina 350 gets a little cozy and the weather was still questionable. Once again we ate like kings and were ready for the sack early! Pegg and Jay head back to St. Augustine in the morning and the three boats plan to take slips at the Conch Harbor Marina, here in Key West, for a few days. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

We watched the Coast Guard ATON (Aids to Navigation) team replace a light bulb yesterday on our way in from the race course. Both Pekabu III and Brunelle have sons who have plenty of experience in that field!

OK, Dan refused to see the humor in this, (but he's already asleep) and when I walked into the bathroom/shower at Key West City Marina yesterday, my immediate reaction was, "A tin toilet in Alaska is an old joke, but in Key West, it's a reality!" I hope I'm not the only one who remembers the old one liners: "It's as funny as...!"

My camera lay dormant all day today, but Pegg caught us all as we prepared to ferry our goods out just as the rain stopped.

Key West Race Week, Day 4

We couldn't even see Andiamo or Pekabu III when we woke up this morning, the fog was so thick. Before we headed in to register at the city marina we had a treat watching a dolphin play cat and mouse with a small fish. He would surface, toss the fish up, dive and resurface to catch the fish again. He did this several times sometimes racing by the boat belly up as he chased his prey. He put on quite a show. The trip in from the mooring is a mile, and slow going with all four of us in the dinghy so it was a little after 10 by the time we got back to the boat. By then the fog had lifted enough for us to see the whole mooring field and surrounding landscape. Everyone but Pete (who had to work) piled on Brunelle and headed back around Fleming Key and out the ship channel in search of the race courses for today. We finally turned on the radar and spotted a large area of purple dots and headed for it!

Eventually silhouettes began to appear. We turned on the VHF to channel 72 and listened to several start sequences and realized we had found the one design fleets. When we got close enough we could see we were in time for the Melges 32's start and the Melges 24's. They were followed by a series of J classes. Luckily the fog continued to burn off and by early afternoon we were treated to the spectacle of over 100 boats flying spinnakers tacking downwind. The PHRF handicap classes had started racing further out, but they all seemed to converge on the same set of buoys at one point. We had a pleasant day in the company of great friends and ended it aboard Andiamo for another pulled together dinner. We heard from Glen and Maureen that they were in need of a new transmission and had moved off the boat into Navy housing while they wait for parts. We hope to connect with them tomorrow. The guys will probably make another trip out to the races while the gals see the sights in Key West. ~~~_/~~~M&D

I wish I had been quicker with the camera to capture more of this dolphin's breakfast ballet!

The inner harbor at Garrison Bight is lined with several piers which are mostly filled with houseboats. I liked the whimsical roof on the yellow one.

From starts to finishes the races were fun to watch.

As the day progressed the lighting got better and we also got a little closer. It was fun to see the mix of old and new boats. The C&C 34 (red and white star cut spinnaker) has been around since the 1970s. The Melges 32's did a nice job of posing for me!

Marathon to Key West

Departure this morning was complicated! We had a long way to go, and all but Andiamo needed a pump out and fuel. Marathon handles pumping out their large mooring field by having two pump-out boats handle three or four rows (A thru Z) in the mooring field per day, starting at 8:00 am. Dan had arranged to have us meet the pump-out boats at the city dock before they started their rounds just before 8. That worked pretty well, and then we all stopped for fuel (at the other end of the harbor) as we headed out. We were underway by 9:00 but everyone was concerned about Sevilla's transmission. In an attempt to check the level of transmission fluid last night, Glen had inadvertently lost a piece of paper towel with scotch tape attached in the transmission fluid. His engine started OK and seemed to be working, but as the day progressed it began making strange noises and Sevilla finally decided to head for a repair yard near Boca Chica while the rest of us continued on around Key West and took moorings in the mooring field north of the City Marina.

It is a little confusing - - - approaching Key West, because you end up heading due west for the last half of the day and then turn NW and finally N to enter the mooring field. The three of us settled in around 5:00 pm and waited for a call from Jay and Pegg. They called within ten minutes of our arrival! Dan picked them up at the city marina dock and the arrived in time for a moonlit dinner served in the cockpit. I realized how seldom we have eaten dinner in the cockpit so far on this trip. It was a great feeling. Kodo the cat settled right in and Dan had to boot her off our bunk as he headed in for the night! ~~~_/)~~~M&D

It was like a mill pond as we headed out from Marathon in a light fog. The fog burned off and we did get a little wind, but mostly on the nose, so sailing wasn't an option.

Andiamo pointed out this spot on the shore as we motored past.

And I thought last night was a full moon! That's Pekabu III moored right behind us.

Key Largo to Marathon

Long day, but still a good one. We all pulled out of our slips and headed for "crash corner" right around 8:00 (right after our last breakfast on the veranda). Leaving at high tide made the transit out past the breakwater easy (depths never dipped below 7.4 feet) and we headed south into a gentle sea and breeze. As the keys curved westward, so did we and we were able to carry our mainsail trimmed close for the 55 mile trip to Marathon. There was very little traffic and very little to see as we cruised down Hawk Channel. The water, a beautiful turquoise color was always between 15 and 24 feet deep and all we saw were a few Portuguese Man 0 War jellyfish and one large sea turtle.

We made the entrance to the harbor at Marathon by 5:00 and were assigned mooring in rows S, T and U. There are LOTS of moorings here. like 221 or something! Dan and I gathered moorings fees from the other three and headed into the Marathon City Marina to settle up and scope out the situation. Luckily I took the camera, because between sunset and moonrise, I didn't know which way to turn. As we returned from the Marina we dropped of shower/head keys for everyone, and we accepted a dinner invite from Andiamo on our way by. (They felt they owed us a dinner because Betty had been sick and opted out of sharing dinner back at the Hutchinson Island Marriott and we couldn't pass up such a good offer!) We headed back to Brunelle to pick up a few things to add to the dinner and Dan dropped off a few tools to help Sevilla with a transmission fluid problem on our way to dinner.

Tomorrow is the last leg in our trip south (in Florida) and we hope to connect with Jay and Pegg for the last two days of Key West Race Week. There are 136 hot racing boats vying for honors, and we'll enjoy watching the action. After that, our next scheduled event is welcoming Sam, Jess, Ben and Oliver aboard somewhere in the Bahamas on February 27th. That gives us plenty of time (we hope!) to wander back up the Florida Keys and find a good weather window for the trip across the Gulf Stream. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

This isn't "one of us", but I couldn't resist the backlit image of a sailboat under full sail.

As I said in the blog, I didn't know which way to turn.

The moon was quite evident as we headed into the Marina to settle up, but it was even more dramatic as we headed back out to the boat. The ride over to Andiamo added more reflection on the water, including the Chinese like characters of the first vertical. The vertical on the right is Andiamo, with dinner waiting!

Tornado watch, severe thunderstorms - - - - we're still in Key Largo!

For once the weather was just as predicted, wild and wooly and NOT a good day to be heading anywhere. We gathered again on the veranda for breakfast and before we had finished eating the rain began. It was a gentle shower at first, but by 10:30 it was coming down in buckets. Dan had a fishing gear consult with Glen in the morning because he had gathered all sorts of sundry fishing tackle with the hopes of entertaining Patrick Clemo when he and Rose join us in March. Glen declared one reel trash but the rest will pass muster. The challenge was too much for Dan, so he spent the morning trying to get that reel in good working order.

By noon the sun came out and we thought the storms had passed. Dan had the entire galley covered with fishing detritus so he suggested lunch at the Tiki Bar down the dock at the Holiday Inn. He called the rest of the crowd and they all joined us. It was a lovely spot and the lunches were quite good. He and Glen left straight from lunch to visit a fishing tackle store while the rest of us returned to our boats. I had been sewing all morning and had two tote bags half finshed. I kinda hated to go back below to sew with the change in the weather, but it wasn't long before it was raining buckets again! Luckily the guys returned before it started.

Maureen had decided to feed us all on the veranda tonight, so I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon finishing the two bags. We gathered early tonight because one of the "regulars" had set up a movie night and it started at seven. Once again everyone brought a little something and dinner was delightful. The rain had stopped and the TV was all set up on the veranda. Instead of a lovely sunset, tho, we began to see menacing clouds approaching. Pete checked radar on his Blackberry and it showed a band of red coming our way. We decided to move the movie viewing inside the hotel lobby and still had trouble hearing some of the dialog over the driving rain, thunder and lightning. The movie we watched was, appropriately, Key Largo. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

He's baaacck --- with an attitude!

Here's the veranda where we've done quite a bit of socializing the last few days.

All quiet after the storms.

Key Largo large as life!

We had no particular plans for today, just enjoy the Marina del Mar area on a sunny Sunday, that we did. It started with Dan doing his exercises, lying on the cabin sole, looking out the salon window. He commented that there was a pelican on the piling right outside the window and why didn't I try to get a picture of it. Well, twenty shots later, I finally spooked him by crawling out of the cockpit to try to get a better shot! Now I know why that piling smelled so awful as I put a mooring line around it yesterday! We had breakfast (included with the slip) up on the veranda with everyone else and discussed the day. Candi, the dockmaster stopped by and reminded us that the weekly flea market was this morning, so we girls had our morning mapped out for us. Dan was planning to go up Andiamo's mast to try and repair John and Betty's wind vane so we decided we would all meet back aboard Brunelle at 11:30 for bloodies to work on the afternoon schedule.

Well, browsing the flea market and shopping (it did include two trips to Napa to get some guy things) took longer than expected, so bloodies weren't until 1:00. What with heavy snacking, we called it lunch and decided to relax and try out the various pools and hot tubs that surround the basin at the end of Port Largo canal during the afternoon. We also decided to stay another day as the weather tomorrow didn't sound inviting. There are three hotels that consider you a guest when you have a slip here. I had announced at breakfast that I was putting a hunk of pork in the crockpot with some sauerkraut and had enough for everyone for dinner. The rest filled in with goodies so we ended the day with a feast up on the veranda. The weather was beautiful all day, we really do feel we have arrived! ~~~_/)~~~M&D

I started out timidly trying to capture a picture of this guy without leaving the cabin, but realized he wasn't really bothered by my presence, so I continued to snap as we had a little staring contest. I was surprised that all the "white stuff" was on the opposite side of the piling from where he was facing as I knew the traditional take-off includes a departing deposit. As he turned to prepare for flight, I understood why the droppings were on the that side.

Here is Dan's repair job at the top of Andiamo's mast. The canal visible behind the mast leads out to "crash corner" a blind right angle turn that takes you out of the Port Largo Canal.

Brunelle, Pekabu III and Sevilla (we are the three that are bow in to the bulkhead) look mighty small from 64'up, but you get a good idea of where we are. The veranda is right in front of our boats. You can see the Atlantic just over the tops of the trees.

Sorry, but Scoop's blue billed cousin decided to entertain us during bloody mary time, and I couldn't resist another Pelican study. He certainly took good care of his plumage.