February 2015

It’s Friday morning and we have been in Marathon for a week.    Amazingly, even though they have some 250 moorings in the harbor we have still not made it onto one of them.   When we got here we were something like 32 on the waiting list and as of yesterday we were, I think, number nine.  

Most interesting is that there were about a dozen empty moorings when we went ashore yesterday morning and I was told that some folks rent one for the entire season just so that there will be one for them when they return after sailing elsewhere.  I certainly understand that if you are willing to shell out the $$ for the season that you should get a mooring.  Somehow it seems wrong to have moorings sit open for days or weeks at a time when there is such a long waiting list.

I wouldn’t normally mind being at anchor but having to tie up in the mangroves makes for some pretty hot and buggy nights.  The bug coils that we are using in the cockpit are working pretty well but it is quite hot in the evenings when the breeze drops it gets a bit close.

We had a very nice visit with our son Rob who visited for two days after a business trip to Miami.  It was a lot of fun.  We drove down to Key West and had a nice lunch and walked around the town.

There are some lovely old buildings in town.   I expect that Henry Flagler, who built the rail link from Miami to Key West in the “teens” had a hand in this one.  Very well preserved.Nice shot of father, moi, and son.About a month ago we had a “mishap” with the dink and tore a hole on the bow.  While I had put a patch on it “in the field”, I wasn’t confident that the repair was going to hold for the long term.   Luckily, there was an inflatable repair shop locally and they even provided pick-up and drop-off at a boat ramp downtown.   Well, all’s well now and the repair looks great. And what a grand “relaunching” it was.  Almost as good as new.  The dink, that is.

While we were waiting for the dink to be repaired, we had a long lunch at this lovely beach resort.   What a nice spot.Finally, I haven’t talked about this for a while but we have been showing Pandora to a few prospective buyers over the last weeks and we received our first offer a few days ago.  As is so often the case, we weren’t too happy with the offer and countered but the buyer bolted.  Oh well.  Better luck next time. 

So, what next for Pandora and our travels?  Well, the next weather window looks like it will come early in the week so perhaps we’ll make a run for Bimini.

Perhaps we’ll clear the waiting list for a mooring when we leave?   They say that timing is everything and as it takes so long to make it onto a mooring perhaps that explains why so many NEVER LEAVE.   They simply don’t want to lose their spot.

 

 

It’s Monday morning here in Marathon and we just enjoyed a lovely sunrise over the Mangroves.    The view is very peaceful and welcomed after what seems like weeks of heavy winds.  The good news is that the view is beautiful but with the calm winds comes no-see-ums.  However, we have found that those bug coils, sort of like incense, seem to work quite well at keeping them at bay.  

The silence here is absolute which is so different from what we have woken up to in the middle of the night with the wind humming in the rigging and the boat working back and forth on her anchor.

“Bob, the title.  What’s this about us going to the Bahamas after writing so much about the Keys”?  Well, the forecast for the next week seems to suggest that perhaps the pattern of cold fronts rolling down from the north might be interrupted which will make a run to the Bahamas quite pleasant.  Besides, the number of spots to anchor in the Keys is so limited that we aren’t inclined to stick around here for the rest of the winter.

Speaking of the “rest of the winter”, we have to be in Ft Pierce FL around April 15^th and while it’s not quite March, we do feel like our trip this winter is about over.  That’s funny because if we were in CT we’d be moaning that winter will never end.  I guess that life aboard in warmer climes in the winter is a bit different than in the frozen north.  Based on some of the comments I have gotten from our “icebound friends”, who are not at all sympathetic about our “wind trials”, I suppose that it’s all about your point of view.

Yesterday was the first really warm, no make that hot, day we have had in weeks and it was pleasant to spend the day out shopping and enjoying a leisurely lunch at a local seafood place, clearly a favorite of the locals.   Perched right on the side of the Post Road (yes, that’s the same “Post Road” that runs all the way from New England), it was a divy sort of seafood spot with a tacky fountain in the back courtyard.   Compared to the sameness of the fast food places that line most highways, it was very refreshing in a shabby sort of way.

Speaking of local color, when Brenda and I docked our dink yesterday to do our errands, we happened upon this juvenile pelican.  I guess that he/she hasn’t been hassled much as he didn’t seem to concerned about his “Kodak moment”.   However, it was pretty clear when he telegraphed “that’s close enough bud”.  Pretty amusing.A few days ago the strong winds shifted from the north to east which meant that things floating by in the nearby Gulf Stream were blown ashore and into the creek that we are anchored in.  So, when I went up on deck yesterday morning the area was dotted with Portuguese Man of War jellyfish.  These beautiful but deadly creatures couldn’t have been too happy to be in confined muddy waters.   I was fascinated by them and took time in the dink to photograph a few. 

Their “sail” is a sort of bladder filled with air and as the wind blows, they move across the water.  Unlike most “jellies” these guys can travel many miles with the wind.  The blue tentacles are deadly and pity the unwary that touch their “business end”.   I understand that they still pack quite a punch even when washed up on the beach.So, I looked but didn’t touch, advice that is so often good for life in general.

Just a moment ago I went up on deck to check something and saw this beautiful spotted eagle ray gliding Pandora.  What a beautiful and graceful creature. They get huge, over 8′ across, but this little fella was just 2′ of so.  Just amazing. Today I will be going to a meeting at the city marina where folks planning to cross to the Bahamas will compare notes.  I expect that this will be very well attended as it has been so long since a good “window” has been available for crossing and many cruisers are itching to get underway.    Actually, in our experience, most crossing opportunities tend to be measured in hours and not days as seems to be the case this week so I expect that many boats will clear out and make a dash across “the stream”.

When I downloaded the “gribs” this morning, they show that we should expect light winds and pretty settled conditions for much of the week so perhaps after Rob leaves on Thursday morning we can begin making our run to Bimini.

So, after months of “We’re going to the Bahamas, we’re not going to the Bahamas.  No wait, we are going to the Bahamas, maybe.”, I guess that we are, well at least for now.  We will just have to wait a bit longer and see what the weather brings.

For now, the one thing that’s certain is that it’s time to make some coffee.

It’s Saturday morning and we are anchored in a mangrove creek off of Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, in the Florida Keys.  The weather for the last few weeks has been pretty crazy, like the weather up north, but in a Florida Keys sort of way.

That is to say that it’s been unseasonably cold, try 40s in the morning and 60s during the day.  However, before you start yelling “Bob, you are such a weenie, try Zero degrees and see how you like it.”, remember that while we are blessed with heat aboard Pandora, we are really exposed to the weather and….well, just trust me, it’s pretty cold out on the water and way colder than we were expecting.

Anyway, think what you will, but to be less than 100 miles from Cuba and feeling the 40s is not typical.  Regrettably, it’s just not tropical at all.

Our two day run down here from Miami was quite a snorter.    The wind was on the beam and solidly in the 20s with gusts into the low 30s.   Yes, that’s a lot of wind but Pandora handled it pretty well with just the jib.  For much of the time we were booking along at 7-8 knots, a pretty respectable speed with just a small jib up.   Our route took us down the Hawk Channel , which runs down the ocean side of the keys and is protected by a long barrier reef to keep out the ocean swells.   I can’t say that I enjoyed sailing hard for two days but we got here and to wait for more settled weather would have kept us in Miami for another week, which we didn’t want to do.

Marathon is the best harbor in the Keys (actually, it’s the only protected one) and it’s the spot where many cruisers spend their winters and some wait for a “weather window” to head out to the Bahamas.  The city has put in about 250 moorings so the harbor is completely full with very little anchoring room available.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d be happy to pay the $20 per day fee, less if you book for a week or month, but EVERY mooring is occupied and there’s a waiting list with 30 ahead of us so our only option was to head into the mangroves and anchor there along with others in the same predicament until a mooring spot opens up for us.   And, I have heard from some folks who spent two weeks here and only a dozen boats left during that time. I have to say that’s not encouraging.

As an interesting aside, Marathon is the home to “radio Cuba” that has been operated by the Uncle Sam since the 60s, broadcasting “news” to Cuba.  There are three enormous radio antennas nearby blasting their signal to Cuba only to be “jammed” by our buddy Fidel.  We broadcast, they jam and that’s the way it’s been for some 50 years.  Such is the subtle thinking of government. The signal is so strong that the LED lights in our cabin have been flickering, even if they are turned off, and our inverter has even been turning itself on all by itself because of the strong radio signals.  I have also noticed that my SSB long range radio has terrible reception as the signal from the antennas just overwhelms it.  There is so much power from the station that the signal bleeds over onto the SSB frequencies and I can hear the station itself on Pandora.   Bummer that I don’t speak Spanish.

This is an interesting place, that’s for sure.  They even have a Home Depot.

And being in the mangroves is fine, while there is wind.  The mangroves are very pretty but when the wind drops, watch out, as the no-see-ums come out for blood.  Fortunately, or not, the wind has been honking so bugs haven’t been a problem.  Oddly, while the moorings are only $20 a day, you actually have to pay $22 a day to dock your dink at the city marina if you don’t take a mooring.  I guess that’s to keep out the derelict boats that hang around in the few anchoring spots and mess up the harbor.

While it’s been pretty cold for the last week, it looks like we are heading into a warm spell which will be great as our son Rob is going to visit us for a few days on Tuesday.   We are also going to visit our friends Port and Cathy at their home nearby.  That will be fun.

With more moderate weather forecast for the coming week, it’s quite possible that many folks will clear out of the harbor and make a run for the Bahamas which will free up some moorings, 31 I hope.

The creek that we are anchored in is used by local fishing boats that take it out to the ocean to fish so we have to be sure and stay out of the channel.   This means that we dropped our anchor and run lines and tie them to the mangrove trunks.  This is actually easier than it sounds and once we are firmly tied to the mangrove trees and anchored, we just winch ourselves into position.  It’s pretty neat and allows for many boats to be tied up along the mangroves in a tidy row.  Here’s what Pandora looks like in her spot.  As you can see, it’s not a long trip for the bugs to visit Pandora for a snack. Wind or not, as I write this  I can’t help feeling like I am being bitten.  As it’s still windy and the boat is all closed up, it must be my imagination.  Itch, itch, scratch…  I won’t think about that for now.

How about a panorama in the early morning light?  Anyway, there is also a very healthy local manatee population.  This fellow had to have been a good ten feet long going nowhere in a hurry. So, for now, here we are snuggled against the mangroves thinking about the no-see-ums while they wait for a lull in the wind to come over to Pandora for dinner.

Let’s hope that lots of boats head over to the Bahamas soon as I know that’s where they wannabee. 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Thursday morning and it’s blowing like stink here in Key Largo.   The GRIB files that we download each day that provide predictions on wind were right on when they said that it would be fairly peaceful overnight but that the wind would abruptly pipe up to the high 20s around 04:00 today.  It did.  Long term forecasts of wind aren’t of much value but when you get within 24-48 hours they are pretty accurate. 

We have decided to stick here for a few more hours and see if things moderate a bit but as we’d like to be in Marathon by Friday evening as the wind will then clock to the east which will make it quite uncomfortable for any areas exposed from that direction, which this entire area is.

Yesterday we had a very nice run down from No Name harbor near Miami as the wind was quite variable going from the high teens to the mid 20s but as it was never forward of the beam, we were able to make good time under jib or genoa alone.

Today we are hoping that things will calm down a bit mid morning so we can head out for the 40 mile run to Marathon.  Having said that, we really don’t particularly want to sail in winds piping up to the low 30s.  That would be annoying.

When we were leaving Miami a few days ago, Brenda snapped some great photos of the skyline as we motored away.  It’s amazing to see this many buildings crammed into such a small space and that there is enough money in the world to pay for them.  Pretty dramatic view.In lower Biscayne Bay there are still a few homes in what is known as “stiltsville”, a collection of rough homes, some from the 1930s, on, no surprise “stilts”.   There used to be many more but only those “grandfathered” are there now.  It seems that if they are badly damaged in a storm, they can’t be rebuilt.  They look so remote out on the horizon.  They have an interesting and very colorful history as described here. As we made our way the 45 miles to Key Largo we were passed by a number of large motoryachts, probably on their way Key West.  One in particular was a standout, this lovely old Trumpy.  Very elegant.I have to say that it was pretty tough to get our anchor to hold yesterday when we arrived here in Key Largo.  Our plan was to anchor just outside of the harbor entrance in the lee of the island.  As the bottom here is all covered with grass, we had a tough time getting our Rockna anchor to penetrate the bottom and hold well. 

After a few tries, we found a sand patch and dropped the hook there.  While we were able to get the anchor to stick the first time, it wasn’t in enough to make me confortable knowing that the wind was going to pipe up today.  The last thing I wanted to have happen would be to drag in the middle of the night.  Well, it did get plenty windy and it held.  It just shows that properly backing down on the anchor to be sure that it’s secure is a good habit to get into.

After anchoring we decided to head ashore for dinner and on the way we spied non-other than the African Queen, the boat from the movie of the same name.  She was out on an evening tour with some paying passengers.  I had heard that she was in Key Largo but wasn’t expecting to see her first hand.  She looks as shabby now as she did in the movie.  Pretty neat, never the less.Well, it’s about time to get going on our way to Marathon.   If it proves to be too annoying with the wind we will stop part way and continue the rest of the way on Saturday.   I have heard that the mooring field in Marathon has been very busy so it’s possible that with this nasty wind that we won’t be able to get a spot and will have to anchor nearby.  I guess we will have to see.

Wind or not, I am pleased to have too much wind and temperatures in the 50s instead of single digit temperatures and snow.  Besides, cold or not, there are palm trees to remind me that this is supposed to be tropical even if it isn’t right now.

It’s Wednesday morning and we are anchored in No Name harbor, less than ten miles south of Miami.  This little harbor gives new meaning to “tight” anchoring.   The harbor is bordered on the south by bulkheads and on the north by mangroves but at only 1000’ long by 500’ wide, the harbor is a very small space to fit into.  And, imagine 25 boats, some 65’ long anchored “cheek to jowl” in that small a place. 

Yesterday when we arrived there was BARELY enough space for us to drop the hook and when we settled in we were less than a boat length from boats on either side.  We were particularly close to a large motor yacht and when we shifted to port and he to starboard in the wind, we could have passed a bit of Grey Poupon between the boats on a boat hook.  That’s pretty close and a bit too tight for us.   So, we moved, but only about 15’ and reset our hook.   A little better but not great.

So, after that was done I jumped in the dink and introduced myself to a family on a nearby sailboat from Germany.  No, they didn’t sail from there but they do spend the winters here aboard with their three kids.  Nice group and their English was quite good.  Much better than my German as the only German that I know is what I heard on “Hogan’s Hero’s” when I was a kid, which is to say nothing at all.

Anyway, we had a nice talk and in particular we compared notes on the weather, which was going to be very different today than yesterday as the wind was forecasted to shift from the south to the NW and get quite strong.    Their plans were to take them to Ft Lauderdale, about 40 miles north of here.

As luck would have it, after we talked, they decided that they would leave the harbor and sail north immediately to avoid being stuck here for days till the wind shifted to the south again.

Voila, I had more room to anchor so even before they cleared the harbor we upped our anchor again and moved into their spot.   There you go, enough room to spread out and all it took was “convincing” a boat with five Germans aboard to leave so I could move into their spot.

Well, that’s not exactly how I had planned it but it worked out.

So, now it’s early morning and the wind has indeed shifted from the south to the north but it’s still very light.  Later this morning it’s supposed to increase to the teens and then on Thursday into the high 20s so we had better get going.  I’d prefer not to sail in wind in the high 20s but that’s what we’ll do as the next shift will be to the south and going against that will be really unpleasant.

Besides, we really want to get to Marathon and spend some time relaxing so off we go.

I understand that this harbor tends to get really packed with boats waiting for favorable winds to head out to the Bahamas which is what seems to be the case right now.  I expect that most folks will stay here till the wind shifts back to the south and then there will be a mass exodus as opportunities to cross the Gulf Stream easily are not all that common.

I was particularly struck by one little oyster boat that is anchored near us.  Interestingly, she’s from Mystic CT.   Actually, Anne looks pretty familiar and I expect that I have seen her in the Mystic area in the past.  I’d love to learn more about her history.Of course, we had a lovely sunset but then you’ve probably seen a few of those posted here.  Too many?  Oh well, I like them so you’ll see many more I in coming posts. Well, it’s time to make the coffee and get going before the wind picks up too much.  Off we go to Key Largo and Marathon.  Wish us a good passage.