Ten Days

Full moon sunset at the Sunset Grille with the
Seven Mile Bridge in the background.

I just realized it has been eleven days since my last post.  Time sure flies when you're having fun and have we ever had fun!  Mere arrived two days after Cory and Jess left.  We then embarked on 7 days of fun in the sun.  The weather warmed right up to the 80's and the sun refused to be hidden by the clouds until the day she left.  Since she had never been to the keys it was fun taking her to places we had been and seeing many new places with her.  That is the joy of having a vehicle here, you can see way more if your traveling isn't dictated by your ability to pedal!

In Key West we started our search for a parking space....that took a lot of driving around really narrow streets in a really big truck...we finally opted for a pay for the day lot near the Harbor.  We did the usual bar hopping because a trip to Key West with a 'newbie' isn't complete without that.

We started at Schooner Wharf where we were regaled with some really bad music, then we went to Irish Kevin's where the entertainment there was terrific. 

 We walked the entire length of Duval which is the main drag  to the Southernnost Point loaded with tourist traps bars and restaurants.....tres' Key West.

FINALLY MADE IT!

Meredith got to see the Roosters which had multiplied ten fold since the previous weekend,( I guess they like the warm weather better too)   Since Mallory Square and the big sunset (fiasco) was way too crowded for us we opted for the happy hour at Alonzo's Oyster Bar at the harbor where we got our first taste of Conch Ceviche (pronounced sa vee chey)......WOW  it was fabulous.  Raw conch marinated in lime juice and peppers, Delicious!! Then we decided we were full, tired and ready to call it a day!!

A TALL SHIP SUNSET CRUISE CLOSE TO THE WALL
MALLORY SQUARE AT SUNSET

Back in Marathon we went to Bahia Honda State Park where dummy here forgot her camera.  On Sunday we took the boat out seven miles into the Atlantic and saw a huge Loggerhead Turtle and the Sombrero Reef Tower with boats enjoying a day of snorkeling.

Sombrero Reef Light 4 miles off of the West end of Vaca Key (Marathon).  They have mooring balls as you are not allowed to anchor near the reef.  Great snorkeling we hear.

Fresh Mahi (Dolphin Fish, not the Mammal) ready to go on the grill....yummm

Juvenile Manatee near the dinghy dock at Boot Key Harbor

So as you can see we ran her ragged, but the end result was worth the effort.
I think she had a good time...and will be back

Friday was a miserable start to our weekend with Cory & Jessica.  They arrived to wind and rain and the wind still hasn't stopped!  It started Thursday night around 9:00 and has floated between 15 and 25 Knots all weekend, with gusts to 35.  Not a pleasant, although a fairly pleasant time was had by all.  After Gary whipping us all at UNO on Friday night, we braved the wind to go to Key West on Saturday.  It was blowing from the North and at the Galleon Marina we were able to catch a glimpse of the Anchorage off of Key West.  We had heard the warnings about how rough it was and I was extremely glad we took heed and didn't see for ourselves.  There is NO WAY I could stay on a boat out there.  They were sitting in a sea of white caps.....CRAZY!  I don't even think they could get to shore in a dink it was that rough, well maybe if they HAD to.

At least it didn't rain and we stayed from 11 am until 9:30 PM.  Had to stay and see 'Magic Frank' at Schooner Wharf per Cory.  He does a card trick session at his "bar".....it made you believe in 'magic' even though logic says it can't be true.  We played pool (haven't done that in 30+ years) and I have to say I was pretty damn good!  The old folks even won a few games...not bad huh.

Yesterday we went to the Big Pine Flea Market, and drove out onto No Name Key where we saw five Key Deer.  The Key Deer are an endangered species who are occasionally seen on Big Pine but their habitat is on No Name Key where it is quite remote with not much civilization.  They seemed to be very used to 'gawkers' as they came right up to the side of the road to look at us as studiously as we were looking at them.  Jess has been after us to get a real dog for Bob (she thinks we're becoming too attached to him) and when she saw the deer coming up to us she said "I think he wants to be a Boat Deer"!  Funny girl.

What do you think,    Boat Deer???

They left yesterday around two o'clock when the wind finally died down to about 10-15 knots.  Only to pick back up at dusk for another night of rockin' and rollin'.  Honestly, I LOVE Rock and Roll, but not unless it is coming from my stereo speakers.

So today we still have the ongoing toilet issue to look into again and for an added little dose of fun our galley faucet fell apart yesterday (literally) and Gary will have to try and get it to cooperate for a while longer.

 

 7:30 wake up call.  

This is the Florida Keys?????









Oh my, our solar panels are CRANKING this morning.  We should have installed a wind generator along with them...we'd be in outer space by now!! I am actually blogging with the inverter the first time we've been able to use it!   HOO RAH!!!

Amps being produced by the sun....this is fabulous guys, it's only 11 AM

The amps reached 26 by 1:00.  We were elated.  We only had to run the generator for a half hour today to heat water and that was the first time we ran it since Sunday morning. Where as before Solar Panels it was 4 hours a day!!!  Tomorrow we pick up Gary's sister Meredith in Key West....let the fun begin........

SOLAR POWER

The deed is done!  On Monday, we rented a mini-van and off we went on a two and a half hour trek to Fort Lauderdale to E Marine Inc. to purchase solar panels. It was quite a straightforward shot from here, and since we are still in the dark ages and don't own a GPS for land, we had to navigate just like the old days, well post paper maps anyway.....Yahoo maps are THE BEST!!  The little teeny tiny store we were aimed for was right in the heart of Marnia Mile in Lauderdale....every conceivable type of marine service shop and

parts distributors with a very off the beaten track Race Boat place filled with a lot full of very large Offshore race boats on trailers must have been headed for the Miami Boat Show, which is this weekend.

But I digress, we were happy to find out that we had chosen the right place to get our solar panels.  Bob the manager was very knowledgeable and had everything we needed (at a good price) to get our set up going.  We purchased two 215 Watt Solar Panels and built a temporary frame out of  2x4's to make sure they that two are going to give us the power we need.  Bob felt sure it would, so we are hoping he is right. Getting them to the boat via dinghy was interesting. 

Couldn't leave Bob home on our 'road trip'....no we're not crazy....much

Rocket Man.....Islamorada...jet pack propelled by water.

Offshore race boat 'Broken Arrow'  one of about 8 boats at this shop

 

 

One of the 'twins'

TEMPORARY!!  Frame

Attaching the first panel

Positioning the frame supports...they are attached to the bridge top support

Our hope for a powered  life aboard.

Just a little redneck....

On the wall and getting "juiced"!

 Even better news came the next day when a spot freed up on the Marina wall and we got a spot to charge our batteries.  It took eight hours and they are loving it.  It was like giving them an energy drink!

The panel install went pretty smoothly.  Gary had it all figured out in his head (although he didn't necessarily give this information freely to me, so as usual I had too many questions) and we had the solar panels up in one afternoon and he had them operational by early afternoon the next day.  It was very sunny when he got them hooked up and they were rockin'....then the clouds came and we haven't had sun since although they still give us a little boost.

 Last night we had dinner with Bob & Sandra and their darling little dog, Maddie. They have lived on their sailboat 'Carpe Diem' for 15 years.  Maddie is new to boating and  she is a hoot. We were her BFF's in a matter of minutes.!

Sandra served a wonderful shrimp dish for dinner and we had a very interesting conversation about their knowledge of Maine and the East Coast.  We are thinking of possibly heading that way and took all the inside information we could get. :-)
Maddie is a Coton de Tulear and she is turning into a great boat dog.




Today we are waiting for Cory and Jessica to arrive with our truck.  Then we will have wheels to pick up Meredith on Tuesday in Key West and will be much more mobile.  Although we have been so busy fixing things on the old girl that we haven't had much time to do any exploring.  All of our other issues are still waiting for us, (by Us, of course I mean Gary) and will be taken in the order of necessity.

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News Flash!!   Numero Uno on the 'I did it' barometer today....I finally got my water background back on this darn blog!!  You know how it goes, the powers that be (Blogger) making things easier, backfires for me every time but I fooled them, this time I beat them at their game.  So, Yay me.

Then again that is probably one of the few things that have gone right this week.  I am telling you, touch one thing and 3 others start acting up.  Let's see, it's been the engine, the generator, the toilet, the dinghy motor, the batteries.....out of those we have, partially fixed the engine problem, cobbled together the generator for now, replaced the impeller on the dinghy motor (now it needs a new 'boatbuerator'), and started to tackle the toilet problem today, (not going well in case you wondered).

As for the batteries we are STILL waiting to get a slip to charge them....no one is leaving, no window for the Bahama Bound (that means they are waiting for the right wind conditions to cross over), so we wait.  The battery issue is very limiting to our 'social' life.  We can't leave the boat until 10 in the morning (charge batteries from 8-10) and must be back by 6pm to charge them again until 8 pm.  The noise courtesy rule applies here and before and after 8:00 is frowned upon.

As you can imagine hands have been thrown up in the air more than once with "I GIVE" with this constant stream of problems.  Then we repeat our mantras...."Tie a knot and hang on", and  "If it was easy everyone would be doing it"!!!

We did visit with Nelson & Ondra from 'Last Boat', whom we met here in 2011 and went out with them and their friend Ray from 'Maria' to 25 cent wing night on Wednesday.  Had a great time and got a CD with valuable information from Ray on our possible cruise to Tenn. and Kentucky this summer, he has tons of experience travelling the ICW and also recommended the Hudson River and upper New York another of our maybes. Last night their was a music 'jam session' at the Tiki Hut that we attended but it was so windy and chilly that we left around 8:30, which is past Gary's bed time anyway. 

The weather has been warm, which I know most of you don't want to hear, just like I don't want to think about the cold and snow.  It has been very windy though.  Maybe only one day since we got here with winds below 15 mph.  Today through Tuesday they are expected to be 15 to 20.  Cory & Jessica are going to bring our truck next weekend and then we'll pick Gary's sister, Meredith, up in Key West on the 19th for her first visit to the Keys.  Should be fun.

Here is a little taste of Boot Key Harbor....

The White arrow indicates where Boot Key Harbor is.  From the arrow to the land at the right. It is at the west end of the key near the Seven Mile Bridge.

Our mooring ball indicated by black arrow.

The Main Marina Building....this is the wall we are waiting to get on for the batteries.

The Shower facilities....I think their are about 12 shower units, with shower toilet, and sink.
They have spruced them up quite a bit since 2011

The hub of the Marina, meeting place, library, post office.





The SS "Stink Pot" commonly known as the Harbor Sewage Facility....Yuck!

Tie A Knot on her mooring ball.
Much Closer than last time to the dinghy dock.
A small squall...dropped about 50 drops of rain...
otherwise nothing but sunshine .


On a final note, caught this guy on the dinghy of the boat behind us
....I think he was posing.

We have definitely had a couple of trying days.  The winds have been blowing between 15 and 30 MPH while a cold front blows through and with the dink motor inop the Captain has had to row to shore 4 times. You'll see the pictures and say that doesn't look bad, but he actually had to tack his way there.!  The North winds are not fun to maneuver in.
Any hoo....today we took the bus to Big Pine Key to pick up the part that the marine place here was going to pick up for us.  This is the "Islands" you know, and the Latitude does at times change the Attitude.  When Gary called him today to find out when he could pick up the part he said "oh, my trip south was cancelled until tomorrow and if you want me to go get it I'll have to charge time and mileage!  Nice of him to call and let us know that, right. 
So....
We were going to meet Gary's sister Wendy & husband Carl (who are vacationing in Key West) for lunch at what sounded like a fabulous restaurant on Cujoe Key, but instead they met us on Big Pine Key so we could get the part and we had lunch at a not so fabulous restaurant but had a very nice visit.  They have bus service between Marathon and Key West, but if you get off anywhere in between you will be waiting and hour or more for the next bus to come through, so you better know where you are going!
Anyway....
We returned to the boat with the impeller in hand (again, tacking back) and BELIEVE it a SPARE!
See, we are learning as we go :-)
The following is a pictorial of this current event on Tie A Knot...




First trip with Motor aboard, the next trips were sans motor.  I know you say it looks very calm but looks ARE deceiving!

He's going to have, six pack biceps!

This looks familiar .....I believe this was his McGiver move in the Chesapeake also.

Looks kind of like a big fish..

 

 

 

 

 

"oh, no!, what have they gotten me into!"

 

New motor harness to alleviate all of the 'heavy' lifting...

 

SWEET!!!

 

 

 

 

 

YAY!!!!!

 

 

 

Time to catch you up....We've had a crazy stressful 10 days...silly us, we thought things might go a little more smoothly now that we've totally committed to this way of life.  Not so much!
We left the boat storage on January 21st at 7am. 


Heading down the canal to our "Future"..

 

About 15 minutes later Gary checked the engine room only to find the Port Engine water circulating pump had PUKED....as in gave up the ghost, or in the simplest terms QUIT!!!  GREAT!!!!!!   Decided we could hobble along on one engine, since we usually only run one at a time anyway and headed onto Fort Myers to get diesel fuel.....oh yes, that is 400 gallons of diesel fuel which translates into $$$$$!!!.  BUT....it should last us for many months and I am taking bets on that.

 



3 dolphins swimming ahead of us under the bow of the boat.  Brave souls...

The dolphins were in the Myakka River though ready to guide us out into Charlotte Harbor....I am still praying that they are a fortuitous sign of our future.

 

SO,,,, we made it to the fuel dock and filled up, no problems then headed back to Glover Bight in Cape Coral to anchor for the night.  We were off on our timing and ended up getting there after dark and had to wind back into the protected anchorage and though I tried several times to blind us both with  my hand held spotlight, we made it and had a peaceful night with 2 other boats.

 

 

Since we had to track down a new cooler for the engine and wait for it to be delivered at our son Cory's, we spent 2 nights in the Fort Myers Beach mooring field.  Then we started having trouble with the batteries not holding a charge, which the Captain says means we have to equalize them which means overcharging them.  So, ok, we will stay on a ball for 3 nights and rent a slip for one night. Had that all planned out until Gary tried the Xantrex Battery Charger and couldn't get it to work on equalize.  ANOTHER log in the road.  The upside we didn't have to rent a slip...actually saved $$$.  To stay on a ball for four nights in Naples it cost us $42.40!!  AND he got the new cooler and installed it to boot.  I'd say a good stay.

 

On Monday we headed for the Shark River in the Everglades....a nine hour trip from Naples in 10-14 mph SE winds.  We passed only 2 sailboats in that nine hours and arrived to find ourselves the only boat anchoring that night.  Perfect......well except for the no see ums which were vicious.

 The mouth of the Little Shark River

The red marker shows the Green Buoy going in in the picture We anchored where it says 12.

Sunrise on the Little Shark River 

 

Then came yesterday morning with the above beautiful sunrise and calm seas.  We knew it would be getting windy and boy did it.  It wasn't bad in Florida Bay but when we were withing sight of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys the full effect of that East Southeast wind was upon us.  Every time we get in really windy and rough conditions (Gary says that it isn't that windy of course) I get nervous especially when we have the dink on top of the boat, that we are going to roll.  Well, it wasn't bad, really it wasn't.  I did throw on my life jacket but Gary and Bob.....yes Bob the boat dog is still aboard and ready for the challenges we face.  We rocked and rolled into the Boot Key Harbor entrance and I even took a video of the action.  Posted on Utube at  http://youtu.be/LdzX0v32GVU

 

Entering Boot Key Harbor 

 

 



So I could end here on a good note.....but wait, this is us I am talking about there must be more mayhem afoot.  No surprises here.  I called into The City Marina for a mooring ball and no dice!  They are all filled up.  Can we take any more????   Well yes I guess the gods of the sea think we can...We are now anchored in Sister Creek waiting for a ball to free up.  Probably won't be until Saturday now as there is a cold front coming and no one is leaving.  GREAT....  It would be ok out here, we are alone again, except for the fact that when Gary tried to start the dink...it isn't pumping water which means the impeller is shot and now we will have to row ourselves a mile to the Marina???  I DON"T THINK SO!!!!  I'll let you know tomorrow how that one turns out!!!

 

 

So to end this lengthy 'catch up' on the trials and tribulations aboard TIE A KNOT  this sums it up in a picture....what Gary found this morning when he opened the engine room hatch....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all folks......

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



Well we've gone and done it!!  If you hadn't heard, we sold our home in Rotonda and closed on December 31st.  It was a very stressful 3 months of wondering if it would ever go through BUT it did and it is now a part of our past, so enough said about that.

We moved aboard the boat on New Year's Eve and started our 'new life' of living aboard in the New Year, quite fitting don't you think?  We have been living in the boat yard 'on the hard' for 3 weeks.  Night time  tinkle bucket and all.  It really hasn't been that bad, in fact I've rather enjoyed it.  As usual we have met so many great people here.  Not many full time cruisers but a lot of snowbirds down to use their boats for the winter. There was a great New Year's Eve party and a week later a Spaghetti dinner with a band....these boaters know how to have fun!

We launched her on Friday at 10:30, fully expecting to leave by noon....oh sure, like that would happen!  Of course the first "issue" was, once again, the head.  Oh, you are so surprised I bet! 
Yes Gary is thrilled to know that plumbing is again in his near future.  Then another more serious and pressing issue was the port engine not starting.  After 2 days of sitting at the dock playing with wires and meters and lots of bad words......we are McGivered together enough to head to Marathon and fix the issue properly when we get there.  It's something to do with grounding and new battery wires and.....well, way over my head!

We plan on leaving the dock tomorrow morning at 7 am. Our first stop on our journey will be Fort Myers City Dock for fuel (not looking forward to that tab) and then on to Naples where we will use Cory's car to come back and get our truck.  Then on to Marathon in the Keys and from there......wherever the siren call takes us.

 

 

So cross your fingers that we make it through Florida Bay without catching a crab pot or two and motor into Boot Key Harbor and actually have a ball waiting!!! (No reservations)