Hanging around in the Florida Keys - Boot Key FL – Feb 26, 2017

Feb 24^th – It was a hot and sunny day.  We went into town by dingy to load up on supplies to prepare for our trip to the Bahamas.  We took a cab back from Win Dixie and then loaded up a cart with the supplies.  I was afraid my flip flop brakes weren’t going to be good enough as I walked the cart down the ramp towards the dingy.  We managed to load up the dingy which was floating pretty low in the water.  We then returned to the boat and put everything away and decided we needed to cool off thus we went out to the sand bar with Over Ice and saw a sting ray swim by as well as a number of dolphins jumping and feeding in the area.  When we returned back to our boats the noseeums were out in full force.  Robert and Brenda joined us on Aqua-Fennatic for a pasta dinner and some cocktails.  We tried drinking rum and Koolaid (we used to call these “Killer Koolaids” when we boated with our good friends from Canada – Wally & Jim).  We’re hoping that these grow on us since we hear that Rum is inexpensive in the Bahamas and beer is very expensive.

Feb 25^th – Another hot and sunny day.  We helped “Over Ice” both out and back in to the spot they were anchored in so they could get some diesel since they were running low.  I had to play tug boat captain to help Over Ice win against the current that was flowing down the river.  Afterwards Maria and I went on a water run to get 30 gals of water to siphon into our tank.  Robert and Brenda had guests arriving thus we all went over to a restaurant across the street from the marina to wait for them as we took advantage of their happy hour.  It turns out that they also had other friends heading for Key West that stopped in at the restaurant as well.  All of Robert’s and Brenda’s visitors showed up much later than planned since they were impacted by heavy traffic as they drove south from Miami, however we enjoyed meeting them when they finally arrived.  The winds are supposed to pick up tomorrow and we haven’t been able to identify an appropriate weather window yet for our Bahamas crossing.  We must continue to play the waiting game.

Feb 26^th – It was a hot and sunny day.  We headed over to the dingy dock this morning to do the laundry and use the marina’s wifi to update the software on all of our devices as well as use their internet to send pictures etc.  In the afternoon we headed over to the Banana Bay Resort for their 8^th annual Looper Sunset Celebration which I hear was lots of fun and very well attended last year.  A popular Keys band called “4 Sheets to the Wind” played and fun was had by all.  We met a number of Canadian Loopers at the party but I’m sure they’d all agree that the weather wasn’t Canadian like for the winter and the day ended with a great sunset.  Afterward Robert’s friends drove us to a restaurant (a.k.a. “Not Robs”) on Pine Key and we had a great meal.  We found this restaurant accidentally since we were headed for a restaurant called Square Grouper however we found out that it was closed on the way south thus we stopped at one of the first restaurants we saw … “Not Robs”.

Enjoying some time at the sandbar with "Over Ice"

Playing Tug Boat to help "Over Ice" tie back to the mangroves

On a water run at the dingy dock

This guy dropped by to say Hi!

At the Banana Bay Resort for the Looper Sunset Celebration

And here's the sunset!

The sun is dropping in the background

At "Not Robs" with Over Ice and their guests

An interesting flower that grows on a tree that we walked by

Hanging around in the Florida Keys - Boot Key FL – Feb 23, 2017

Feb 21^st – It was a warm day with a mix of sun and clouds.  Yesterday I noticed a loose bolt in the windlass as I was sitting in the sun on the front deck.  This morning I went to investigate further and it turns out that a number of the mounting bolts for our windless were broken.  It looks like this may be an old problem, however I wanted to address the issue so we went by dingy to town and walked up to Home Depot to buy replacement stainless steel bolts, washers and nylock nuts so I can fix the issue.  While we were there we stopped by the bank and found that our TD debit card is useless for taking money out of our USD bank account.  I have to do more research to see how I can get US cash … I may resort to taking it out of our Canadian account with our debit card.  Ugggg!  We then did some shopping at Win Dixie and returned back to the boat to drop off our supplies.  We then had to rush back to the dingy dock so we could walk to Faro Blanca for the Bahamas captains meeting.  Many people showed up and a lot of information was disseminated by various people that have previously visited the Bahamas by boat.  The next crossing window is this weekend, however it’s a short window and not many boats will be taking advantage of it.  The next one may be more than a week after this window thus we need to figure out if the upcoming short window is good enough to get us deep enough into the Bahamas so that we can continue to travel with the winds that are predicted, otherwise we may get stuck in one spot for a while. Decisions, Decisions!

Feb 22^nd – It was a warm cloudy and rainy day … it’s been a while since we’ve seen that wet stuff falling from the sky!  At some points the rain and wind gusts were strong and on a positive note I expect that it should rinse or blow the remaining salt off the boat!  Since we were stuck inside the boat I figured that it would be a good day to install my tax software and begin to populate our tax information with the goal to file our tax returns before we leave for the Bahamas, however I’m still waiting for some info that won’t be available until the end of this month.  Maria was reading a very thick book throughout the day and she’s getting close to completing it.  I called our US credit card provider to follow-up on the delivery of our replacement credit cards and they gave me a tracking number.  I checked the tracking number and apparently they tried to deliver the cards today.  Their next attempt is tomorrow thus I’ll need to hang around the marina to ensure I don’t miss their second attempt.

Feb 23^rd – It was a warm sunny and windy day.  We used the dingy to go to the dingy dock to wait for our replacement US credit cards which arrived as part of the UPS delivery.  UPS left a yellow card yesterday and one option was to sign the card so they would leave the package without the need to be physically there to sign for it, so that’s what we did.  We headed back to the boat to fix the windlass and then we got a call from Robert (“Over Ice”) that happened to be at the marina when UPS arrived and luckily he was there since they wouldn’t leave the package without additional information.  We now have our replacement US credit cards … yea!  Maria and I worked as a team to replace the broken bolts on the windless … I was stuck in the chain locker on the bottom while she was on the deck above.  It was difficult to line up the holes however after a few attempts we finally completed the job.  Unfortunately we will not be able to make tomorrow’s weather window since we need to go shopping, do laundry, get cash from the bank, etc … too much to do in one afternoon.  Oh well, there’s a big Looper Sunset Celebration on Sunday which should be lots of fun thus I’m not too disappointed.  We’ll get ready for the next weather window.

Aqua-Fennatic and Over Ice just resting in Sisters Creek

Captains meeting to discuss heading to the Bahamas

I'm using Garmin Bluecharts on the Ipad to follow along

Over Ice has a new toy from Boat Daddy!

Hanging around in the Florida Keys - Boot Key FL – Feb 20, 2017

Feb 18^th – It was a hot and sunny day.  We really enjoyed Alan’s meal that he made on “Over Ice” last night and afterwards we played Left, Right, Center.  This morning a total of 8 dingies, loaded with people, went on a long dingy run around Boot Key.  We started on the Gulf side running north and then went across a pass to the Atlantic side and headed south until we reached Sombrero Beach and we all stopped and pulled the dingies up on the beach.  After some beach time everyone was getting hungry thus we decided to go to Lazy Days restaurant for lunch and the food was great.  After lunch a few of the dingies went for a final run to a mangrove river and then back to the boat.  We helped Brandon and Alan (guests of “Over Ice”) take their stuff over to the dingy dock and load their stuff and dingy onto their truck.  They have a 14 hour drive ahead of them to New Orleans.  When Rob and I got back to the boat the noseeums were out so we hid in the boat and just relaxed for the evening.

Feb 19^th – It was a hot humid and sunny day.  I checked our US credit card items this morning and found a fraudulent charge thus I spent a fair amount of time this morning with the fraud department of our credit card company providing them with details as well as figuring out the logistics of getting replacement cards.  What a pain!  We can have the cards couriered to the marina, however they won’t sign for the cards thus I have to try to figure out when to be at the marina so I can sign for the replacement cards.  After I dealt with that I decided to clean the bottom of the boat today … I used the Hookah device with a make shift weight belt to dive under the boat and it went well!  I spent at least an hour under the boat cleaning the bottom.  After I finished the bottom cleaning job including putting all the equipment away we went to the dingy dock to get 30 gals of fresh water to add to our water tanks.  I think I’m going to be a little sore tomorrow but for now we’ll have a couple cold ones while I BBQ an early dinner so I don’t have to battle the noseeums!

Feb 20^th – Another hot and sunny day.  It’s a holiday in both Canada (Family day) and the US (Presidents day) thus I expect that most places on shore will be closed today.  We are especially interested in getting to a bank to take out some US cash to use while we wait for our replacement US credit cards, however, we’ll have to wait until the banks open tomorrow.  I cleaned a few things this morning and we decided just to sit out on the front of the boat this afternoon and listen to music while we soaked up the sun.  We did absolutely nothing and it felt so relaxing.  Tomorrow we have a captains meeting with a group of Loopers to talk about timing, weather and routes to take to go to the Bahamas.

Dingy stop with a bunch of Loopers at Sombrero Beach

Looper dingy run around Boot Key FL

Talking on the beach

The dingy run made us hungry so we stopped for lunch

Alan cooked us an amazing pasta and fish dinner

Brandon looks pretty excited about his food beside Robert

Hanging around in the Florida Keys - Boot Key FL – Feb 17, 2017

Feb 15^th – It was a hot humid and sunny day.  I went by dingy to the dingy dock this morning to take in the garbage, get some water and use their free wifi to post our blog entry which is later than usual.  I also used the day to catch up on boat jobs such as adding distilled water to the batteries, topping up the oil in the engines, checking the anti-freeze levels, washing out the bilge with fresh water, etc.  Robert on “Over Ice” picked up the parts for his head today and he’s been trying to clear a blockage between his head and holding tank.  I’ve been there and done that and I don’t enjoy head related jobs … poor Robert!  The noseeums were really bad after 5pm today thus we hid in the boat and closed the windows … however it was hot hot hot until we started the generator so we could run the air conditioning.  We just relaxed for the rest of the evening since we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow as we plan to take the shuttle in the morning to Key West which is approximately 40 miles south of here. 

Feb 16^th – It was a warm and mostly cloudy day.  We went by dingy to town to catch a shuttle to Key West for the day with Robert and Brenda (Over Ice) and their guests (Brandon and Alan).  The bus ride there was absolutely packed with people and the bus driver was really cranky.  Upon arrival we walked around and checked out the marinas, a number of local establishments and other tourist attractions such as the marker of the most southern point of the USA.  I bought a conch shell that I plan to use as a sun set horn, however I’ll need some practise and expect that I’ll be an expert by the time we’re back in Canada.  The bus ride home was worse than the bus ride there since the bus travels in circles around Key West before leaving, the driver stopped the bus for a 15 minute break and the back of the bus was extremely hot.  But we made it back to the boats by 10 pm.  All in all we had an Exxxcellent time!

Feb 17^th – It was a warm and sunny day.  We went by dingy to the gas dock to fill our tank since we were getting extremely low on fuel.  We then went for a dingy run with Over Ice through the mangrove channels in the area and saw some amazing homes and lots of iguanas.  We’ve been invited to “Over Ice” for dinner tonight, apparently one of their boat guests (Alan) is cooking fresh fish and pasta.  Thus I post my blog early today so I don’t have to do it later in the evening.

A picture that was just sent to me from another Looper that's Blog worthy

At a Marina front establishment in Key West ... Is my shirt too bright?!

At Sloppy Joes in Key West

Has anyone lost a Bra ... There are lots of signed ones up on the ceiling here!

It's not like Canada ... you can walk in the street with a Beer!

Ernest Hemingway's house

I have a new conch sunset shell that I'll be using regularly ... Can you hear it from Canada?

Here we are at the Southern most point

There are wild chickens running around all over Key West

Key West Street performers

Dingy run with "Over Ice" and their guests - Brandon and Alan

A very tropical looking home

A Bald Eagle

Iguanas everywhere!

A spooky looking picture with the Moon in the background

Hanging around in the Florida Keys - Boot Key FL – Feb 14, 2017

Feb 11^th – It was a hot sunny day with moderate winds.  We found out that there’s a CruiserNet on VHF channel 68 every morning at 9am.  They introduce new arrivals and say goodbye to those leaving the area and then move on to news, upcoming activities, buy and sell and finally trivia.  It’s quite entertaining to listen to and it has given us insight into upcoming events that we’d like to attend.  We headed to town by dingy and walked with Rob and Brenda to West Marine to order parts for their head to resolve the issues they’ve been experiencing.  Afterwards we walked to Kmart which we haven’t been to in years and then to Win Dixie.  On the way back we decided to stop off at an all you can eat Chinese buffet and now I’m soooo stuffed!  We walked back to the dingy and returned to the boat and then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.  I don’t think I’ll be able to eat dinner tonight.   

Feb 12^th – It was another hot and sunny day.  This morning I had a look at the steering components on the boat since it occasionally binds while we’re underway.  I believe I found the issue which relates to the installation of the new rudder packing that was done by Green Turtle Bay.  The grounding cable on the rudder post was tightened in such a way that it would rub on the wood causing the steering to bind.  I re-adjusted the grounding cable and everything seems to work fine now.  We had a visitor this morning at the back of the boat … Robert yelled over to us to have a look and we’ve got some great pictures.  Robert went to pick up a couple of friends that will be staying with him for a week or so while Maria and I went on a water run and put 30 gals of water in the boat.  Afterwards we met Robert, Brenda and their friends at the sandbar for some socialization and on our way there we saw a stingray perform a hard belly flop after jumping out of the water in front of us.  After the sandbar we went by dingy down a river surrounded by mangroves and found a number of old sunken boats as well as a homemade submarine.  It was kind of spooky back there!  When we returned to the boat Robert and Brenda invited us over for dinner with their boat guests.    

Feb 13^th – Once again it was a hot and sunny day.  We went into town this morning and I had my first land based shower since we left Palm Island marina while Maria caught up on her internet using the free wifi provided at the dingy dock.  We’ll need to use the free wifi more often during the next few days since we’ve almost used up our 10 GBs of data this month.  Maria called our US cell phone provider to add another month to our plan and find out if they can provide us with Bahamas coverage … which they can not.  It sounds like the Bahamas cell and data plan will be quite pricey thus we’ll have to determine how to modify our usage to fit the plan.  This may mean that I may not be able to post Blog entries as often as I have been.  Afterwards Maria and I walked into town to buy some provisions from Home Depot, Walmart and Win Dixie.  Then back to the boat.  The dingy is getting lots of use here!   

Feb 14^th – It was a hot and sunny day and the hottest Valentines day I’ve ever had.  A bunch of Loopers went out on a couple boats to a reef on the Atlantic side to go snorkeling.  Artie and Laura “Leap of Faith” invited “Over Ice”, their guests and us to join them on their boat … Thanks for the ride!  It was the most amazing snorkeling that I’ve ever done … I saw a Caribbean lobster, turtles and fish of all colors and sizes (like on Finding Nemo) and luckily no sharks, however we did see a number of very large barracudas!  The aquatic life wasn’t afraid of us thus it was really easy to get up close and personal.  I only wish that I had an underwater camera so I could share it with our blog audience.  Afterwards we went back to the marina and bought a big bag of crab claws for our Valentines dinner.  They were a challenge to eat and we had shells flying everywhere as we tried to figure out the best way to eat them.  They did taste good but they are too much work for the amount of meat you get from each one.  I did figure out how not to eat them after I cut my finger while doing it the wrong way!  My blog entry is late since we are very close to using this month’s cell data.  I was planning on posting my blog using the free wifi at the dingy dock however I just haven’t had time.  Maybe tomorrow.

A visitor sitting on our Davit system

The crew of "Over Ice" and their boat guests

Entering a mangrove river at low tide

There are many sunken boats in the river

A homemade submarine in the river

It's extremely shallow at low tide!

Does anyone want a good deal on a used sailboat?

It's narrow and spooky down this river

"Over Ice" at night with the moon over the bow

On "Leap of Faith" on the way out to the Reef

Snorkeling on the reef

Me and my snorkel buddy

Horizon Chaser rafted on to us at the reef

Baking in the hot sun

I can float forever in this salty stuff!

This guy wasn't afraid of me ... he started chasing me down the dock!

Crab Claws for our Valentines dinner ... Yum but hard to eat!