On our way to Key West, we decided to spend a couple of days at Marathon, Florida primarily because we had heard that a number of our friends were spending at least a portion of the winter there. And we heard correctly! Although the only marina space we could find was
Shortly after we arrived, we noticed that two boats down the
pier was the boat Meandering Joy with
her owners Steve and Joy. We had met them in the Bahamas almost three years ago.
A little later we found out that Galivant
, with Don and Pam Van Grinsven, were also nearby. It really turned out to be quite a reunion!
Although we were only in Marathon for two days, we were quite the social
butterflies, having lunch at the local restaurant with Shay, Elizabeth, Don and
Pam, and later having drinks with Joy and Steve Poole aboard Meandering Joy.
The only wrench in the works, of course, was the repair of
our dinghy. As you might recall, after we had downloaded it a couple of days
earlier, on our way to Lorelei’s Restaurant on Islamorada. It wouldn’t start.
So, after we left the anchorage and before we arrived at the marina, we called
a dinghy repair person who could be at the marina the following day. The
problem turned out to be a dirty carburetor caused by bad fuel. When gasoline containing even small amounts
of Ethanol comes in contact with water, the Ethanol will absorb the moisture.
When it reaches a saturation point the Ethanol and water will separate,
actually coming out of solution and forming two or three distinct layers in the
tank. For several different reasons, the problem is particularly acute
with outboards in the marine industry. You guessed it. Our gasoline had been in
the tank for quite a while and phase separation had occurred. That, of course,
dirtied the carburetor and voila – an engine that would not start. The
repairman fixed everything and put our engine back in the category of
functioning outboards.
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| Our first sunset at Key West |
After all the reunions and the outboard repair, we headed back
out to sea, on our way to Key West. It was a rather short, uneventful cruise
(the best kind) and we docked at Key West about 1400. We gave the boat a quick rinse,
cleaned the dirtiest spots and awaited the arrival of our guests, Dave and Joan
Wolf – the friends who keep, among other things, the vestiges of our household
goods in the basement of their house in Virginia. Dave and Joan flew into
Miami, then rented a car to drive on the Overseas Highway to Key West. After
finding a parking place (a not insignificant task), we all went to have a drink
and watch the sun set over the ocean. Although it was beautiful, it was also
chilly, so immediately after the sun went down, we headed back to the boat.
The first thing we did on our second day in Key West was, of
course, to find a Starbucks. (Those of you who know Joan Wolf knows she likes
loves, has an affinity for cannot live without Starbucks.)
Afterwards, we took the Old Trolley Tours around the city. We had taken the
same tour the last time we visited (three years ago) and thought it was the
best way to get a quick overview of the city. Since the tickets were good for
two days, we figured we could use the trolley to go back and visit the places
we wanted to explore in greater detail. Then “touristy” places we visited
include:
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| This is NOT SPOT. It is one of the six-toed cats at Hemingway's house |
·
Hemingway’s House: The house in which Earnest
Hemingway lived from 1931 – 1939. They have done an excellent job of
maintaining the house and the tour guides do a very good job of describing
discussing Hemingway and the house.
·
The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory.
If you like butterflies (and who doesn’t) you need to walk through the
conservatory and see the hundreds of butterflies representing fifty to sixty
species.
·
Harry S. Truman’s Little White House. President
Truman spent quite a bit of time resting and relaxing in Key West while he was
in the While House. It was his home away from home.
·
Mallory Square. A grand party every evening.
·
Duval Street. An avenue of t-shirt shops, bars,
restaurants, bars, souvenir stores and bars.
·
Key West Lighthouse and Keeper’s Quarters Museum.
What more can I say?
- The Southernmost Point in the US. Key West has the southernmost point in the US and the closest point to Cuba.
·
The site of Charlie Battery, 6th Bn
65th Air Defense Artillery. Dave Wolf is a former air defense officer who was
almost assigned to the Hawk Battery (Charlie Battery) defending Key West. We
visited the site of the battery where you can still see the towers that housed
the radars.
After spending three days at Conch Harbor Marina in Key West
proper, we moved the boat and Dave and Joan to Boca Chica Naval Air Station
Marina. The marina is only open to active duty and retired military personnel
as well as certain categories of DoD civilians, though I do not know the
details. The marina costs only $1.00 per foot – the cheapest we have seen – and
is only about 9 miles from downtown Key West. Now you can see one of the
reasons Dave and Joan rented a car. They kept the car at the marina and took
all of us to town or to the grocery store whenever we wanted.
The marina at Boca Chica is quite nice. There are probably 120 slips and twenty or so
mooring balls. It has a small bar and grill that is open for lunch, happy hour
and dinner every day. There are a number of full-time retired military
live-aboards and several transients like us. All in all it is a very nice
marina. There are only two downsides. One, I mentioned already – the distance
from Key West. Other than downtown Key West, there isn’t that much to do within
walking range – though there is a bowling alley and small Naval Exchange Quick
Mart Store. There is one more downside to Boca Chica; it is an active Naval Air
Station. No, I mean it is a VERY active air station. The Navy has an aggressor
squadron of F5’s here, as well as periodic complements of various FA-18 series
aircraft, E2Bs, maybe some P3’s and even some Air Force C-17’s. The base is
active from about 0730 onwards. I think we are less than a mile from the air
strip and we can see and HEAR planes landing, taking off and just running their
engines very, very loudly. You are thinking that it couldn’t be much louder
than living near a civilian airport. Remember, though, that civilian airlines
spend a lot of money on noise abatement. The Navy, not so much. I know, I know,
I keep telling myself it is the “sound of freedom.” That works from about
0900-1500. But at 0730, man those planes are loud.
I explained one reason why Dave and Joan rented a car – so
we could travel back and forth from Key West. Well, there was another reason.
For those of you who don’t know, we have
adopted a new member of our crew – Spot the Cat. We had to travel
the Overseas Highway from Key West to Palm Beach to pick her up.
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| Spot -- Checking out the steps on the way to the flybridge |
Yes, it is true that I am generally a dog person, but I
fully admit that I am a lazy dog person. On a boat, you have to take a dog
ashore at least once a day, both for exercise and so she/he can do its business. I admire those people
who are willing to do that. Me? I’m sorry but I am really not interested in
getting up at o-dark-thirty in what can be rainy, foggy and cold weather
conditions to take the dog to shore. A cat, on the other hand, just needs some
carpeting on which to run and a box full of sand.
Spot is an Able Seacat Third Class and is a pure-bred
Bengal. We got a Bengal because some members of our family are allergic to
cats. Bengals are one of the closest things they have in the cat world to
hypoallergenic. Moreover, she appears
not to shed very much. Her duties on the boat have not been fully prescribed as
she is only 12 weeks old, but it is clear she is excellent in the “entertainment”
specialty as she keeps Ann and I in stitches as she chases a piece of string,
her tail, my fingers and just about
anything else.
We haven’t taken her outside very much yet as we wanted her
to get use to the inside of the boat – where she will spend most of her time –
first. I suspect Ann will spend a substantial amount of time in her section
discussing the cat, so I will move on.
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| Some pirates keep a parrot on their shoulder. I have an Able Seacat Third Class |
In addition to sightseeing, enjoying the weather, having fun
with Dave and Joan, listening to all sorts of noise from those jet engines and
playing with the cat, I have been doing a decent amount of bicycle riding. It
turns out that there is a small beach with some pretty good shade about 7.5
miles from the marina. 7.5 miles x 2 = 15 miles – which is about the distance I
like to ride in a day. It is flat, which is good, but it is often windy, which
is not. Today I may ride towards Key West, which is the opposite direction from
Geiger Beach. The problem is that the wind will be with me for the first part
of the ride and against me for the last part. I prefer the wind against me at
first, then with me for the second half of the ride. Oh, decisions, decisions.
I just learned that Geiger Key has a marina, restaurant and
tiki bar. The restaurant and Tiki Bar are supposed to be very kitschy and like
Keys’ restaurants used to be. We definitely have to try the restaurant and bar
the next time we have a car. But wait, there’s more. According to the web,
Geiger Key is the only legally sanctioned clothing optional beach in the Keys. I
can hear you know, “Well, Mike, did you find out for yourself?” No, not yet.
But I would be remiss if I did not explore everything within biking distance of
our current marina. Ann has been walking early every morning (0830 -- I guess "early" is in the eye of the beholder) with our next door neighbor Marty of Cruz-In.
It has been a very busy stay in the Conch Republic (aka Key West), and I like that very much. The atmosphere in the Keys is very unique, very laid back, and “I don’t care if you like the way I do things I am gonna do them this way anyhow!” I think it may have something to do with the heat and all the bars in the area. The big event every night is the sunset and I must admit they are beautiful in the southern most part of the United States.
We had a great reunion while in Marathon, seeing old friends
is one of the many parts of cruising that I like. It does not matter how much
time has passed between visits, we always have something in common and the
conversation is easy from that point on.
The visit with Dave and Joan, as always , was fun. They like
to explore and do tourist stuff like we do, so we had a great time in Key West.
We had lunch at Sloppy Joes, one of Hemingway’s favorite hang outs, I think he
spent most of the time at the bar…no…I am sure he spent most of his time at the
bar. We also ate at a place called Blue Heaven. I had the best lobster omelet
ever. Dave’s mother told him about the place, she and her sister Marge have
been here a few times. Marge has a son that owned a B and B, he just recently
sold it.
Hemingway’s house is very interesting , our tour guide was a
spunky young man that really knew his audience. Dave said he reminded him of
our son Tim, and he was correct. I was very much into my cat mood at that
point, seeing all cats made me very happy. I did not have my little bundle of
fur as yet but was only a few days away from picking her up. Hemingway was a
very popular man around town and had a large personality. His books are still
as popular as ever and his legacy lives on. He had a very troubled personal
life and in the end the bipolar part of his personality won. The medical
treatment back in the forties and fifties was brutal to say the least.
Our stay at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station is … NOISY…that
is the word…and LOUD…and OFTEN.
This place is the Top Gun training center for the Navy and
we do hear and see our tax dollars at work, ay and night. It is the sound of
freedom and that I admire…however it is very loud. We did have a few mornings
of fog and we got to sleep in…it was so quiet. Once the fog cleared those jet
engines were fired up and cruising down the very close airstrip. I don’t think
I could live in this marina full time.
Now on to the newest member of our crew on Traveling
Soul…Spot . ..the kitten.
Wow …where do I begin…While Dave and Joan came to visit they
volunteered to drive all the way back to Palm Beach to pick her up from the
breeder. The one way trip back is about five hours due to traffic on the overseas
highway, traffic around Miami and just driving around these parts. Anyway we
spent the night in Palm Beach on the 18th of February and picked up Spot in the
morning of the 19th. There is also another story behind this one,
let me just say we got a call from the breeder while in the car just outside of
Palm Beach that said she may not release the kitten due to her sneezing and
needed to go to the vet to make sure she was healthy. I was NOT going back to
Key West without the kitten…it all worked out but there were some very tense
conversations with the breeder. I understood her position and I made my
position very clear to her also.
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| Spot ... waiting until she gets outside!! |
Spot is a handful, she is as smart as a tack and can be very
stubborn. The boat has been kitten proved as much as possible, the rest is
shear diligence on both our parts. She is learning the words NO and DOWN but
also Good Girl, her name, and I love you. She is only three months old, she was
born on the 4th of December 2014 and had one other sister and three
brothers. So from her point of view, she has made the most in the adjusting
department. The Bengal breed loves to be at the highest point of any room, so she
has learned how to climb up and down the steps to our second deck door. The
litter box training went well, with only two accidents and that was early on. Her
hind legs are longer than her front, another feature of her breed, they are
like springs. It is amazing to see this small kitten jump from the ground onto
your lap in nothing flat. She is also learning that fingers and toes are not
play-things, we would rather not declaw her. She has lots of toys and a scratching
post, and so far it has been so good. Her coloring is light and her marking are
beautiful. She has what looks like dark eye liner around her green eyes. Spot is
a joy and will grow into a fun cat to have with us. I love her very much and I
think Michael does also, but would never say it out loud. I do catch him
petting and playing with her. One of her favorite past times, to burn off some energy,
is a simple ping pong ball in the wooden-floored companionway (hallway). The
ball is so light is moves at the slightest touch and bounces of the wall. She
will stalk the ball and then pounce on it, making it fly. She will play in the
companion way for a long time, so much fun to watch. Ok…I could go on and on, but
I think you get the point that Spot is very much a part of our life on board.
Wildlife count:
Polydactyl cats (six toed) cats at Hemingway’s home
Dolphins in the Mooring field in Boca Chica, most mornings
Large Tarpons (five foot?) swimming close to the mangroves
and under the docks in the shade
A few Jelly fish
One Portuguese Man O War jellyfish, this kind can actually
kill a person, Very long and stringy tentacles ... stay away from these guys.
Thanks for reading..
Traveling Soul…OUT
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