Log 89; Day 241; Jan. 17, 2009; Key West

Here is a shot of B.O.'s Fish Wagon...great lunch spot, and always crowded

There are lots of trees like this lining the streets of Key West

Key West house

Another one...not so well taken care of

Our lunch spot...great food

Log 89
Day 241
Saturday, January 17, 2009

7:10 AM EST
Location: A&B Marina, Key West, FL
Weather: 60 and windy

In our bedroom we have one of those projection clocks that shines on the ceiling and tells us the time and outside temperature...last night at one point it got down to 59...the coldest so far for us in Key West. The winds continue to howl and blow at 15 to 30 MPH, but they are forecasted to lay down today. Hopefully things will get back to “normal” tomorrow, with average highs in the 70’s.

The last couple of days have been nothing special...but very enjoyable. We keep the bikes out full time now, and have them locked to a bike rack area near the end of our dock, so we can jump on them any time we want...and we do. It is a great way to get around Key West, and it’s surprising how much ground you can cover in a short time.

Yesterday...we changed things a bit. and went in search of perfect Mexican food...and we found some at Salsa Loca. Knowing we would want to walk off our lunch we decided to walk instead of taking the bikes, and it was a long walk to find the place we wanted, but worth it. On the way back to the boat, we took a small detour, and I went to West Marine...Deb went to the local store.

At about 6 PM we had cocktails with Andy and Susan, aboard Maggie May (they are parked just across dock from us). They came to Key West 2 days ago, and Andy and I struck up a conversation on the dock, which ended with him saying “let’s have a drink tomorrow evening”. Originally he had thought we’d go to a place on land...but I suggested they come to our boat, which they did (secretly I was hoping he would have us come to their boat, because I wanted to see it). We had a great conversation for an hour or so, which included them taking a tour of our boat, and then they asked if we wanted to see their boat. As I always say...every boat has a story...here is theirs. Andy has been an entrepreneur all his life, with business he started and owned including building the biggest car striping company; an Ohio natural gas company; and owning several McDonalds; all of which he has retired from...letting his kids now run the company. They have a new 55 Nordhaven boat, which he helped design and had built in China. The biggest boat he ever had before this was a 28 foot runabout, that he kept in his back yard in Indianapolis. They took delivery last May and plan to live on board 5 to 7 years. They also plan to travel the world, including spending the next couple of years in the Caribbean; then to the Panama Canal; and a couple years in the South Pacific. This boat is, by far, the best boat I have ever been on. I’m not sure how to explain to those who don’t know what a Nordhaven is, but they are designed to cruise the world...and they do. They have systems, and back up systems, and back up systems for the back up systems. Andy quickly realized how impressed I was with everything...so he showed me even more of the “hot set ups” that he built in the boat. It was a fantastic tour, that I wish all my boating friends could go on. They will be leaving today, so I’m sure we’ll get a picture and put it in the blog...but it will not do the boat justice.

Today...not sure what we’ll do. I can’t wait to go out in the flats and fish, but with the wind, I don’t think that will happen, until tomorrow. Maybe we’ll take the bikes and look for a great lunch somewhere. Plus...it’s the weekend...so I get to have a bloody mary this morning. What a life.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 88; Day 239; Jan. 15, 2009; Key West

This is proof we do have bikes...and do ride them. Here we are riding down Dubal street.

Here we are at lunch at Cheesburgers...catchy name.

The men folk having dinner aboard "Livin Easy" at 48 Sea Ray. David; Tom; BK; and Tim

And the ladies...Lynn; Rodie; Monica; Deb

Log 88
Day 239
Thursday, January 15, 2009

7:00 AM EST
Location: A&B Marina, Key West, FL
Weather: 64 and windy

It got down to 64 last night, with winds of about 15 to 20 MPH. NOAA weather is reporting waves of 4 to 7 feet now and predicting them to go to 6 to 10 feet over the next couple of days. The forecast calls for the winds to let up somewhat late Saturday or early Sunday.

We had a great day in Key West yesterday. After finishing the log, I walked to my new neighborhood family restaurant, Harpoon Harry’s, and had breakfast. Most of the same folks I saw in there the day before were there again. Obviously locals. Walking back I just strolled the dock area, but there was not much activity. Back at the boat, although it was windy, the sun was out so it felt nice. I got the bikes off the boat (for only the 3rd time since we left in May) and Deb and I took a nice bike ride. We wanted to find where Deb’s sister, Annie, will be staying when they come in early February, and also look for another perfect cheeseburger. We did both. Riding a bike in Key West is fairly easy. Because there are so many people who do it, the traffic is “somewhat” tolerant. But, neither Deb or I, enjoyed riding on Duval Street, because it is so busy and the traffic can be a little challenging at times...so we rode on the side streets when we could. As it turns out Annie’s room is a little less than a 10 minutes bike ride from our boat. A quaint little spot, like so many bed and breakfast places in Key West. For lunch, as we were riding down Duval, Deb spotted a place called Cheeseburgers of Key West. We just had to stop. The name was catchy. The place was cool. The cheeseburgers...not so good. Oh well...we’ll keep looking.

Back at the boat as I was walking down the dock I stopped and talked to a guy (David) who was one of the three boats who came in when we did on Saturday. All three couples seemed very nice, and we had made small talk with each of them as we walked up and down the dock over the last 3 days. Anyway...this time David and I got into a much deeper conversation about electronics on a boat, one thing led to another, and he invited us for dinner on his boat, to which I happily accepted. It turned out the they (David and Lynn) were cooking for their friends on the other two boats (Tim and Monica; Tom and Rodie) and we joined them. We had a great time. All three couple were very nice, and it was like we were old friends (I even stayed up past 10 PM). After dinner everyone came over to our boat to check it out, and shortly after that, we called it a night.

Today...not sure. No plans yet. I’m sure I won’t be going fishing, because of the winds. Maybe a bike ride to a lunch spot somewhere. I have some boat chores to do, but really not a lot of motivation to do them for some reason. Must be the Key’s disease (just lazy all the time) they talk about. Speaking of boat...we put it up for sale starting today. I’m sure it will take several months to sell (hopefully not years) so we’ll see what happens. We are by no means ready to quit cruising yet, but at some point we knew we had to do this, and after a lot of talk, we decided now was the time to begin that process. We plan to cruise until it sells...when it does, we’ll take off the boat whatever the buyer doesn’t want, and rent a vehicle, and come home. We’ll figure out the rest, as it happens.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 87; Day 238; Jan. 14, 2009; Key West

Our dock at A&B Marina...looking toward the town

This is a shot from our dock looking east...that's Schooners Wharf Bar you see in the backround...a 2 minute walk from our boat.

This is the side of our local grocery store...about 3 minutes from our boat.

Log 87
Day 238
Wednesday, January 14, 2009

5:30 AM EST
Location: A&B Marina, Key West, FL
Weather: 66 and windy

I thought if I got up earlier I’d be able to get the log done before the sun comes up and the crazy urge to walk the docks and talk to my morning friends kicks in, so I did that today...we’ll see how it goes.

It’s very windy here this morning, sitting on the boat I can hear the howling of the winds as it blows hard through the harbor and it is especially noisy because of all the sail boats here. The noise a strong wind makes on a sail boat’s mast is really something. If you’ve never heard it, it’s hard to explain. Two things...it actually howls, and is very eerie...and it makes noises you swear can not come from a mast...but they do.

Yesterday...after having a great breakfast at a new spot (I think the name is Harry’s...but I’ll be going back this morning, so I’ll get it right tomorrow) and then making stops at marine stores ( I bought a great book on how to catch fish in the Florida flats) and talking to fisherman, I finally made it back to the boat and finished the log. The weather was warm and very humid, and you could tell there was rain in the area. Deb and I did our morning ritual (not every morning...but most) she wiped down the windows and stainless, and I wiped down the rest of the boat. Sounds like work...but it’s not. I also went down and cleaned up the dinghy...with plans to go fishing later. As the morning wore on the wind picked up, and it got cloudier, so I decided to bag the fishing for a while and instead do some quick boat chores. At 11:30 Deb and I walked the dock in search of some lunch and ended up at B. O.’s Fish House. I can’t believe Deb didn’t take a picture of this place (I’m sure we will) because it is something. Picture what a corner, one level, shack would look like if you gave a 10 year old boy lots of old lumber; tin; and told him he could go in the junk yard and get anything he wanted; and then build a building. I’m sure most 10 year olds would do better...but it is always busy, and the food is very good...and expensive. Only in Key West. After lunch we found a taxi, and with plans to go to Kmart, and replace the TV we lost in the crossing from Marco to here. After a few miscues, and a $65 cab fee, we did get a replacement TV...which I set up and is back on the back deck. Back at the boat, I again had ideas of either fishing or a dinghy ride, but just as we were getting the life jackets ready it started to rain...so we worked on more inside projects. For dinner we had pork chops on the boat...and the movie was more of a 24 episode that we had recorded.

As the evening wore on last night, the wind continued to build, and just before bed I had to go out a couple of times to adjust the lines. When I got up this morning I checked them again, and they seem OK...but stronger winds are forecasted...so we’ll see how they do. The weather the next few days is not forecasted to be good...at least for the Keys. Based on our friends and family are doing with the awful winter up North, I am not complaining...but it will be very windy (from the North) and temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s (average this time of year is a low of 65 and a high of 75). So I’m sure no fishing or dinghy rides until early next week. This will be a time to get some boat projects completed. Also we can get out the bikes and explore the area.

Well, it’s now 6:20, and time to close this and head out and find some breakfast. The biggest decision of the day for me, is whether to wear shorts or jeans as I head out. The good news is my years of business management trained me for such decisions.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 86; Day 236; Jan. 12, 2009; Key West

This is a shot of our new home for the next 5 weeks...the A&B Marina in Key West

This is where we'll keep the dinghy for the time we're here, because we had to back into our slip and so we had to take the dingy off.

On our lunch trip on Sunday I ran in some shallow water and got some sand in the water intake, so I am trying to get it out with a piece of wire...it worked and we were on our way in no time.


Notice how calm the water is...awesome ride to lunch

Here is Hurrican Hole...our lunch spot.

Just across the lagoon from our boat is an outside bar called Schooner Warf and they have live music every day.

Log 86
Day 236
Monday, January 12, 2009

6:30 AM EST
Location: A&B Marina, Key West, FL
Weather: 71* with calm winds

Side note...for the last 3 days I have been trying to get a log completed and sent out. Each time I try, I seem to find something that takes me away...like...walking the docks; going to eat breakfast; fishing; or some other activity that is more fun. Sorry for the lack of communication.

Well...after 234 days (since leaving Holland, MI), and 3,410 miles later we have reached Key West...the southern most point on our journey. It is just awesome to be here...something we have planned for, and dreamed about, for several years.

Getting here...the 91 mile run from Marco Island to Key West was not the best time. Nothing major happened, but the waves forecast was much rougher than predicted, and they were hitting the boat directly on our port bow, which meant we would fall sideways into the next wave as the last one went by. I had been watching the forecast for several days, and to put it simply...the winds did not die down as much as forecast, so the Gulf was much rougher than planned. I was fairly certain it would be “ok”...and it was...just not much fun. Three boats came in just before us (from Fort Myers) and they were all complaining about how rough it was. Deb and I talked about waiting one more day in Marco, and then coming down, but I was anxious to get here, so we headed out. As it turned out, it would have been almost flat calm if we waited one more day, and came in on Sunday instead of Saturday. Oh well...the only real causality was the helm TV fell and broke, so we need to find a new one. If you think about all the things that could go wrong...replacing the TV is at the top of the list of things you’d like to repair.

Once arriving at Key West we had to do a very thorough cleaning of the boat to get the salt off (some of which had hit the hard top). It was hot out, so the water spray felt good. After a complete wash, and complete wipe down, we were ready for dinner...and Deb was ready for a Cosmo. Both of these we took care, when we took a very short walk to a nice open air restaurant (within 5 minutes of our boat there are at least 15 places to eat). Back at the boat we were both very tired and did not last long...we missed the first sunset at Key West...but there will be others.

Sunday...in the early morning we got our bearings in our new surroundings. On these docks there are no side walkways (to walk along the side of your boat), so everyone must “stern in”. That is a problem for us because the dinghy sits behind our boat on the freedom lift, so when we got here we had to take off the dinghy and the freedom lift arms to be able to back the boat right against the dock. A pain...because we had to find a spot to park the dinghy, and also, it meant the dingy would sit in the water the entire time we are here. I found a spot, and after cleaning everything up Deb and I decided to head out for a long ride and find some lunch. We ended up at a place called Hurricane Hole...a perfect spot for a boater. You have to take the boat down this narrow waterway...and then through a mangrove channel to get there. The dinghy ride was awesome...the food was ok...but the beer was cold. Later in the afternoon we were back at the boat watching the football games, and we ate dinner on the boat. It got to 83 today.

Monday (80 and sunny)...up early, tried again to do the log, but decided to walk the docks and look for a spot for breakfast. Ended up a Turtle Krawl, a place I have been several times for good lunches. Breakfast...no so much. Oh well...the dock walk was great, talking to the commercial fisherman getting tips about how to fish got me excited so I came back to the boat and (after a trip to West Marine and the local fishing tackle store to get the best gear) I loaded up the dinghy and went fishing. I fished from about 10:30 to 1 with no luck, so decided to take the dinghy for a trip around some of the islands. I love doing that. Back at the boat about 2, Deb had left a note saying she was “exploring” so I called her and we met for a beer at Schooner Wharf Bar...right on the water, with a great guitar player singing all the songs you like. Just like you imagine when you think of a lazy afternoon in the keys. Back at the boat, we had a relaxing end to the afternoon, and dinner on the boat, while we watched the first episode of 24, which we had recorded earlier.

Today (Tuesday)...started this log early this morning, but stopped, as I was again lured into walking the dock and finding a new spot for breakfast. This time I got some local input from my new fishing buddies on the dock, and walked to Harry’s...great little spot where the locals go. After breakfast I stopped at a Marine/hardware store and ended up buying a fishing book that tells me exactly how, and where, to catch fish on the flats. Can’t wait to read it, and then go catch fish. Back at the boat at 9, it looks like another great weather day today, but late in the day it will start to get windy, as the cold front makes it way here. It is supposed to be 77 today, and then 68 for the next couple of days with fairly strong winds from the north. If it stays that way tomorrow I think we’ll take a taxi to K-mart (the only real big store on the island) and get a new helm TV to replace the broken one.

Well it’s time to go wipe the boat down, and also wipe down the dinghy. Not exactly sure what today will bring, but I’ll bet it will be fun.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob