Northerlies
Honk Like They Want To: January 22 2016
We
continue to be the only boat anchored within eyesight on the eastern edge of
Bahia Honda State Park at Johnson Key. We hear the
winds howl but the boat does nothing more than a subtle shimmy – this is a well protected
spot. The local classic rock radio
station comes in loud and clear with dive reports and fishing reports and
weather reports. The fishing report
announcer is a hoot and pretty well sums up the forecast, “…those northerlies
can honk like they want to but we’re still fishing.”
Marathon
Key is 5-7 miles away. It is a hopping
place with bars, restaurants, marinas, realtors, hospitals (people and pets)
and all sorts of civilization. However,
we feel like we are camping - calm and
peaceful. Heck, we have not even seen
a pleasure or commercial boat pass by in the distant channel.
As
expected, the cold front has brought chilly temperatures which has us in
fleeces during the day, under blankets at night and me making lentil soup with
grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner (Jan 12 – recipe below). Our quiet time at anchor has given us a
chance to organize, straighten, fine tune our itinerary and even do a couple of
small boat projects. I have updated our
logs on the website and Chris has mounted our exterior rod holder...providing a bit more order after weeks of feeling like a
tool shed rather than a home. But To Do lists remain longer than our arm.
The
stalled cold front has kept us in our snug anchorage. We continue to use our below deck systems
like the generator, heater (no snickering, please), watermaker, auto pilot, washing
machine, fresh water system (gummed up after so much construction debris) etc.;
however, they have been largely untouched for months while the exterior work
was done. The systems are solid but they
need a bit of TLC to get them back to their fighting strength. Today, we again turned on the water maker
(which has been working fine) only to have it blow off a pump fitting. Okay, this pump fitting is made of
titanium. Yikes – that is some high
pressure! Not sure how that happened but
we “know people.” Phone calls back to Ft
Lauderdale and the replacement part was being sent to us in Marathon. Thanks Henry at Southeast Power Systems for
helping us out (http://www.diesel-plus.com/locations.php). Okay, time for dinner and we had ground beef
burgers with Velveta shells on the side…hot, gooey and nicely sticks to the ribs.
Time
to pull anchor and get our part. We
motored to Marathon through the grey and drizzly day and witnessed quite a bird
feeding frenzy. It was a crazy melee of
sea gulls, cormorants, turns and pelicans…all diving and gliding with little
regard for anything but the seemingly huge cache of fish below the
surface.
Forecast
wind direction meant it was better to anchor on the north side of Marathon so
we picked a spot off Pretty Joe Rock and dinghied to get the part at Marathon
Marina and RV Resort (Jan 15). These
guys also went out of their way for us and accepted our package even though we
are not staying at their marina.
Thanks! Don’t be fooled - there
are LOTS of great people in the world.
It
seems we may have unconsciously pinned too many hopes on a longer pit stop in
Marathon. There has been crazy weather
with strong winds clocking around from every direction accompanied by drizzly
rain and grey skies…only to start all over again just as they finish. It’s all pretty unusual (so the locals tell
us). These conditions have boaters
scurrying into marinas. Understandably,
there is no room at the Inn and we will need to move on…at least we have our
back-stop anchorage at Johnson Key if nothing else pans out.
Sure
enough - back to Johnson Key we went for one more night and the sole
boat in the anchorage. About dinner time we saw 40 knots or more
with total white out conditions from sheets of rain. Yikes!
On went the chart plotter as the only way to determine whether we
were dragging. No dragging but our nerves were frayed.
Thank goodness that was the last storm hurrah before the sun set.
Serene
calm welcomed us for the sunrise the next day…must be the calm before
the next
storm (Jan 16). Latest forecast: tornado
watches, 60 mile an hour wind gusts and massive rain…where are we?! The plains of the mid-west?! Fast forward and we are happily tucked into
what is quite possibly the last slip in all of Key West. No kidding, boat space is squeezed because there
is a fishing tournament in town with a $10,00 purse for the heaviest king mackeral
weighed in, annual Sail Week is this week (12 countries and 24 states
represented) and one marina is closed for renovation. Our luck is strong at the moment and we are
glad to have the secure spot from which to explore Key West…and a couple spots
north (by land) that we had to blow past on the water due to weather conditions.
Islamorada
is home to the Worldwide Sportsman (purchased by Bass Pro Shops in 1997). It is a sportsman’s dream like the other
locations; however, this location also has beautiful architectural touches
which remain from the original store that was founded in 1967 and became an
institution of fly fishing in the Keys.
Heck, it even has the half-sister ship to Hemingway’s m/v Pilar (used in
the movie Key Largo with Bogie and Bacall).
The original Pilar is on display in Cuba. We roamed the
aisles and were just as enamored of the sportsgear as we were of the
beautiful building; inlaid wood designs on the floors, beveled glass
window panes, brass door pulls of alligators, wrought iron porch
railings of mangrove limbs, mounted game fish scattered on the walls -
it was a stunning building.
Time
to turn around because we had one more scripted spot on our Keys road trip…No Name
Pub on Big Pine Key at mile marker 30 (http://www.nonamepub.com/). We have visited this spot before and were
eager to return to the casual vibe and pizza.
Dollar bills are the decoration of choice and it is said there are
$90,000 worth stapled to the low ceiling, walls, door jams…you name it. Driving to Watson Boulevard can be
tough…especially because there are more signs to be careful of the endangered
Key Deer than anything else. We were
ready to call the Key Deer thing a hoax until we saw one as we headed to our
car. They are smaller than your average
deer and quite cute (http://www.fws.gov/refuge/National_Key_Deer_Refuge/).
That
was it for our road trip. Back aboard Barefeet we
had a mango and rum sundowner with Papa’s Pilar Rum – blended in downtown Key
West of multiple rums from the Caribbean, Central America and Florida...and very tasty. Sundowner
entertainment was provided by the daily afternoon return of
charter fisherman with their catches. The action gets going as
the
fish are filleted and scraps are tossed to the impatiently waiting
pelicans. We
had a great day! Now we will double-check lines and batten down the hatches for another two days of
honking wind and pelting rain - the cycle of the season is established.
Greek
Lentil Soup
3
Tablespoons olive oil
1/2lb
(250g) green or brown lentils
3
medium white onions, chopped
5
cloves garlic, chopped
5
cups water
2
bay leaves
1
laurel leaf
3
Tablespoons white vinegar
˝
cup olive oil
1
can (13oz) crushed tomatoes
2.5oz
tomato paste
Salt
and pepper
Optional
garnish: feta
1)
Soak
lentils in warm water for one hour.
2)
In
a large pot heat 2T olive oil and saute onions and garlic until transluscent.
3)
Add
water, strained lentils, bay leaves, laurel leaf, vinegar and ˝ cup olive oil. Simmer 30 minutes.
4)
Add
tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper.
Simmer another 30 minutes until soup is thickened and lentils are soft.
Serve with crusty bread. Garnish with extra vinegar and thick slices of feta.
Blue
Heaven Restaurant Citrus Beurre Blanc for Yellowtail Snapper
1 oz of white wine
1 1/2 oz of lemon juice
1 1/2 oz of lime juice
10 oz of cream
4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick)
3
tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 6- 8-ounce yellowtail snapper, grouper or other snapper fillets
ˇ
Place
the first three ingredients into pot and put on a medium heat until reduced by
two thirds.
ˇ
Add
8 oz of cream and whisk into citrus mixture, return to heat and reduce by two
thirds and mixture is of a thick almost butter cream sauce consistency.
ˇ
Remove
from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 oz of cream and drop large pieces of
soft butter in and stir the butter into the sauce.
ˇ
Meanwhile,
pour flour in a shallow dish and dip fillets in it to coat. Melt remaining 2T
butter in a pan and cook fillets, turning once, till fish flakes easily, about
8 minutes.
ˇ
Serve
fish and drizzle with cream beurre blanc with, steamed fresh green beans and
fresh corn.