Enjoying
Key West with an Eye on Our Departure: March 5 2018
Watermaker
filters were changed and taxes were filed.
Plus, Chris has installed a splash/protective guard in front of the
wiring for the windlass. Okay, it looked
good before but now it looks even better…and shouldn’t get jostled or bumped inadvertently. I made my usual gopher runs around town and
never cease to enjoy the color and whimsy that is Key West. The project required cutting by Monroe Glass
& Mirror and perfectly filled the day until Mickey and Caroline arrived in
the evening (2/23). They are boating friends
from Boston who have come to Key West for the first time. We started at Schooner’s Wharf to kick off
the Key West experience.
The
longer term project is the drying out of Chris’ closet, leak sealed and re-installation
of a closet light (the old one was totally corroded out). Sounds straight forward but it takes time
like all boat projects. Today the closet
was put back together along with all of its contents. Yippee – open space returns. And more gopher runs with more whimsy…heck,
even the plants explode with color. Work was
done so our fun began. The evening started
on Barefeet’s top deck with Key West’s own Smilin’ Bob’s Smoked Fish Dip appetizer
and cocktails before moving onto a Key West Duval Street stroll through
eateries, cocktails and live music with Mickey and Caroline (2/24). We have been sampling smoked fish dip around
the island (it’s a thing) but Smilin’ Bob’s is our favorite. This smoked fish dip should not be missed if
you spot it in the supermarket in the seafood area.
Everyday
items in Key West seem to morph into creative outlets that I love to spot as I
wander around town. Recently, it was the
humble mail box. Once I saw one I started
to spot many, many more. And the one with
the fountain was a small scale replica of the front of the house behind. Wow – very clever.
The
calendar keeps moving forward which also means cruisers are moving along. Diana and Tom of s/v Cecilia Marie hosted a farewell
dock party because they will be leaving in a couple of days for Marathon to put
the boat away for the season before returning to jobs up north. It was great fun to chat and nibble and hear
about itineraries…and share Tom’s favorite rum – Kilo Kai from Curacao (2/25). The party took an international turn when
nearby boaters brought along visiting Thai friends. Chris and I loved using our two Thai phrases
(hello and thank you) and swooning over the flavorful Thai dishes we remembered
from our time there. One thing led to
another and before we knew it directions to the supermarket were described and they
were off for ingredients to make us (and the dock) homemade Thai food. Holy ginger and pepper they were not kidding. Morning care packages (still warm) were
delivered all along the dock (2/26). No time
for me to have a tutorial but I will try to make these myself later: pepper
spiced pork and hard boiled egg stew (moo palo); ground chicken with ginger,
cilantro and lime with rice; and marinated, grilled beef with rice. We feasted like kings – thank you
(khapunca/crap).
Our
calendar is moving along, too. We have
started to look at weather forecasts in order to plan our move north beyond the
Keys. We are paid up at Key West Bight
Marina through March 7th but we need to confirm exact departure details
with Mother Nature. This means we need
to wrap up parts ordering online, confirm the engines and systems are still
happy after being idle for a month and strategize our cruising itinerary (after
gobs of input from anyone and everyone willing to chat with us about the west
coast of Florida). I got our propane
tank filled and Chris changed out the main engine’s impellor. We both got haircuts…all is clicking
nicely. Unfortunately, on a negative
note the fuel polishing/transfer pump is still leaking despite a changed out
O-ring…rats…get that new pump ordered ASAP.
Goodbyes
and hellos continue on the docks as Mickey and Caroline depart for Boston, s/v
Cecilia Marie tosses their lines and m/v Vector arrives after an overnight hop
from Ft Lauderdale (3/1). Through it all
neighbor cat, Jack, keeps watch. We are
lucky to be in this vibrant cruising community.
Festivities
with friends does not keep us away from projects – there is time for all of it. March 1st turned into a day full
of boat projects. Chris ground out the
doors on the Portuguese bridge locker doors to prep them for new hinges and
added support via epoxy to the starboard bow anchor locker door in order to
re-install the hinge. The photos are a
bit of before-and-after with the epoxy being smeared into the void like peanut
butter followed by the smooth, filled end result and the final in-place
re-installation. All in all a clean
project. The other March 1st
project was messier and full of scrapes, scratches and strained muscles.
The
“other” project was the replacement of the final water system hose from clear
to opaque. Initially, it was billed as
an improvement project (stopping issues before they are issues) because nothing
broke to make us fix it; however, when the hose clamp deteriorated in Chris’
hand I guess it was/became a fix-it project.
First, remove the old hose. Ah,
that sounds so simple. Chris used a
trick he learned from a professional tradesman by literally connecting the old
hose to the new hose with screws. Go
right for the gusto…do not mess around with tape or string because it never
holds and the hoses WILL separate in the least accessible place of the run
(yes, this has happened to us). What
followed next was a lot of pushing and pulling and feeding hose until new, clean,
opaque hose was strung. I am sure I was
quite the sight as I (once again) paraded past the deck seating at The Half
Shell Raw Bar with a few feet of nasty old hose and corroded connections on my
way to the dumpster compactor. How I
love that dumpster for disposal. Thank
you Key West Bight Marina. New hose
strung, flesh grabbing hose clamps removed (making future projects less wound causing) and we were back in business. Pretty, pretty!
Relaxing
over dinner at Onlywood Trattoria with Sean and Louise (m/v Vector) was nice until Chris
got slammed by a flu bug. Not sure if it
was the heat of the bilge work…or what…but he was down for the count after (likely)
being the only sober person ever to toss their cookies in the planter. Nothing stayed down throughout the night
until half a banana at a time and a bit of Gatorade every couple of hours
finally stayed put later the next day.
No fun for Chris! But the quiet
time for me meant no gopher runs for parts which freed me up to dive into a
stitchery project. Okay, it’s
needlepoint but that sounds so old and stodgy.
On
my third visit to Island Needlework on Fleming Street I chose a project. The Island Needlework shop owner, Julie, is
super friendly and she is encouraging enough that I think I can do it.
Her designs are fun and colorful without being stuffy. It took me some thinking but I chose a piece
that will, ultimately, be wrapped around a brick as a door stop to be used at
home in Boston. I am super excited but was a bit overwhelmed when Julie
said - okay, you have chosen your canvas...now choose your colors. Gulp.
What?! I thought that my choosing colors could happen next time around after my
feet were wet. In I went (with helpful hints from Julie). The background
will be the large burnt orange yarn, the bundles will be the different gecko
color schemes and the dots are red and black lady bugs. I love the colors and I will try to get a bit
done before we leave so that I can return to the shop for additional tips. I am making great progress; enjoying the
geckos but the ladybugs are not very fun (3/2).
I have nothing against ladybugs but they are just not fun to
stitch. Who knew?!
The
weather has turned cool again (comforter is back on the bed) and the winds have
cranked up. Hhhmmm. Our quiet weather for weeks is changing which
means our departure is more and more uncertain.
Winds have been divine for departure for weeks...until...well,
now. So it goes. We are paid up until Mar 7th which does not look
good to leave - Mar 5 maybe but Mar 9 or 10 look better. We checked and
Key West Bight has room for us to stay an extra day or so...so we will leave
Mar 8, 9, 10 or 11...based on the winds. Our potential stops are Cape
Sable (if weather is settled), Shark River, Indian Key/Russell Pass, Pine
Island...kinda playing it by ear because the weather keeps shifting with every
new weather report. What a nice place to
noodle this calendar question.
Every passage of twelve-hours shows an updated GFS weather model complete with wind and wave forecasts. We are finally seeing beyond our departure
and it looks promising (3/5). Phew. The start of our exit from Key West will have us
the most exposed so we are looking closely at the wind speeds and wave heights
and frequency. Nothing to do but wait so
we became vacationers and joined the other tourists as bums-on-seats. We joined the
Conch Train tour with Sean and Louise. It
was fun to hear the stories - part lore, part myth and maybe a smattering of
truth about the capers and shenanigans of the resident characters.
Excitement for new adventures and impatience with the weather keeps us on our toes. But we won’t rush Mother Nature and simply keep to our boating strategy – no pain, no pain. Our spirits keep buoyant. Least of which is because of Dante’s Restaurant and Bar. Every time we go on and off the dock we smile and giggle as we pass the Spring Break hormone epicenter that is Dante’s. Their recipe for bringing the kids in is easy…a pool (swimsuit attire), exuberant DJ, cocktails and food. That’s it. And that’s it from us for now. We’ll have more news soon as the weather forecasts become more solid.