Work
and Play in Key West: April 17, 2019
We
are back in the USA and headed to Key West.
Historically, we have spent a week or two (or seven) in boat yards at
the end of a cruising season to sort out all that got out of whack…as well as to
get Barefeet closer to our goal of what we want her to be. Thankfully, we are at the end of those
mega-long lists which means our needs are simpler. This time around we will be in Key West tied
to a dock working on boat projects by day and relaxing in the neighborhood by
night. This beats hands-down the
commercial yards in Fort Lauderdale, etc.
No offense Lauderdale but climbing a ladder in a parking lot of an
industrial boat yard has less of a rosy glow than the mellow vibes of Key West
dripping with bougainvillea and jasmine.
We look forward to the change.
Our
marina reservations were made a year ago for a slip at Key West Bight Marina so
picking a date was like throwing a dart at the calendar. That said – we are on-track and simply need
to get from Miami to Key West in about one week. Sounds good but DO NOT leave Mother Nature
out of the equation. We ambled to Little
Card Sound and strategized from there after our celebration at Alabama Jack’s. We have three options: 1) ICW inland route,
2) Hawk Channel outside route with moderate protection and 3) Atlantic Ocean
route – the outside, outside route. The
ICW is least dependent on weather so we put it at the top of our travel
list. However, depth is an issue on the
ICW. We spoke with everyone who would
listen about getting our 5.5ft draft Barefeet from Little Card Sound to
Marathon on the ICW; Active Captain online reviews, cruiser gurus Bill and
Louise (s/v Andelen), Key Largo Boat US captain…you name it. Our call to Boat US responded that they tell
people with a 6ft draft not to do the ICW but we would probably be okay at
5.5ft if we stuck to the channel. We
decided to give it a go and hoped we would not need to make a second call to
Boat US.
Over
two days we made the trip from Little Card Sound to Bahia Honda on the ICW,
roughly 70 miles. It was a fun change of
scenery with patches of waterway lined with mangroves ashore and cranes flying
overhead. Winds blew offshore in the
upper teens but we never had more than a mild chop in the inland waterway. Our first night was spent anchored in Sunset
Cove of Buttonwood Sound off of Key Largo (4/8). Since cleaning an anchor buried in mud is
more work than one buried in Bahamian sand – the salt water deck wash hose is a
lifesaver.
Day
#2 we had the anchor up at 7am for an 8.5hr run to our Bahia Honda hidey
hole. Following is what we saw on our depth meter. The ICW route south generally showed depths
of 7ft+ but there were several points in the low 6ft range. Then it got
really shallow between R78 and R84 (Cotton Key Basin/Cowpens area) when we saw
5'7" several times...at low tide…a mere two inches under Barefeet’s keel. Gulp. We started breathing easier at
Lignumvitae Basin and beyond but depth challenges were replaced with scrambling
to dodge crab pots. Our call to Boat US had their info dead on. Thanks for the local knowledge.
As
we neared Marathon we gave the mooring field a phone call just in case space had
opened up. Nope, no big boat moorings were
available so we kept going to our hidey hole just north of Little Pine Key.
And yes - just as we were anchoring a large squall barreled
through...gggrrr. It took us three drops to set the anchor but we were
well stuck on the third try. Conditions made our adrenaline flow with black
skies, strong winds and loads of grass islands floating past waiting to clog
and immediately stop any intake possible; engine, bow thrusters, you name it
(but that did not happen - phew). Our
nerves were still rattled and a bit shaky as we set an anchor alarm app on the
phone for an added back-up. Alarm,
alarm, alarm – anchor app or something else?!
Something else - the VHF sounded a weather alert (no shit
Sherlock). Too many alarms blaring and
the rain pelting down challenged our ability to focus. We have anchored in this place before (even
in 40kt white out conditions when we held firmly) which has us confident in our
location choice so we just need to move forward one step at a time. Slowly, we worked through each alarm and
secured the boat for the night. As the
afternoon went on the storms mellowed and we relaxed with showers followed by a
hamburger and jalapeno pizza on the top deck.
Our floor show was the stormy sky – better than when we anchored but
still pretty ominous.
The
morning dawned quiet and calm with the only evidence of the craziness from
yesterday’s anchoring melee the remaining grass piled around the anchor windlass
where it looked like a river monster had climbed aboard…and this amount was after
the scouring rain showers subsided. We
are the only ones here which is peaceful.
The nearby small, uninhabited islands look like they are still
recovering from the most recent hurricane with only patches of green
vegetation. Time to check the engine’s
raw water strainer for grass (it’s a Keys thing). Yep, plenty to clean out.
Storms
have subsided and the morning dawned not just calm, like yesterday. but
positively still (4/11). Perfect
traveling conditions. Off we went out
the Bahia Honda channel and under the twenty foot bridge into the Hawk Channel. The bridges were a cool image in the soft
morning light…old Highway 1 beside new Highway 1. The old bridge has a gap cut into it but the
new bridge does not (hence the 20ft limitation). The Hawk Channel depth is in the twenty foot
range so there is little to think about as we head to Key West. As we passed Cudjoe Key it was easy to spot
Fat Albert floating in the sky. Fat
Albert is a 6,500 pound tethered blimp that single handedly stopped drug
smuggling on a dime through Key West over thirty years ago by detecting boats
and planes up to 150 miles off the Florida coast.
Once
in Key West we picked up a mooring ball…with the help of neighbor s/v Journey
who was in his dinghy when we pulled in – thanks Don…even in calm conditions
it’s nice to have an extra hand. We
showered and headed into town to check-in with the Garrison Bight Marina Office
for ball C32. The mooring field is first
come, first served – no reservations.
And at $19.82/night it is a good deal that includes; trash, laundry
machines, secure dinghy dock and wifi at the office (https://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/department/division.php?structureid=122). We rounded out the afternoon with tuna nachos
and live music at gravel floored, open air Schooner Wharf where chicks peep and
poke under barstools under the watchful eyes of roosters and hens. We are glad to be back in Key West.
Key
West is not your average island paradise.
Sure, it’s a tropical island (7 square miles) with palm trees waving and
the scent of the sea in the air but there is no protected cove to while away lazy
afternoons at anchor and “beach” is a postage stamp swath of sand at the far edge
of town. What Key West does exude is
humor and fun through bars and restaurants squashed cheek to jowl with names
like Tattoos & Scars, Dirty Pig, The Glitch and Sloppy Joe’s. There are pirates and parrots, rum and limes,
music and seafood and the feeling that smuggling and wrecking is not as distant
a memory as you might think. The mooring
field is bumpy (especially in northerlies when it is nearly impossible to
dinghy ashore) and the anchorage has winds AND a strong current. From both the mooring field and the anchorage
boats routinely go on walk about. Take
our neighbors Don and Barb (s/v Journey), for example, whose mooring line
chafed through in the middle of a stormy, January night that washed them aground
(in the end all was okay as the tide came up but it’s a heck of a way to start
an inaugural cruising season). Or the
un-manned boat AND mooring ball that floated away during sundowners (4/13). We called the coast guard on the VHF, the
boat narrowly missed Don and Barb and marine services came to re-attach the
boat to a mooring. The seas here are
raucous and unforgiving which seems to encourage having fun whenever you can
take it and with as much abandon as you dare.
The
rowdy and unpredictable sea conditions made us happy to move into our slip at
Key West Bight Marina a few days early (4/14).
It has been about four months since we have been at a dock which makes
this work platform a wonderful novelty for walks to town for fun, too. Being at the marina also means that we have a
mailing address. I got a great new skirt
(https://ripskirthawaii.com/) and Chris got
boat parts. The skirt is lightweight, quick
dry, easy to move in and brightly colored (thanks for the sleuthing Kim). Boat parts were…well…boat parts.
It’s
Sunday so boat stores and mechanics are shuttered. We tied up, cleaned up and got settled. Dinner was at the newly opened Dirty Pig –
literally open for less than a week. It
is a bbq joint run by brothers Dan (pit master) and Ben (Key West DJ for 29
years with loads of music connections for nightly live music) and Dan’s wife
Kim (professional baker who makes all the homemade desserts). What a team!
Oops, and of course Sweet Melissa – the 5,000lb smoker. She is super impressive and is lovingly
stoked 24/7. We had ribs and smoked pork
tenderloin and potato salad and mac & cheese and smoked baked beans…and a
mile high carrot cake. Great musicians Bill
Blue and Larry Baeder came on at 7pm. It
was a fun and delicious night. Kim and Dan are in the photo in front of Sweet Melissa.
It’s
Monday morning and we are off and running (4/15). We removed the hydraulic crane bit that needs
to be replaced and delivered it to Bone Island Welding in Big Coppitt Key –
fingers crossed that they can get it working again minus the leaking. I dropped a few things off with Joanne at The
Seam Shoppe for alterations which will be ready in a few days – awesome (https://www.tropicalfabricsonline.com/). Plus, it is wonderful to wander the lovely
streets of Key West for daily errands – Frances Street is a favorite of
mine. Since we are back in Key West we
haves fish on our minds…Mahi in coconut sauce sounds perfect (recipe
below). It’s delicate and creamy and
delicious.
We
made an early morning walk to Glazed for some donuts for the Marina Staff (and
for us). Yippee! They are back to off the charts amazing…after
a so-so experience last year. I had an
apple fritter and Chris had a pina colada and a glazed. We kept working through our project list full
steam ahead (4/16). I cleaned every
wall, door, window and interior surface with a vinegar/water solution. Chris installed a new house water accumulator/expansion
tank; the small space of choice was the back lazarette. And while the water heater was empty Chris
also changed the hot water heater tank’s zinc and added a drain valve (making
tank emptying simpler in the future).
The zinc is probably okay but by changing it now we should be good to go
for another five years. We wrapped up
early afternoon with plenty of time to get a little dressed up and head to
Sarabeth’s for dinner (http://sarabethskeywest.com/). After a hot day of work (even my knee caps
are tired) we sat inside…and had the whole restaurant interior to
ourselves. Everyone else opted for the
patio draped with flowering plants.
Maybe next time. Dinner was
delicious, slow paced and perfect (thanks for the tip Micky and Caroline). On the walk home we stumbled upon a garden
corner that was truly magical.
Fueled
with avocado toast on multigrain bread from Old Town Bakery we continued busily
crossing items off our lists (http://oldtownbakerykeywest.com/). Chris reconfigured the house water pump and
filter configuration. Yikes, who knew a
humble piece of plywood could be transformed into a display of such
space-saving organizational majesty?! A
couple of hoses will be shortened (soon) when fittings are purchased. I cleaned and polished the stainless around
the windows on the starboard side of the boat (the side beside the dock) and
scoured the dinghy. Phew! Just about done when Barb and Don stopped by
for a visit. It was great to have a
break to tell some lies and share boat project war stories before they were off
to Happy Hour and we completed tasks.
All wrapped up and we slowly dragged ourselves to Half Shell Raw Bar. We were pooped! But this spurt of boat work has us well
positioned for the remainder of our stay in Key West so that fun is better
integrated with work.
Snapper
with Coconut Sauce
(serves 4)
(Josh
Nicklaus, Captain - Key West Commercial Fisherman’s Cookbook)
4
lg snapper fillets
1
lime, juiced
2
Tablespoons olive oil
3
cloves garlic, minced
1
medium onion, julienned
1
stalk celery, julienned
1
Tablespoon tomato paste
2
cans coconut milk
1
chicken boullion cube
2
bay leaves
1
tomato, julienned
2
cups cooked white rice
Cook
rice according to directions.
Sprinkle
filets with lime juice.
In
a large, deep skillet heat oil on medium.
Stir in garlic, onion, celery and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Stir
in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.
Stir
in coconut milk, boullion and bay leaves.
Bring
to boil and simmer on low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir
in tomato slices. Add fillets, gently
pushing into sauce.
Simmer
for 5 minutes or until fish is cooked and flakes easily with a fork.
Place
cooked rice on plate with fillets on top.
Ladle sauce over fillets. Serve.