Key West - Our first day

 

The old gang is still here - same ships, same crowds

What a relief to finally be settled! We are at slip E14, the same slip we’ve been in for the past 10 years. It’s not a popular slip with transients since you have to get off over the bow if you go bow in. We prefer bow in because that allows us to sit in the cockpit and watch the water traffic instead of people walking up and down the docks. 

Schooner Wharf as always

We are getting back into our exercise routing with a morning run and a walk in the afternoon. It’s one of the big attractions for us in coming south - the ability to get outdoors during the winter months. Up north, we would just be huddled inside. Besides, there’s no Schooner Wharf in New York! 

I’ve included a link to a summary of our adventures in anchoring in Caesars Creek and the ensuing damage to Fleetwing and the loss of our anchor. You will be able to appreciate that we want nothing more than a few dull days for a while!

Link to our adventure at Caesars Creek!

https://bob423.com/fb/FleetwingDamageRepairSaga.pdf

Key West - at last!

 

Key West is packed! The anchorages are full too as evidenced by the lack of dinghy space.

The weather was as predicted, winds less than 10 kts out of the east that pushed us west. It was so good to get to Key West, our home for the next two months. On our way in, we saw a huge cruise boat docked so that was just like old times. All the restaurants we packed with the exception of Schooner Wharf which was mystifying. Why go to all the tourist type restaurants when you have Schooner Wharf? We went at 6:30 and had our pick of a table, very odd. 

Our dock was waiting for us!

Another Key West tradition was BO’s Fishwagon which also had plenty of tables available. The new restaurant across the street was packed - but it has no character compared to BO’s. Oh well, I guess that leaves more room for those that know the real attractions of Key West!

We celebrated with a fish dinner at Schooner Wharf

We will be here until 3/28 during which time we will host two of our grandkids presently in college over spring break. It will be quite the adventure. We’re looking forward to seeing them. For us, it’s going to be just taking time off, not doing too much to counter all the excitement of the last week in Key Largo with Fleetwing. I could use some dull time for a bit. 

Marathon - At Safe Harbor Marathon Marina at a dock

 

The marina was sold to the Safe Harbor conglomerate which immediately raised rates - the docks are nice 

We had a seven hour day ahead of us to reach Marathon but we took the time for a relaxed start and got underway a little before 8:00 am. Ann announced our departure over channel 16 to alert any boats coming through “crash corner”. It was morning, so all the boats are going in the same direction - out to sea. 

Marathon has a well deserved reputation for great sunsets.
We had a bunch of boats between us and the sunset but it was still good. 

Getting close to “crash corner”, the sun was directly in my eyes. I had Ann looking out from the side deck to see if anyone was coming and she keyed me in on when to start my turn. The sun was blinding through the plastic windows, very hard to see., Once around the corner, there was no problem seeing ahead. 

I looked at the sounder on the way out and the least I saw was 6.2 ft and that was at exactly dead low water, at 0.0 MLLW. The entrance has a reputation for shallow water but it’s not that shallow, 6.2 MLLW is not that bad.

Sunday is the big day, we finally reach Key West, only 9 days late (too long!). I’ve promised Ann a dinner at Schooner Wharf to celebrate our arrival. We are so looking forward to just vegging out for a week or so.

Key Largo - water intrusion a false alarm

 

After a thorough wash down, Fleetwing is finally looking pretty good

With some trepidation I looked whether water had come in overnight when I got up this morning. It was a great relief to find no more water! Evidently, when Fleetwing was in the slings, it was tilted bow high and any water in the boat drained to the aft sections.  Once back in the water on the level, the water reversed its path and drained into the bilge. The water I saw coming into the bilge was just the residual water in the boat moving forward again once the boat was level. 

The canal is only 75 feet wide and with boats moored on both sides, it can get narrow in the middle so we call ahead and negotiate our passage. There are places to duck into along the side to allow wider boats to pass by. You just have to plan ahead.

With that bit of good news, we are once again ready to depart Saturday morning for Marathon and the next day for Key West, over a week late. I took the day to make Fleetwing presentable (top deck cleaning, dinghy wash down, new line for Hoolie, new lines for our two round fenders, refilled water tanks, laundry, odds and ends at Winn Dixie, returned the car to Enterprise - end all, a very busy day. 

The winds on Saturday are not due to top 10 kts so it should be a smooth ride west. We are looking forward to a few days without drama, we’ve had enough for the entire trip already. Time to relax and enjoy the warm weather. 

Key Largo - at Marina Del Mar at a slip

 

One pelican caught a fish - all the other pelicans wanted the same fish!
This went on for almost 1/2 hour!

After a day in the slip, I woke up this morning and noticed water in the bilge. With the repair of the collision damage, I was expecting any water. I did notice some last night but didn’t give it any concern until I saw more this morning. I pumped it dry and then called the marina yard for help. Perhaps I had a leak they didn’t find and I had to go back into the slings for further repairs. 

We’ll, at least we’re still getting pretty sunsets to end the day

All that was very discouraging! The person who did the fiberglass repair came to our boat to look it over fore possible leak sources. The first thing he did was to dry the boat of any water in the aft section with a vacuum hose, the theory being that once dry you could then see if there was any new water intrusion.

So we’re at a slip awaiting the results of a Friday morning inspection for water intrusion. If the water I saw was just left over from the original collision (in many nooks and crannies), then I shouldn’t see more water Friday morning. If more water appears, then we have a leak that needs to be looked at. 

We truly do not want to stay here longer but then we can’t set out in a boat taking on water either. Friday morning will be a big decision day for us. Wish us luck.

Key Largo - our of the yard to a slip!

 

We are headed for the canal, airborn!

We finally got all the repairs done and by noon we were lifted by the travel lift and into the canal. We are now at Marina Del Mar at one of their slips for the next few days. It feels so good to be back on Fleetwing! 

We were surprised by a nice sunset off Key Largo, we haven’t had many on this trip.

We will now look to provision Fleetwing for the next few weeks at a Winn Dixie store nearby. We are keeping the rental car until Friday in preparation for a Saturday morning departure for Marathon. The winds are due to finally die off somewhat, we all set for a nice, dull motor to Marathon at our reserved slip. 

The insurance from Progressive came with with flying colors. I paid the bills at the yard this morning and by the afternoon, I had the same amount reimbursed to my checking account through my debit card. Progressive has been great through all of this. They didn’t quibble over details and we’re back in business on Fleetwing. 

I have a few more things to do on Fleetwing but overall, the boat is in great shape! We are looking forward to sleeping in our own bunk tonight!

Key Largo - Canvass fix

 

The palms are rather graceful in how they arc over the canal

It was a layover day since we were supposed to launch but the travel lift operator had a medical problem. Hopefully, he’s okay on Wednesday. The yard apparently only has one operator and if he’s not available, they don’t launch boats! They had first rate equipment here with a new looking travel lift and two very large dry storage lifters, both looked new. However, the yard is cramped, not a lot of room so the boats are packed. 

The canal is 75 feet wide but with boats on both sides in places
It can be quite narrow, plan ahead is the motto

I finally got someone to look at the enclosure to replace two zippers. It practically had to be a favor since he had work committed for the next six months. I think that if you wanted a guaranteed job in the Keys (or anywhere else!), just be a canvass guy. Every one I’ve run into has work for six months to a year in advance, great demand, small supply. 

We are now due to launch on Wednesday. If so, we’ll just move back to Marina Del Mar but on our boat in a slip vs in a room. I never thought I would consider $4/ft cheap but it’s a lot less than the rooms at $315/night! The first window to leave looks to be Saturday to Marathon at a bargain rate of only $3.50/ft. Funny how your calibration on rates change once you experience higher rates. We hope to move finally to Key West on Sunday, yeah!