Monday, February 13, 2023

Key West - A working harbor

 

Got to get the foresail tied down

There are many day trip boats that go our of Key West and they need maintenance. The winds are stiff this time of the year and things wear out. The repairs are not without risk. One year, a two person team, a boy and his girlfriend were working together to fix something on the top of the mast. The boy, at the top, yelled something and the girl thought it was to release the line around the wrench. Unfortunately, that’s not what he meant and he fell to his death with his girlfriend watching helplessly as the line slipped through her fingers. It was a terrible thing. 

One of the many tour boats that go out for a sail - for a price, America 2.0 in this case

Today, they were working on a much safer part of the vessel, the fore part of the boat. I think they must have been there over an hour trying to the tie it down right. I walked into town again but it was hopeless since two cruise ships were docked. I can’t think that Key West is much of an attraction to cruise ships. They don’t get to see anything of what makes Key West special. All their meals are on board and they leave before 5:00 so they can’t see any of the night life or music. All they see are the $5 tee shirt shops and souvenirs for sale - and lots of crowds! We time our outings when the cruise ships are not in - Thursday is such a day. 

Somewhat of a sunset

The winds are starting to back off now and we’re back to normal on winds and temperatures. Tuesday has turned into laundry day but Wednesday we’ll party with our rented car and freedom to roam!



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep having fun! Love reading about your adventures.

Changes in L'Attitudes said...

When we're planning what to do in Key West, one resource we've come to use are Cruise Ship Calendars ... either the one that's a link from the City of Key West's site ...

https://www.calendarwiz.com/calendars/calendar.php?crd=caribenautical&&jsenabled=1&winh=754&winw=1536&inifr=false

... or this cruise industries site that also gives 'number of passengers' info.

Like you guys, we just avoid the area when they're in port.

Completely agree with your assessment of what a 'cruise ship passenger' does when ashore in KW, and we've talked with a lot of locals. While most hate them - aside from the whole environmental mess they cause - the 'only buying trinkets' and not actually aiding the economy enough crowd seems to be larger than the 'at least they're buying trinkets' crowd (made of most trinket sellers and their staffs)