Day one: After giving Burdine's $88 for fuel and a nice little sail from Boot Key Harbor we rounded the tiny key at Bahia Honda and sailed through the open bridge span. Then all that nature and man made stuff to starboard blocked the light breeze and we motored past the swim area and tried to set the anchor. Da Da the second try is all hooked up. The first one was a good hook full of ancient coral mud and grass.
The long sail around the key
Bahia Honda has hooked up the long range WIFI! There is a full signal in the anchorage! Look for the obvious, bhlongrange. We use a BadBoy WIFI but some computers may be able to pick it up without an external. So Captain "K"... that means the "office" has internet now!
The Fisher King got to snorkel finally on day one.
BOY DO i HAVE A SURPRISE FOR HIM!
We didn't catch anything worth keeping during our fishing time. There is a significant amount of grass floating around this year making some of our fishing just winding in weeds.
Practice, practice, practice
Sunset day one
Day two: Started out a little late today. The Fisher King must have been tired he woke up after 10 and still acted tired. School day so he isn't thrilled anyway. After fighting a little over the school day and what he was going to wear while snorkeling I finally filled him in on the surprise.
Aeriel of Looe Key
"It was Feb. 2, 1744, when Capt. Utting came upon a suspicious-looking ship flying the French flag near Cuba. It is not clear what " suspicious " means, perhaps what was suspicious were some of the dark-skinned " Frenchmen " sailing the vessel. Utting gave orders to chase the vessel down and when his marines boarded the ship, something caught the captain’s attention. One of the men aboard the French ship was observed tossing papers overboard. The crew of the Loo was quick to scoop the contraband out of the water and when Capt. Utting read the papers, it was discovered that while the vessel was indeed flying French flags, the ship was the captured English merchant vessel Billander Betty. Furthermore, the ship was being used by the Spanish.
Capt. Utting took control of the vessel and began towing it back to Charleston. On night two of the trip, the H.M.S. Loo sailed past Cayo Hueso (Key West). Every half hour the crew dropped a sounding line to mark the water depth and around midnight, on Feb. 4, satisfied with the safety of the ship, Capt. Utting went below deck to his quarters. About an hour later, the men on watch suddenly saw waves breaking over a shallow reef system. An alarm was sounded and evasive actions were taken, but the rudder struck the reef, broke off, and the ship, unable to steer, was pounded by swells and beaten against the coral beds. She was sinking — and sinking fast. To make matters worse, a few minutes later the Billander Betty crashed behind her." If you want the whole story it was taken from here
the Fisher King goes in
His first large cuda
Sea Fans
More Barracuda
now he goes out, wishing he could have brought his spear
Of course his charming disposition gets him time running the charter boat with 49 aboard.
I missed the Nurse Shark (not our pic) he and others saw, and also the Goliath grouper he saw.
We both missed the Moray Eel some saw
Sunset day two. Go take time today to watch the sunset!
Hey baby girl I miss you! Hope you like the treat.
Reminds me of something someone else once did.
Notice: Boo, the Fisher Kings sister has recently made the school softball team. I also found out last night she has moved up to Starting Pitcher! Wooooooo Hooooooo! Way to go Boo! I knew you could.
The Fisher King enjoying his Valentine lunch from his moms.
pic
Sushi (his favorite) and a chocolate Valentines day cake.
We had planned on taking a pilgrimage to Key West by bus and chose Friday as the best day for us. We checked the weather and rain was coming to Marathon. We checked the weather radar as we passed the office. I went to take a shower and gave tin the following job...
"Take the trash and after I take a shower you can run the back pack to the dinghy"
Here is what happened. It started to rain when I was taking a shower. My first thought was Tin was resilient and would be in the laundry room when I was done waiting on me. Reminding me of a episode of Desperate Housewives we recently watched. Tin would handle the killer monkey. So all finished with the shower I went to the laundry room to gather Tin. He was soaked! And we were going on a two hour bus ride! How did he get soaked? He had plenty of time to dump the trash. So what went wrong? He took the back pack I had planned on taking with us to the dinghy and the rain hit when he was on the dock. Why? I still don't know but as I started to get mad that he soaked the other back pack since the shower pack is just rags (don't buy a Calcutta fishing back pack). Then after a couple of minutes I cooled down and was so pleased with his explanation. See, he thought I meant the one he had just brought from the dinghy, with his PSP in it needed to go back to the dinghy. He did manage to get his PSP out. So as far as from his point of view he did what he thought I said. And in doing what he thought I said he got soaked. So we shook it off, walked through the rain and had breakfast at the pig before getting on the bus. It was a long cold ride with our clothes wet
Our day only had a small agenda,
The Southernmost Point
Mel Fishers Museum
Sloppy Joe's
Old Town
Mallory Square
Now trying to keep him occupied and curious from an 11 year old view point was challenging.
First, the bus ride from Marathon is two hours long so it was a good thing he brought the PSP. Also this bus ride has had a rate increase since last year from $3 to $4 a ride. This is a GOOD thing for the cruiser day tripping to Key West! Why you ask? Last year it ended a Publix and you had to take another bus to Old Town for another $2 making the trip actually more expensive last year. Plus it now goes through Old Town, across Duval St and out to the Southernmost Point making it not only cheaper but one bus. We made it to the Southernmost Point and did your photo session for the record.
the Southern Most point in the USA
Second, We took a field trip for boat school through Mel Fisher's museum on he actually had some hands on time with cannons, artifacts and silver. It was information overload for Tin. As from my pessimistic management point of view they show their concern with the abnormal amount of light bulbs that are out making presentations dull and dark. Rent the video and save the $12.50
Treasure be in thar matey!
Bars of gold and coin of silver
Real lost treasure and he is more thrilled with the silver bars than with his picture being taken again.
Third, Sloppy Joe's was an experience for an 11 year old (lunch time and calm). Live music that wasn't bad and a festive atmosphere. Just one thing... Tin hated the Sloppy Joe! After years of the sweet Manwich sauce he just did not like the darker sauce. So I guess I can keep feeding him the $1.50 fake sandwiches instead to the $8.75 real ones (without fries).
the Fisher King having a blast at Sloppy Joe's, Too bad he hated the sandwich.
Fourth, Old town was not expected to excite him too much but we did find some things to interest him.
What's black and blue and sticks to trees? the Fisher King
He discovered that School House Trees have thorns while he was stalking a rooster.
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from the annoying tourist!
Kapok tree
Flowers, He has always been a botanist.
Lizards, He loves reptiles too.
He also found the end of US1
Some art work
He took time to hang out with giants and naked ladies
After the sun was about to get to us we stopped for an ice cream. Do you know you could by the Fisher King and ice cream in the upper right column?
Fifth, Mallory square, this is where my little man started to return to his younger years! He was always the performer when he was younger and over the last two years he has become more serious, more resolute and more with drawn. When no one is watching he still dances with fishes, as when he fell in the bay way back in PC, and I crowned him "the Fisher King". No matter how hard I tried to catch those little dances he kept catching me. It all started with the juggling / high wire act. He was coming back out of his shell. He and the performer started back and forth on the wise cracks during the juggling. Then as the performer was climbing up on the wire he "sold" his act as the most dangerous and having returned from a recent injury he asked for 3 heavy set volunteers to lay down under the wire. Tin didn't even flinch and went right up and laid down under the wire.
volunteering for the high wire safety team and cracking up the performer.
There was the British guy doing dry humor and magic. Tin just fires away anytime the interact with him in the crowd. Always polite, of course.
We then watched on guy get strapped into a straight jacked after some more juggling but got bored and wandered off.
Then over to the "Red Trouser Show" of acrobatics and juggling. See a juggling pattern here? This is the show I wanted Tin to see but he took it to a new level.
The Red Trouser Show
Tin as part of the show
Rehersal
Tin's premier street show video. He earned 6 bucks from the performers for helping out.
After the "Red Trouser Show" we stopped by the next straight jacket show. I didn't remember at first but last year I blew this show off. Now I remember why but I am trapped in audience assistance. I got railroaded into helping him, with 3 others, fake lock him self in chains and a straight jacket! Compared to the other guy this one is a joke! Jacket number one had his elbows pressed in making it harder to undo, this guy held his out to keep space in the jacket. Jacket number one had the chain wrapped all around, under his legs etc but number two kept control of the wrapping and only wrapped around the elbows and nothing under the legs. Too bad we didn't watch number one get out as watching number two was just stupid. All this elaborate talking and wrapping and all he did was just lean down and shake the chains off. IF YOU EVER VOLUNTEER FOR THE BITTER, HATEFUL, BLACK GUY THAT BITCHES AT THE CROWD MOST OF THE TIME, BE SURE TO CATCH THE BUCKLES OT THE STRAIGHT JACKET WITH HE LOCKS BEHIND HIM. The chains wont fall over his head so easy and you will enjoy the show much more! But don't was your time here unless you have seen ALL the other acts.
Oh yeah, now I remember I watched the Bag Pipe Guy last year instead. He wasn't here this year.
So overall we had an excellent day at Key West.
Note: There is a missing bus (not scheduled) at 6:30+- if you miss the 5pm bus you have to wait until 8:20 for the next one at the post office.
Marathon Fl, Boot Key Harbor has just increased the dinghy dockage significantly! The dinghy dockage went up 88% for a one week stay!
Soooooo!
Dear Keys Fisheries we would like to inform you that the City of Marathon has chosen to take the money we were going to give you for Crab Claws and Margaritas. They did this with an increase of 88% for a weeks dinghy dockage. If this is an issue with you please write your City Officials and voice you concern. If it is not we will miss your Soft Shell Sushi, Claws and Margaritas.
the crew of s/v Gemini Dreams
We are in the process of re evaluating our long term plan for staying in the Keys and using BKH as the place to drop anchor in the "work" season. Last year it would take 2 days work to pay for a month at the anchorage but this year it is 4 days. I don't know if I want to work that much. lol
We have been hanging out here for a week to take a trip to Key West by bus, restock the pantry and relax. It took 3 days to get over the rate increase, a day to go to Key West and 3 days to wait out a front with average 25 knots. Last year 25 knots was an experience this year it is more like "is it done yet?". Not much has changed in BKH except the price of mooring and the faces of the cruisers. We did run into Ron and Joan with whom I watched the Superbowl with last year. Well one important feature that has changed is the lack of free internet that I received in the anchorage last year. We are back to having to be at the marina to make connection or upgrade for $40 a month more to get MARiComs.
Where were we? (damn there are a lot of "w" and "e" in that question). Okay, black clouds ahead. There was on last storm on the horizon and it was getting darker. Marathon lay directly behind it. So what do we do? Push on through! We got very lucky as the cloud produced no rain and not really much wind. The dark menace must be saving it for the boats behind us on the journey.
Now here we are 25 miles from Sawyer Bank and the winds are diminishing. There are wonderful white high rise clouds to be seen over the Everglades. This must be their version of beach condos. Now the wind is gone, the seas are flattening, and we start the motor with 20 miles to Sawyer Bank.
Have you ever noticed that you can't find a straight line through the crab pots? Not even a wandering straight line. If the pots are 75 feet apart the windward side may have a line tail floating at or near the surface making it only 65 feet apart. Then your boat is 8-12 feet wide. which makes the opening only 55 feet or so between the pots. Then of course the "crab line" may average 45 degrees across your course which brings us to around 38 feet for an opening. Now if the pots are more in line with you of course this gap will be smaller, and it gets smaller quickly. So at 45 degrees there are there is roughly a 50% chance of getting a pot within your hull width. Add 10 feet port or starboard for a safety zone when motoring and you will get a "thread the needle" gap of only 18 feet every 75 feet of forward space, or 24% or 3 to one against making a clear pass. So just remember when you see a crab pot line, the odds are in it's favor of finding your stress zone or rotating prop if you are motoring. Funny how invasive a little 8 inch tethered ball is.
Now we have motored and I yelled out "LAND HO!" so Tin could get his first look at the Keys. But the 7 mile bridge is still hours away and another hour after that to make Boot Key Harbor. So he returns down below with the PSP. We made the anchorage around 5pm and hoped for a good nights sleep.
Just south of Cayo Costa is Sanabel Island. last spring I sailed north and didn't even slow down near Sanibel this year we were going south with no expectations to stop. Our choice this morning with no wind was motor outside or motor inside. We chose the inside route. Our plan was to come outside after Sanibel and sail non stop to Marathon.
On this trip down the intercoastal there were HUNDREDS of bottle nose dolphins in the channel. All the way from Cayo Costa to San Carlos Bay
We didn't think in time to get a video of the first boat that came within 40 feet of us at nearly 100 mph and spayed us with his rooster tail but this one will have to do.
multiply this by 10 and you could get the feeling of the first boat
San Carlos Bay: Seatow is very aggressive here! They can be found hiding behind the small spoil cay near the intersection of the intercoastal and the Okeechobee Waterway at marker "2". Seriously two boats watching over the mangroves and a third coming in behind us to join them. Also the local police patrolling and who knows who we have missed seeing. We later found them at the public ramp at the foot of the bridge. Kind of like back in Miami last year.
Just before leaving San Carlos bay it wasn't long until we had a hit and miss on one of the rods. I was doing the reel in and check, which is not very easy with a deep diving Yo-Zuri when the phone rang. It was Espin of s/v Mini Pearl. He was heading to Apalachicola to make the crossing to the west coast. Tin took a message and I had to return the call after the rod was reset. Always good to hear from other Vegas and Sailors in general. Espin has lots of salt that needs to rub off on us. lol.
Now this is a good video from just south of San Carlos Bay in the Gulf of Mexico
the best sunset in a couple of days
The lower the latitude the better the attitude,
the GPS has a better attitude.
The sun is setting again without hiding behind a cloud of gray.
Even the dolphin play longer.
Next landfall.... Florida Keys
Later that evening with no wind the autopilot couldn't keep a course so we set up a drift in hopes to make headway SSE toward Marathon. Over night we managed to gain 10 miles but by 8am we were getting a good 15 knots of east wind. this lasted for and hour or so and then it calmed down. I was below with Tin when the auto pilot complained and the sails ruffled. By the time I made it to the cockpit, all of 10 feet, the boat came about and the autopilot complained more. The wind had shifted 90 degrees, a rain squall was on it's way. We reef and rolled in the foresail partway. It was a good ride for about 30 minutes as we threaded two storms on the port and starboard sides. The next two were farther apart and produced less wind. Wanting to make the most of the usable wind I was dying to unreef the main and roll out the Genny but up ahead was another dark black cloud directly ahead...
After leaving Fisherman's Warf and stopping at Crow's Nest for fuel we quickly dropped a line for trolling out the channel. We were hoping to hook a big red or maybe even a grouper entering the channel. But no luck.
A few miles down the coast the were flat and calm motoring with two lines out hoping for a King or better, when zing went the port rod. Before we could make contact with the rod the second rod went click, click, zing. Both rods had hung something on the bottom! There were no crab pots so must have been a natural reef, personal fishing reef or sunken treasure. The first rod freed itself, while trying to check if the lure was still on or not the second rod stopped loosing line. The outcome of this adventure was a snapped leader with the loss of a new Yo-Zuri minnow and a complete savings of the second rod. Which was good since it had almost $40 on the end of the line, a deep diving Yo-Zuri plug.
Which brings us to a blue water lure total of:
s/v Gemini Dreams "0" vs Poseidon "3"
Stressing over loosing more lures we were on a watch for crab pots (or lobster). Then we noticed that just south of Venice there were no more pots! Then a small breeze came by and boosted our motoring to actual motor sailing!
Not very good video of dolphins at the boat, bottle nose
Woo Hooooo! The GPS on the Lowrance is working again! It had been intermittent since we left PC and we were relying on the back up. Tin goes, "hey dad what is with this wire?" Seems the unused comm wire on the GPS puck was making ground when ever it felt like it.
Little blue wire was going touchie feelie!
LOL, I just noticed in my notes for the blog (intermittent internet) I made myself a note about relaxing and keep the sarcasm fresh. LOL I am just too pessimistic at the moment. Life in the Emerald City I guess.
We made it, Boca Grande Channel
After the not so wonderful sailing conditions of too little too wrong wind. Spending the night here a Cayo Costa and catching a few fish was a welcome change. Well we didn't catch any fish but we did have a good down home meal.
Mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, BBQ chicken and root beer
The next morning while the Fisher King was catching trout, I filed the float plan and headed out the rockin' and rollin' Boca Grande Channel to head south, Once again we couldn't make enough east and the decisions of going on the Key West instead of Marathon were in process. We could make it and take a mooring ball for a night and all would be good. OR We could have went on to the Tortugas if we had more groceries. Or...well...looking at the Fisher King's eyes it was the 3rd choice. Return to Cayo Costa for the night. The Fisher King was a little green but the seaman he is he was willing to proceed on without issues. Back through the roller coaster channel and into the anchorage. We caught around a dozen Speckled Trout, a couple or more Sand trout and two flounders that evening. And two stupid catfish!
Cayo Costa trout
It is great hanging out with my son on this adventure! But I do miss Boo! I received news she made the school softball team! Go baby Girl!
w
NOTE: stay at the nearby anchorage on the opposite side of the intercoastal from the south entrance to Pelican Bay and you may have free WIFI. I will try this next time I come through.
We left Clearwater Bay headed for Venice, FL this morning. Everything seemed great. The east wind was propelling us out of the Bay and we planned on turning slightly SE and heading down the coast. Funny thing about this East wind, it seemed to be a little SSE. By the time we factored our drift, perceived wind angle, and comfort factor we could only head due south. If you know much about the west coast of Florida you will know that due south doesn't end up in the US. Well you could happen to hit the Dry Tortugas but if you miss you are slightly west of Havana Cuba.
Sunset, sunrise, sunset
So we spent the next 36 hours banging our head against the wall. First with the due south heading we were farther offshore than I wanted when we passed Tampa Bay and Egmont Channel. We could have entered the bay and anchored at the spot I did last year but we chose to keep heading down the disappearing coast. Disappearing since the longer we sailed the farther from shore we got. As we passed not to near Egmont the wind died. Two knots of wind is all we could get no mater how many wind dances or sacrifices to Poseidon we made. Back to decisions, motor in 15+ miles to the anchorage and 15 miles back in the morning? Anchor at Edmont with an east wind (motor about 10 miles)? or just heave to and try to set up the drift for as close to 140 degrees as we could. We chose the 3rd option. When we awoke in the morning (tired from hourly checks) we had drifted a good 10miles due south. With the still not so E east wind this made a tack in the slightly north direction to make it back to the coast and catch Venice.
Last year on the run up the coast I stayed at Fisherman's Warf and the Marker 4 restaurant with some very nice people I had cruised up the intercoastal with. The dock was awesome, floating concrete, connections for water power and a hope for WIFI. Each slip with it's own locking fiberglass dock box for extended stays. Over night dockage of only $1.50 a foot for south west coast of Florida was acceptable too. Now here is the catch... Last year the storm that put high winds blowing across Sunshine Parkway was a motivator to stay at a dock or I would have just anchored somewhere near Tampa Bay. This made the safety factor of staying at a dock without permits and no electricity, water or WIFI all acceptable. Besides I make my own electricity. Other than having to wait on Richard the manager to finally show up all was acceptable and this has great access and will be a great stop to resupply. Of course the water front restaurant was priced like a waterfront restaurant but you could expect that. There are also other restaurants and groceries nearby.
After taking a mostly ENE tack for a couple hours and getting closer to shore... the wind died. So here we were 20 miles from Venice inlet with barely enough wind to fill a spinnaker wanting to run close hauled. After about an hour of hopes and dreams we gave up and fired up the Mercury, yes no idle again but she runs. In just a little over 3 hours we made the channel and for the first time we saw life, I mean fishing life! there were hundreds of fishermen on the jetties! Actually people boating! seriously life. There seems to have been a complete void of other people for so long that until we were surrounded by so many that we haven't noticed.
The entry into Fisherman's Warf is easy just perpendicular to the intercoastal and much better protected than at Crow's nest. The expectation of a good nights sleep, food and fresh groceries was our anticipation.
Gemini Dreams tied up in the nice floating docks...but...
Here is the reality...
The damn permits are still not signed, so there is no water on the dock unless you have enough hose on board to tap into the one hose running part way down the dock from land with a couple of "Y" adapters already in use by other boaters. There are only 50 service boxes no 30 amp not even on the smaller slips! So unless you have a 50-30 amp adapter on board you are screwed for power. Also there is no WIFI on the dock. Richard was AWOL again and at first this heavy set blonde lady was just plain rude. Finally she took our money and gave us the shower code and was only somewhat rude. When asked about a power adapter she went back to being rude full time. When asked about WIFI she said if you sit out side on that table you may get some. This year they also wanted 2 bucks for ice that was complementary last year. Finally we just gave up with her! The next morning we were topping off our ice and finally saw Richard. I shared how we felt about the blonde (his wife as we know now) and the fact that they raised the price from $1.50 to $2.00 and have still not "opened" for business! He just smiled and didn't care. At least he smiled while not giving a damn. So we will not be returning to Fisherman's Warf! or the City of Venice due to the so called Water Nazis that others keep posting about hassling the cruisers. And to top it all off they have NO GAS still so we had to go to Crow's Nest on our way out anyway!
Flounder
A baby Redfish
Trout
The plus side. We met a couple on a small sailboat that gave Tin some shrimp to fish with. They were helping keep the marina clean and were very nice. We offered them some of the fish Tin caught while on the Awesome Dock with no conveniences.
I missed the Nurse Shark (not our pic) he and others saw, and also the Goliath grouper he saw. 
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