The Sun comes out in Paradise

Finally the sun is out and it's warming up to an acceptable temperature for us thin skinned folks. Sonja and I have been entertaining our good friends from St Pete for the last week which arrived on the heels of twin cold fronts that plummeted the temps into the 30's and 40's in South Florida. Fortunately for us we were able to salvage the week of outdoor activities with careful planning.

We managed to go sailing one day out to Sombrero reef but as usual the seas were too rough to pickup a mooring ball and snorkel, so we just sat back and enjoyed the sail. Even then with the sky partially covered in clouds it made for a cool afternoon.

The neat thing about Marathon is that all the land and sea activities, restaurants and bars are centered around the Boot Key Harbor and the City Marina and accessible by dinghy. Meaning that you don't necessarily need a car to enjoy the activities you care to pursue. Mike and Sabra play tennis and with the city park with its four tennis courts next door to the Marina, it made tennis a morning ritual. The evenings were spent wearing out the waitstaff at the local pubs during happy hour. Everyone's favorite hangout was Frosty's at the mouth of the Boot Key Harbor where the sunsets are the most spectacular and the service is exceptional. Our special thanks went to Erin and Joey at Frosty's by providing our friends with the most memorably evening of their stay.

On the last day of Mike and Sabra's vacation the weather and temps were warm enough to try and snorkel. So a trip was planned for Sombrero beach and a dinghy ride to Sister Island off shore about a quarter of a mile. Although the first order of the day was to sunbath in the first real warmth of the sun since they had arrived. The temps were around the high 70's but with a 10 kt breeze. I beached the dinghy in the lee of the rock jetty at west end on the beach so we could sunbathe out of the breeze. After about an hour of sun, we all decided to go for the island and check out the water.

The trip out to the Island is tricky and had to watch the water color with the tide being so low. Being there before, I knew we had to follow the channel out to open water before turning towards the island since everything to the west of the channel was shallow sea grass and shoals.

I decide to circumnavigate the Island to anchor the dinghy on the lee side that just had a gentle roll rather than the chop the wind was generating.

Mike and Sabra came prepared with full wet suits and boots for the cold water. Sabra had a hood but Mike did not. Sonja and I after feeling the water decided it was way to cold for us so we sat back and watch our friends enjoy what they have been looking forward to doing since arriving here on their vacation. they happily swam away looking for treasure. Twenty five minutes latter they came back with a beautiful Queen conch shell (no live conch inside) as a wonderful reminder of their trip to Marathon. Sabra was still nice and warm, Mike was freezing, so we packed up and went back to the beach for them to wash down and warm up in the sun.

Today was our sad goodbyes for Mike and Sabra, with the promises of rejoining us again in Marsh Harbor, Abaco in late March or early April for some reef diving.

Cold in the Keys

This morning Sonja and I woke up to 50 degree outside air temperature and 64 degree inside cabin temperature. That observation was quickly followed by "Turn on the heater" from under two layers of blankets. It really didn't seem that bad until I went outside to make sure I had good water flow through my reverse cycle air conditioner and I was met with a 15 kt wind in my face. What happen to the balmy breezes?

The resultant weather conditions were caused by a pair of cold fronts that swept the Keys Monday and Tuesday with high winds and rain. On the dark side of this is the fact that I packed up all of our winter clothes and sent them home, but on the bright side of this is that Orlando had 38 degree temps and back home in Panama City they had 30 degree temperatures, so 50 degrees doesn't seem all that bad, besides it will warm up to 68 degrees today and 74 degrees tomorrow.

Well lets talk about projects; The current project is the Lofrans windlass that decided to eat up the two foot switches that were its source of life. So we have not been able to go outside of the harbor and anchor up to clean the bottom because I'm too lazy to gather the anchor rode back on the boat by hand.

So far I've replaced the old plunger type foot switches that incorporated their own solenoids with one control box and two separate foot switches. After lying on my back with my head stuck in the chain locker staring at the under side of the deck I finally finished installing the control box which is the heart of the components. Back on deck in 15 kts of chilly wind I was able to fish the switch wires from below deck (with the help of the admiral and mechanical fingers) and attach them to the foot switch.

I summoned the admiral and ask her to endure one more task; the "Burn test." Reluctantly she agreed to operate the main windlass switch if it wouldn't be too much trouble to fetch her a fire extinguisher to protect her from the flames. Needless to say, I was not impressed with her sarcasm.

Throwing caution to the wind, the admiral turned on the main breaker switch for the windlass and surprisingly, there was no smoke. Next came the important part; to see if the foot switch actually brought the windlass to life. So carefully and without regard for my life, I engaged the foot switch while I held it in my hand. The windlass jumped for joy with no serious burns note. One problem, the windlass was turning the wrong direction for which I had intended since I was pressing the up switch and the windlass was rotating down.

The admiral was summoned with great coxing and promises of gold and perfume at the next topical oasis we visit, to once again go down and fetch me the "Other" wire that I had so keenly marked "Down" so I can connect it to the "Up" foot switch. I explained to the Admiral that a small error on the part of the manufacture lead to the mislabeling of the wiring diagram.

With the wires corrected, the main switch was thrown open again and as I pressed smartly on the foot switch the windlass jump to my command rotating in the proper direction , much to the admiral's surprise. As I called for a celebration on the foredeck and ordered an extra ration of rum for the entire crew, all that I could muster from the admiral (doubling as the rum mister)was a scathing "Whatever."

I was so happy I left the chain locker with wires hanging in every direction and proceeded with my victory "Sundowner" even though it was only 4:00 PM. But Mon, who would care if sundown comes early?

Coming soon will be the scoop on my next project: Red instrument night lights for the pedestal.

Happy Holidays

Christmas holidays in Marathon, Florida. The harbor is getting full of cruisers making their way down for some settled weather from up north. About half from New England and the half from Canada. All of them are very nice people to met and listen to their story. I love stories.

We are fortunate to have guests from St Pete join Sonja and I for the week preceding Christmas. Mike and Sabra spent their first night on our boat (on any boat) Saturday December 20th. We had a great time taking them to all of the dockside restaurants and evening night spots. Mike and Sabra were great guests and we are looking for them to re-join us in late January for our next leg to Miami.

Speaking of experiences, today is my third day of recovering from food poisoning I received when Sonja and I went to a Christmas day dinner at a restaurant across from the Marina. I had grouper and Sonja had Shrimp. When the waitstaff brought the food to the table I smelled something fishy. The rule is if it smells fishy don't eat it. I had the chance to avoid the displeasure of being poisoned, but somehow I forgot the rule and ate the grouper and two hours latter I was sick, sick, sick.

This morning is the first time I could come up topsides and smell the fresh air. Sonja along with Buddy have been on the boat caring for me for three days now, This afternoon I was finally able to board the dink and get them to shore so Buddy could properly relieve himself and Sonja take a shower and wash her hair. That was an experience I really did not need and a lesson I will not forget. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

The weather has been beautiful but very windy (20-25 kts ESE) and not many boats are coming or going. Today is very pleasant and not so windy although there still is a breeze of 15 kts blowing through the harbor, just enough to keep you cool.