Sailing Her Dream

Ahoy!  We're back on our boat in Florida again----and until I can get a new blog up and going, here's a great video Tim made for those who haven't seen it yet----it kept me going all summer while back in New Mexico.......it's called "Sailing Her Dream" with one of our favorite singer-songwriters Chuck Pyle singing "Sailing"----------------cheers!!

One more adventure.....

But wait, it's not all over yet.....we last left our story with Fiesta still floating in Boot Key Harbor, tethered to a ball like a patient horse to a post.

Waiting for a fresh water bath

We still had one more long adventure...north...back up the west coast to our marina home in Palmetto, FL.







But first, Malia arrived from the cold northern NM mountains of over +7000ft down to the Florida Keys sea level and humidity......can one suffer from lower altitude sickness?  Maybe.....but not this mountain girl.....she took it in stride.

A few days waiting for the weather window in Marathon allowed us to visit the beach and Crane Point Nature Museum.....where we found a multitude of these Golden Orb Weaving spiders.....up to 5 inches long.....hanging everywhere....whoa, not for the arachnophobic, needless to say.

Spider sisters :)

On Tuesday May 5, with small craft advisories still lingering, we cast off mooring lines,  motored under the Seven Mile bridge and headed north across the shallow Florida Bay....not as many crab pots as when we had sailed here over 2 months ago.  But this time, with double reefed sails and an impending dark horizon, we sailed in steady 18-20 knot (20-23mph) NE winds with 24 knot (27mph) gusts......Tim, Leslie and Fiesta said "yippee!".......and first time sailor, Malia,  said "oh shit".  The rails weren't in the water, but the heeling over can be daunting for the first timers.  But like the true adventurer that she is, 

she hung on and rode that horse all the way back to the barn. 

At 3:30pm that first day, we pulled into a wonderful cove on the Little Shark River in Everglades National Park on the mainland Florida peninsula and dropped the hook.  My research on ActiveCaptain.com told me it was good anchor holding with great sunsets and wildlife, but to be aware at dusk of the gazillion no-see-ums and skeeters....it was all true.  We were thankful for screens on all our portals and hatches as we dove inside with only a few bites.

Up early the next morning with fair skies and light to moderate winds, we decided to run the whole enchilada back to the Manatee River....no unnecessary halts.   The winds came and went as they do, and we motor-sailed most of it.  

We sailors sometimes feel like we've bought a motorboat with sails (because we motor more than we like to)....but when the wind is on the nose or too wimpy.....we're all grateful for the engine.   Out of the 50 hours underway of moving back up the west coast of Florida,  we got to experience 18 hours of no-motor-pure sailing....here's a video clip sailing pass Sarasota at sunset.

Cute story.....on our way past Sarasota, we were sailing along about 6 miles offshore, when we noticed a small yellow songbird following us.  Poor things get blown out to sea sometimes and get exhausted trying to get back.  This brave lil' fellow boldly perched on our lifeline and closed his eyes for about 20 minutes.  We kept still and quiet to let him rest, hoping he wasn't gonna keel over and die on our deck.   Pretty soon, his eyes open....he preens a couple of feathers and proceeds to explore our vessel for the next 45 minutes.  He found the little dish of fresh water I put out, ignoring the bread crumbs but delighted in a squashed bug instead.  He visited the salon below deck a couple of times, and even checked out Tim's grey-haired chest. Just when I began to wonder if we had a new live-aboard buddy, he took off from the bow of the boat towards land with a series of thankful chirps.....we were all happy :)

It took 3 days and 2 1/2 nights to meander back up the west coast to our home at Regatta Point Marina in Palmetto, FL.  You could drive it in 6 hours.....but when you're averaging less than 5mph...ya gotta have patience.....and time.  

Coming back to our marina in Palmetto, was like coming home....our neighborhood/village of friendly faces....it felt right.  It's here we'll leave Fiesta amongst our dock buddies for the hot summer months of May thru October.  Then we'll return refreshed and prepare for our next big adventure into unknown turquoise waters.....thar be dragons!  Until then dear blog followers, we'll return to New Mexico (via Vermont first)......so stay tuned, there will be more! Thanks for reading and encouraging us to pursue our dreams!  

Viva la Fiesta!!

Plundering PIrate

And as promised.....here's a link to Tim's latest fun video titled "Plundering Pirate"

He always has way to much fun with his active imagination in the creation of all his videos....but this one is possibly the craziest yet.  He also wanted to show the interior of our boat and the large brick fortress on the Dry Tortugas.....enjoy!

Dry Tortugas

On a beautiful Sunday morning around 8am, we departed Key West....10-15kt ESE winds with following seas of 2-4ft...finally on our way to the Dry Tortugas in what was a long-planned rendezvous with our Regatta Point Marina (Palmetto, FL) fellow dock-mates. The first leg of the journey was about 20 miles to a group of islands called the Marquesas....uninhabited except for the birds and dolphins....and the abandoned Cuban chugs onshore.

(a borrowed pic from the web)

(a borrowed pic from the web)

Chugs are the handmade-with-anything-ya-got boats that the Cubans chance their lives with in the name of freedom.  It's unknown how many don't actually make it, but judging by the examples, it's probably on the high side.  These boats will carry  around 15-25 people for the 90 mile journey, but crossing the Gulf Stream is not for wimps.....unbelievable.  If they can set foot on American soil, they get to stay and start a new life.  If they're caught out in the water, they're sent back with humiliation to Cuba.  This leads to some of them frantically swimming to shore when land is sighted.

 So close, yet so far.  

We personally have mixed feelings for the bridge being open to Cuba in the future.  
We hope for "grace" in their evolution....not revolution.

We were all alone in this world when we dropped anchor in 12 feet water around 3pm on the west side of the Marquesas in protection of the land from the easterly winds that night.  We had heard about the north/south strong current here, so we gave our Rocna anchor 60 ft of chain rode (5:1 scope)....and she held well as we flipped directions a couple times that night.  Magic visited us that night, as the shifting waters carried globs of neon phosphorescence by our hull....like little glowing green alien beings in a flotilla on their way to a all night party.  Maybe that's my Roswell roots reminding me where I came from.
  
At sunrise we upped anchor to yet another beautiful day of 10-15kt winds directly behind us outta the east....as we're heading due west.  Without a spinnaker or whisker pole for our genoa sail, this meant we had to tack with the wind----to the northwest.....and to the southwest.....we had 40 miles to go (as the bird flies), and at an average of 5 knots per hour, that will take us 8 hours...as the bird flies.  In the end, since we can't fly like a bird,  we got some help from our Yanmar 35HP engine to get us in the last 8 miles.....it's called motor-sailing and we all admittedly do more than we really want to. It ended up taking about 9 hours. But we had contacted our yachtie friends on VHF channel 16 and knew they were already in the anchorage....that cold beer was gonna be the best ever!

Dry Tortugas National Park

It's in the middle of nowhere in the Gulf of Mexico, 70 miles from the nearest bag of ice and flushing toilet.  It was a group of islands inhabited by turtles when Ponce de Leon first discovered it....and named it Las Tortugas.  Later, it was renamed by another explorer (can't remember this one) to reflect the lack of water on the charts...hence the Dry Tortuga's.  We went into this adventure with open minded expectations and when we first spotted it on the horizon, we thought it was the island----land-ho!  But as we got closer we realized it was a manmade brick monstrosity....called Fort Jefferson.

Ft Jefferson from a mile out

Fiesta anchored with Ft Jefferson....and the perfect clouds

We pulled into the anchorage south of the fort and found 4 boats----our dock mates from Palmetto, already set on the hook and recuperating from their long 29 hour overnight-wild-ride down from the Ft Meyers Beach area....about 110 miles north.

  So fun to see them all again!!!

Left to right---me, Bill from Sola, Margaret/Jim from Well, Why Not?, 

Chris/Linn from Annie-C, Joni/Robert from Rest-A-Shore

Interior grounds of Fort Jefferson

A lighthouse was first built here in 1825,(lots of wrecks in the area) but in 1846, the US started building it's largest fort named after Pres. Jefferson on Garden Key island.  It's this unbelievable hexagon mammoth fortress of 16 million bricks...complete with an array of cannons all the way around......and a moat.....WITH a proverbial 7ft crocodile resident--no one knows how he got there.  We saw him, but he was shy for my camera.

 So the million brick dollar question is.....why?

  

A.  To defend the Mississippi River to NY commerce route---yes.

B.  To defend the Gulf Coast corridor to the Atlantic---yes.

C.  To defend las tortugas (turtles)----not yet...they were actually a main meal

D.  To defend from Cuban Chugs---nope.

It was in Union hands as the Civil War raged, and by 1875 without a shot ever fired in defense, the construction had stopped....because the coral/sand foundation began shifting as much as a foot in places and the million+ gallon-rain-collecting-underground-cisterns had filled with salt water.....oops.  Alas, mother nature wins again. 

As we wandered around the property in our shorts and t-shirts slugging down bottles of water in the 80+ temps, I wondered how the population of 2000 inhabitants dressed in their wool military uniforms and women in layers of long skirts survived these hot and dehydrating conditions.   

    

  

Tim and Margaret

Our fleet of boats amongst the daily tourist seaplanes taking off

The only way to get here is via boat or seaplane.  There is a large National Park ferry that comes over for about 5 hours everyday from Key West with a hundred or more tourists.....they're the ones with splotches of pink on white skin where the sunscreen missed.  By the way, the turquoise water around the park is a protected marine sanctuary making the snorkeling a big attraction holding up to our expectations.

A very unique aspect of this particular National Park is the mostly unrestricted roaming freedom they give to the visitor.....there's no guardrails when you walk around the 3rd story ramparts....or "watch your step!" signs with the uneven-toe-stubbing floors.....there's no grate over the open shafts to the water cisterns......there's not even a 

"WARNING! Live crocodile in moat!" sign?!!??

Masonry marvels

Margaret hiking the upper ramparts

More Cuban Chug boats and stories of survival this time

Watch for Tim's next video filmed here--coming soon!

On the island next to the fort is a designated bird sanctuary that is flogged with thousands of Sooty Terns (gulls) and Pelicans.  The raucous was all day and all night. But one of my favorites was the large hovering Magnificent Frigates over the fort with their 7.5ft wingspan and forked tails----they reminded me of prehistoric Teradactyls from the dinosaur age. 

All in all this was one of our most exciting adventures yet....we stayed 5 nights, but could have easily stayed another month.  Don't know if we'll ever go back, because there's so many other adventures to cross off the list.

Our 70 mile return trip back to Key West was one of those "forgettable" motor-slogging--no sail-into-very-large-waves-with-the wind-on-the-nose trips....for two days. 

But, alas, every day is not without an adventure....so about an hour east of Fort Jefferson, Fiesta sprang a fuel leak in a low pressure fuel line between the lift pump and secondary fuel filter---though it was pinpoint small, it was shooting out about 6 inches all over the galley floor.....OFF! with the engine, and UP! with the sails.  

Jim, on Well, Why Not?, radios us asking if we have any "rescue tape" to try and wrap it?  No....we didn't think so... we couldn't think straight about this yet. We tell the other boats to go on, we'll have to sail our way back to Key West....it'll only take 4 days...

or 4 months.  

Jim and Margaret, not willing to leave us behind, have figured out a way to get us this rescue tape in a dry bag, floating on a buoy and attached to a long line.

SuperJim

Picture this....

  we're all in HUGE waves 4-6 ft, (maybe more? largest yet, anyway) hobby-horsing from the top of one to the bottom of the other.   We manage to get Fiesta hove-to in these waves (a sailing maneuver that allows us stability and to pretty much stand still)... meanwhile, on Well, Why Not? ---Margaret is at the helm and Jim on deck, they make three totally heroic passes within 25ft of our boat (watching that our masts don't meet up in the rolling waves) while we stand ready with a boat hook....1st try, tossed too soon.....2nd time, fouled line.....3rd time-the charm---a lobbing hail-mary toss and we got it!  

Margaret, dear Margaret....omg, you ROCK behind that helm!!! I know it made the grey hairs go white or even fall out, but the rescue tape saved the trip and we all persevered for 2 days motoring back to civilization via another beautiful night in the Marquesas.

Meet Margaret and Jim, retired llama ranchers from Minnesota....as new and open-hearted as we are at this high sea adventure thing.  And their stalwartly Morgan 44, Well, Why Not?

Read their story and adventures at www.svwellwhynot.blogspot.com

And our other fun adventure companions, retired 
truck drivers Chris and Linn on Annie-C---a living ark Catalina 34....with their cuter-than-shit dog named Abby....and talking parrot, Katie.

Katie says "What a pretty girl" but learning "Land-ho!"

We spent a few days in Key West wandering the streets looking for key lime pie and 
West Marine (the expensive chain store for marine supplies).  While we waited for our Yanmar fuel line to arrive in the mail, our yachtie friends left a day before us for Marathon. On Friday morning April 17, we left Key West harbor........but, oh no!  
We had totally forgotten it's 
taboo or bad luck to leave a harbor on FRIDAYS!  But luck was with us that day as we had THE best day ever for sailing up to Marathon....winds 15-17kt off our starboard beam gave us 5.5-6 knots speed, waves were like bucking broncos at first and then calmed down to 2-4ft....one tack the whole 8 hours....passing about 10 sailboats heading west (so much for taboo laws)......payback time after all the motoring.


Currently, we are all 3 moored side by side tucked back into the bosom of Boot Key Harbor in Marathon for the next week or two getting our always inevitable repairs and upgrades done. The weather has turned really warm....actually kind of hot....but by the time the harbor residents blow their conch horns at sunset every night, it's cooled down and so lovely to be floating here in Marathon.  Many boats have left this harbor, heading back up the east coast for summer or off to Bimini and beyond to the Bahamas.  

We have finally laid out our future plans.  Our older daughter, Malia, will be flying to the FL Keys on May 1st to check out what her crazy parents have done now....and to assist in getting Fiesta back up north to Palmetto to Regatta Point Marina near the Tampa Bay area, where she'll stay through the summer under our friend Mike Fauser's care .  Then in mid-May we all 3 fly up to Burlington, VT to attend Krista's graduation....double major, Psychology and Global Studies....we are so proud of her!  She has been offered several jobs in health organizations around Vermont and just needs to decide which one.  Tim, myself and Malia will then fly back to Taos to live for the summer into fall....working in some part time seasonal job (got one?) to replenish the cruising kitty for another high seas adventure into the Bahamas next winter.  

What a year we've had.

We have no regrets----only excitement for what's next!  

The colors of Key West

Three lil pigs

Hello everyone....I know, I know.....where the hell are we?  It's been over 3 weeks since our last adventure report!  Well, let me tell you....grab your cup of jo or your rum/tonic and follow us down deep into the Florida Keys.  

We had spent over 3 weeks in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon.....and the absolute best thing that came out of that was our new 345 watt solar panel (see it on top of the davits in photo) There's a liveaboard-20-something-year-old wiz kid named Alex (he entered college at age 15 = brilliant) who installed our system....we can't recommend him highly enough for any of our cruising friends needing upgrades or repairs.  
This one panel recharges all 3 of our batteries, even on cloudy days, and handles all our electronic needs.....ahhh, peace and quiet without running the big 'ol iron jenny one hour-twice a day.  

I just had to put the above photo in here....it shows three Island Packets in a row.....when there's only 4 in the entire harbor out of 250+ boats.  The Island Packet is often called "Island Piglet" because it's rather pokey in light 10 knot winds.....on the other hand, in heavy 15-25 knot winds,  IP's are Porky Pig donning blue tights and a red cape -----yeah, faster than a speeding bullet....*wink.  

Boot Key harbor "Iguana ghetto"---hurricane docks that the
iguanas have taken over

We bid adieu to Boot Key Harbor.......and headed down to the mother of Buffett-ville Islands....Key West.  It took us about 7 hours sailing/motoring to go about 42 nautical miles.

Key West's lurking sea-monsters----whoa, I feel small

Key West is a cluster of.....well......everything....good or bad....and we are loving the diversity after 4 months of mainland Florida's conforming-predictable-monotone society.  










We hooked up to a city mooring ball on the north side of the island and quickly caught up with our Taos friends who are living here for a couple of months, Jack and Kim Smith.  They have graciously provided us with a couple of bikes and personal guided tours which is the ONLY way to see the beautiful backstreet charm of old Key West....it is still there, preserved and tucked away from the onslaught of the obese cruiseship village population that pours like molasses into the streets everyday.

The obese Key Lime Pie at Blue Heaven

We are also indebted to their local friend Jeff, for the recommendation and connection to a marine tech at Key West Yacht Club to help us out with our......broken-down-once-again "Otto" auto helm.  Another woodruff key,  set-screw AND a little glue seems to be holding......XXX fingers crossed.   (thanks Jeff! for the help and the lunch!)

Livin' on spongecake.....

One night we tuned into the local station called "Pirate Radio" and listened to Jimmy Buffett performing live in Key West....singing the top 27 songs as chosen by his Parrot Head Club fans.....the voted number one song was.....nope, not "Margaritaville".......nor "Cheeseburger in Paradise".......but rather "A Pirate Looks at Forty", our personal favorite.....it was a memorable evening of Buffett.

"It's those changes in latitudes,

Changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same.

With all of our running and all of our cunning,

If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."  JB

THE CONCH REPUBLIC

And now....... little trivia and history lesson.   On April 23, 1982, the US Border Patrol set up a blockade on US highway 1 near Florida City....just north of the Florida Keys.  

"This heinous act effectively isolated Keys Citizens from the U.S. mainland since the blockade was on our only land artery to and from the mainland. This roadblock portrayed Keys residents as non-U.S. citizens who had to prove their citizenship in order to drive onto the Florida mainland!  We protested! A totally American thing to do! Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow along with a few other 'key' Conchs, went to Federal court in Miami to seek an injunction to stop the federal blockade, but to no avail. Upon leaving the Federal Court House , on the court house steps , Mayor Wardlow announced to the world, by way of the assembled TV crews and reporters, that ; "Tomorrow at noon the Florida Keys will secede from the Union!"

And so began the legacy of what is still known as the "Conch Republic".  They have dual citizenship with their own passports and their own independence day which is celebrated with impunity.....like so many of the other wild fests that take place here year around.  

So.....with total respect of all foreign countries, S/V Fiesta obliges by flying their flag on our courtesy line up the mast....LONG LIVE THE CONCHS! 

(yep, it's even the high school mascot)  

I'm not sure, but we believe the prevalent Americana Rooster that runs randomly all over the island is the official country bird.....CONCH-a-doodle-doo!

(Ya gotta love this place....it's so very entertaining.)

Coming next------Dry Tortugas!

Marathon--Boot Key Harbor

Rows and rows of boats

Marathon is a town located on Vaca Key in the middle of the chain of Florida Keys (east side of the Seven Mile Bridge, which we passed under).  It is one of three main mecca's for Caribbean cruising boaters.....the other two being Georgetown in the Exumas, (Bahamas) and Grenada.  Anyway,  it is a floating city of  226 mooring balls, several marina's and room for anchorages too....the mooring field is successfully managed and operated by the City of Marathon.   The rate for a ball is $300/month or $118/week or $22/day.

Boot Key Harbor on Marathon

When we arrived almost 2 weeks ago (after the overnight passage from Pine Island), we anchored outside the harbor, showered, jumped into our dinghy and raced to the front desk to put our names on the waiting list......it is a no reservations---first come first serve operation and we were #23.   Ok, no problem, the balls free up when the weather gets good and folks move on.....some stay here for the winter and some year around.   Next morning, we upped anchor and motored into this harbor thru the little slit (lower left side of pic) of the now permanently open bridge....watch out for the overhead power lines, they're 65' at a high tide.....we were ok with a 48' mast.

Taos refugees

We dropped anchor and called our Taos friends, Kim and Kevin, who live on their own boat, Sea Fever, in Burdine's marina.  They escaped Taos back in November, picked up a couple of bartending jobs and are living the salty life this winter instead of shoveling snow.

We have had a blast with them exploring the mangroves, sand bars.....and local bars.  The time is flying by.

KnK with dogs, Peedee & Kiwi in the mangroves

The Marathon City Marina has pretty good facilities for it's inhabitants.  There is a large lobby hall/office with library, a couple of TV's, wifi & 120v electricity, laundry,  bathroom facilities and general mail delivery.

This is also where we see the live aboard families homeschooling their kids.





 A posting board lets cruisers post notices of departures in case others want to join along.  Every morning at 9am on VHF channel 68 is the harbor Cruiser's Net with announcements, questions and a harbor      flea market of items for sale or wanted.

We spent about 6 nights anchored waiting for the rowdy winds to die down (our new Rocna anchor held true blue for us)  and for other boats to leave---most heading to the Bahamas.  We had slowly moved up the waiting list for a mooring ball,  and finally on Friday the 13th our number came up......we got U2....a Bono ball!  And thank goodness for the faithful PumpOut poop boats that come around----best $5 we spent yet.  But now that we're one of 226 assigned boats, it's included with the fee.

Where did we park?

Soft & hard dinghy segregation 

Some other local restaurant and bar dinghy docks are quite inconvenient....especially when the tide is out and the fishing is easy  

There are two large floating dinghy docks to accommodate

our main means of transportation.

Our dinghy, Speedy,  giving a pelican prime restaurant seating

Some dinghies need love too

Bob Narley's taxi service....yeah mon we're in the islands

From the dinghy docks, the grocery store, Home Depot and Kmart are all about a mile down the main road Highway 1.  We walk to these stores and then call the local taxi dude to bring us back with all the heavy supplies and liquids.

Here's a photo gallery of some the best named boats in the harbor.

                Floating breakfast joint----Harbor Hillbillies.  We are loving the diversity of people and ideas here.....frequently reminds of us Taos and it's characters.

A house with a Yamaha motor

One day we dropped the mooring lines and headed outta the harbor 

5 miles south to Sombrero Key where there's an old light house with a reef and great snorkeling.  

Ohhh--- that turquoise water was cool and refreshing. We also took the opportunity to scrub the bottom of Fiesta......she giggled with pleasure.  

The temperatures are finally what we expected in Florida mid 80's....lows mid 70's.  The warm sunshine and freedom from the crowded harbor gave Tim the opportunity for a cool down salt water shower.

We got Otto (our auto helm) fixed  and ordered up a new 345 watt solar panel that will be attached on top of our davits.  This should....fingers crossed.....take care of our voltage needs.....on a sunny day anyway.  Otherwise we have to run our Yanmar engine and high output alternator one hour twice a day. ...makes it noisy and hotter down below.

All in all our experience here has been wonderful.....and we can see returning back to this harbor again.

In the meantime, we have plans to cast off sometime this week and head down the keys towards Key West....and further on to the Marquesas and Dry Tortugas where we're hoping to meet up with ye old dock maties from Regatta Point Marina in Palmetto.  So till then------fare thee well!