" When Pigs Fly"

Break’s over, back to boating! 

Sunrise Harbour Cay Marina

We last wrote after we were docked in Marathon in early February, only two months late. Our original plan had been to winter here and though we got a late start on that, it ultimately worked out great. The boat is sitting in a very reasonably priced marina; there is beautiful open water in front and on our starboard side and great sunset views every night.

We both went home after arriving in Marathon. I was only gone for a few days, two Doctor’s appointments and I was out of there. I didn’t have plans to see the dreaded snow that was forecast. I also drove my truck back so snow was not in the cards for me, one adventure at a time. We hope to ferry the truck up the east coast as we take our time with the boat.

Upon my return to the sunny and warm weather in Florida I was greeted to the strong North winds that come with the cold fronts. For several days the winds blew without letting up in the 20- 25 MPH range giving a whole new meaning to the term live aboard. A fellow boater commented that his wind meter had registered 39 MPH during one night. Even with a queen size bed I was thinking of ways to tie myself in. 

I used my time back to take care of the pesky repairs that always seem to need attention.  Somewhere on the Tennessee River I had put some new parts in the front head. You may remember that “shitty job” story and the fact that the Admiral suggested at the time it might be a good idea to go ahead and replace parts in the back head as well. But at $120 for a repair kit, I decided to wait for it to break. As luck would have it the master head pump quit just before we hit Marathon. It certainly seemed time to do something so I ordered a new kit.

This was the first job I tackled when I returned to the boat. Though working conditions were kind of tight in the master head, it helped that I knew what to expect, so this fix was relatively easily. Trust me we got our money’s worth from that old impeller. It had self destructed cramming all six vanes into the joker valve. It was no wonder the head wasn’t pumping.

You may remember from past posts the brand-new auto pilot didn’t work on our crossing from Marco to Marathon. After contacting the local Garmin guru, Bud w/ Seatech, he diagnosed the issue in no time at all. We needed a brand new pump. Seems the pump I had was an old style pump with plastic gismos that were prone to breaking. The new pump has brass gismos. When Miller ordered the autopilot he tried to get the new style pump but the supplier said it wasn’t on the market yet. Lucky for me when Garmin replaced my pump I received a new brass gismo pump. Once the new pump arrived Bud had it installed in a flash.

To do a proper sea trial the water needs to be flat. This was something we hadn’t seen much of so we had to wait a few days for calmer waters. I must have been a pain in the butt for Seatech as I called everyday with the water report. Finally at 6:00 PM on a Friday Bud arrived and asked if I was ready to go for a boat ride. I’m happy to report the sea trial was a complete success. We made circles in the water, when it was time to zig and zag the autopilot took right over. North was located and all of the compasses were synchronized. Then we set a way point about 5 miles out and our new friend Otto Pilot took us there! This is really cool, should have done this months ago

My friend Dennis came down for a week in the sun. We did the Key West sunset thing, watched boats at the harbor at KW and tried to put Land Shark on a second shift. We even discovered a great place for pancakes. Dennis is retired too and knows how to relax the day away. It was a good week. With Dennis’s help we also managed to rewire the lights on the back deck that hadn’t worked since the boat was moved to Kentucky. I had missed those lights! We even changed out the ceiling fan on the back deck which had mysteriously quit working. The rest of the time one day just sort of melted into the next.

Fun in the snow with the grandkids

Anna stayed long enough in Missouri to get completely tired of snow (18”). She says leaving the grandkids is much easier when she knows she’s going to be back to shorts and flip flops.  Since she has returned we have been splitting our time between two activities; playing tourist in the Keys and making preparations for the next phase of our trek.  Most of this has been pretty mundane.  What can you say about warm sunny days, beautiful sunsets and some good meals at open air restaurants? 

We walked a section of the historic 7 mile bridge out to Pidgeon Key.
Now open just for pedestrians

Pidgeon Key
Historic simulation of the housing for Flagler's railroad crew

We had some great fun Tuesday when we went for a jet ski tour around Key West. Our guide was OK and had his own ideas on how fast the tour was going to go. We followed him single file at about 45 mi/hr through the Gulf and out in to the Atlantic. On the ocean side we saw a few huge waves that seemed to come from nowhere, but since we’re both seasoned riders they were no problem. Back on the bay side while passing under a bridge the guide told me that there was a 7’ Lemon shark under my boat. Lucky for me I didn’t have my sun glasses on so I didn’t get to see it. This would have been the last thing I really needed to see.

There was even a little time to play on our own. Of course, that part didn’t work out exactly as planned. I was sitting on my ski looking at something in the water when I suddenly found myself actually in the water swimming with the fishes. I’m still not sure what happened or how I got so far off balance, but there I was, the experienced jet skier under the water. Kind of made the episode in Port St Joe where I fell off the beach look better.  Not sure if I was more concerned about my ski getting away or the fact that Anna will never let me live this one down. Worse yet I lost my sunglasses in my swimming fiasco. 

Saturday we’re going to the Dry Tortugas for the day. Anna has been before but I haven’t. I’m looking forward to seeing Ft. Jefferson, and Anna is looking forward to some snorkeling there too.

Our plan from here is to head for Miami on Monday (4/8/13). We are planning to anchor out a couple of nights on the way up there. We’re kind of looking forward to being away from a marina.  With any luck we’ll get to Dinner Key by Wednesday evening, hang out there for a few days and then, weather permitting we’ll make a run out to Bimini.  Should be a nice test for the new autopilot.  Beyond that the plan is kind of loose.  We’ll let you know what develops.

See ya on the water.