We are back in Key West

We were finally able to glide into the slip here in Key West last evening at 6:30pm. And this is how we entered:

Renne' was at the helm as we were making the turn off Hawk Channel, into the inlet for the marina at NAS Boca Chica, when I took this.  Followed by

Followed moments later by the first Green Flash I have seen since 1999 from Clearwater Beach, Fl.  I was so disappointed Renne' didn't get to see it.  She was concentrating on piloting the boat and I guess I was freeloading!

With those, however, let me digress to Lake Worth.

To say the least, Wednesday the 28^th of December was a bit trying!!  It was kind of a F__K-YOU day for both of us.  Neither of us was really in a good mood.  We hadn’t gotten much sleep at anchor in North Lake Worth.  I had not hooked up a snubber to the anchor chain, and it rattled and snapped all night long.  The wind was blowing a bit (25-30kts) and I was concerned about dragging the anchor if it got too much stronger.  That and Renne’s upper left arm is hurting.  Not sure what it is, so now that we are in Key West, we will have it checked out.  

We weighed anchor about 8am.  We had stowed the dinghy and cleaned up the deck.  As we were pulling up the anchor, I realized I had needed to get below the bed in the V-Berth to spread the anchor chain around a bit.  It has a tendency to pile up just below the hawse hole pipe and then I can’t get all of the anchor chain down the pipe and it sits up on deck.  I had had a problem with that so I had to dig out part of the contents of the V-Berth to get to it.  By the time I was done, I had already had it!!  The anchor came up and we were on our way.  Renne’ asked me to turn on the Autopilot as we were departing the Lake Worth Inlet.  When I told her I had already, we realized we had a problem with that too!  So checking some wiring, we knew we would be without the autopilot at least for the day.  I would not be able to look at it before we anchored for the night in Forth Lauderdale.

Transiting the coast between Lake Worth (North Palm Beach) and  Fort Lauderdale would have been a bit slow had it not been for the engine.  We threw up the asymmetrical spinnaker and had a wonderful motorsail down the coast.  Winds light, nice rolling following seas.  As we approached the inlet to Fort Lauderdale, I had to get the spinnaker down.  As it happened, the wind kicked up, and as I am NOT a spinnaker guy, I had a bit of a problem getting the spinnaker down, in heavier wind, by myself, trying to shout directional instructions to Renne'.  The spinnaker halyard jammed in the block (AGAIN - remember Charleston Harbor having to replace it??????) and I had to wrap it around the jib, wrap the lines around the spinnaker to keep it from flying again, and we transitted Fort Lauderdale up the ICW in less than attractive condition.

Let me tell you - there are some BIG yachts in Fort Lauderdale!

Even the REALLY BIG Yachts (first one) have BIG yachts as accessories!!  The last picture is a canal, and there are dozens of canals, off the ICW.  It is AMAZING!!

We had to take a slip at the Las Oslas City Marina.  It gave us an opportunity to pump out the holding tank, fill up the water tanks, and let me climb the mast to fix the spinnaker, a chore that would have been exceedingly difficult with the anchor out (I definately like using the anchor windlass to get me up the mast).

Thursday evening, we called our friend, Bill Olson (Captain or Dog Bill), and Linda andCarol, and we all got together for Sun-downers before dinner.

The autopilot turned out to be a fuse and two loose wires, so that got fixed before visitors.  The spinnaker waited until morning.  However, what I found, I didn't like.  I will have to get up again here in Key West to replace the broken block at the top.  Otherwise, I had to cut down that perfectly good halyard - AGAIN - and once AGAIN, we have shorter lines than we want or need!  As there are two spare halyards, sorry, now just ONE, I will replace the forward block with a better make, and move the other spare to the front of the mast and not spend the money to buy new line.

We said goodbye to Bill, Linda, and Carol - we did love seeing our home friends, and departed Fort Lauderdale with renewed enthusiasm.  Autopilot working, sails working, engine working, Renne's left arm still hurting.

We have been hugging the coast all the way down from Lake Worth to take advantage of the counter current.  The Gulf Current is pretty intense right around here.


The red on the east coast is the area around Lake Worth.  That is the reason we went in north of Lake Worth and exited at Lake Worth Inlet.  It can be very intense going south!!

The advantage however of being close to the coast or reef, is that all of the commercial shipping is 5-7 miles farther out, and we had NO visitors throughout the trip. Hawk Channel extends from Key Largo all the way southeast to Key West.  We were inside the reef, however, with all of the crab traps out, we felt like we were in a mine field, and we were continuously dodging the markers.  We actually would have felt more comfortable outside the reef.  I began to sense there was a challenge with the fuel system, so we shut down the engine and I changed the primary fuel filter.  That actually did not resolve the challenge, so as the RPM's began to drop, I was a bit worried we might drop the engine off line before we got to the slip.  We were still doing 5.5kts, and Renne', ever the optomist, was not as worried as I was.  Fortunately that did not happen, and we are safely in the slip today.

Our friends, Maury and Ginger Thompson and a few others met us at the dock to help, and we met the rest of the gang at "The Navigator" bar and grill last night for a couple of beers.  It was good to be there. 

So here we are, I have a list a mile long to complete in the next few weeks.  Renne' wants to get some sewing done, and get an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon on Monday to look at her arm.  We are concerned she might have torn the rotator cuff.  We will see.

In the meantime, meet us here for sundowners.  We really enjoy seeing our friends.

JonNe'