Florida Winter

Things have cooled off quite a bit from what they were last week.  Forecast high for tomorrow is in the low 60’s.  For our North Dakota friends I can here it right now:  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Poor babies.  The wind off the water has been blowing about 18 to 25 and Monday is  suppose to have more with gusts to 30, so I guess I better check the mooring lines.  Sounds like the Bahamas are getting lots of wind too.  We have friends that sent pictures on Facebook of a big catamaran that broke free from its mooring and ended up in one of the marina fairways.  Not a pretty picture.

Last Friday at the local flea market Marilyn saw a plant that she really liked (see the photo) and asked the person selling it what it was.  We couldn’t understand her, so we still don’t know what it is.  If anyone knows, please tell Marilyn

After church this morning we stopped at the Marine bird sanctuary between Key Largo and Tavernier.  They rescue, rehabilitate and release marine birds.  Not very large, but pretty interesting.  

Lon and Jen Romsaas arrive this next Thursday and will be down here sometime Friday after they drive from Orlando.  We hope to sail a little depending on the weather and also drive down to Key West for a day or two.  No matter what, it should be fun to see them.  We might even get in a pinochle game or two.

What is this??

I think this White Heron is suppose to be on the inside of the cage

Who has the right of way here?

Beautiful Tavernier Florida

We’ve decided to stay a little longer in places rather than moving all the time.  When Cindy and Larry Dykema were with us, we moved to Mangrove Marina and have decided to stay her at least for the next 30 days.  We have friends Lon and Jen Romsaas coming to visit from January 30 to February 4th and then Kurt and Colleen Schweigert are coming for a visit from February 18 to February 23rd.  So we might just stay put until Kurt and Colleen depart.  Mangrove Marina is a good place to explore the keys from both land and sea and also have a few amenities for our visitors.

Marilyn is still getting over the Green Bay Packer loss to Seattle, but she says she’s starting to feel better.  We’ve met a few of the boater on dock 3 which is the dock we’re on.  The first two couples that we met were from South Dakota and Minnesota.  Go figure.  The folks from South Dakota no longer have a boat here, but are living close by and come back to visit friends.  The couple from Minnesota are also snowbirds and keep there boat on the hard here at Mangrove when they return home in the summer.  Last night there was a Prime Rib feed that was put on by the small concessionaire that works at the marina.  I guess this is the first time he’s done this, but there were about 25 people that attended and it was great food!  He also opens his little concession on the week-ends and sells breakfast and lunch.  We haven’t tried it yet, but hope to very soon.

The weather has been very nice the majority of the days that we’ve been here since returning after Christmas.  I hate to say that too loud.  Every time I do it seems like it gets cooler and the wind starts to blow harder.  (What did I tell you.  It just started to rain, but it looks like it will only last for a couple of minutes)  The last time we sailed in the keys was 3 years ago and it seemed like the wind was blowing 25 or more most of the time.  I hope that was the exception rather than the rule and now we’re seeing what it’s really like.  Only time will tell.  We need to get the kayak out.  The bay here adjacent to Mangrove is really nice and protected.

The one thing that hasn’t changed is fixing the boat.  Our water heater just died, so Marilyn and I spent most of yesterday pulling the old heater and installing a new one.  It really wasn’t a hard project, but what makes it difficult is the small area that we have to work in.  The best part is we were successful and we now have great hot water!!

The view from out our back door

Looking across at our neighbors

The Cruising Continues

I’ve been bad, bad, bad.  The logistics of keeping the boat in good shape and storage actives have just taken priority over maintaining a blog.  Last year was a horrible year for maintenance problems and then when we arrived this November, we still had some battery and related solar panel issues that needed to be resolved before we could move on our way again.  Fortunately, after we replaced the starter battery, the electrical issues seemed to go away and everything was functioning properly.  We did have a couple of other minor issues like a bad anchor light, leaky foot pump for fresh water in case the pressure water stops working.  But foot pump was a minor problem that can be addressed at anytime.  Our hot water heater has also been a little finicky, so I’ve order another heating element and hope that will solve the problem if it decides to totally stop working.  Again, that’s something that can be dealt with just about anytime.  We can always get hot water by running the engine if we absolutely have to have it.

Although we got back to the boat in November, we did return to Bismarck on about the 17th of December for the holidays and then came back on January 11, 2015.  When we came back, Cindy and Larry Dykema also came along and followed us back to the boat.  After getting the boat cleaned up from sitting in the water for almost a month, we moved out with Cindy and Larry tagging along.  We’ve decided to spend several weeks at Mangrove Marina in Tavernier, FL which is just a little south of Key Largo.  After 3 years with the boat and only a couple of our friends taking the opportunity to visit  us, several of them have decided to visit this year.  We decided to stay a Mangrove Marina as a good place to explore the keys, whether by land or sea. We expect to see Lon and Jen Romsaas and Kurt and Colleen Schweigert in the next 30  days. 

We traveled with Cindy and Larry to the anchorage off of Gilbert’s Resort at the entrance to Jewfish Creek to spend the night at anchor.  Had dinner at Gilbert’s along with some great Gin and Tonic’s.  The next day the winds were very light, but we headed for Mangrove Marina under head sail and engine.  It took us about 3 hours to get to Mangrove Marina.  The weather has been very pleasant for the last 3 days and we had an uneventful trip to Mangrove Marina.  After getting settled in a slip we went to get Cindy and Larry’s rental car that we left there earlier so that we’d have transportation back to Manatee so we could get our car.  The next day we had breakfast with Cindy and Larry and then went to get our car at Manatee Bay.  Said goodbye to Cindy and Larry who were heading to Jacksonville, FL to visit other friends.  After they left we went back and did some laundry and grocery shopping.  Glad we were snug in the slip since the wind was pretty blustery and the temperature off the water was a little cool.  Guess we got spoiled by the last 3 or 4 days.

Hope I have some good stories to share as we visit with some more of our North Dakota and Colorado friends.  

Anchorage off of Gilbert's Resort, Key Largo, FL

Larry Dykema working hard