Day by Day in the Keys

The days have gotten quite  a bit warmer and the winds aren’t blowing hard quite as often either.  We’re staying pretty close to the marina in case some unknown buyer wants to look at the boat.

Pat and Judy Sorenson from Denver will be arriving on Thursday.  We plan to meet them in Miami where they’ll turn in their rental car and then we’ll drive back to the marina.  This has been a very busy year for this marina and it appears all the other marina’s we’ve heard about.  Most of the marina’s from here to Key West appear to be full through most, if not all, of March.  The dock people here at Mangrove Marina say they haven’t seen this many boats at dock in the last 5 years.  Part of the limiting factor hear is the water depth.  Your boat cannot draw very much water to get into this harbor.  The average depth in the harbor is about 3 1/2’ to 4’ depending on the tide.  We’ve also heard from other cruisers we’ve met about dock space in the Bahamas and they seem to be full of boats as well.  

We get together with many of the other boaters on our dock each evening for a refreshment or two.  Who said you had to go snorkeling or diving to get lobster?  The two shown below were caught right off the sea wall at the dock with a net.  The one was a real monster.  It was kind of fun to watch everything transpire.

If everything (weather) works right, we may try to sail out to a couple of the closer keys with Pat and Judy when they get here.  We know we have a place to come back to and we know they’d like to see some of the other places out in Florida Bay.  

We’re starting to think about hauling the boat out in April and also seeing our daughter Andrea and grandson, Kyle, who will be visiting the middle of April.  But we have a few more weeks before me need to think about returning to Manatee Bay Marine.

Sailboat Racing

Marilyn and I went over to the Upper Keys Sailing Club Saturday about mid-day to see the new A Cats.  I guess they haven’t been around too long and they were pretty interesting to watch.  They are single person boats, 18’ long with a single main sail.  The things that make them really unique are that they are entirely made out of carbon fiber, so they only weigh about 150 lbs.  They also have very unique  dagger boards that act as a hydrofoil along with a rudder that also acts as a hydrofoil.  I was pretty interested until I found out that they cost about $35,000, so I don’t think we’ll be getting one any time soon.  

Friday night at the marina we had a “Bob Will” night with lots of good things to eat from everyone bringing pot luck and some good music.  Who is Bob Will you might ask, like I did to the chagrin of some of the long timers here at the Marina.  Come to find out that Bob Will had a country western band that started back in the 1930’s and he became well known for playing music for cowboys like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Hop Along Cassidy.  Now those guys I know.  Guess I must be a little older than I thought, because some of the younger people didn’t know who those guys were.

If there isn’t a party planned, someone will come up with a reason for one.  Next week-end is a “Splash” party for one of the long timers here at the marina.  I guess a few years ago, he became overcome with the fumes from a fiberglass project and he fell unconscious in the water.  Several people pulled him out and he was rushed to the hospital.  I guess he was technically dead for awhile but they managed to revive him, thus the need for a splash party.

Weather seems to be moderating a little bit.  The temperatures have been warmer than February, but the wind just wants to keep on blowing.  Have Pat and Judy Sorenson from Denver coming to visit on the 19th, so looking forward to seeing them.