Lunch out

Lunch out

Tuesday February 23, 2021

We wanted to make a reservation for dinner somewhere with outside dining.  As it turns out there is limited opportunity for outside dining in Key West.  So in lieu of dinner we went out to lunch.  We were able to get an outside table at Santiago Bodega on Petronia Street. (I was at little concerned at the name thinking that it might be a grocery store with a couple of picnic tables). In contrast to my expectations, the terrace was shady, the tablecloths were white and starchy, the food was great.  It’s a tapas place so we had a salad to share and four small plates.

Our salad was pear and avocado with a creamy Parmesan dressing—very tasty.  This was follow by green beans with Gouda and ham with a lemon parsley sauce.  Then came the hot dishes—pork tenderloin with a raisin and onion chutney, spanakopita with hollandaise sauce and beef with a butter sauce.  It was very special.  To my mind it was like lunches out in France—relaxed and delicious.  The chickens pecking around were an extra bonus!

We have been doing things to get ready to take off tomorrow. Mike made a pork casserole for us to have on our trip.  I cleaned the heads and washed the floors.  We took a trip to the great marine hardware store to get bilge cleaner, lubricant for the sail track and an elbow latch to repair the drawer in the table (where the alcohol is stored).  These jobs were accomplished before lunch.  After lunch it seemed a bit harder to get motivated....

Mike lubricated the mainsail track, collected the bikes, re-attached part of the self-steering apparatus and pumped the rain-water out of the dinghy.  I did the square root of nothing useful—washed some dishes, repaired some masks.  I did manage to resist having a nap—only just.  I might still be able to fit in a nap before boater’s midnight.  

This will be our last post for a while (maybe a week or so). We are heading out tomorrow and plan to anchor at Boca Grande, about 12 miles to the west. On Thursday we hope to sail the remaining 50 miles to the Dry Tortugas. We will take the first decent weather window after the weekend to make our passage back. There is no cell phone reception once we leave here so we will fill you in on our adventures once we are back in the world.

Gloria

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

Portrait of a rooster

Lizard peeking out from the saddle tube of a bicycle

I may have shown a similar picture previously, but this is the inside of the main electrical panel on Cotinga. Thankfully most things are well labeled but it's a little daunting nonetheless. There is an additional panel below the cockpit seat with the battery selectors, tank gauges and the breaker for the windlass. Below the cabin floor and behind the side paneling, bunches of cables run throughout the boat. Tracking what goes where is often half the battle.

Electrical and Fuel Issues

Electrical and Fuel Issues 

About ten days ago we had a diver clean the bottom of the boat and replace our zincs (sacrificial anodes). Whilst the bottom generally looked good he reported that there were “halos” around the main zinc, rudder support and stern pipe where the prop comes out. He said these indicated an electrical problem. These observations coupled with the extensive loss of zinc in a relatively short time got us worried. This morning we finally managed to get a marine electrician out to the boat and he found … no obvious cause! He did say that loss of zinc might be due to a DC issue but the “haloing” was associated with stray AC current. He tested the electrical system whilst dormant, with the engine running, connected to shore power and with the battery charger going. In all cases the reading looked absolutely normal. So our assumption is that we need to be a little more careful replacing the zincs at shorter intervals, especially whilst in these hot and very saline southern waters. We also believe that the “haloing” maybe due to stray current at a dock with a faulty electrical system. This could have happened in New York, Portsmouth, Charleston, Vero Beach or Key West – all places we have stayed on a dock on this trip. This is very different from our previous cruising experiences where we have rarely stayed on a dock. Anyway, we will have a diver inspect the bottom and the zincs again in a couple of months.

On our previous trip to the Caribbean (2017-8) and to a lesser extent more recently, we have had major problems with our fuel being contaminated and black sludge getting sucked up and blocking the fuel lines, causing the engine to stop. We have been working diligently to address this issue over the past year. I built a “polishing” kit that we carry with us, we treat our fuel religiously with biocide and we over-seal our fuel filler caps with adhesive sealant. This morning we decided that we should once again “polish” our main tank, sucking out fuel from the bottom of the tank with a PVC probe tube, pumping it through a filter and back into the tank. It’s a pain in the arse but at least we would then know we had done all we could to avoid issues as we start to travel once again. We are delighted to report that there was essentially no debris in the bottom of the tank – it was a bit of a worthless exercise but very reassuring. We then topped up both fuel tanks to the top of each fill pipe and re-filled our spare jerry cans. Unfortunately, the gasket and or seals for the fuel gauge at the top of our main fuel tank are leaking and when we came back from an afternoon walk we realized we had a couple of pints of diesel fuel in our bilge. What a smelly mess! We used spill cloths to soak up the worst and have added some bilge cleaner and water to the bilge to clean it up. We will pump that mixture overboard once we are out of the marina and in a less sensitive environmental area. Until we resolve the leaks it doesn’t make sense to fill to the top of the pipe. Once we use a little fuel it wont be an issue. 

Mike

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

Looking up at the hatch in the main cabin during an afternoon rain storm

Palm branches

Sea grape leaf backlit with sunlight

A different sea grape leaf backlit with sunlight - close up

Some days are slow days

Some days are slow days

Sunday February 21, 2021

In the middle of the night I woke with a migraine headache.  I took some ibuprofen and slept fitfully for the rest of the night.  In the morning my head was still hurting and I took more ibuprofen and acetaminophen with breakfast.  My whole day has really been overshadowed by the migraine.

Mike took a trip to the Publix to re-provision the boat before we leave the marina.  He brought back a lot of food so we should be in good shape.  I gather his bike trip to the Publix was pretty hard going as it was directly into the easterly wind.  The wind continues to be strong today.  In fact, the boat is doing quite a lot of dancing around in this slip. There’s quite a bit more movement than you might expect.... I think the big winds are going to start settling down soon.

My only contribution today was baking some banana bread from our over-ripe bananas.  Also I did a little bit of sewing and have now assembled the quilt top of my first project. 

Tasha got a second negative test for Covid-19.  This was very welcome news and she should be cleared to instruct on the canyoneering course starting later in the week. McKenzie continues to feel better although it has been a bit of an up and down experience and unfortunately she did miss her canoeing course on the Rio Grande.

Gloria

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

Around 6pm I headed out on my bike again to catch the sunset and evening light on the south coast of the island. It was still blowing really strongly so I went to the Edward B. Knight pier because it’s concrete and won’t vibrate causing camera shake. I was excited to see a couple of kite-surfers that were very impressive driving right up to the edge of the pier before going airborne and reversing direction. At times I would estimate they were 50 feet above the ocean. By the time I got there the sun was just setting and I wish I had been there half an hour earlier when the light was stronger. The following are shown in the order they were taken ...

Mike

Sunset behind the naval radar and early warning facilities

Surfer #1

Surfer #2

Casual air

Massive air !

Edward B. Knight pier

Modern Communication

Modern Communication

Saturday 20th February 2021

I remember as a teenager going away to Europe with friends and every now and again searching for a phone box so I could phone home and let my parents know I was safe. If all worked out well I’d be piling coins into the slot just to get a few seconds to reassure my family I was alive and well. Fast forward a few decades and I can now pick up my iPhone and call or text my family over in the UK anytime for no extra cost over my regular cellphone service agreement. I’ve become a big fan of “WhatsApp” and get to talk to my brother Martin and sister Ali on a regular basis. This evening we were able to spend an hour on a Zoom video call catching up our friends Lynn and Lee who are spending the winter down in Mexico. It’s really just inertia that stops me communicating more with friends and family.

We do have a satellite phone on board, although we don’t currently have a service contract or any pre-paid time, because we simply don't have a great need for it whilst we are close to land. When we head down to the Dry Tortugas next week we will be out of cell phone coverage and essentially out of contact until we get back to mainland USA. As we are so accustomed to instantly accessible communication I think this is going to feel really weird. I should say that we still expect to be able to get marine weather forecasts on VHF radio and we also get the NOAA forecasts via satellite downloaded direct to our chart plotter as part of a Sirius Radio marine package. It is amazing to think what you can do now compared to even ten years ago.

Mike

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

Colorful "Coconut fish" - for sale at Mallory Square, Key West

Colorful "Cats" ... or "Dog Chews" as I like to think of them. Oops done it again !

Shutters ona fake old building in Mallory Square

Key West Roosters

Key West Roosters

Friday February 19, 2021

After spending so much time in Key West, I felt I had to figure out what the story is behind the chickens that run around loose everywhere.  According to the information that I could find on the “interwebs”, the roosters are descendants of those bred for cock fighting.  Once the practice was outlawed, it seems people just released the roosters.  Seemingly, there must have been escaped domestic hens roaming the streets.  Soon there were roosters, hens and chicks all over the place.  

The poultry have their fans and their detractors.  Some people enjoy the sight of these birds roaming around (sometimes stopping traffic).  They think it adds a certain something to the Key West experience. Many people think the roosters in particular are annoying. I read an opinion by one woman who said “ they are just like the tourists—they don’t know when to quit.  They crow at all hours of the day or night.”  (From what Tasha said, she might be more in this camp.  We are fortunate in that the birds don’t seem very attracted to the dock areas.  We hear them in the morning but not from right outside the boat!

As you might imagine with a controversial subject, there’s a lot of debate about what to do.  At one stage the city employed a “chicken catcher”. (How would that job title look on your resume?) While it wasn’t overtly stated, I got the impression that the duties involved catching the chickens and wringing their necks.  Some residents were horrified and some were delighted.  Eventually, the catcher of fowl quit the job and was not replaced.  Now, it seems that one can request a trap (from the town?).  Once the annoying bird is caught, the Key West wild life sanctuary will take the bird away.  These are re-housed on farms where they are used to reduce the insect population.  Rather than allow the birds to roam free and eat the crops as well as the bugs, the poultry are kept in long mesh tubes in between the rows of plants.  That way they can eat the bugs which come their way but not destroy the vegetables.  

From what I’ve seen, there aren’t nearly enough traps to keep up with the population growth.

Today we started to do a few jobs to get ready to depart the marina.  We defrosted the freezer and cleaned the fridge and freezer.  Then we pumped out the holding tank—always a joy! Our reward was a trip back to the botanical garden.  On the way we stopped off for lunch at the Thai place where you can sit outside on the balcony.  Before dinner we went to get cleaned up and in the time it took to take a shower the wind picked up from next to nothing to 25-30 knots as a cold front moved in. The boat is now listing to starboard.

Gloria

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

Lizard on a metal fence post (split tone B&W)

The same lizard on chain link fence (B&W)

Turtle

Cotinga at the dock in Key West ... our new neighbors on the far side of the dock have underwater blue lights (even at the dock the boat moves enough to blur other objects when using 30s exposure and tripod)

We finally Repair Our Lifeline

We finally Repair Our Lifeline

Thursday 18th February 2021

I think it was in Portsmouth, VA on November 1st of last year that I dropped the “Gate-Eye” from our starboard side lifeline into the water. This one inch piece of metal screws onto the lifeline and is an integral part of the system. Without it we were forced to make do with a length of low stretch rope as a lifeline, which worked ok but wasn’t as secure as the stainless steel. I ordered a replacement part whilst still in Portsmouth, but it didn’t arrive until after we had left. The marina forwarded the package on to Rod in Rhode Island, who then sent it onto to Paul in Florida and we picked it up just before Christmas. It didn’t fit. We ordered an alternative but once again that part didn’t arrive until after we had left Vero Beach so Paul and Fran forwarded it to Tasha in Wyoming who brought it down to Key West. This second replacement didn’t fit either. I couldn’t see any alternatives on the web that I thought would work and we were resigned to replacing the whole lifeline when we get back to RI. But yesterday we spotted a marine hardware store only 100 yards from our boat and this morning we took the lifeline in and explained the problem. They too were unable to identify a suitable part and so they cut the remnants of the existing fitting off the wire and swaged on a complete new unit for a total cost of $30 including parts and labor. Three and half months of waiting and twenty minutes of action and we now have our stainless steel lifeline back in action. What a saga! Well that was the real excitement of the day … sorry not much else to say … apologies for being boring!

p.s. Just heard from Tasha that she tested negative for Covid. This test wasn’t five days from the last contact with McKenzie and so she needs an additional negative test in order to be cleared to instruct her course. Interestingly she was also offered a first dose vaccination today, but has to wait to clear this immediate quarantine period. I presume she qualifies for priority as an educator. We gather that McKenzie is starting to feel better which is great.

Mike

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

A few shots showing mostly charter boats off Fort Zachary Taylor at sunset this evening

"Sebago" off Fort Zachary Taylor at sunset

Catamaran as sun dips below clouds ... it wasn't a great sunset (500 mm lens)

"Breezin" is captained by Dennis and sails charters off the dock we are on. I mentioned previously that Dennis is amazing at backing his boat back into the slip! 

Social distancing Key West style! Masks are required for boarding ... after that it looks like a shit-show

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

Wednesday February 17, 2021

Often when we walk or cycle around Key West, I find myself wondering if most of the people we see are drunk.  One chap we walked toward yesterday seemed to be weaving to and fro across the sidewalk.  Many of the cyclists seem in control of their bikes, but by no means does everyone give that impression.  I can’t figure out if the latter are just people who haven’t been cycling in years or if ‘Demon Rum’ is to blame.  Many towns and cities in the US have ordinances against open containers of alcohol on the streets.  It would appear that law is not on the books in Key West as more often than not the person coming toward you has a beer or mixed drink in hand.

Interestingly, one of the town ordinances at the moment is that any person not within their domicile must be wearing a mask.  Enforcement seems not to be a priority, as at least half the people I see have no mask.  The rest of the population appears to be using the mask to keep their chin or neck from getting sunburned.  If Key West exemplifies all of Florida, it’s no surprise that the number of new cases of Covid is so high in this state.

We took a cycle ride to look at a beach near the airport.  It is called Smathers Beach and is gorgeous. We took a short stop to look it over and examine some shore birds. We saw willets, ruddy turnstones, sanderlings, least sandpipers, western sandpipers and one spotted sandpiper. We returned to the marina along the northern route, stopping off for lunch at the Stoned Crab restaurant where we had eaten before.  

Gloria

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

Red Flower shot at the Butterfly house yesterday

Great egret portrait

Note how similar this bird looks to the Great egret but it's not the same species - this is a white morph of a Great Blue Heron that's found occasionally in Florida. It's been several years since we saw one down in the Everglades. The bird is slightly bigger and the bill more stout, but what gives it away is it has yellow legs rather than black.

This morning we replaced the float switch (small white box with blue writing) on the sump box that deals with waste water from our shower and fridge. By identifying that is was the switch that wasn't working and replacing just that part we saved over $100 compared to buying a whole new unit.

Butterflies, Birds and Reflections

Butterflies, Birds and Reflections

Tuesday 16th February 2021

We don’t have a lot of new information regarding McKenzie and Tasha other than McKenzie is “feeling tired but doing OK” and Tasha should get results from her Covid test late tomorrow.

We managed to get up fairly early and went to revisit the Key West Butterfly house By arriving at 9 am, just as it was opening, we were able to have an hour or so before it started to get really crowded. This is not a big place but it’s fantastic to see so many butterflies and tropical birds. By 11 am it was starting to get really busy and despite everyone wearing masks and double-masking ourselves, we started to feel uncomfortable and decided to call it a day.

This afternoon a weak cold front came through and brought a few sprinkles and some fresh northerly winds, which caused the temperature to drop quite a bit. It looks like the weather will settle down again tomorrow but a strong cold front will pass through over the weekend. After that we are going to look for a decent weather window and make a passage down to the Dry Tortugas. With this in mind we are working to complete a couple of boat maintenance jobs, finish up the food we have in the fridge and freezer and then clean out and re-stock.

Mike

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

I have two sets of photos that I’d like to show you. The first is a set of  “Abstract Reflections” taken from the dock behind Cotinga last night. They were all taken with a 500 mm lens mounted on the tripod and long exposures (~15-30s). In some cases these are straight shots, in others, the camera was rotated in the collar that holds the lens to the tripod. There is minimal work-up of these images. The second set are photos of butterflies and bird portraits that I shot this morning. All of these pictures were taken with a Nikon 105 mm micro lens with supplemental lighting from a flash-gun.

"Abstract Reflections" #4045

"Abstract Reflections" #4028

"Abstract Reflections" #4052

"Abstract Reflections" #4055

"Abstract Reflections" #4048

"Abstract Reflections" #4025

Turaco

"Pink Eyed Dove (my name for this bird!)

Paradise Tanager

Yellow Legged Honey Creeper

Butterfly feeding on a banana on a turquoise plate

A.N.Other butterfly

Propane, phone calls and dinghy rides

Propane, phone calls and dinghy rides

Monday February 15, 2021

Early this morning Mike called around regarding where we could get our propane tank re-filled.  Strangely enough, Suburban Propane doesn’t deal with small tanks.  They were nice enough to point us in the direction of the Shell station that would.  More amazing, despite it being President’s Day—they were working.  Mike set off by bike.  I took the opportunity to call my sister.  

After the propane and deck washing, Mike came to the realization that we could get our dinghy out from the little wedged-in position between the boats by zipping under the dock (now that the giant power-boat behind had departed).  Putting the outboard on first would mean that we could take dinghy trips!  After lunch we tootled out of the marina and through the Fleming Cut (a bridge much too low for Cotinga).  We noted that the current runs pretty fast through this bridge area causing the water to resemble the Cape Cod Canal.  Not the place to have your engine fail!  Carrying on we went to look at the Garrison Bight Marina.  This is the second town marina in Key West—more on the north side of the island.  We couldn’t get to a dock there because although we could go around Fleming Key and avoid the bridge there are still power lines that are lower than our mast.  The marina does have a mooring field that appeared to be full.  There were also a fair number of boats anchored out there.  

When we got back to the boat, Mike called his niece Suzanne and had a nice chat with her and her husband Mark.  (He wasn’t on the phone nearly as long as I had been!) Right now, Mike is our taking photos.  He took his super big lens (super heavy).  Let’s hope he finds some pleasing shots so that the effort seems worth it. I’m here in the cockpit watching the light fade in the sky and enjoying the cooler part of the day.

Gloria

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

p.s. we just heard from Tasha that this afternoon McKenzie tested positive for coronavirus. Since arriving back from Florida she had been busy preparing for a NOLS canoe trip on the Rio Grand that she is scheduled to instruct imminently. Then after a tiring two day ride down she started to feel rough with a sore throat. The positive result puts her involvement in the canoe trip in jeopardy, not to mention her health. Tasha has also been feeling a little off and will get tested tomorrow. Her canyoneering trip in Utah at the end of February is also now uncertain. We'll keep you posted.

It wasn't a great sunset but nice to catch the clouds lit up as the charter sail boat heads north

A cuban bar / restaurant near Mallory Square ... it was quite busy but most of the people walking through disappear during the very long exposure (~20 s)

The Cuban bar / restaurant

A gift shop near Mallory Square

There was a band playing at the bar / restaurant and people starting to dance in the street

An outdoor courtyard for dining

The Appledore Star, one of the many charter sailboats. The blurring of the bowsprit and foresail is not lack of focus but motion as the boat rocked gently during the long exposure

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day

Sunday 14th February 2021

Happy Valentine’s Day! We spent the day gazing into each other’s eyes, whispering sweet nothings and ignoring the outside world … or the equivalent of that when you’ve been married 33 years … gazing into our iPhones, talking loudly to each other (because one of us claims the other is deaf and the other doesn’t speak up), and ranting about the state of the world! Actually we ended up at a wedding, but not by intention. We decided to spend the day down at the Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and to try and catch some fish. We cycled down, picking up a bag of frozen shrimp from the bait shop on the way. When we arrived we didn’t start fishing immediately because we didn’t want our catch to be sitting around with no refrigeration all day. Talk about worrying about problems that may never happen! What we did was sit in the shade, enjoy the fresh breezes off the ocean and read our books. Around mid-day we moved away from the beach areas and started fishing off the rocks adjacent to the shipping channel into Key West. We caught nothing - not a bite, not a tremor, zilch. But it was fun. Then we realized that they were setting up for a wedding right next to where we were fishing and sure enough, at 3pm the party gathered, a brief ceremony took place and the happy couple departed. I have to say it was a beautiful location and the official set the dress tone with a purple shirt, bow tie, cut off black trousers and flip-flops. As Gloria mentioned, it’s a smart idea to get married on Valentine’s Day - that way you only have to remember to get one present a year to cover your anniversary and Valentine’s day. Unfortunately, my Valentine’s gift for Gloria never materialized … it was going to be fresh fish ...

Now we are back on the boat. We have goulash cooking on the stove and the frozen mango daiquiris were excellent. 

Mike

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

A beautiful location for a wedding (iPhone)

The ceremony underway (iPhone)

A short video clip I shot on my iPhone from where we were fishing. You can see the super-yacht "M5" anchored, people paragliding in the distance and the final sailboat is "Breezin" which is a charter boat from the dock we are on, owned by a lovely guy called Dennis. Dennis has outstanding maneuvering skills with his boat - he backs at speed up the fairway and turns with perfection into his slip - I am envious of his talent

Another day sail

Another day sail

Saturday February 13, 2021

We set out this morning with two possible destinations.  Our decision would be driven by the wind direction once we got out of the harbor.  Option one was to travel along the big ship channel to get outside the reef with the aim of doing some fishing.  Option two was to head toward the lighthouse at Sand Key and potentially cross the Sand Key channel to deeper water and return to Key West via the big ship channel.  Once we were outside the harbor with the sail up, it appeared that the big ship channel would be right into the wind (motor-fest).  So we set off for the lighthouse at Sand Key.  While the wind was south south-east, our heading was south west.  We were just about able to sail in the desired direction—pretty tight to the wind.  The presence of some short period waves combined with the direction to make for a slow sail.  To get through the shoals around the lighthouse would require turning into the wind so once we reached the lighthouse we elected to head back.

The sail back was a broad reach with the true wind behind the beam.  The wave action was no longer a problem.  Our speed was much greater until we needed to turn northward to enter the harbor.  The area of the harbor is tricky—there is a lot of current (maybe multiple currents meet here), there is a lot of boat traffic and a fair amount of chop.  We got our sail down and motored north to look at the anchorage.  We think we might need to know where to anchor once our time on the dock is over.  (It all depends on the weather.) Then we motored back to the marina.  The initial attempt at docking didn’t go smoothly. The less said about that the better, in my opinion.  The second attempt went smoothly. All told we were out for about three hours so it seemed like a pretty reasonable day sail.

I’m cooking dinner tonight—baked stuffed butternut squash.  That’s the idea any way.  There seems to be some problem with getting the squash to cook enough to scoop out some of the “flesh” to mix with the stuffing part.  The stuffing is rice, chestnuts, dried cranberries, sun-dried tomatoes and onions and garlic (of course).  The recipe calls for fresh sage and I’m fresh out of it.  Using some dried sage, thyme and a bit of rosemary.  It could be awful! But, by the time it gets cooked we might be willing to eat almost anything!  

Gloria

24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W

This sailboat, anchored to the east of Key West is "M5". She was built in 2004 at an estimated cost of $50 million and then refitted in 2013. At 255 feet long she is the largest single mast sailing vessel ever built. Her mast clearance is 290 feet and she has a lifting keel which allows the draft to be reduced from 33 1/2 feet to 12 1/2 feet. "M5" was originally owned by Joseph Vittoria (Chairman and CEO of Avis) and was available for charter at a cost of $420,000 per week. She is now owned by a Texas oil tycoon called Rodney Lewis.

Gloria's stuffed butternut squash was amazing!