Key West - Week 1

Key West! It took us a little over an hour to make the short trip from Boca Chica Naval Air Station Marina to Conch Harbor Marina. The Conch Republic will be our home for the next two months. This is also the end of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway where we have traveled 1243.8 statute miles. Conch Harbor Marina is located right in front of Dantes with a pool and two tiki bars. Dantes is part of the marina!

Cruise ships are a daily occurrence unloading thousands of tourists.
Sometimes there are two in port at the same time but the must be underway before sunset.

The Galleon Resort - we have been coming here for years.

We were originally planning on cruising the Florida Keys for the month of January and going to the Bahamas February and March. Once in Islamorada, we decided, "Why not just spend Feb/Mar in Key West!?!" So we started making phone calls to marinas in Marathon, Boca Chica and Key West to get weekly slips in the first two and monthly availability in Key West. The first two marinas we called in Key West were already full but we lucked out and found Conch Harbor and we're glad we did! We are five slips from the boardwalk!

Sunset from the fly bridge

Conch Republic courtesy flag

This is a daily occurrence - pelicans and tarpon patiently waiting for scraps.

We went to the Dirty Pig for the Superbowl. They had an awesome bar-b-que buffet and ALL drafts (including craft brews) were only $2. Somehow we managed to snag the last two bar stools which were right in front of one of the TVs! We were missing our friends from back home... Especially since we had hosted a Superbowl party for the last 10+ years.

Rainy day project -- installing new LED lights in the forward V-berth.

Finally! All interior lights are now LED.

 Pumpout right in our slip. Love having a tank monitor and new 50 gallon holding tank!

There are a lot of boats anchored out that need a place to land their dinghies. So far we've met two trawler owners anchored off Fleming Key. For about $100/month, you can tie your dinghy up here.

Pepe's! Our favorite breakfast dives!!!

Outside dining at Pepe's. Note the small bar and cat (employee of the year) sleeping in the box.

After breakfast we headed to the Galleon since their Bloody Mary happy hour runs from 10-12. After that, to the pool for a nap!

Willie T's. We have a dollar bill here from years ago. No clue where it is but it's there!
This is a great place to listen to music.

We can't think of a better way to spend winter. Of course there is no shortage of bars and restaurants but we also enjoy people watching (and there is no shortage of that when the cruise ships are in), relaxing by the pool, walking the back streets and looking at some of the most preserved period architecture in America. It's a mixture of locals, tourists, sport fishermen and long-distance cruisers. And there seems to be an endless stream of friends and acquaintances from back 'home'.

Boca Chica

It took us about 4 1/2 hours to travel from Marathon to Boca Chica down Hawk Channel. Hawk Channel parallels the Keys and is semi-protected from the Atlantic by a reef. It's also littered with hundreds of floats from lobster traps! Sharon called the marina for our slip assignment and we were told we were going into S10. S10? If you look at the marina in Google Maps, there are only three docks. As in, A, B, C. Given it's the Navy, an "S" dock somehow made sense. We followed the channel in, went through a mooring field and asked a guy traveling in a dinghy where "S" dock was. He had no idea but sped ahead to find out. Turned out to be on the beach side (not near the three docks we saw on Google) and there were two dinghies in our slip. The slip appeared to be next to impossible for us to get into. We tied up in front of the office and, Barb, the dock master, told us to stay put while they figured out where to put us. Naturally, they were having a staff meeting so we 'stayed put' and waited. Fortunately, the laundry room was right there, so Sharon took advantage of that and did two loads of laundry. Everyone was very friendly and we were even invited to have some beers at the tiki bar steps from our boat. We politely declined until we got settled in. 

Hawk Channel. Somehow this pic had NO lobster trap floats.

Nebo didn't cooperate on this trip so I don't have a
chart that shows our route.

Slip S10 where I had NO idea how I was getting into.

Barb returned and told us she had a slip on B dock for us. Yes! The wind was picking up and I was getting anxious to get in our slip but had to wait for laundry to dry. Anyway, we got in our slip just fine. Time to check out the tiki bar. It was the one and only time we went there. We had a couple beers and headed back to the boat for dinner. 

The marina at Boca Chica is pretty nice. AND it's cheap! Only $1/foot and that included electric all tax free. There is a laundry room, bath house, bar, restaurant and beach. It's also in the middle of nowhere and a two mile walk to the main gate/mini mart. AND there is a perpetual air show. You HAVE to love jet noise and the sound of freedom all day long! 

Our friends, Terry and Sheila, (we mentioned them in a previous blog article) drive their RV and stay at Boyd's Campground on Stock Island (next island south from Boca Chica) every year. We also had friends from Herrington Harbour South: Rich and Pam, Dave and Kathy, and Jay and Kelly, that were staying at an AirBnB on an 82' Hatteras on Stock Island. We tried taking our dinghy over to Stock Island but it was a little too far for out electric outboard. On our way there, Terry called to offer us their Jeep for the week! Wow! Suddenly being in the 'middle of nowhere' wasn't so bad! We turned the dinghy around, took them up on their offer and got to check out their RV (which is HUGE!). We spent Saturday afternoon at Key West Harbor Marina on a yacht with our friends from Herrington Harbour and a group of us headed to Hogfish Bar & Grill for food and drinks.

Sharon and Pam on the fly bridge.

View from the galley into the saloon

Four couples were staying on this yacht.

Keeping the PBR cool!

Terry and Sheila gave us a phone number of their 'driver', Jeff. Jeff drives as a free-lancer, 954-268-0048. Wayyyy cheaper than a cab, Uber or Lyft! We took advantage of Jeff Sunday and hooked up with our Herrington Harbour friends at Southern Most Point. We hit the town and had a blast in Key West!

There was a 'onesie' bar crawl on Duval. It did not disappoint.

Um kay...

Pam got a chip at the Sunset Tiki!

Get a quarter in the fish -- good luck will follow you until you leave the island

Monday Sharon had a tooth ache (for lack of a better explanation). She was able to get an appointment several miles north. She had an infected tooth and had two options: get it pulled or a root canal/crown. She chose the latter. That will involve two more trips north. Good thing we will be in Key West for two months!

Summerland Dental on Summerland Key

Saturday, we had also ran into friends, Tony and Michelle, we had met in St. Augustine at the Thanksgiving potluck dinner. They were staying at Boca Chica too. We had really hit it off with them and had a good time at the marina. Ironically, they were leaving Vero Beach City Marina as we were pulling in AND they pulled into the same slip we were in at Cooley's Landing in Ft. Lauderdale the same day we left. We did several beach happy hours and took them into Key West to a farmer's market Thursday.

Sunset from the beach at Boca Chica Marina

We had several boat projects planned since we figured we'd be 'stranded' in Boca Chica. None of the projects were even started although we did clean the boat inside and out -- very much needed.

Beach at Boca Chica

Sharon made a Banh Mi Ramen Noodle Bowl - YUM! 

Our ride for the week

Tony, Michelle and Sharon

We were originally scheduled to arrive in Key West Saturday, February 1st. The weather was not looking good so we left a day early for Conch Harbor Marina. They were very accommodating and let us check in a day early. We returned Terry and Sheila's Jeep Friday morning and got underway around 10:30. Now it's time for two months in Key West where we'll be right down town!!!

A Week And A Day In Marathon

It took us about four hours to travel from Lignumvitae Key to Marathon Marina and RV Resort. We had to travel about an hour out of our way to go through Moser's Cut and under the Seven Mile Bridge. There's another cut that would have been closer but our mast wouldn't clear the 19 foot bridge height. I had called earlier to get our slip assignment and Sharon showed me the marina map. That's always a big help to know where you're going way ahead of time! But the 'stress free' docking was not to be. Two slips down from where we were docking was a dinghy with a dive flag and divers in the water inspecting a boat. I normally like to dock stern-in but chose to go bow in to avoid any chance of getting blown into the divers.

Moser's Cut. First the old Flagler RR bridge/US1 then 7-Mile Bridge

Original Flagler RR bridge that was converted to US1

Next the dock master told me he needed to wheel down a 'box' to check our power before we plugged in. There's a new electrical standard that requires new marinas or significant renovations (as well as new boats) to have equipment leakage circuit interrupters (ELCI) installed. Basically this detects if the current leaving the shore power pedestal is same when it returns and nothing is leaking via ground. Here's an article to explain in MUCH greater detail about GFCI and ELCI. Since our boat is over 30 years old, I was pretty nervous our AC electrical system may not have passed the "ELCI" test and we wouldn't be able to plug in. Especially since we have an inverter which adds another layer of complexity. As luck would have it, we checked out fine on both 30-amp circuits! Then Sharon turned on the ice maker which tripped the breaker at the pedestal. A couple days later, I pulled out the ice maker, did some troubleshooting and called my tech, Mac, at Raritan. I have used him several times over the years and he's great! In this day and age, it's rare to have a dedicated tech to talk to. Long story short, we narrowed it down to the ice maker portion. We can use the Icerette as a freezer (making bowls of ice) but it won't make cubes without tripping the breaker. The ice maker is 24 years old and lived a good life. Time for another ice maker <sigh>.

We have zero TV antennae reception here. We had two on Islamorada (both Spanish channels) but none here. Strange since we had about 40 on the mooring ball at Lignumvitae. We don't watch a lot of TV but do have plenty of work arounds...

Friday, our friends from MD, Terri and Sheila, rode their Harley up from Stock Island to have lunch with us. They are staying in their RV at Boyd's Campground on Stock Island. It's so great seeing friends from back 'home'! We ate at Burdine's which is known for their burgers and fries. It did not disappoint! They are so popular that you even need to be seated at the bar! (Their bar is not for drinking but for eating). After lunch, they headed south and Sharon and I stopped at Castaways to check that place out. Go figure! Their happy hour starts at 2:00. Just in time for us to roll in. We aren't much of day drinkers but seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Us with Terri & Sheila!

Burger did NOT disappoint! And four of us
did not finish one order of fries.

Harley getting underway.

"Wilson" at Castaways.

Sunday was a comedy trying to watch the football playoffs! We started the first game at Lazy Days -- the tiki bar at our marina. The game was on but no sound -- only music. Even though everyone at the bar was watching the game, they wouldn't turn off the music and put the game on. I tried using my Tunity app for sound but that didn't work for whatever reason. We left at half time. We went back to the boat for the second half. I tried "Smart View" of Hulu from my tablet to our TV. It worked but the resolution decreased to a point where it was horrible and it kept cutting out. So we walked over to the marina lounge for the second game. Nice couches and a big screen TV. Go figure! Apparently Dish doesn't have an agreement with Fox so we couldn't watch the game!!! !@$ Back to the boat. I watched it on my tablet (didn't bother trying to screen shot to our TV). Ahhh, first world problems.

Other than that, we did a LOT of walking and reading. We have seen fish, birds, iguanas and a manatee. Tuesday, the temp dropped and wind picked up. To the point of wearing hoodies and turning on the heat! Wednesday was even colder.

Manatees love fresh water and this
one found some dripping out a pipe.

Iguanas are so destructive that the governor
is enjoying citizens to humanely kill them.

Happy hour at Porky's

We were going to leave Thursday for Boca Chica but decided to play it safe and wait one more day for the weather (and seas) to calm down. We learned about an "Early bird" special at the Lighthouse at Faro Blanco. $20 for any entree on the menu! (except for catch-of-the-day). We both got their filet mignon. Yum! We had reservations but had great seats at the bar so decided to eat there.

On our final day we walked about two miles to Home Depot, K-Mart and Winn Dixie. We needed a week's worth of food (and beer) for our upcoming stay at Boca Chica. We took a cab back to the boat, chilled for a while and Sharon made a delicious sword fish dinner right after the sun set. (Thanks Rebecca for the fish!!!) We really enjoyed Marathon! It's really laid back with plenty of restaurants and happy hours within walking distance. We met several boaters but didn't really connect with anyone -- kind of a first for us in our travels.