Key West Marina Crawl

The last time I saw so Many House Barges was in Seattle on Lake Union but these are Key West Style at the City  Martina at Garrison Bight

Green is one of my favorite colors

The Key West Shuttle out of Fort Myers drops off right next to the  convenient Parking garage that is within walking distance to most of the Marinas in Key West. 

Conch Harbor Marina, pretty upscale.

I took advantage of the open gate.

Love it!

Fancy that! What a small World, Tom Benson is down from New Orleans on the Lady Gayle Marie!

Awseome Catch huh?

All this for just $80 per month!

High Season.

Several Tall ships in the neighborhood to go out on

The Western Union has a bit of History with Key West: http://schoonerwesternunion.org/

Lots of Tarpon hanging out in the Marinas.

It was Fat Tuesday and there was a cruise ship docked in Key West and several  were with us at the Schooner  Wharf Bar

Every local in the Keys owns a dog.

Michael McCloud has played every single day for over 22 years at the Schooner Wharf Bar, the most popular of the bars in the Marina/ Wharf District

You just can't leave out the Key West Chickens in any Blog!

A&B Marina

We just happened on the 4pm tarpon Feeding where a restaurant  tosses out their chum. 

I do not think One Tarpon got even one piece!

These boats are anchored just across the shipping channel from the marina's,  The Key West Mooring field is on the other side of the island behind them.....a Very long dingy ride in, over a mile for sure. 

Don't Worry Spidey is watching

Whoh, we were really surprised that the cruise ships pull right up to the docks at Mallory Square where everyone goes to see the Sunset!

This big Boy is docked right in Front of the Key West "W Hotel", bet  the sunset was a bummer for them!

Even the rats get into the show at Mallory Square.

Key West Marina Crawl

I wanted to return to Key West to see the Marina's. I have read so much about them that I had to go see for myself. The Admiral was not so excited so she had a few other things to do just in case it was not worthwhile. She wanted to know what I had read about it but it is hard to summarize things that you have read over the last 15 years so I just said " You will See".

I made a list of the marinas in the order they in geographically. The City Marina at Garrison Bight, Conch Harbor Marina, Key West Bight Marina, A&B Marina, Galleon Resort Marina. The City Marina was by far the most funky with all the House Barges similar to those on Lake Union in Seattle but Key West colors and style. Then we drove over to a parking garage within walking distance to all the others. We were surprised to see the Key West Express tat shuttles from Fort Myers docked right there.  Next was Conch Harbor, A very upscale marina where to our surprise Tom Benson's Lady Gayle Marie was docked. We first saw her in New Orleans. Then all the Marinas sort of run together and it is hard to tell where one ends and one begins with the Key West Bight Marina, A&B Marina and the Galleon Resort Marina. We toured the turtle museum where the history of the Key West Turtle trade is chronicled. 

The crazy dingy docks are right there next to the museum then the Schooner Wharf Bar. Absolutely have to stop ion here, the oysters were very good, not as great as I had in Apalachicola or New Orleans but Good and then there is Michael McCloud who after 22 years of playing in the very same spot every day of his life is a very good musician in spite of his chronic problems related to chain smoking. His Tune " Don't Buy a Boat" was hysterical but sadly true. 

The Admiral was pleasantly surprised with our day spent crawling the Marinas and Wharf District. We finished off our 2nd visit to Key West with a suggestion from some locals we met on our first trip on the bus to eat at El Siboney, it is a locals place a bit off the beaten path but easy to find: http://www.elsiboneyrestaurant.com/ Try It!, Super Fine Cuban Food. 

No Name Key

Fat Albert is a Short Timer the Program is being cut but the Keys are trying to save it. 

The Blue Hole was not to busy this day. 

Except for this slacker.

This guy was the busiest stand at the Flea Market, there was a line buying his rocks for $1.00!

Fresh Produce is always a plus on the boat. 

No wonder, they all hang out on No Name Key!

He was not surprised, he was looking for a handout. 

When a car drives by they all come out of the woods looking for free food. 

They we everywhere on No name Key!

Florida Bay side of No name Key. 

Sea Grapes

I thought it would be a neat little hike down this trail, the Admiral  decided not.

At first the trail is nice and wide.

Some kind of  little water canal built back in the day. 

The Coral rock that form all the keys is very porous. 

The trail narrowed for the last mile and you had to duck and weave.

He knew I did not have any food so he split.

Almost there, I bet is is beautiful at the end of the trail!

Nope, it just ends at the Mangroves, no way to get through.

Just can see the water 

No Name Key
We wanted to return to the national Key Deer refuge on Big Pine and No Name Key since we were only able to see just part of it using the Ankle Express. We drove first to the Big Blue Hole first to see it there were any interesting birds or other wildlife but it was pretty quite there. We then drove across big Pine Key to the Bridge to No Name Key. No Name Key has about 43 houses and No public electricity, water or sewer systems so all the homes here rely on solar and rain collection systems with big Cisterns. The Key Deer are everywhere on this island and I think to many people feed the deer even though you are not supposed to. They are not afraid of cars and many walk up to your car to see if they can get any goodies.
After you have seen 50 of these little guys then it is time for some other activity. I wanted to drive down a few of the roads on No Name Key to just check out how the people were living there with no Electricity or public water system. There were several nice homes on the island and they all had a lot of space to themselves.
Down one of the roads I spotted a sign about a trail and suggested we take the short trail and check it out. The Admiral was not impressed so she took pics of the Key Deer around us while I went hiking. I was hoping the trail led to the Florida Bay where there might be a really beautiful spot. The trail narrowed and I had to duck and weave through the trees and brush. I kept looking back to make sure I could find my way back out since it was starting to all look the same and there were a few  connecting trails that I could easily confuse as the way out. It just ended at the edge of the Mangroves lining the Florida Bay side and other than one Key Deer there was not much more to it than a bit of exercise.
We had seen it all now so I wanted to run over to the  Big Pine Key Flea Market one more time since it was Saturday and that is the Big Day there. I bought a rock from this little Kid and the Admiral got some fresh veggies. She thought it would be good to go back to No Name Key to the No Name Pub http://www.nonamepub.com/ and have a snack. I should have gone?

Florida Key's Sunsets', A Shared Experience

A True Key Sunset Experience everyday at Sunset Park in Key Colony

Each of these little out of the way spots have their own special feel.

This little Island makes for some pretty exclusive living. 

Everyday these 70'+ yachts  are traveling both directions on Hawk's Channel

And these 40'+ trawlers

Easy to see the difference when they pass each other. 

There is a spot for everyone at Sunset Park

As the sun begins it's final decent the community around the park begin to gather with their Happy hour drinks. 

Even though there are 50 or so people attending this day's sunset all is quiet. 

A group of amateur singers begin to gather

They 1812 Overture begins to play

They time it so the 1812 Overture ends exactly at sunset. 

Everyone gets a copy of the Marathon Sunset song to join in Song

No one enjoys Sunset's like the natives in the Key's

Sunset Park

There is a great little park in Key Colony on the East End of Marathon. Few tourist and mostly just people from the surrounding community gather here daily to celebrate the Sunset. The Admiral found out about this little jewel and we took the short drive over. We were among the first to arrive around 1730 hrs. Then slowly  a smiling bunch of all ages walked, or biked to the park. There were a small group of musicians gathering by one of the picnic tables. The set up speakers and a small sound system. There was a excellent communal vibe happening. Some friends gathered and visited, others found a spot and sat toward the sun. There were happy dogs. As the sun begin to get near the horizon the 1812 Overture sounded through the park. Everyone begin to assemble near the musicians and they handed out the chorus to a Marathon Sunset song. We all sang and enjoyed the moment  then just as they had come they slowly departed. We were one of the few who had arrived by car so we stayed till the walkways cleared and had a great evening aboard Wand'rin Star

Pigeon Key the search for the Eagle Nest

We heard there was a Eagle Nest on Pigeon Key at a Star Gazers event, but  where could it be?

Instead of making the 4 mile round trip you can take a boat out to the key, they use this dock.

Sailboat coming in from Florida bay down Mossers Channel, they should make it  just fine to Boot Key Harbor before sundown. 

This little Hawk is all we saw on our search for the Eagle Nest.

I found the Battery shack so I took some pics for later reference, It had two large boxes with several large batteries in each. 

So they connected the batteries in each box in a series then  the two boxes of batteries in a series to produce  2 X 57.6 volts= 115 volts to power all the needs on the Key.

A little reminder on battery care

It takes 6 large charge controllers for the expansive solar array. 

This solar array is providing power to several buildings on Pigeon Key

The Eagle Hunt at Pigeon Key
We took advantage of a local Star Gazing, astronomy clubs invitation to see the stars one evening. We got to see a few constellations, a Nebula and Jupiter's moons. Very cool but one of the leaders made an announcement that there was a nesting pair of eagles on Pigeon Key. The Admiral wanted to go check it out so this time we decided to walk the 4 mile round trip for some exercise. Well once you get to the key you can pretty much walk the entire area in less than an hour and there was no Eagles nest in sight. We found some local park people and they said they had not heard of any eagles on the Key. So while the Admiral was scrounging up whatever birds there were to see I went to learn more about the solar power on the Island. I found the building that housed the batteries and solar Charge controllers and took the pics above. This solar system replaced two large Diesel generators that are still in a building right next to the battery shack. Each of the charge controllers can handle only so many panels so that is why they needed 6 controllers to manage the large solar array. Then the batteries are all connected in a series to produce the 115 volt power for the island. Very cool. when we return to living on land again I will check into adding solar power to our home. Basically it is just the solar array, a bunch of charge controllers to manage the power from the solar panels to the batteries, batteries to store the energy and a inverter to produce the proper voltage to power appliances in the home. They say there are some Eagles in the Keys but for now we just have to be happy with the exercise we got. We did see lots of huge Manta Rays on the return walk though!