Islamorada Holiday Fest



Riding the Miami Dade Transport Motor Coach to Islamorada for the Holiday Fest, lots of long bridges in the Keys.




We arrived a bit early so we had time to survey the Park and attached Marina




We spoke to the couple on the sailboat briefly as they were fueling up, they were leaving for the Bahamas.




We watched this 18 wheeler pull in, That is a big diesel engine in the back of the trailer used to chip huge blocks of ice up and blow it out as snow!





The Ice Blocks are almost as big as he was.

 

Using this long hose he made a pretty big hill of snow.

Little awesome beach by the park

Yep we ate them, you could get chocolate covered everything here.



The kids of Islamorada had a White Christmas!




We bought some coconut Salt Scrub from this very convincing and enterprising couple, highly recommend their product at http://floridahandsalts.com/ 




The Human Society put on a dog show to find homes for Islamorada's homeless pets.




Each one got a special treat from Mrs. Santa




Let there be Christmas Music



All this on Florida Bay



They had a kids tent where they decorated coconuts.





Very special Table Centers




Wand'rin Star on her Mooring

The Admiral saw that Islamadroa was having a Holiday Fest and thought it would be a good idea to ride the Miami Dade Transport, only $2.35 per person and runs North to all points North of Marathon all the Way to Florida City where you can get a connecting train or bus to Miami and or Ft. Lauderdale. Islamorada is just about 1.5 hours away, a nice ride in a air conditioned Grayhound type bus with cushy seats. We got to the park a little early and had to seek shelter on the front porch of the park office building for a brief shower. Here we met the President of the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce who explained that this was one of their yearly events where the Chamber gave back to the community by sponsoring the Holiday Fest. He said they "wouldn't make any money but they should break even".  We would be among the locals this evening as the Islamorada citizens poured into enjoy this holiday event complete with a huge mound of snow for the kids to play in, make snowballs, and snow things. I had fun just watching these kids as they had no other chance of ever seeing snow here. There was a quaint little marina at the park where we saw lots of exotic and colorful fish around the pilings. We briefly talked to two cruising couples here, one on a 45' Hunter who were cruising on the inside (Florida Bay Side) and explained to us that if you have a 5' draft or less then you can go all the way to Miami if you can get under a 55' bridge. Then another couple on a 30'+ sailboat who just stopped in to top off their fuel tanks as they were heading out straight to the Bahamas. There was also a small beach there a few were enjoying. It was like a step back into the 50's and 60's with Norman Rockwell's middle America painted all around. No pirates in this bunch, a lot of hard working Americans raising families in the middle of America's paradise. Our favorite part of the evening was the dog show where all the dogs featured were dressed in their Christmas finest and looking for a good home to adopt them. We stayed well into the evening as we would catch the 2030 hrs bus back to Marathon. As we were standing out on Busy Route 1 in the Dark it began to pour, this is why you always keep those fold up, reusable ponchos in your back pack. The bus was about 30 minutes late but we made it back to Marathon and then walked the mile back to hot showers and a short dingy ride back to the boat.

It's The Motion of the Ocean

This is the front door to Sombrero Beach



It is the Motion of the Ocean!



The Best Beach in the Keys says Marathon!



these Locals had just gone through the Sister Creek outlet and looked to be having a family cruise out in the Atlantic




This is the Sister Creek inlet from the Atlantic, the channel winds it's way through beautiful homes on the East side and Mangroves on the West side of the channel.




Looking down Sister Creek towards Boot Key Harbor




Nice hike and Bike Path from Route 1 to Sombrero Beach on Sombrero Beach Road




The Greene stacked Christmas trees are on a large Catamaran Sailboat, a family with 5 young children, don't worry it is a huge vessel and they have four big Staterooms.




The Boot Key Harbor had Just 8 boats in the Parade but they were all decked out!




Smooth!



Low Rider!



Santa's on his Way



And this Sailing Vessel won the Grand Prize.

I continue to hear Notable Phrases from the Long Timers here in the Key's. "It's the Motion of the Ocean" stuck with me as this little Notion has So Many applications, meanings, interpretations and soliloquy. It can be purely physical or completely emotional and anywhere in between. Boot Key Harbor is a great place to ponder such and if you have some bikes you can take it with you to Sombrero Beach. It is a wonderful little ride down Sombrero Beach Road along a nice wide paved hike and bike trail. It is obvious once you get here that this spot is revered by the locals and they are just willing to share it with you. This was mainly a scouting journey and we were not prepared to spend the entire day at the beach but we shall return. Then is was time to pick up a few things at the store to enjoy the evening Parade of Lights. Every boat in the Harbor had a front row seat as this little Armada of mostly local vessels proudly promenade. As members of the Hill Country yacht Club on Canyon Lake we participated in the Christmas Parade of lights there on our 25' Catalina Sailboat "Moon Chaser", we enjoyed probably one of the Longest Boat Parades aboard our 30' Catalina "Hey You" on Lake Travis. Viewed the Kemah Boat Parade with the previous owners of our Endeavour  "Wan'drin Star"  Barb and Josh, and several boat parade's in Corpus with the Bay Yacht Club.
But here the Motion of the Ocean definitly makes it better.

Batteries and Solar Panels



Just happened on Aarg on our way to buy bikes.




Pretty cool solar panel install




He made his own mounts out of Starboard




This is the Bad Boy Controller



Saw this little Kestrel on our walk to Key Fisheries



We wondered what these guys were doing, they were shreding some type of filler into these large wooden boxes at the fish house.



They have a large fleet of these fish boats working the Stone Crab Season.



Bringing the Crabes in from Florida Bay



The Gulls get a little christmas cheer.



Perfect after the Battery install was done!




The Admiral and I could barly finish these eight claws, they are big!



Resting good this Evening.

Batteries and Solar Power



I have been keeping a close watch on our house bank of four 6 Volt Golf Cart batteries since before leaving Tampa. When you are connected to Shore power your battery charger automatically maintains the batteries and keeps the charge appropriately topped off. I replaced our 12V windless battery before leaving Corpus, and the 12 volt start Battery died a few months after arriving at Westshore in Tampa so it is just a few months old. The House bank was installed in July of 2007 by the previous owner so I knew they were getting close to replacement time. Since we are on a mooring ball we depend on running the engine and our engine driven 5 Kw generator to supply 110 power to the Truecharger a couple of hours per day to keep things charges up. Soon after we arrived here in The Harbor one of the usual topics on the Cruisers net for new arrivals was the best place to buy batteries in the Marathon area. Seems that a lot of cruisers learn for the first time that their batteries may not able to keep a proper charge any longer since they are away from the convenience of shore power for extended time. If you just anchor out a couple of days than move to the next spot often the engine is running for so long that the batteries are well charged and you do not have extended periods without lots of charging power. Of the places mentioned the NAPA store that would deliver the batteries free to the marina and a local golf cart store interested me the most. I knew after a week on the mooring ball that our house bank was just not keeping a charge and it was time to get some new ones. On our way to buy our bikes we happened by the Aaargh Golf Cart store so we went in to see if they might have what we needed. I was pleasantly surprised that they carried Trojan Batteries that actually had a higher Amp hour rating than the Excide that we had depended on for the last 4 years. He said they would bring them down to the marina and exchange with the old cores. Wanting to make sure that our batteries were on their way out I monitored them closely for the next 4 days and used my mutimeter to check on their individual status throughout the day. Yep, time replace the four 6 volts. I called up Aargh and they took payment by phone, I told them I would call when I had my old ones out and in the dingy. This took a couple of hours to extract the batteries since I had to remove a few things to get them all out. Also since they are 60 pounds each I had to get them up into the cockpit then down into the dingy. 60 pounds is a lot easier when your not standing on a moving surface. Fortunately they have various dock carts to use at the dingy dock but the one that was available was a old grocery cart, with the 4 batteries loaded in that cart it was a comedy routine coaching it up the ramp as I think both front wheels were either stuck or just could not handle the weight. Finally got them to the waiting truck in the parking lot and as he was lifting the new batteries to the tailgate I could tell that the new batteries were even heavier. That is a good thing since the heavier the battery the more powerful they are. But I was not looking forward to the loading into the dingy and then up to the deck of Wand’rin Star. He had a nifty handle that made it easier to manage the weight. I asked him if I could buy the handle from him and he said he did not have any extra’s. I did have two rope style handles that I thought would work once I got the batteries to the boat. When I got to the boat I asked the Admiral to come out and help. I tried to lift the first one to the deck but it was just head high and trying to maintain balance and hold the 65 pounds onto the deck was next to crazy, I got it up there but I am lucky we both did not go into the drink. We decided to use a mast halyard for the other three. My rope handles worked good and we just connected the shackle and the Admiral hoisted them on deck as I guided from the dingy. Almost there. I installed the first two and all was good but as I was about to install the second two it was clear that they needed a proper tray to sit in as they previously had just been mounted on wood so in the event any of the contents might spill out it would just go into the bilge, not good. I took a bike and visited a few stores trying to find a battery box or some kind of plastic container that would fit in the space. K-Mart had some plastic containers that I could cut down and make work. Back to the boat to modify the containers, Seal them together with some adhesive sealant and a total 6 hours from start to finish the batteries were in. Every morning I wake up now I celebrate the new batteries!


I noticed that the Morgan Out Islander next to us had some really nice solar panels and I liked the way he had them mounted on his dingy davits. We stopped by to talk to Brian and Sally on S/V Chatterley and he told me to come by some day and he would show me his system. We just happened to meet a couple of days later in the marina commons area and he spent about an hour detailing his system. He has two 240 watt, 32 volt solar panels that he bought from Sun Electric http://www.sunelec.com/. He drove to their Warehouse in Miami and they assisted him in putting together a package that was fit for his vessel. He explained that the Charge controller is where you put your money and to buy the best one you can get since you might want to expand your system. He has a Outback MPPT Flexmax 60: http://www.solarhome.org/OutbackFM60FlexmaxChargeController-FM60-150VDC.aspx He went on to explain all the features of this controller so I learned a lot just about controllers from him. He said all panels lose efficiency from shading throughout the day, even a shadow cast by a shroud can reduce the efficiency so that is why he chose 32 volt panels which are really no more expensive than 12 volt. I am al most ready to start building my system I just want to do a bit more research and talk to those here in the harbor who can provide how to advice. One experienced solar collector told me that I was ”spending about $3 a day in diesel, that is cheaper than Ice, but not as Great as Solar Panels” He likes to tell all who will listen to the luxuries of solar collecting that he “really enjoys making Ice from the Sun!” solar panels have become much more powerful and cheaper, it is not uncommon to see 300 watt panels for what a 100 watt panel cost 7 years ago. Right now I am leaning toward 2 X 240 watt, 32 volt panels. That should more than see to our needs and remove the need to run the engine any more just to charge batteries.

The Harbor Routine

The Marina has a conveniently located Which Way



This is the Chikee Hut where all manner of gatherings occur.




The Admiral at morning Yoga at the Chikee Hut




Marathons Version of the Horny Toad.




This floating Art show was way cool...beyond Laid Back



All the booths were around the pool, we made the round then had a drink at the Tiki Hut on the left where a very smooth voice was singing your fav.

We loved their art so much we bought it.

Well we saw the Red Neck wine Glasses in  Matagorda Harbor now these Key Style here.

I think this is the Mother-in-Law floor plan



We hung out till he finally glided away.




Mine has 6 speeds but 5 are useless at this elevation.




Patchin the Tube....Twice!




Discovered the culprit was a rusty wheel on the inside, I covered up the rust with electrical tape.




 This Gel Seat is the best buy I have made since coming to Marathon!




Every Day.

 The Harbor Routine

A routine develops in Boot Key Harbor AKA The Harbor. I am up at 0730 since this is when the sun wakes me. At 0800 start the engine to charge up the batteries, the Admiral stirs by 0830 coffee and tea and our usual light breakfast along with the The Cruisers Net on VHF 68 at 0900 where those new to Boot Key introduce themselves; Those Leaving Bid Farewell; announcements for the day; questions comments, need help request; Buy, Sell Trade; Trivia for the day, and last call for any other concerns are heard and responded to after the Net. The Admiral takes advantage of the free Yoga at 1000, I do computer stuff in the Marina commons area. Then back to the boat to regroup to eat lunch and after off to discover something new about the Keys. Tuesday nights at 0800 there are predetermined topics of discussion at the Chikee Hut, So far we have attended two of these, one on cruising the Bahamas and one on living in small spaces. Bikes are essential here so we bought two 26” used bikes at the local bike store. We tried the Cruisers Net, the area resale shops and Craig’s List but Used Bikes are very popular here so your timing has to be just right, the bike store just had two so we bought them, a deal at $75 each. We will be able to resell them easy when we depart. Just like anything bikes need maintenance, my bike had a flat on the third day. I actually enjoyed reliving the old days of repairing a punctured tube. Of course the Flat happened at Home Depot and I had to walk the bike back to the Marina, get on Lynn’s Beach Cruiser and go to K-Mart to get a fix it kit. Later I also bought a Gel filled add on Bike seat since I was experiencing a bit of saddle soreness.

We heard on the Cruisers Net about a Art’s and Crafts show being held at Nearby Sombrero Resort. All the Artist are live-aboards/cruisers in Marathon so we knew that would be cool to go to. As we were leaving the dingy dock headed to the Art show this 12 year old girl was standing there holding a Iguana, she said it was just in the grass and she just walked over and picked it up. We had a great time at the Art show and bought some hand made cards by one of the youngest artist at the show. There was a Tiki Bar and an old smooth voice singing hits from the 50’s.60’s, and 70’s. Later when we returned to our dingy from the Art show there was a Manatee just hanging out right next to our dingy. After this we decided that we needed to just stay in Marathon for at Least a month so we could enjoy much more of the Keys before we leave.