Key Largo to Fort Lauderdale

So we last left you heading north (east) back up the keys and toward southeast Florida. We spent a few nights back at Faro Blanco in Marathon before hitting uncharted territory. Our plan was to be in Key Largo for a few days but it turned out our friends from Green Turtle Bay, Michele & Russell, were going to be staying at a condo nearby so we stuck around a bit longer. The condo was at the famous Ocean Reef Club and even came with a fishing boat so we gave it a bit of a try....no luck but fun none the less!

It was fun to see how the "other half" live and even more fun to know this place was started by a poor insurance salesman from Cincinnati...go figure!!

After Key Largo we finally headed back toward the "mainland" with a night anchored off Sands Key in Biscayne Bay where we visited Boca Chita National park on Easter morning before heading up to Miami.

It was a pretty easy run up to Miami where we were able to set the anchor before 2:00 and relax for the afternoon. Along the way we passed Stiltsville which has a pretty colorful history if you care to check it out.

Once in Miami we anchored for the night in the old Miami Marine Stadium where they used to have boat racing and concerts in the 60's-80's and there is talk of bringing it back to life. This year the famous Miami Boat Show was held there. It's a well protected anchorage with a great view of the Miami skyline.

The old grandstands

Something you don't see everyday...

Miami at night.

After a peaceful night in Miami we were on the move Monday morning for Hollywood City Marina where we would be staying until Friday. This was a stop we had been looking forward to as it was the first chance to rent a car and do some major re-provisioning at stores we didn't have in the keys. We put a bunch of miles on that rental in 3 days but managed to have some fun in Hollywood as well.

One stop was to check out the new Margaritaville Resort which is like a big Disneyland for Parrotheads...I think Jimmy is doing alright!! There were several nice spots to dinghy to along the wall in Hollywood and I think we could have spent more time there but they needed the slip back...

Margaritaville Resort

 On Friday we left Hollywood for the grueling 8 mile run to Fort Lauderdale. Most loopers bypass downtown Ft. Lauderdale but this was a great stop and we were able to avoid traveling the AICW on the weekend when the crazies come out!! This stop is right downtown where there seems to be something going on every day.

It's amazing how they move the mega-yachts through this narrow waterway as they go upriver to the big boat repair yards. The biggest ones have a tow boat front and back to get them through the twists and turns of this tiny river.

High Priced Yachts.

 I won't say we have the smallest boat in this stretch of the river but I don't worry much about other boats hitting us with the big cats above and below to protect us.

Even with all the Mega Yacht traffic on the river here people have no issues heading out in small boats and taking their chances....I just hope they're not drinking and driving!!

We were also lucky enough to stumble into a Crawfish and Blues festival at the Downtowner restaurant not 100 yards from the boat...what are the chances!?!? I was even talked into entering the mud-bug eating contest which I lost miserably but had fun at and ate well!!

 
Well, it was nice to get an urban fix after 3 months in the keys but tomorrow (4/5) we will start making our way up the east coast moving a bit faster and spending less time hanging out...well, that's the plan anyway. We've lost our chance to get to the Bahamas this year due to weather so we'll head toward the Hudson river without much of a schedule. Tune into the tracker tomorrow to see how far we make.....

Key We$t to Key Largo

I know the thought of us being "stuck" in Key West didn't get us much sympathy but we ended up being in Galleon Marina for 10 nights or 6 more than we had planned on. The problem was the winds were high for the whole week and we wouldn't have made it out of our slip without blowing into other boats and making a general mess of things. Even if we had gotten out there would have been no place to go since the seas were 7-10 feet out there. We ran into friends Ed & Kyle who happened to be in town at another marina and had lunch with them the first Saturday we were in as they planned on leaving Sunday morning....turns out they ended up at our marina for the whole week too after trying to head north and seeing how bad things had gotten.

Kyle, Ed & Jill at the Green Parrot

Nice thing was we were able to slow down a bit and really enjoy Key West as well as get a fresh coat of wax on the boat. Down side is we about blew the March budget in the first 2 weeks! We got to explore a bunch and found some great new spots as well as spending more time at the Parrot listening to live music almost every evening. Once we did get out of the marina we spent a couple of extra nights in the mooring field so I could get in one last Sunday afternoon jazz show at the Green Parrot. While the main band is the same every week the "horn section" changes with various musicians sitting in. The gentleman on the stool in the picture below was there every time we were and we were told he in 93!! He's still got some great lungs!!!

Key West Mooring

Finally we were able to tear ourselves away from Key West and start heading north. This time we wanted to go up the Florida Bay side of the islands since we had gone down the Atlantic thus completing a "loop" of the lower keys once we got back to the 7 mile bridge. Turns out this was a great plan even though a longer way to go. The strong winds out of the south for the previous week had given the bay a chance to become crystal clear and we could even see the crab pots 20 feet below the surface.

A big highlight of this day was the number of Dolphins we saw along the way. One "family" in particular swam in our bow wave for over 1/2 an hour (over 4 miles) never leaving and matching our speed with ease....I have no clue how they do it or why. In this case they seemed to be showing the younger one how to make the silly people on the boat do tricks like wave and clap and whistle at them...stupid human tricks I guess.

Once back in Marathon we went back to Faro Blanco for a few days to re-stock and give Jill a few days to get over a cold she acquired somewhere in Key West. Thankfully she isn't selfish at all and shared it with me as I was to find out a few days later. We were in Marathon for St. Patricks day and Jill was feeling better so we took the dinghy up to Claws n' Straws for one last round of $1.50 crab claws and the traditional Irish whiskey with a pickle back....with a beer back....don't knock it till you try it!!

After Marathon we had a short run up the inside to a FREE mooring ball in Islamorada which should help the budget recover. The mooring is free for up to 7 nights and is at Shell Key which is a state park. It was an easy dinghy ride into World Wide Sportsman and some nice restaurants. We spent 2 nights here before crossing back into the Atlantic for another short run to John Pennekamp State Park which is a well kept secret of a marina at $52.00 a night.

Shell Key mooring field

 We will be in Key Largo until Thursday when we finally start making our way out of the keys after 3 wonderful months. Our next reservations are in Hollywood Fl. (thanks Bryan) starting Monday so we're not really sure where we'll be along the way, keep an eye on the tracker.

One last note about knowing when you've been somewhere too long...The last Sunday jazz we went to at the Green Parrot I started getting the "locals" drink prices (not a bad thing) and realized I was beginning to look like the "Smirk" guy (definitely a bad thing!!!)

Until next time from somewhere not in the keys.....

More Visits, Parties and Key West

End of February brought better weather and more visitors. First up was a looper party (go figure).

There is a couple who winter in Marathon on their boat that did the loop several years ago. Seven years ago they began hosting a looper "Sunset Celebration" every year for those of us in the area. This includes people contemplating the loop who happen to be in the area. We all bring appetizers and the sponsors provide the drinks and cover the band. This year there were over 160 people attending....that's almost double the number that complete the loop each year! Several of us from Faro Blanco Marina went by dinghy and a good time was had by all (I think).

Hello, My Name is.....

Next up was a visit from friends Vickie and Bryan who decided to get away from the cold north weather for awhile. Problem was it wasn't cold when they left Cincinnati but was when they got back, oh well....I think they enjoyed the lower latitudes anyway. You regular readers will remember them from the Nashville trip last summer. I think they now have the "most nights on Chasing 80" award. As most visits began we took them to Sunset Grille to get acclimated, I think we must sit in the same seats every time!

Also we took the trip to Key West as we did with all the visitors. It would be a shame to be this close and not get to see it! I believe they had fun taking the quick tour around town, I know Jill and I did!

What did he say?

Next up was another visitor from our old marina in Cincinnati, Troy or as his friends call him T-Roy.
We can't go in to many details of his visit since this is a family blog but I believe he may have had the best visit of all....

While he was here I had a few boat bottoms to clean and he jumped right in to help (not the water). If I ever start to make money diving I may have to hire him as an assistant. I'm pretty sure he was ready to find a job and move down here after his stay. The wind had been blowing from the north again so the diving was a bit interesting with all the sea grass.

Creature From The Black Lagoon

Most of the loopers here had been scheduled to leave on March 1st but for one reason or another most extended their stay by a few days. Funny thing is the restaurant scheduled the unveiling of their new menu party for the 2nd....coincidence? I think not. We finally got some free food and drinks out of this place and made the most of it.

Well, the next day and after a bit more than 2 months in Marathon we finally got underway. Most folks began heading up the Keys toward Miami and points north...not Jill and I. We decided it would be a shame to be this close to one of our favorite towns and not take the boat, so we headed toward Key West for the weekend....we thought.

7 Mile bridge

It was great to be moving again and a nice smooth ride down the outside to Key West. Once we passed under the 7 Mile bridge we were officially in the Atlantic Ocean. A short 5 hours later and we were passing the southern most point in the US and making the turn into the Key West ship channel. That's a pretty cool thing to be doing in our own boat I will say....

Key West Harbor

The "plan" was to be here till Monday but Mother Nature decided to kick up the winds so we'll be staying put until at least Friday. Our friends Ed & Kyle were here at another marina and left yesterday morning to head toward Ft. Myers...they are now docked next to us waiting for the winds to calm down too. Ed said it only took one time to stuff the bow into a wave to remind them that this is pleasure boating and there is no need to be on a schedule....wise man.

I know it's hard to be sorry for us being "stuck" in Key West but don't be surprised to see me starting a GoFundMe page after more than a week here...it may blow the whole March budget!!

Find Chasing 80

Come Friday you can start tracking us again as we head up the keys toward south Florida.

Until next time...

On the road again....

Just a quick note that we will be getting underway again in the morning. That would be March 3rd for those of you that don't see the post tonight. I know some cold northern readers like to follow along while they should be working...(joking)

After a weekend in Key West we will be heading slowly back up the keys with plans to be in the Ft. Lauderdale area about April 1st. We'll make the decision on heading to the Bahamas or continuing up the east coast at that time depending on the weather.

The second half of February was as fun as the first but we'll put out a real post about that with pictures in a few days. OK...I can't leave you with no pictures....

Name the movie.

February Fun

Well, the weather has been improving since the end of January. We've not had much rain at all and the strong winds have let up a bit in duration. One of the things on the to-do list has been to clean the bottom of the boat and change the zincs on the propeller shafts. I had picked a warm sunny day to do this job but the wind had been blowing from the north for a few days causing our area of the marina to get filled with floating sea grass, no big deal really I could work around it.

However, upon further review we saw the north winds had also brought in a few critters to visit. Seeing a few Portuguese man o'war floating around led me to find other projects that day.

The visits also have continued and we have enjoyed them all. Next up was my sister Kathy and our good friend Gretchen. Jill was able to get in some serious girl time with this visit. The nights were cool but the days were sunny and warm as we spent time showing them around the keys. One place we visited was a canal house we had seen on our dinghy pub crawl. This place was a large boat shed on the water side but built to look like a steam ship from the front. I'll try to get a pic of the water side if we get back that way.

We spent Super Bowl Sunday on a road trip to Key West and had a blast as usual. All to soon it was time for them to head back to the frozen north...hurry back,

Hello Ladies...

After a quick turn of the pillows our friends Ann and Grant checked in to the B & B. We wasted no time in also showing them around our winter home (for this year). First stop was for happy hour at the Sunset Grille. It really helps folks get into the "island time" mood.

It never gets old.

We also paid a visit to the Turtle Hospital which is only a short walk from the boat. They put on a very nice tour and explain how they rehab sick or injured sea turtles. If you find and help rescue an injured turtle you get to name him...that's our goal!! You can find out more about what they do by following the link above.

We also put our guests to work while they visit. Some projects are a bit too big for just Jill and I. Besides, you have to pay for that room and board somehow. One particular project that I had been wanting to do was to lay down the radar arch and measure our height with it down. When we set off on this Loop trip we really didn't know if we could make the boat short enough to clear the 19' bridge outside of Chicago. If you can't do that the Great Loop becomes the Great U-Turn...that didn't sound like fun. Good news is the radar arch isn't too heavy and can easily be laid down by 2 people. The boat is 17' 3" with the arch down and that is in salt water. We'll be even shorter in fresh water so there is no sweat getting through the loop.

Top Down Day

 
We also made the pilgrimage to Key West as well as checking out a few new stops like the Big Pine Key flea market. It don't get better than that!! One other note about Big Pine is that it is home to the Key Deer and we found several as we were trying to find the No Name Pub. Nice thing about Key Dear is they are trained to only cross the road near the deer crossing signs....This buck is about the size of a large dog.

Again too soon, our friends were heading back to the (this time) foggy north. If you see Grant ask him about the adventure getting home.

This week was spent getting some more boat projects completed that we've been putting off. I think they call it Keys Disease when you keep thinking you'll get to it tomorrow. We have another round of visitors coming next week and then our time is up here in Marathon. The "plan" for now is to head west to Key West for a few days in early March before making our way up the keys toward Miami in mid March. At that time we'll look at the forecast and see if the patterns are right to head to the Bahamas. If not we'll just move more slowly up the east coast of Florida being careful not to outrun the warm weather. As nice as it's been to be in one place for this long we've both said how ready we are to get moving again....I guess it's a boater thing. One salty old boater told us "when you're walking down the street and someone honks and waves at you, you've been here too long....that happened yesterday.

Until next time, remember.............

Marathon in January

I figure we should get another blog out before things really start to get busy this month at the Chasing 80 B & B (Boat and Breakfast). They keep talking about island time but we haven't seemed to slow down much.

I know I mentioned in the last post how bad the weather has been so I thought I'd include a few pics just to prove it. Several of the cold fronts that came through brought some serious squall lines and high winds. Once the front would go through the winds would clock around to the North and blow hard for a day or two. After that they would start moving around to the East and finally South where things would start to warm up before the whole pattern would repeat. I know it's been a mild winter so far up North so y'all should be feeling sorry for us! The picture below is the squall line approaching before one storm. This is the same front that caused tornadoes up around Ft. Myers. It's just after sunrise and you can see we are still in the sunshine but not for long. Winds were over 50 as this line went through.

Next pic is how the forecast typically looked during January. We're hoping for an improving trend in February.

OK, you don't really need to feel sorry for us, we are still living the dream! It's been really interesting hanging out here for a month. In the past we would pass through Marathon on our way to Key West with no more than a stop for lunch or a drink. The past month we've become very familiar with the lower half of Vaca Key by riding our bikes everywhere we go. We've found several new places with great happy hour food and drink deals (I am retired after all). If the wind is blowing hard from the North we go to the South side where it's calmer! One spot we like is Porky's with really good food, great staff and a funky vibe (for the hipsters reading).

Buffalo Fish Fingers

Everywhere we've been down here is very pet friendly so we get our fill of tail wags without having to have our own on board.

So this dog walks into a bar....

We've spent time exploring by dinghy on the day's the wind isn't blowing too hard. One nice day we got about 6 boats together and did a dinghy pub crawl (row?) all the way around the key. I'd guess about 15 miles in total.

Don't think its been all play and no work, we've gotten several boat projects done including one day under the boat checking out the bottom and running gear. I'll do it once more before we head off next month. We've also attended a fishing seminar but it's not been great for fishing here either.

We took a quick trip to Key West to have an interview with Customs and get our Small Vessel Reporting Cards. These make it easier to clear back into the country when we go to the Bahamas and Canada. Work, work, work....

This past week our friends Brenda and Ron came down to visit for a few days and brought along the weather we've been looking for this past month. Finally 80 degrees!! We showed them some of our favorite hang outs both here in Marathon as well as a day trip back to Key West. We took them to the Green Parrot which is our favorite spot in Key West. Check out the music schedule in the link for some pretty great acts passing through town.

Green Parrot

The Sunset Grille here in Marathon has been a spot we hit for "Sunday Funday" which is a great party but last night was the first time we made it there for sunset. It's not quite the celebration of Mallory Square in Key West but we enjoyed the scenery and company.

Well, that's it for now. The next set of guests are checking in tomorrow and I need to turn the pillows over so they think they are clean. We're both looking forward to all our visitors and showing them around our little piece of the rock. Unfortunately it looks like Brenda and Ron took the nice weather back to their RV near Orlando....oh well, I'm sure we'll find something to keep our friends occupied!