Report From Onboard Jenny

[KI6...@winlink.org]

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====================================================Sunday, October 31, 2010 10:50:44 AM
Location: Key West at anchor
The boat position was not recorded.

This weather observation was taken on Sunday, October 31, 2010 10:51:53 AM local time.
Observation location: Key West.
Observation position was not recorded.
The air temperature is 86, and water temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
The forecast is Sunny.
The current weather is dry.
The sky is clear or a few clouds.
The wind is 5 knots from the north.
The visibility is 10 nautical miles.
The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells.
The barometer is 1020 millibars and rising.

Melinda and I spent yesterday in town. It was the day of the big Fantasy Festival and parade. We took the dinghy in around 10:00 and got a day pass at the dinghy dock for $6.00. We spent the day, so the six bucks was probably less expensive than parking a car. To say this festival is off the charts is putting it mildly. A day seeing of tits and ass hanging out, really makes you appreciate clothes. About twenty percent of the women in and around Duval Street, the scene of the parade, were topless with varying degrees of body paint camouflaging, or accentuating their breasts. About ten percent were virtually naked as were the men of all ages. Melinda's favorite exclamation of the day was "ouch" as she hid her eyes. For the most part these are memories you do not want to keep.

Melinda needed a sun hat, so we spent some time shopping for one. We found a nice one in one of the stores on Duval Street that was very fashionable and she got several compliments all afternoon. She really is beautiful. During the parade, many of the men stopped and handed her beads. At first she did not know what that was about, but by the end of the evening she was fully into shouting and jumping for beads! She must have twenty strings that we will be mailing to my granddaughter Marina.

I had heard that the parade was supposed to be comparable to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It wasn't in terms of investment in gears floats and costumes. But it was three hours of tremendous fun except for the mentally ill guy that tried to befriend Melinda and the woman on his other side. He seemed harmless enough, but I had to keep an eye on him, not knowing what to expect. At around 23:00 the parade was over and the serious drinking and partying began. There were thousands of people in the street and sidewalks and Melinda did not feel safe. So we headed back to the dinghy.

I haven't done much dinghy navigating in the dark, and immediately became disoriented after leaving the basin. UGH. In my defense, I did not have my glasses with me and although I can see fine in the daytime, at night I need them. Melinda tried to correct my misdirection, and I realized I did not know where the boat was. So, I slowed down and started to circle back to the basin to get a fresh start. That's when the Coast Guard stopped us. UGH. After about thirty minutes of going through my registration, flares, horn, life jackets, etc routine, they gave me a warning for not having the Florida registration numbers on the side of the dinghy. So, that job moved up the to-do list.

We slept in this morning. I have been tuning up my holding tank system for Marathon. I have not used it in years, but we will there. The weather is perfect and tomorrow looks like a great day to go. We will send photos when we get an internet connection.
David
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[Da...@schramm-family.net]

Tuesday, November 02, 2010 7:08:57 PM Location: Boot Key Harbor Latitude is 24 degrees 42.313 minutes north. Longitude is 81 degrees 5.906 minutes west. No recent weather observation is available. We pulled Jenny's anchor around 08:00 yesterday and headed for Boot Key Harbor where the town of Marathon is. The weather forecast was for a calm day and it was. The forty-four NM trip was nice with only one-two foot chop and a ten knot headwind. We had the birds up and the only challenge was dodging the ever present lobster pots. Melinda has better eyes than me and was great at spotting them. We arrived at the entrance to the harbor early by an hour since we were making about 7.6 knots most of the way. There is a low bascule bridge that guards the entrance to the harbor, so I tuned the second VHF radio to channel 9, the bridge channel and listened for traffic. I was surprised that we did not hear any, in spite of seeing some boats coming out. We slowed in the calm water before the channel and raised the outriggers so we could fit through the bridge opening. As we entered the channel it became obvious that the bridge was open. As we came closer we found that the bridge was broken, and permanently raised. Cool! We called into the city marina and asked to pick up a mooring ball. There are only about 15 that they allow boats over 45 feet to use. But, we are early in their season and most are open now. We found our mooring ball, got up wind, and drifted down on the ball so that it came to the starboard door. I slipped a one-inch line through the mooring line and Jenny was once again attached to the bottom. It was about 14:00. Melinda was famished, so she got some lunch while I got Jenny settled and dropped the dinghy so we could check in. The monthly mooring fee was about $300 per month after taxes and is reasonable for this primo spot at high season. It comes with the biggest set of dinghy docks I have ever seen. The dinghy docks are as big as most marina's I've seen. Clearly this harbor is set up for boats occupying the 300 moorings. They said most boats will begin arriving after Thanksgiving and the place will be full by Christmas. Cool. This morning we dropped the mooring and took Jenny through the very shallow channel to the harbor office where a few boats can side tie and pick up fuel and water. We wanted to pick up water and drop the bike. While the literature for this place says you can walk to the Kmart, Home Depot and Publix and dinghy to the West Marine, the reality is that all of them are long hikes. So, we quickly decided to drop the moto. We are very happy to have wheels with us. It makes a huge difference in our mobility. From here we can easily shop, visit Key West, and even plan to go to Homestead on the mainland to see the new Harry Potter move when it comes out. We might even take in a NASCAR race in Homestead. Cool. I was proud. The wind was out of the East and the dock I needed to get to was on the west side of a very narrow fairway, maybe 100 feet wide. We came in hugging the eastern docked boats, and spun Jenny around in her length so she came into the dock about three feet ahead of the boat on the western dock. As usual there were many onlookers. Yummy! We loaded water and dropped the moto and then took Jenny back to the mooring and dropped the dinghy again. Now the upper deck is empty, and we have transportation. After lunch we dinghy'd over to the dock, hopped on the moto and went to Publix to get a fresh load of vegies. We met Bruce on a Krogen 44 yesterday, and today he came over to look closely at our TPS rigging. Their boat was launched in 1978, 04 in the series and does not have any stabilizers. This was their first long trip and quickly recognized they needed to add stabilizers. So, we spend an hour or two going over how Jenny was rigged. Then cocktails, Melinda preparing a yummy salad and lamb steaks on the grill. Life is very good! David Powered by BoatExec http://www.BoatExec.com

[Da...@schramm-family.net]

Thursday, November 04, 2010 5:47:15 PM Location: Boot Key Harbor The boat position was not recorded. No recent weather observation is available. We have been here a couple of days now and have met Bruce and his wife on a 1978 Kroger 42 that they are bringing back to life and a couple on a sailboat with a Filipino wife. He has done a wonderful job and they dream of going down the island chain to Granada. His efforts show that you don't have to be a millionaire to break free. We also had a thunder storm system pass through last night with winds reported at thirty-five knots in the harbor. I saw twenty-five on our anemometer. The water catch is set up so we are now on rain water. Rain water is so nice. Showers are exquisite with the soft water. My tea and Melinda's coffee are new experiences. When we get to land, I will install a catch system for the house if we are in a place that gets enough rain. I built license plates for the dinghy today. While Florida has a grace period of 180 days for yachts, it has no grace period for dinghy's. When I bought Jasmine in Georgia 18 months ago, I registered and titled her in Florida since that is my legal residence. So, we had the registration, but the FL numbers were not on her. When we were stopped in Key West by the Coast Guard, they gave us a warning about not having the registration numbers displayed. So, that project went to the top of the list. We got the letters and material for making the plates yesterday at West Marine and that was this morning's project. They are made of Starboard, a white plastic plate, with the numbers and sticker stuck on. I did not want to paint or apply the FL license plate to Jasmine directly since this may be the last time we are in FL for any length of time. It would be like painting a license plate on a car. I refuse and reject the control the state is trying to impose. The sun is peaking through the thunder clouds on the horizon. It is 78 degrees out with a nice breeze. Melinda is reading another Danielle Steele novel in the salon. A cold front is approaching from the north tomorrow which should drop our daytime temperatures down to the 70's. Life is good. David Powered by BoatExec http://www.BoatExec.com

[Da...@schramm-family.net]

Sunday, November 07, 2010 9:31:32 AM Location: Boot Key Harbor The boat position was not recorded. No recent weather observation is available. It's cold and windy outside. Burr. It got down to about 60F last night and the wind has been in the low 20's out of the north for several days now. Melinda isn't used to the cold, and slept in her clothes! I broke out a blanket a couple of days ago, and put the comforter on in the middle of the night last night. Strangely she likes it. We went out to one of the local restaurants Friday night with Bruce and Ingrid and had a good time. They came over for Margaritas and then we took our dinghy's to the dinghy dock by the restaurant. This harbor is nicely set up for cruisers. We are paying about $300 / month to be on the mooring, and have a good internet connection complements of a home about a half mile away. We had a good selection of open access points to pick from thanks to our high power Wi-Fi system. We got good connections at two miles! Hardly any boats are coming or going because of the wind. So, it is pretty quiet here now. I expect the place to become a lot of fun as the place fills up. There is a small one stage movie theater here now showing Secretariat that we might try out this afternoon. I hope they carry the new Harry Potter movie when it comes out. Otherwise, we plan to take the motorcycle into Homestead, seventy-four miles toward Miami to see it. It would be a nice day trip. There is also a big flea market on Big Pine Key that we will check out soon. The high wind rain storm finally convinced me to re-caulk the pilot house windows. They are leaking. I already did one, but the rest need it too. Rather than pulling the frames out, I am just digging the old caulking out with a cheap paring knife. From the depth of the old caulking, I think they were caulked in place originally, not bedded in it. So, I think this is the right approach. We also need to get started on the last three salon windows, but are trying to avoid all the mess. David Powered by BoatExec http://www.BoatExec.com