Weather forecast for February 17, 2019:
Skipjack Marina, Marathon, Florida
Low 68 high 75
West winds, 10 to 15 kts
Captain’s Log: February 2, 2019 thru February 16, 2019
On Saturday, February 2nd, we joined our Skipjack friends Karla and Scott for a cruise in their 18ft run-about; we were heading to Little Molasses Key. The Key, which is actually just a sand bar with some mangroves and a few palm trees, is west of Pigeon Key on the south side of the Seven-Mile Bridge. Scott and Karla have been there many times; the crystal clear water is ankle deep and there is rumored to be many conch shells in the shallows waiting to be found. Shirley had been wanting a big conch shell for some time and she was convinced that this would be her lucky day.
After tossing out an anchor in two feet of water, we walked all around the shallows, constantly searching for a suitable shell. I didn't find a single shell. Shirley found one small and badly damaged shell. Karla found one large shell after another - she evidently has a sixth sense when it comes to finding big conch shells. Most of Karla's shells had hermit crabs living in them and one still had the conch in it.
I diplomatically asked Karla if she intended to keep the biggest and prettiest of her finds; she said 'no' so I quickly took possession of it, and the hermit crab living inside. I had no idea how labor intensive it would be to extract the crab and then cleanse, cut and polish the shell. Regardless, my XO wanted a conch horn so I had a lot of work ahead of me.
On Thursday, February 7th, our friend Bebe drove down from her Cape Coral condo to spend a long weekend on the boat with us. Bebe arrived late in the afternoon and, after she settled into the forward cabin, we enjoyed dinner and drinks.
We drove down to Key West the next morning and, after walking around Duval Street and the waterfront for a while, we decided to go over to the Hogfish Bar & Grill on Stock Island for dinner. Just as we were getting seated at a high-top table, I feel a woman's arms wrap around my waist from behind and a female voice calling out my name. Completely surprised, I turn around to see my friend and former business associate Melissa. What a coincidence! I had not seen Melissa in over three years; the last time in Orlando at a Business Intelligence conference.
We immediately asked Melissa, and her husband Steve, to join us. We had a wonderful time catching up, talking about business and our mutual friends, and being amazed at how small the world is. We only had a short time with them as Melissa was flying back to New York City the next morning and Steve, an avid outdoorsman, was going to drive up the coast, camping along the way. We bid them a fond farewell and made plans to meet in NYC in the not-too-distant future.
That evening, while Bebe, Shirley and I were driving back to Marathon, Shirley received a text message from our cruising friend Margo. As luck would have it, Margo, and her husband Jerry, were driving through Marathon on their way to Key West. We immediately convinced them to stop in Marathon and park their motor coach at Skipjack for a couple of days.
Introductions, drinks and good conversation brought a surprisingly eventful day to an end.
The next morning, Saturday, February 9th, we followed Jerry and Margo on a short road trip to the State Park on Bahia Honda Key. This was our first trip to Bahia Honda and we were blown away by the beauty of this small State Park. The anchorage at the Park was very protected and we decided that Bahia Honda would be our first stop during our upcoming cruise to the Dry Tortugas.
The next morning, Sunday, Jerry and Margo departed for Key West, Bebe headed for Cape Coral, Melissa was flying to NYC and Steve was heading for a campground in the Everglades. It had been an unexpected, exciting and crazy weekend catching up with old friends.
Early on Monday morning I had to drive Shirley back to Key West to catch a flight to Augusta, Georgia for a two-day visit to her Kellogg plant. I was back in Key West to retrieve my XO late on Tuesday night. We stopped for a great dinner at The Square Grouper on our drive back to Skipjack.
During Shirley's absence I attended a "Safety at Sea" seminar presented by the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA), of which we are members, at the Lazy Days Bar & Grill in Marathon. I picked up some great information, especially from the Coast Guard speaker, whose talk convinced me that we needed to have a satellite phone on the boat. With the Miami Boat Show coming up in just a few days a great deal on a phone was anticipated.
I have attended the Miami Boat Show for almost 10 years and Shirley has joined me for the last 4 years. We actually got married at the Boat Show, on the schooner Mystic, in 2016. We really enjoy the show but we had not planned to attend this year. Back in September of 2018, we had reserved a spot with a brokerage company for a private tour of properties in Belize. The tour was scheduled for the week of the Boat Show and we had already booked our flights from Miami to Belize City ($200/ticket).
For two months I had been trying to contact the broker to finalize the details of our tour; no luck. I tried many times over that period to reach them but now, suddenly, every phone number that I had for the broker had been disconnected. As luck would have it, in late December, I came across and article in the AARP magazine while sitting in a doctor's office, that detailed the 'Belize property scams' that had ensnared many Americans. We got caught! We were out $400 but it could have been much worse as we did not pre-pay for anything.
So, to summarize, we were now free to go to the 2019 Miami Boat Show. We did so on Friday, February 15th, with Karla and Scott, our friends from Skipjack. I got a great deal on a satellite phone and Shirley bought a bunch of 'hippie clothes'.
Until next time, may your tomorrow bring fair winds and following seas.