Back to Bahia Honda! (Thursday, March 29)

While Scott slept in, I finished my book and had a relaxing morning. We finalized our plans to head to Bahia Honda State Park and pull the boat from there. We plan to start packing up some of the boat on Sunday and then finish the job on Monday. We had breakfast at a place down the street called The Stuffed Pig. Of course it looks like a dive because practically all the places down here do but it was actually quite good. On our way back Scott decided to swing by Keys Fisheries so that he could grab some stone crab claws for dinner. He assures me I’ll find something to eat for dinner (Ramen noodles I suppose) and makes his purchase.

For those of you following along in my medical school pursuit, I’ve been waiting on a decision from one last school. I had been told I would hear back by the end of March, so I made a phone call to the University of Toledo to find out what the status was. I learned that I would not be offered an interview and I will get the “rejected but better luck next time” email tomorrow. So plan B is now in full effect. I’ve applied to a Masters program at Wayne State. I plan to retake the MCAT this summer before I start school again in the fall. When I met with an advisor at Wayne State Medical School, they recommended that I take 20 credits in their grad school program before I reapply. So after I’ve completed these recommendations, I plan to reapply to various (most likely more this time) medical schools for the entering class of 2014. It seems so far away but I guess it’s not at all and I don’t have to worry about time getting away from me. Heck, three weeks down here has flown by! Yesterday, I asked Scott if we could stay a little longer until it felt like more time has gone by.

On a lighter note, we had a lovely sail to Bahia Honda. It was really light on the Gulf side for the first few miles. It picked up once we crossed under the 7mile bridge. The trip was about 15 miles. We decided low and slow was not the way to go so we put in extra distance gybing back and forth. There were 3 pretty exciting moments during our sail today. The first was that I think I may have accidentally hit a sea turtle. I heard several bumps against the hull. Scott was down below and I thought maybe it was him sliding the cooler across the floor of the boat, but I wasn’t sure.  I watched the stern to make sure I didn’t catch a crab trap and I saw something on the rudder. I think “crap”, I did run something over. I call Scott up and he’s like what was that noise? He said he wasn’t in the cooler so I definitely hit something in the water. He pulls up the rudder and there’s nothing on it but there is still something dragging from under the boat. Finally we see what it is, it’s a sharksucker fish (the kind that latch onto hosts and get carried all over the ocean). It’s decided to latch on to us. So to explain the noise and how that fish got there, my theory is that I hit a sea turtle and bumped the sharksucker off of the turtle and the fish sucked onto our boat instead of the turtle again. But we’ll never know.

So the second exciting event was when I wasn’t paying attention (again) and I actually did run over a crab pot and snagged it on the rudder. Scott was not pleased and he drove the rest of the way in. What can I say; I’ve got a lot on my mind. And lastly, on our sail to Bahia Honda we saw a pod of four dolphins out in the ocean. I just love that.

We sailed all the way through the old bridge and up to the mooring ball that we planned to hang off of. As we got up to it, we noticed that it said government use only so we decided to head into the marina to ask. Previously, volunteers in the park had told us that if the ball was open anyone was welcome to it, first come first serve. We were slightly wary, not wanted to be slapped with a fine for 2K. In the marina we saw familiar figures under the water, manatees! We’re already so glad we came back to the park. We got settled and decided to stay in the marina. That way we can bring the truck and trailer over here tomorrow and have everything in one place a few days before we need to leave. We do really need the truck seeing as we are out of tuna (thank god) and water. Plus I think Scott is getting sick of cooking on the boat because he said we needed the truck to go out to dinner. I’m absolutely not complaining about this.

We wandered around the beach a bit until we noticed it was low tide. We decided to check our lobster spot again. We walked over to see if they were there. I was able to convince myself AND Scott that a stick under a rock was a lobster. I ran back to the boat to grab gloves and a net so that we could catch dinner. Scott grabbed the stick and it didn’t wriggle at all. This is obviously the point that we realize it’s a stick under a rock. Scott was ready to quit but I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that quickly so I worked hard to find lobster. I found a few in a group and Scott went for them. On his first grab he manages to get one out from under a rock before its thorny whip falls off. Scott launches his hand in the water again to snatch him while the lobster is disoriented. He gets him and tosses him into the net! We’re ecstatic! We don’t see any more that are big enough to eat so we head back to steam this guy. Scott cooks him up and had a lovely fresh lobster tail. He claims it was the best lobster he’s ever eaten.  

Before bed I decided it was time to make the final bug net (for the forward hatch). Lovely that it only took me the entire trip. I quickly made it and then went to bed.

Happy at Bahia Honda,

Lauren & Scott

50 Nautical Miles before Lunch (Wednesday, March 28)

 Last night was a windy one and we were up multiple times to check that the anchor was sticking. We left bright and early (0830) while the breeze was ripe. Scott guesstimated that it was blowing around 15-20 on our port quarter. I guessed that it was 12. We put up just the main for a short time to determine how strong the wind actually was, I was wrong. It was really flat throughout the ICW so it was actually really hard to accurately judge what it was blowing (my justification for being wrong). We put up the little jib and took off at 11s for a while. When the cuts became less narrow we unfurled the screacher.

We had an absolutely amazing 50NM sail. We were hauling! Scott had the boat going 14 consistently for nearly an hour. And the coolest thing was that it was so smooth and stable because the water was so flat. The only problem was that anything less than 14 felt a little sluggish. I guess that’s the thing with going fast though; once you get a taste you only want more. It was basically awesome fun all morning long.

Scott set a new boat record with 15.6 knots (we had previously had a record of 15.5 in the lake this past summer). And even with all of our cruising gear! This is unbelievable to us because the waterline is a couple if inches underwater when we are sitting at the dock. According to Corsair Marine, Inc. maximum weight on the boat is 1000lbs; gear, persons, and motor. I undoubtedly know that there is more than 1000lbs on this boat right now. I can’t even fathom how fast this boat would go without the extra weight.

I spent a little bit of time down below making lunch. While I was in the cabin, Scott was working away to get the boat on a plane. It was during this time period that I noticed something revolting. Our centerboard trunk spews water. It appears that the volume of water spewing is directly proportional to the speed at which we are going. This is truly unfortunate for me as my bed cushions lie directly on top of the centerboard trunk and are now saturated in salt water. And as you know with saltwater, saturated clothing items, fabrics, cushions, etc. the salt leaves a damp feeling behind. It’s delightful to sleep on as it never truly dries. The other bad news is that during a gybe we started losing ball bearings from our traveler car again.

We arrived at Marathon Yacht Club in time for lunch. We put the boat away and walked down the street to Keys Fisheries. We both ordered fresh seafood. Additionally, I ordered a slice of key lime pie. It’s been an experiment of mine to basically sample it at every restaurant. Keys Fisheries actually claimed that theirs was the best and albeit, theirs was indeed the best I’ve had thus far (Scott agrees).

After lunch we sat around the boat for a little bit. Scott had me running out of the bathroom after he said he spotted 3 foot lizards. In my mind, I imagined 3 foot geckos…really they were 3 foot iguanas. Our communication skills could use some work sometimes. After chasing the Iguanas around the dock, we overheard someone in the harbor talking about West Marine so we decided we would pop in there as well. We haven’t been as outgoing at Marathon Yacht Club with meeting people so we walked there; it wasn’t far. On our way, we saw a turtle hospital and decided to stop in to check it out. It was a little pricey so we looked around the lobby and left. But in the lobby, there were shells of all the different turtles in the area and I was able to find the type I keep seeing. Have I mentioned that I’ve seen sea turtles? I think I keep forgetting to…but I’ve seen 3 of them thus far, Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles. We made our way to West Marine and replaced the regulator valve (we lost ours on our day from hell sailing up the coast), purchased some ball bearings, and sail tape. On our way back we decide to make two more stops; chocolate stop and we want to stop in and see Boot Key Harbor.

We swung by Tom Thumb for my treats and continued to Boot Key Harbor Marina. Boot Key Harbor was a completely different type of community. The whole harbor is filled with boats tied to mooring balls. You could get mail for your boat at the Marina and they have a massive book swap area, which I always like looking around in. Scott said that there are pump out boats that sidle up to you while you’re on the mooring ball and pump your holding tank out. And there are little docks for those with dinghies to come to shore and tie up to. The harbor was pretty cool to see but I’m not sure it would be that much fun for us to be in such close proximity to our neighbors when we spend most of our time outside of the cabin.

After our walk we were pretty worn out. The adrenaline from the morning was starting to wear away and we realized how long our day had really become. We had Upper Crust Pizza for dinner. The pizza was decent, but mostly we were hungry.

Sleeping in,

Lauren & Scott

Change of Plans (Tuesday, March 27)

This morning we made quick egg burritos and had a long chat. So our plans have changed slightly. We decided that time does not permit us to head up to Fort Lauderdale by sailboat. We are now planning to head back down to Bahia Honda, where we will pull the boat out at the end of the trip. On our way back home we plan to swing by Fort Lauderdale to visit Scott’s Uncle George and Aunt Mary Ann. Today we plan to take a short sail over to Tarpon Basin and anchor for the night.

We ate at a local raw bar and restaurant for lunch, Steamers. True to form, I ordered a mashed banana, fried cheesecake dessert for my entrée and it was sinful. Scott went the more traditional route and had peel and eat shrimp. During lunch we watched a manatee glide by and a pod of dolphins play around in the Sound. After lunch, we made our way back to the boat. On our way, there was a big white parakeet in a cage sitting in the bed of a pickup truck. We stopped to see if it talked and it sort of did. It babbled convincingly in its own language. We ended up talking to his owner (he was on his boat in the slip next to us) and found out his name was Fred. Fred only says “hello” and “hi Fred” and he didn’t say either to us.

So anyway we set off to Tarpon Basin. We found a nice spot between two sailboats. Later that evening we were joined by two more powerboats. We read our books and settled in for the night.

Checking the anchor,

Lauren & Scott

The Intracoastal Waterway (Monday, March 26)

This morning, on Fiesta Key, we took our time getting up. It had been really windy all through the night and the breeze was still up this morning. We decided to leave late morning so we had breakfast. I had two key lime pie bars (which is a key lime pie slice that is frozen on a stick and then dipped into chocolate) and Scott had one. I knew I was feeling much better than I had the previous few days; I had taken a 3 day sabbatical from the chocolate on the boat, which is not very like me.

This morning as we were getting the boat ready to leave I noticed that Scott is quite partial to bossing me around. You might think that I’m being sensitive because I’m not used to being crew (mind you, I’ve been crew many times), but I’m not. For instance, Scott will be up on the bow with a line in his hand and call me up from the cockpit. I come up to the bow and he asks me to uncleat the line from the deck. We’re talking about the same line that’s in his hand. I can’t make this stuff up! I’m sure he does it because I’m compliant. When I brought it up to him this morning, he laughed because he knew it was true. Anyway, we left Fiesta Key around 1100 and made our way up the Intracoastal waterway (ICW).

We began sailing for a bit as the breeze was up. As it began to die we ended up motor sailing. The ICW through Florida Bay is beautiful! There are all different shades of colors in the water as far as your eyes can see. There was a brief time when the water was so glassy you could see everything that was on the bottom clearly. While Scott drove, I sat in the hammock nets and followed the lines underwater that connected crab pots. We’ve gotten pretty close to mangrove islands, as the channel runs between them. This is what we imagined cruising to be like. It was so relaxing! There was a light breeze and the water was pretty flat. Every now and then we would wave to another boat passing us by. At one point during our motor through a mangrove channel, I lost my bucket hat! We doubled back and I was able to retrieve it before it sank (it’s my mom’s).

Through all of the mangrove cuts, we’ve made it to Anchorage Resort and Marina on Key Largo. We got the boat tied up and put away and then we hit the pool! By the time we were cleaned up and ready for dinner, a pod of dolphins had come into Blackwater Sound (where the marina is off of). We had dinner at my parent’s favorite place in Key Largo, Gus’ Grille. It’s a restaurant at the Key Largo Marriott Resort. Their food is delicious. My mom even treated us (thanks again!). Back at the marina before bed, we ran into a guy trying to catch tarpon from the Sound, just under the bridge. He was going to net shrimp as they swam by! We wished him luck and headed to bed.

Tired and happy,

Lauren & Scott

Our Sunday Funday on Party Key! (Sunday, March 25)

Early this morning we decided we should head out and get some miles under our belt. The weather forecast is for high winds in a few days and we didn’t want to get stuck here for too long and miss seeing other places. We decided that we would try and make it as far as we could today to make up time if we get stuck somewhere. We headed for Fiesta Key and had Marathon as a backup if the weather didn't cooperate. It was forecasted that there would be isolated thunderstorms with gusts up to 25. We showered and packed up the boat. We said goodbye to our Northern friends and headed back the way we came in. As we were motoring out Scott and I happened to be looking in the same direction and saw a fin. We both looked at each other excitedly and fearfully. Scott asked if it was a dolphin or a shark and we waited. It came up again and we saw more of the animal this time. It was a dolphin! Finally we had seen one, if only for a brief minute. By the time we had the camera it hadn’t come up again near us. Hopefully we see more soon.

The breeze was pretty light so we motored about 20 miles. We crossed under the 7 mile bridge and continued up the gulf side of the keys. I wasn’t feeling all too hot so I went down below to get out of the sun and take a nap. I arose from the dead about the same time the breeze filled in. We shut off the motor and sailed the last 20NM. It was pretty light breeze still, around 5-10knots. Waves were basically Lake St Claire chop, which was comforting. We cruised all the way up to the harbor entrance at Fiesta Key RV Resort and Marina. We found a wall and parked for the night. We had a nice dinner, showered (again, bonus! Two in one day), and worked on laundry. While we were searching for the change machine (the washing machine took quarters), I found the book swap shelf. Scott was running around like a chicken with his head cut off so I scooped up a Stone(s) Barrington novel and another chick novel for myself. When Scott was less flustered, I told him what I had found and oh happy day! He was delighted, having not yet read the one I found him. 

Tomorrow we are not exactly sure of our plans but we are still headed up the Keys.

Squeaky clean,

Lauren & Scott

No Wonder it's One of the Top Ten Beaches in Florida (Saturday, March 24)

 

I woke up a little earlier than Scott so I explored a bit. I walked around on the beach and took a few early morning pics. I found a little crab that I ended up catching. When I brought it back to the boat I woke Scott up to tell him what I’d caught for him. To his dismay, it was so small it looked like a spider; totally not edible. His morning started and we had Key Lime Pie for breakfast, followed by breakfast burritos that we made at the boat.

We hung around the boat for a bit and then decided to walk over to the old highway. We walked along the outer beach and then back around to the highway. The beach was beautiful! There were a ton of people lying in the sun and wading but it was still not too crowded. The old bridge had amazing panoramic views. I ended up taking a video and tons of pictures because it was so beautiful.

After we worked up a sweat on our walk we decided to go for a swim. We went to the beach between the bridges because it was deeper. We watched our new Nova Scotia friends snorkel and we cooled down a bit. Scott spotted an Island Packet anchored in the harbor and wanted to take a closer look. We kayaked out to see it and the owners were relaxing in the cockpit. We chatted with them about their packet and what their plans were. They were recently retired and had sold everything (house and cars). They were living on the boat that they brought down from Maryland in the beginning of December. They told us that they had a mooring ball at Boot Key Harbor for a month and they were taking a few days to check out Bahia Honda as well. After hearing more about how happy they were with their boat, we headed in to get out of the sun. Back at our boat a manatee came to hang out for a bit. I waited patiently and took a few pictures each time he came up for a breath.

The day was almost ending and I wanted to show Scott the little beach I found in the morning so we walked over. It was low tide so there were a lot of rock bottom tide pools. Scott immediately found Lobster between rocks and ordered me to retrieve lobster catching gear. Armed with gloves I reached between the rocks for an antenna. The lobster wriggled loose and it made me pretty jumpy. Scott grew angrier each one I grabbed but couldn’t keep hold of so I told him to put on the gloves and stick his hand into the dark gap. He did. Allegedly by the time he went to grab them they had all receded into hiding, but if I hadn’t scared them he would have gotten one. We later found out they don’t have claws but that they have thorny whips to defend themselves with.  

Since we were unable to catch any lobster we had to settle for a chicken dinner. We don’t have a solid plan for tomorrow but we think we are going to get back on the move and head further up the keys.

 Winner winner chicken dinner,

Lauren & Scott

My Kind of Place; Bahia Honda State Park (Friday, March 23)

 

In the morning  we checked the weather forecast for the day and found that it was supposed to lighten in the afternoon. We hoped this was the case so we decided to wait until about 1100 to leave. We had a relaxing morning tied to the dock. We tidied up around the boat to get ready to go before taking a morning stroll. We walked down the overseas highway to Big Pine Restaurant for breakfast. The food was good and the service was great! We later found out that this was the best place in town.

Around 1200, the wind had substantially lessened. We made our way out of Newfound Harbor and headed for Bahia Honda State Park. We had a really nice upwind sail. The waves were a little too big for the breeze because the ocean had gotten worked up the past few days when it was honking. We cruised upwind at about 6-7 knots.

When we approached Bahia Honda’s beach, I knew that I was going to like this place. It was beautiful here! The big beach was really shallow for a long distance so you could see the bottom through the water. We sailed right through the old railroad bridge/old highway (there’s a gap in it to do so) and then started the motor. Inside of the harbor (between the railroad highway and the overseas highway), there was another little beach that had a swim area which was sealed off by ropes. The water was a little deeper at this beach but so blue.

We pulled into the State Park Marina and found ourselves a spot. When we went to check in the dockmaster was so friendly! He enlightened us that we had showers, bathrooms, water, power, internet, one bag of ice each day, and a cup of coffee per person each day! The hospitality of the park continued like this the whole time we were there. It really made it a nice place to stay. Everyone must be happy because they have such nice views all the time!

After we got settled in Scott wanted to hose the boat down. We had seen manatees in the middle of the harbor and we were so hoping they would come over and say hi. As soon as Scott turned on the fresh water to rinse off the boat one manatee sped over to see us. Seriously though, this thing moved. It was not the slow going seacow Floridians talk about. He came right over and slurped the drippings off of the boat. When the boat dried off he went back to the center of the harbor with his friends. Later that evening the boat behind us was hosing off themselves, after a salty day, and the manatees came to visit them as well. Pretty neat animals to see so closely. I finally got to see manatees; this is my kinda place!

In the evening, Scott introduced me to another couple that pulled into the marina on a Telstar 28 trimaran (he had talked to them earlier while I was putting things away on the boat). This couple was from Nova Scotia and had trailered their boat down to Florida. I guess we don’t win the award for the longest drive. Did I mention that they towed this boat with a Jeep Liberty Diesel?!  We chatted for a bit, comparing boats, describing where we would be going next, and where we had been.

It was getting cooler out when Scott and I realized that we needed to find something to eat. How did we come to realize we needed to eat? We were getting pretty nasty to each other (again we ate breakfast at 1000 and it’s now nearing 1900). We thought about heading to Marathon but a $50 round trip taxi fare was a bit much. We decided to go the other way and headed back to Big Pine Restaurant (which was recommended by the dockmaster) via public bus. The Key West Connection is a bus that runs from Marathon to Key West. It was only $4 to ride it, unless you’re a student or senior citizen, then it was only $2. There was a stop right outside of Bahia Honda State Park so we hoofed it to the highway. We jumped on the bus, which was 20 minutes late to our stop, and we were dropped off right in front of the town’s favorite eatery (mind you it’s like the only eatery on the key).

We had massive meals, feasts really, and then called a cab to get back. While we were waiting for the cab, Scott spotted some Key deer 30 feet from us, behind the restaurant. I decided to call them over and Scott laughed at me. Slowly but surely, my clucking and kissing brought one over. He was very curious and eager to see what was in my hand. I got a little freaked out because of the horror stories you hear of people getting hoofed to death.  I was up on the picnic table calling him over until I could really see how little he was. By then I was a little less intimidated. I got him to come over about 6 feet away from me and the taxi pulled up. We hopped in and headed back to Bahia Honda for the night. 

Loving this place,

Lauren & Scott