Monday, March 19, 2012

No Name Harbor


Our final stop before heading outside and up the coast to Ft Lauderdale was the southern tip of Key Biscayne in a little harbor without a name.  Well, technically the name is No Name Harbor.  The harbor is well protected from just about any wind direction and has water 10-12 feet deep right up to the shore.  The deep water makes for a bit of an anchoring challenge when you consider the number of boats that often anchor here.

We normally try to use a formula to determine how much anchor chain to put out.  This takes into account the depth of the water, the wind conditions, the type of material on the seabed (sand, mud, etc.), and the fact that we have chain instead of rope on the first 100 feet of our anchoring tackle.  In 12 feet of water, we would usually put out around 60 feet of chain, more if the wind was blowing and if we had room.  Some would say that is generous.  My feeling is that I like a good night's sleep and don't want to worry about a dragging anchor.  However, with boats all around us, that much chain would have put us on top of the boat behind us.  And, if the other boats have less chain/rope out and the wind direction changed, we might swing sideways into one of them.  Many of the boats in this harbor had fenders out on the sides of their boats, apparently anticipating that this might happen.  Since the wind was not so much a factor with protection from the trees on shore, and it was forecast to stay east for the next several days (and not change direction), we felt fairly comfortable with considerably less than 60 feet.

One of the bike trails
View of the beach as we were leaving.  Key Biscayne on the right. Miami in the background
After setting the anchor, we took our bikes to shore and rode into town for a few supplies.  The harbor is surrounded by Bill Baggs State Park where there are miles of really nice biking trails along lush natural areas.  There is a nice beach on the Atlantic side with a functioning lighthouse.  There are fishing piers and camping sites, all within a mile or so of the town of Key Biscayne.  We stayed one night here two years ago as we waited to make the crossing to Bimini.  It's a convenient harbor for those looking for a weather window to cross.

Boats came and went throughout the evening.  It is a short ride to Miami.  As far as I could tell, there were no anchors that dragged during the night.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Boca Chita Key

 Monday on our way back to Ft Lauderdale, we stopped at Boca Chita (not to be confused with Boca Chica near Key West.)  This island is located between Sands Key and the Ragged Keys on Biscayne Bay's eastern shores.  We had thought about stopping there earlier in our trip but never got to it.  Wish we had!
Docking basin

Wall built with coral "stones"
This key was purchased and developed in the 30's as a private residence of Mark Honeywell of Honeywell Computers.  It was later sold to the U.S. government in 1985 and made into a park.  There is a well protected basin with wooden docks all along the walls where boats are permitted to stay overnight for a $20 fee.  Bathrooms are the only amenity besides the dock spaces and you must pack out all your trash. But in spite of that, on the Monday afternoon we were there, the place seemed quite popular.  We were told it is packed on the weekends with people coming over from Miami.
One of the buildings still standing on the key

The island is really pleasant with the ocean to the east, deep channels on the northern and southern ends, coconut palms, walking trails throughout, and nice stone work that was part of the original compound.  And there is a beautiful lighthouse that was unfortunately never permitted to be lighted.


Lighthouse at the entrance to the basin
Hermit crab
We had a fun time walking around the island, picking up shells along the beach, some of which contained little hermit crabs inside.  (Callie thought they were very interesting.)  We could have stayed another day or so if we'd had time.  It was just that kind of a place.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Callie the boat cat

We've had our cat on board Kentris since we began this trip.  Initially doubtful about her ability to adjust, we have found she is much happier on board with us than staying at home with someone coming over to feed and occasionally pet her, even if this is on a daily basis.  She has always seemed very stressed out when we have returned from a trip of any length of time.

She has gotten more and more brave as time passes.  She would not come out of the salon when we first started out.  Now she regularly ventures out on deck, even if the boat is moving (as long as it is not too bouncy).  She especially likes cruising the deck at night after everything quiets down.  I like to think she watches for pirates while we sleep!

At the check-up she had at the vet's office before we left, she was told she was getting a little chubby and needed to watch her weight.  So she has been on a diet (when I can keep Tom from sneaking her little treats when I'm not looking).  This has probably been the hardest thing she has had to deal with.  She really is food oriented.

So this blog entry is dedicated to Callie, our great little boat kittie.  She has been much fun to have on board.  If you are considering whether your cat could be a reasonable pet to have on a boat, go ahead and try it.  A kitten might adjust more easily, but Callie is 13 or so and she has done really well.

Sailing is so exhausting

Pirate watch again?

Can't a girl take a bath around here with a little privacy?
Will this rolling ever stop? (This is not a trick photo.
She really does brace herself like this sometime when the seas are rough.)

If I lay here long enough they are bound to put some food in that bowl. This diet is killing me!
You have to catch a nap wherever you can around here.


Thursday, March 8, 2012

Exploring Marathon


Boot Key Harbor City Marina is a really well-organized facility. There are an incredible number of boats in the harbor and yet things run quite smoothly here. For the price of your mooring ball, you have the use of two large dinghy docks, with separate sides for soft and hard dinghies, a large number of private shower rooms (although they could use some maintenance), TVs, internet, cruisers library, laundry, outside tiki bar area, and once a week pumpout from your mooring. They have a pumpout boat and you are scheduled for a particular day when you sign up for a week of mooring. There is also a cruisers' net on the VHF at 9:00 every morning where, if you are so inclined, you can get all the latest on what's happening in the harbor. The weather has been rowdy most of the week we have been here so there has not been much socializing going on. We're thinking that will change this weekend when it's supposed to be calmer and there is a seafood festival happening right next to the marina.

There are lots of things to see and do around here. We visited Sombrero Beach recently.   It's a nice sandy stretch of beach with one end bordering on Sister Creek.  There are some palms for shade, bathrooms, picnic tables, etc.  We were able to ride our bikes over there and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.  If we had some chairs, a picnic lunch, and maybe a little less wind, it would have been just about perfect.

Atlantic side of the park
Overlooking the park
A look down the old bridge

Tom's son Aaron and his wife Lauren are visiting us for a few days.  Since they have a car, we drove over to Bahia Honda State Park for an adventure.  The wind was howling so we had to find something else interesting to do besides sailing.  This park has a tiny harbor where smaller sailboats can dock.  There are campsites and cabins to rent, a concession stand, and some trails, one of which leads up to the old bridge that was part of Henry Flagler's railroad.

The tiki bar at Salty's
After exploring the park's trails for a couple hours, we thought a little lunch and a cold beer were in order, so we stopped at a place on the way home called Salty's.  Slow service, but the food was good and the ambiance was "keysie."

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Marathon Revisited

Friday we decided it was time to leave Key West and head north (or more accurately, east at this point in the Keys).  The anchorage where we had been for almost a week was quite rolly from passing wakes and wide open to winds from the north.  It was already uncomfortable from time to time and 30k north wind was predicted for this weekend.  I didn't want to stick around to see what that would feel like. 

You can't always trust the wind forecasts, although we have found  http://windfinder.com to be the most accurate of the sites we routinely check.  On Friday they were calling for light to moderate wind from the southeast which would make for a reasonable sail for us up the Keys.  As we turned around the west end of Key West we were met with rough seas and 20-25k winds on our nose.  Kentris was bucking the waves and taking water over the bows.  Callie and I were not very happy campers.  As Tom raced around closing the hatches we had left open thinking things would be fairly tame, I tried to keep the boat on course.  Finally around the island and heading east, things calmed down just a bit and we got the sails up with a reef in the main.  At least the wind was in the forecasted direction so we were able to sail.

Eventually the wind moderated and the sea became less rowdy but we managed to average 7 knots even with the reefed main, and never had to turn the engines on until we were ready to come in the channel to Boot Key Harbor.  An unusual sailing day for us.  We did, however, hook another of the thousands of crabpots we had to negotiate along the way. Tom had cut the pot loose when we first caught it but there was still line wrapped around the prop, so we stopped briefly when we got to the channel so that Tom could cut that line off and we could use that engine.  Now we are happily hanging on a mooring ball and ready to do some exploring around Marathon.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Fort Taylor State Park

The fort and moat
We decided to ride our bikes over to Fort Zachary Taylor today which is located on the southwestern end of Key West.  For a small fee you can enjoy a very nice park with a fort to explore, bike paths, beach access and even a concession stand with decent food and beer.  It was a rather warm day in town but out there a nice breeze was blowing off the water to cool things down considerably.

The fort was constructed during the mid-1850s.  At the onset of the Civil War it was held by Union forces.  It was also used extensively during the Spanish-American war in 1898. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in the 1970s due to the large collection of Civil War canons, etc. which were found buried there. Originally surrounded on all sides by water, with only a bridge to the mainland, the land has been filled in so that there is only a moat around the buildings now.

Beach and pines
 It is apparently also popular as a beach destination.  There were quite a few more people than we expected to see on a Thursday morning when no cruise ships were in town.  People had brought picnics and beach chairs and were enjoying the sun and waves. Tom and I set ourselves up in the shade of the trees that surround the beach.  The sound of the wind whistling through the pines above us was very relaxing.

After reading for a while and getting a bite to eat, we rode around the bike trail to view the fort from the opposite side.  We had explored the building on a previous trip, so this time we didn't go inside.  We have been finding our fold-up bikes very useful in getting around town.  We only had one until we got to Marathon, but bought another on sale at West Marine while we were there and have put it to good use.

View from the beach
Driftwood?
Our rides