The blog has a search engine. Is there something specific that interests you? Perhaps you want to read about our time in The Bahamas, or maybe get some information about some of the marinas and anchorages we've visited. It's easy. Go to "search this blog" and type in the subject. A list of blog posts will appear that pertain to that particular subject. How easy was that?
Anyway... Three years! Not tired of the life yet, but admittedly, living at a marina is not as exciting as traveling on a daily basis, and the stories aren't as good either. But our intent has always been to bring the boat to Florida to live on it. We just didn't know when we left St. Louis, just where that place in Florida was going to be. Right now it's Marathon. Who knows where we'll be in two or three years?
Last Saturday we took Swing Set out for a quick sea trial. In the photo, we're heading into Boot Key Harbor, about to pass through the abandoned bridge that goes out to Boot Key.
The Boot Key Mooring Field is home to a variety of vessels. We've spent a few months "on the ball" over the last three years, and it's a life that takes some getting used to. Some people have been anchored in there for years. And years.
The vessel in the picture above is just one example of what can be found in the harbor. Some are worse, but I wouldn't be too eager to be moored next to this fellow when a storm blows up. Everything piled onto the decks of this houseboat is a potential missile.
Some recent legislation being considered in Florida would restrict anchoring near developed "upland property" from the current 50 feet to 200 feet. If I had to step out onto the deck of my waterfront home each morning to be greeted by someone on a houseboat like this one, I'd prefer the anchoring restriction be increased to about a half mile. If you disagree with this opinion, start your own blog.
Our sea trial was necessary because I'm still chasing an overheating issue on our engines. When I descaled the heat exchangers (again) a few weeks ago, we ran Swing Set for 90 minutes at cruising speed without any temperature alarm sounding, but the gauges were reading at 210 degrees, still too hot in my opinion.
I started researching the subject again after discussing the issue with a friend who had some experience with the same problem on his boat a while back. He replaced the exhaust risers on his gas engines and the problem went away. I began to zero in on our exhaust elbows as a source of our problems.
Last week I pulled off the exhaust elbow on our port engine and found no blockage. I was actually disappointed.
My research got me to start thinking about the drive belts on our fresh water pumps. They're called fresh water pumps, but they actually circulate the engine coolant that is cooled by the raw water via the heat exchangers. I hadn't tightened these belts since having them installed before we left St. Louis. I was overdue.
Several hours, and a few bleeding knuckles later, both belts were tight. (And the belt guards on both engines were now residing in the dumpsters here at the marina.) The belts, having been just a little loose, were the culprits. I just knew it.
Even though the weather on Saturday was just a little "sporty". (We seafaring types refer to "windy" as being "sporty". I guess it gets tiresome referring to weather conditions as being windy all the time.) This is why we cruised through Boot Key Harbor to emerge into Hawk Channel out of Two Sisters Cut. This put the easterly wind at our backs to make a good run out toward Bahia Honda State Park on the other end of the Seven Mile Bridge.
As soon as we got on plane I knew I still hadn't solved the issue. Twenty minutes into our run, the port engine temperature alarm sounded. Pulling back on the throttles immediately brought the temperature down. I was disgusted.
"If a problem can be solved with money, there is no problem". No, we don't have exorbitant amounts of money to throw at problems, but believe me, it could be worse. We now have an appointment with the crew at Key West Engines in Key West for them to perform a complete diagnostic of our engine cooling systems. My shotgun approach has not worked out.
What is disappointing to me is that solving complex problems is something that I've been pretty good at in the past during my working years. The difference here is that the potential solutions are a result of my own labor and financial expenditure, so I'm trying to solve it as cheaply as I can. It's the way most people approach mechanical issues when money is an issue.
Key West Engines has a one month backlog, so we have to wait. When the time comes, we'll either take the boat to their shop on Stock Island, or they will come here if the weather won't permit travel to Stock Island. If they come here there is a mileage and travel time charge. Yes, there are mechanics here in Marathon, an even a Caterpillar Authorized Service Center, but we had an overall good experience with Key West Engines when they replaced our turbos two years ago, so I feel comfortable with them.
To celebrate our three year anniversary, not to mention my birthday and our wedding anniversary, we had planned to visit Key West with the boat next weekend, but we had some friends visiting Key West a week ago and the weather was perfect for a trip to Key Weird.
We split the 50 mile cruise up into two parts, spending the night on the hook in Newfound Harbor near Picnic Island, which is pictured above. I took this shot early in the morning as we left to continue onto the A & B Marina in Key West Bight. Still, one of our favorite things to do is get underway just after sunrise, sipping on a cup of coffee, especially when the sea conditions are as calm as they were on this morning.
We had a whirlwind three nights at A & B Marina. We spent two days at Dante's Pool and we took our friends Steve and Krista on a cruise out to Boca Grande on Saturday and the weather couldn't have been more exquisite. On our last night we treated ourselves to dinner at Berlins Steak House in honor of our upcoming anniversaries, and no, their steaks were not as good as we can make right here on Swing Set.
We ran straight back to Marathon on Monday, taking over five hours to make the trip. Some westerly winds had packed seagrass into all the western facing slips and we had to grind through a couple hundred feet of weeds to get docked.
The next day I flushed our engines with fresh water and then I pulled the sea strainer on our air conditioner units. I don't know how any water was getting through them at all. I even found some dead clam shells in the bottom of the strainer. I had to use our wet vac to suck them out of the strainer body.
Rosie and I both reaffirmed our opinions that we enjoy living here in Marathon better than living in Key West, at least at any of the marinas we currently have to choose from in the Key West area. Like they say, "It's a nice place to visit...."
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