Goin' Mobile

  This post isn't about that great Who song, but it's about friends finding ways to come down to see us here in Key West, and us keeping our options open regarding finding ways to transport our small inventory of possessions.

  You might have seen our solution as to how we transport our Yuba cargo bicycle on Swing Set on a previous post. We haven't had our Boda Boda onboard since we got here to Stock Island Marina Village, but we can get it stowed safely away in a matter of minutes.
  Hurricane preparation has been weighing on my mind recently, not too heavily, I might add, but I like to have a plan. What has complicated our plan was the acquisition of our Yamaha Zuma scooter.
  We have full coverage insurance on the Zuma, but leaving it locked on land in the event of a storm could leave it in danger of getting drowned by water covering the pier if the surge is too great. I don't like to see anything get ruined if I can help it, so I began to figure out a way to put the Zuma onboard Swing Set, whether we decide to stay put here, or make tracks to avoid any storm.
  You can see the two motorcycle ramps we purchased from Amazon a few weeks ago in the above photo. They each weigh 15 pounds, and are foldable. They hold up to 750 pounds and I can stow them in the bilge for a short period of time. I haven't tried out the system yet, but I'm fairly confident that I can get our 250 pound scooter onboard by myself, or at least with Rosie's help. We try to be a self sufficient as we can, especially in the event of an emergency.
  As equally important is having a place to tie down the Zuma once we get it into the cockpit, and the tape measurer was put into service multiple times before the ramps were ever ordered.
  I installed a "D" ring at the transom, next to our movable transom seat, where our cockpit trashcan sits. The front wheel of the Zuma will rest against the sturdy transom and I'll strap it down on each side, using the "D" ring on one side, and the cockpit seat bracket on the other. I can them squeeze the Zuma against the starboard side of the cockpit with the rear wheel just clearing the salon door. This leaves room to still open the hatch to the engine room. Our deck chairs, or at least one of them, will have to sit in the salon when the Zuma is onboard.
  This method is not pretty, but it  gives us options, and the cost was about $170. We like having our options, and part of living on a boat is at least the idea that we still have options. I've said it before that cruisers who rely on having a vehicle that they need to play hopscotch with as they shuttle it from marina to marina are just asking for more trouble than it is worth.

  Also mobile are our friends. Curt and Kathy, in the photo with us above, were in Naples and got a wild hair and took the Key West Express down and met us when we were at Dante's weekend before last. We spent a worldwind two days with them before they blasted back to their home in Missouri to prepare for a wild weekend on their boat at Lake of the Ozarks for Memorial weekend.

  We barely got two days rest and the folks in the photo above swooped down upon us, again on the Key West Express, only this time from Englewood, and we spent the day at Dante's and the night on Duval Street, before they flew out of town in a rental car, back to Englewood, Florida. Jill and Shelley, along with Rich, were lots of fun and hard to keep up with.
  We still have one currently outstanding issue concerning projects on the boat, and that being getting our SeaDek pads replaced on our cockpit steps. I keep getting promises from Castaway Customs that our pads are "on the way", but at some point, promises run out and words need to turn into actions. October will be two years since I started trying to get this done. Tyler, at Castaway Customs was down here in March to measure for the pads. It would be hard to believe he would take the time to come by and do the measuring if he won't find the time to cut the pads and ship them. We remain patient. For now.
  We're looking for a weather window to make another run to the Dry Tortugas, and we may have one this upcoming weekend, but economics are also playing a part. Our fuel tanks are a bit low, and not only do we need to fill them up to make the trip, we'll have to fill them back up when we return in order to be ready if we have to beat feet out of here to avoid a storm if we choose to.
  I've figured that to move Swing Set, even at a slow 9 m.p.h., costs about $1000 per 150 miles, give or take. That's within our budget, but if you've been following us for the last few months, you know we have had some pretty big expenditures since our new generator purchase back in December. One thing we've been able to do is just stay put and let our finances catch up to our budget if we get a little lopsided.
  The other day we finished up some swordfish steaks we obtained from some local commercial fishermen, some of the best eating we've had onboard the boat, outside of the fresh lobster we acquired in The Bahamas. We were contemplating how we were going to get some more fresh seafood, at a reasonable price, when one of our boat neighbors came over with a big bag of fresh Mahi Mahi, (Dolphin, the fish, if you don't know.), a gift to us for looking after some work on his boat while he was gone for a few weeks.
  You might notice I keep using the word "acquire", because it would appear that us fishing for any of this fresh seafood seems to be out of the question. We like acquiring.
  We deep fried the Mahi in a beer batter, using our Magna grill, keeping the grease and smell outside. Coupled with a salad and some macaroni and cheese, we had a feast last Sunday night when we got back from a day "at the beach" in our dinghy. Leftovers provided us with some great fish tacos at the end of our Memorial Day weekend last night.
  Some other boat neighbors left yesterday to head up the coast for the summer, saying they'll miss us, but will return next winter. We might be here, it's hard to say.
  Some other boat neighbors are heading out in a week or so to return to Fort Myers indefinitely. They've been fun and we'll miss them, but they like Key West and we think they'll be back occasionally, having easy access to the Key West Express.
  It's nice having good dock neighbors, but it's hell having bad ones. But unlike a house or condo, when we get boat neighbors we'd rather do without, we know that sooner or later, either they will leave, or we have the option to leave too, if we want.
  Like I told our neighbors who left yesterday, "Sometimes the best feeling one can have about neighbors, is ambivalence". If you've ever had a neighbor that you can't stand, you know what I mean.

The Sound Of Music

    Our friend Jackie came for a whirlwind two day visit a couple of weeks ago. She drove down from Naples where she is going to establish residence there and start life anew after leaving Missouri.
  We were able to get out on the dinghy before a pretty good storm blew up on us, but overnight the skies cleared up so we could spend the afternoon in the pool at Dante's. We needed quite a bit of rest after she left on Monday morning, something that seems to be required after all of our friends leave us.
  The last time we had Swing Set out, we discovered that our stereo was not working properly. I fiddled around with the wiring, (never a good idea), and got one part of the problem fixed, but then we discovered another one.
  We know a local marine electrician, Bill deSeve, owner of Key West Marine Electronics, and he found time to come to the boat and diagnose our problem.
  Our stereo system is not that old, having been installed just four or five years ago, but Bill found that not only one of our new speakers was toast, our amplifier was also not operating correctly. Bill ordered a new amp and a new set of speakers and within a week he was back to install our new components.
  We all left the boat so soon after Bill had completed his work, we didn't try everything out once it was all buttoned up. We came back to the boat after running some errands and we found that our outside speakers were not putting out enough sound.
  Bill came back within a few days and very reluctantly revealed to us that the head unit on our Clarion stereo was also bad, having been affected by the faulty amplifier.
  Now most people would have suspected something fishy, but we've spent enough time with Bill that doubting his word or ability was out of the question. We told him to order us a new head unit if he would promise to install it as soon as it came in. That was last Thursday and today our stereo is installed and everything is working great.
  Bill was very fair with his labor charges due to the trouble he had diagnosing the problem, but solving a problem is much harder to due when more than one component of a system is faulty.
  The marine environment is tough on electronics, even though our stereo is housed in the salon. We expected better longevity from our stereo system, but it's hard to predict how long things are going to last on a boat.
  One the upside, we have a better marine amplifier, and our receiver is now Bluetooth compatible, so we can play our music from our iPad or iPhone from anywhere on our near the boat. I can't wait to lounge on a raft behind the boat at anchorage and control the music from my iPhone. I suppose our stereo nut friends back in Missouri already have been doing such a thing, but we're always late catching up on trends like this.
  We discussed some other projects with Bill before he left the boat, but we have one more item to address on the boat before we take a break from spending, if we can, and that is to install our new SeaDek pads on the outside stairs from the cockpit.
  We have been promised to obtain our new pads from Castaway Customs by the weekend, but I'm not holding my breath. It's been two years since we first approached the subject of getting new pads from Castaway Customs, the areas authorized SeaDek dealer.
  I hope I have some good news about it for our next blog.
  The weather was been very windy lately and we didn't get to go out in the dinghy, or the boat, for over a week. Now it's been raining and it looks like it'll be yet another week before we can leave the dock in any boat.
  Besides the work we've been doing on the boat, we started a Cruisers Network on Facebook for the residents and visitors to the marina. You can check out the open group at Stock Island Marina Village Cruisers Network on Facebook. We have fifty members so far, but it's hard getting it off of the ground. Our intention is for it to take the place of a VHF Cruisers Network, which there wasn't one here at Stock Island Marina Village.
  We also want to take another trip over to Fort Jefferson when we can get a weather window, but first we might get some more visitors weekend after next and I have a notion that we better get prepared for them. They'll arrive like a tornado and go out like one too!

When At First You Don't Succeed...

  Our new Bimini Top and enclosure was sent to us in one box via UPS just about one month after ordering it from The Boatswain's Locker in Jacksonville, Florida. On the day it came we stripped off the old canvas, Rosie waxed the stainless bows, then we both went to work assembling the new top and curtains, following some very good instructions that came with the top.
  Because the rear curtains ride in a track, we inserted them first, and then went around the sides toward the front, after loosening the bows as much as possible. Every part was marked and every section fit perfectly. I used some tie down straps to pull the front of the enclosure down to "stretch" the top, and then we let everything hang for a few days to get the kinks out before attempting to install the Lift-the-Dot fasteners.
  A "care kit" came with the package, consisting of all new snaps and pins, and various other snap fasteners, all stainless steel and of good quality. We were sent a Lift-the-Dot cutting tool, along with a UPS prepaid box to send the tool back when we were done with it.

  Here's the new top once the installation was complete. I measured and measured before installing the first snap at the front, then worked my way around, adjusting the tie down straps that I had putting tension on the curtains, and pulling them in line around the sides. The cutting tool was easy to use; I can't imagine trying to make those holes for the fasteners with a punch and knife. It took over three hours to install the forty fasteners, but everything is straight and the top looks great.
  We also had a new sunscreen made for the windshield, but I didn't get around to installing it for a couple of days. When I laid it out, I found it to be too short. It didn't cover the existing snaps from top to bottom.
  I let the sun bake the material for four days before trying to install the snaps. The material did stretch a bit, but not enough. I installed the snaps in the proper positions, and still tried to stretch the sunscreen to cover the snaps on the boat. I finally decided that further attempts were only going to tear the material, so I called the company.
  Boatswain's Locker arranged to have the screen picked up here at the marina by UPS. I packaged it and it was picked up the next day.
  I got called a day after that and was told that they didn't put snaps on the top of the sunscreens they made, but ours did have them and that's why it didn't fit. I apologized, but had to plead innocence because our screen did have snaps at the top, and how was I to know?
  I was told not to worry, they had already made a new screen and it would be on the way later that day, no charge. They were going to add a couple of inches to the height of the new screen so it would fit our application. I haven't picked up the package yet, as it came over the weekend. I'll post a picture when we get it put on.
  I wish the story about getting our dinette upholstered was as good. The ending is good, but there were some speed bumps along the way.
  I've already told the story about starting with Geslin Sailmakers, and then taking the first section over to All Keys Canvas when Geslin told us that they couldn't do the work.
  Initially, we were getting ready to send the dinette framing to The Boatswain's Locker to have them recover the two pieces, but I made a last ditch effort to find a local shop. The owner of All Keys Canvas came right away to give us an estimate, and he really turned on the charm.
  His estimate was one third the cost of Geslin, and he promised to have both pieces done within a week once he started on them, doing one at a time so we would have a place to sit for our meals. One week later, as promised, he came with a helper and picked up the first piece to begin the work.
  Five days later I get a call from the owner, saying he was having trouble fitting some pieces together, and could I come by and give him some idea how to do it? I went right over there and discovered that a piece wouldn't fit in the space provided because he didn't attach the upholstery properly in the other piece, so that the two would fit. When I started to tell him what he did wrong, he became belligerent and said that he had been "doing this work for many years" and "it was not his first rodeo".
  Then, when I learned that there was some essential trim that he was going to omit, I had to tell him how to do that too, only because he actually asked, even after complaining about me telling him how to do what he had asked me over there in the first place about.
  I explained how to do the trim, but I popped in there the next day to see how he had "fixed" everything, and I discovered him putting some screws through the trim, totally botching the job. I told him that if would just cover some soft foam, so I could stuff it into the slot provided, I'd just finish that part myself.
  He told me to come on Tuesday to pick up the piece as he would have it done by then, which was eight days on the first piece alone, but he added that he couldn't begin the work on the second section as he was "too busy". We were able to borrow our neighbors Jeep to retrieve the first section.
  When I went to his shop, he had done the direct opposite of what I had asked, and he had covered a piece of electrical wire with material, which we all know is not "soft foam", and is in fact made up of very hard copper wire, and this is what I was supposed to stuff into a much smaller groove to trim out the job. The look on the guys face when he told me about the copper electrical cord was if to dare me to say a word about it, so I didn't, but I still tried to pin him down as to when could deign it possible to cover our other section.
  He wouldn't commit to a time, knowing he had us over a barrel, and when I insisted on him giving us some time frame, he got indignant and said I was "in his grille", despite having never gotten within twenty feet of the fellow.
  After he begrudgingly agreed that I could call him in two weeks, we took the dinette section back to our boat where I spent two hours pulling staples out and fixing the shoddy work. I will say that the seams where straight and the stuffing was tight.
  Later that evening, we were at a party here at the marina when a witness to our exchange that day at the canvas shop made it a point to seek me out and commend me for keeping my cool, he saying that he wasn't sure if he could have done so in a similar situation.
  But we still needed to have the second half of our project completed and I didn't want to burn any bridges just yet.
  I had used some 3M 5200 adhesive to glue the hard wire trim in place, so once the glue set up and we installed the first dinette section, everything looked good once I got it screwed in place. I decided to appeal to some sense of pride to the owner of All Keys Canvas, so I called him to tell him how good the first section looked once installed, and when perhaps could I call him to arrange the work on the second section. It made me nearly sick to suck up to the jerk in that way, but ya do what ya gotta do.
  I could tell that he intended to keep putting me off, so I went to plan B. I always have a plan B.
  I contacted two more upholsterers, one in Key Largo, and one in Sugarloaf Key. The folks at Key Largo Canvas asked for pictures to make a bid. They knew the owner of All Keys Canvas and they offered their condolences to us for having had to deal with him.
  Meanwhile, I also called a direct competitor of All Keys Canvas, which is Oceanside Canvas in Sugarloaf Key. The owner just happened to be on the island, and came by within an hour and gave us a bid on the spot.
  We agreed on the price and the terms, and he came by again in a few days, had the piece for four days, and delivered and installed it last Friday.

  Here is the final result of our two month ordeal. All Keys Canvas did the section on the left, and Oceanside Canvas did the section on the right, copying the stitching on the first piece so they would match. The material also is exactly the same from Seaquest. We did use different foam in the seat bases. Rosie uses the smaller seat and wanted harder foam. I asked for foam not quite as stiff on the bigger section where I sit. Think of the story of The Three Bears. Can't wait for Goldilocks to visit.
  Even with leaving some money on the table at Geslin Sailmakers,  and even if I never go back to All Keys Canvas and get a small part of our deposit back, we're still way better off than if Geslin would have finished the work in the first place, saving nearly two thirds of what we would have paid.
  We had a beer or two with the owner of Geslin Sailmakers last Saturday night, and we still like him, and we get the feeling he likes us. However, the owner of All Keys Canvas is on a certain other list of mine, and I'll do whatever I can to run him out of business. He didn't uphold his part of the bargain and his word is worthless.
  For the good part, we not only have The Boatswain's Locker to make certain parts for our Sea Ray if we want factory grade stuff, we have a local canvas maker in Oceanside Canvas to fall back on when we need some special projects done, which on an eighteen year old boat, there will always be things to do.
  We have a current project going on now as our amplifier on our stereo system has had a channel "go out". We had Bill from Key West Electronics come to the boat last week to diagnose the problem, which took about two hours. Bill found us an identical amplifier online at Best Buy and will be back in a day or two to install it. Yes, I could have installed a new amp, but I don't think it's fair to only hire folks to do the hard parts, when especially the performance or warranty of anything electronic installed is dependent on doing it properly.
  As I had mentioned, we need to install our new sunscreen and we're still waiting to hear from Tyler Shealey at Castaway Customs about getting our new Sea Dek step pads. Once these two things are finished, we're taking a break to recover from the financial impact of all of these recent expenses.
  We can then get back to focusing on waxing the boat and having fun, which you can bet we still make time for fun. In fact, a friend just contacted us last night about popping in for a couple days as she will be in southern Florida and wants to see us. Perfect timing.

A Milestone

  Starting with the good stuff about living here in Key West on our boat; the picture is from one of our afternoons on the dinghy at the Boca Chica sandbar. No, we aren't trying to rig up a sail for the dinghy, we just use the umbrella for shade when Holly gets too hot.
  Today marks exactly two years since we moved onto Swing Set full time. If you've been reading our blog this whole time you know that for the most part it's been a very positive experience and we wouldn't trade the last two years for anything. Even though we are staying put here at Stock Island Marina Village for a while, there are still fun things to do, and side trips to make, but we have some outstanding projects going on and we want to clear them up before we take a trip to Fort Jefferson in a few weeks.
 

  Rats. I think we have beat them. I mentioned in the last post about finding some rat poop in our cockpit. I searched online and found some rat guards made in China, ranging from $60 to $75. Too much for us to spend. We wanted four of them, so I spent one sleepless night thinking about how to make some.
  I tried making some plastic circles cut from some Tupperware containers, but the material was too brittle and cracked when I was trying to cut them. I even considered cutting some circles out of a discarded Tidy Cat container, but the circles would have been too small to be effective. Going through the trash bins around the marina was a humbling experience, but I've had lots of those.
  Rosie and I took a trip to Home Depot on the Zuma. I knew the basic design I was going to use, but I had to find something to use for the disks. We weren't in the store two minutes when I saw these lids to five gallon buckets stacked up next to the buckets. Bingo!
  Then we went to the plumbing department and I found some 3/4" PVC pipe connection fittings and tossed them into our basket, and out the door we went.
  Back at the boat, I drilled a one inch hole into the middle of each lid, and then sandwiched the lid between each fitting. The resulting tube is about four inches long, and this tube prevents the lid from tilting onto our dock line. As you can see in the picture, I tied a knot on either end of where I wanted the guard to sit. The disks spin, so when a rat tries to climb over the guard, the guard spins and spits the rat off into the water. Or so it is supposed to work.
  For the power cords and water line, I put three holes adjacent to the tube on the guard that I installed on our stern. I made a slit from the edge of this guard towards these holes, and then slipped the water hose and power cords into the middle of the guard. This way we can easily slip the water hose and power cords out for when we undo them for a cruise. This disk won't spin as easily as the rest, but we're hoping that any rat using this particular entry point will be lazy and just turn around at the obstruction.
  My buddy James says that our boat is too close to the dock, but the rats that have been spotted aren't St. Louis sized, (think beaver), plus for this picture and my installation the boat was pushed against the dock. We keep Swing Set out from the dock more than this typically.
  We did put a cheapo rat trap in the cockpit, one that Holly can't get into, but we haven't seen anymore rat poop. One of our boat neighbors put some traps out and they did catch one rat that was feasting on their dogs food, inside their boat. I think they keep their salon door closed at night now.

  A few days ago we spied these two manatees in the harbour. I say they were "frolicking", but one has to understand that there is a very fine line between when a manatee is frolicking, and when a manatee is doing absolutely nothing.
  We considered putting Holly on their backs for a photo op, but we're sure the act would have been considered a manatee molestation of some sort.
  Lots of scars and missing hunks on the larger one. We read that the bone structure in the flipper of the manatee is similar to the bone structure in a human. Considering some of the humans we have met over the years, I can see how that is true. If you zoom in on the picture, you can actually discern five fingernails on the ends of their flippers. No lie.
  We've been to a few mooring fields and anchorages over the last two years that have a VHF Cruisers Net. At a specified time each morning, everyone gets on their VHF on a dedicated channel and discusses old business, new business, who just came in, who is planning leaving, things for sale, and help wanted, etc. Some times the three people tuned into a net like this can take a whole five minutes to go through the list.
  Stock Island Marina Village has a website and a Facebook page, but I had inquired about using the SIMV Facebook page for a cruisers network, but it was suggested that we just start a group of our own. So we did.
  We launched a Stock Island Marina Village Cruisers Network last weekend. We distributed some flyers, sent some requests out to folks we knew, and asked everyone to spread the word. The group is open, so posting is easy. There are 27 members so far, but not too much activity yet. Wait until someone posts the first really controversial subject and then watch out!
We sent invitations for all of the marina staff to join but so far only one has. That's a bit of a disappointment. We view the group as an opportunity for the marina to dispel rumors or bad information. Like everything else, we'll see how it goes.
  Our dinette is on the second go around on the matter of getting recovered. All Keys Canvas has the first section and we hope to get it back before weeks end, then they'll take the second section and perhaps by the end of next week we'll have a nice newly upholstered dinette to sit on. This is our hope.
  Tyler Shealey at Castaway Customs came to the boat a couple of weeks ago and measured for new SeaDek pads for our stairs on Swing Set. It appears that the old pads started curling up on the edges because they are black, and the black was absorbing the heat and making them curl. Tyler is promising new pads that will be brown and cream colored to resembling a teak and holly combo. We'll post pictures when we get them installed. Tyler says the new pads are on him.
  Our new bimini top and Stratoglass enclosure should be shipped to us in a few days. I'll have to install the Lift-the-Dot snaps. Boatswain's Locker will provide the tool so I can install the snaps, and I'll have to return the tool to them when I'm done. I'm a little nervous about not only how everything will fit, but also about my ability to install the snaps. You can be sure there will be pictures of the final product. Either that, or a nice obituary after I kill myself after I mess the whole thing up.
  Our friends, Gary and Judy, who live in the St. Louis area and also have a condo in Cape Coral, are down for a few days. They're staying on a boat over at Oceanside Marina, and we have a mission to show them around Stock Island instead of hitting the regular places downtown. We've already been to Hogfish and the Rusty Anchor, two of our favorites.
  Since my last post, I had a reader send an email, admitting that he had only read a couple of the recent blog posts, but he wanted to learn how we started out boating, and what prompted us to embark on our adventures. Really? I guess I could have re-written everything I've posted for the last two and a half years, but instead I politely suggested that he just go to the blog and start reading it at the beginning. Get back to me if you have any questions. We'll be here.

 

Having Other People Do Things For You Is A Lot Of Work Sometimes

  Let's start with some fun stuff! In the picture above is James and Marny with us at Turtle Kraals last week. James and Marny are friends we met at Lake of the Ozarks late in the last century. We haven't seen them since we left St. Louis almost two years ago. They came down with their son Alex on the Key West Express, a ferry that operates from Fort Meyers, where they had been visiting Gary and Judy, our mutual friends in Cape Coral.
  The weather was great last week and we were able to spend time at Dante's pool and get Swing Set out of her slip two days in a row. We took a 34 mile route one day out around the western end of Key West to show James and Marny downtown from the water, and then we cruised out to Sand Key Light where we saw the sunken Tug Boat Tilly on the way.
  There really wasn't much to see of Tilly, she's in thirty-five feet of water and only the light mast is sticking above the waterline. There is a danger buoy in place and Active Captain already has the spot marked on our Garmin Bluechart Mobile chart. I think they should just send divers down and cut off the super structure and let it fall, providing a cool diving spot, yet keeping her well below the surface so it's not an obstacle. The DEP will probably "study" the situation for a couple of years.
  We had another day out on Swing Set with James and Marny on the following day, but we mostly hung on the hook and enjoyed the sun, something they haven't been able to do back in St. Louis. We put Swing Set on plane for a bit to see if she was still running good, and she is, however this report most likely will jinx everything. "Never brag about your boat" is an adage I usually adhere to, but I also like to tempt fate.
  Rosie and I also found time last week to run by Geslin Sailmakers where our dinette, or at least half of it, was being re-upholstered, but it was closed and no one was around. This was not a real big surprise as it was the morning after St. Patty's Day, and this is Key West. But we also buzzed by there on Friday and was met again with a dark shop and no one home. Oh oh.
  I called Peter, the owner, on Monday morning to tell him we'd like to come by and see how the work was coming along. When he got back to us he told us he'd like for us to come by "for a chat". Oh oh.
  We entered the shop and there was our dinette section, placed nice and neat on a table, still only half finished, apparently nothing having been done on it since Peter's assistant took off. Three weeks had gone by and only the base of the seat had been upholstered, and upon closer inspection, Rosie and I were both not happy with what had been done so far.
  Peter was very nice and offered to refund our substantial deposit and return what is left of our dinette seat. We discussed the possibility of giving him more time, but in the end we decided to take our money back and go elsewhere to have the work completed.

  We couldn't take the dinette parts back on the scooter, so Peter delivered them the next day and I put them back in place, covering the undone section with three towels and fastening them in place with bungee cords. This is not a look we are going for, but at least we have our seating back while we plot out our next course of action.
  Before we had even gotten our dinette section back, I had contacted Boatswain's Locker, the folks who are making our Bimini top. Karina at Boatswain's Locker promised to make some inquiries at Sea Ray about getting new "skins" for our seats, plus see about what other options we had available to us.
  I also contacted another marine upholsterer in Key West that we saw advertised on a Marine Fabricators Association website, but they apparently are out of business.
  Karina got back with us in short order with some bad news. Sea Ray only keeps the patterns for upholstery for seven years and then destroys them! Who knows any boats less than seven years old that needs new upholstery? One way to sell new boats is to make it hard to restore old boats, I guess.
  The good news that Karina had was that they could recover our seats if we sent them up to their facility in Jacksonville, FL. We're looking into that option, but meanwhile, I again reached out to another shop locally, All Keys Canvas, located here on Stock Island.
  Dave Cutler from All Keys Canvas came by yesterday and is working up a quote. His shop has been in business since the 1950's. I hope we can get a fair quote from him to avoid shipping our dinette seats up to Jacksonville. My worst fear is that we lose the seats altogether and I have to have someone fabricate them from scratch.
  On the bright side, Boatswain's Locker is going to make a new sunscreen for our windshield at one third of the cost of what Geslin was going to charge, not to mention that our early dealings with Geslin is how we wound up contacting Boatswain's Locker in the first place, again saving a lot of money on a new Bimini and enclosure.
  I would still recommend Geslin Sailmakers for most canvas work, particularly sails, because Peter really is a nice guy and I thing he is honest. Sometimes honesty is the best thing to have. He's eating the cost of our materials, saying he'll use the vinyl on a future walk-in job. No hard feelings from us.
  I do want to mention that our friend James (who visited last week) has a fledgling canvas business he has started in the St. Louis area, Marine Canvas Solutions. Google it our look for it on Facebook. Admittedly James is "learning as he is going", but his prices reflect that, and he is somewhat of a perfectionist. Have him do some work for you while his prices are low!
  A dock neighbor has spotted a rat on his boat the other night, and since then, we have found rat poop in our cockpit. Rats are around boats, and have been for thousands of years, but not on our boat.
  We don't suspect that they have gotten inside, just nosing around outside, checking on our trash can, etc., but we're taking an offensive approach.
  First, no more "garbage" gets placed in the trash can outside. We'll only put beer cans and potty pads from Holly in there. (It seems like that is the only thing ever in there anyway.) Secondly, I'm putting out some traps, and we've asked the marina to do the same. We won't use poison on the boat due to Holly being around. I'm also going to make some rat guards for our dock lines, and have been thinking about a good way to make them.
  Rat guards are on the mooring lines of all big ships, but they can be found for small boats, but are expensive. Once I make ours I'll post a picture of the finished product. Rats can sink a ship, large or small, so we'll launch an all out effort to prevent them.
  We had great weather last weekend and explored some new areas in the dinghy. We took a looksee at the Harbour Keys just north of here and found a very nice pristine beach area, it being a beach only at low tide. Rosie and I were walking around on it when a two foot long shark came snooping by. It was funny watching Rosie high stepping it back to the dinghy like she was being chased by Jaws. Propriety prevents me from posting a picture of the episode.
  We also spent the day Sunday at the Boca Chica sandbar where we met a few folks, some down on vacation, and some locals too. The Boca Chica sandbar is close for us and we usually find someone to share a beer with.
  Some fierce winds blew in here on Tuesday night and we are getting rocked around here at the dock. Temperatures even dipped into the mid 60's yesterday and we made a big ol' pot of chicken noodle soup from a recipe I've had from my paternal grandmother for years and years. It was a good day for soup, of which you don't get many of, here in Key West.

Zoomin' On The Zuma!

  Here's Rosie standing next to our new Yamaha 125cc Zuma, the 15th motorcycle I've ever owned, and even though it's technically a scooter, it belongs on the list of motorcycles. You Harley riders will just have to live with that.
  Even though a better deal could have been made on a larger used bike of some kind, once you begin to learn the ins and outs of scooter parking here in Key West, you can quickly see that smaller is better. If you can't find a secure place to lock your ride to a post or rack with a cable, you won't have it long, and the Zuma is the most stolen scooter in the Keys, mainly because it's the most popular.
  Being a popular model, it will make selling it that much easier when or if the time comes to go somewhere else, but in a pinch we can stick this small vehicle in the cockpit for a trip to another marina or area. For the time being, we have the Zuma locked up next to our Yuba Boda Boda. I remember when I only knew about Schwinns and Chevy's.
 

  Speaking of models, here's one sittin' on our Zuma. Notice how the girl in the background can't keep her eyes off of this stylish creature? Must be the shorts.
  Even though we've been doing a good job of getting around the island on our bicycle, the marina shuttle, and other public transportation (with little success), we still felt limited in where and when we wanted to go. When we were traveling constantly, we just dealt with that, but since we've decided to stay put for a while there is no reason to retrict ourselves so much.
  Other things are happening too. We contracted with a local sailmaker and upholsterer to recover our dinette and to make a new windscreen cover. The dinette had some major surgery some years ago in St. Louis, but we tried to marry a new cloth seating area with the still good looking vinyl around the edges of both seats and we began to see the vinyl start to fail about a year ago. It was time.
  We did have a setback yesterday. Peter Goldsmith, the owner of Geslin Sailmakers, came by yesterday to tell us that the woman he had down here from Maine to help him with some of his upholstery work has left the building, so to speak.
  It turns out that she had come down with a major case of the Keys Disease, a malady that attacks many of the transients that arrive here. The sickness causes people to miss work, or just quit work altogether, especially if the weather is good and the fish are biting. It also affects the liver.
  Peter already has a helper lined up and he has assured us that we'll get our dinette back in one piece in a reasonable amount of time. In Key West, the term "reasonable" has a broad definition. At the core here is that we like Peter, and for that he's going to get a fair amount of latitude from us. This is why I always keep a pleasant demeanor about me. For the latitude.
  We've been also contemplating getting a new Bimini top and enclosure made, and even mentioned it to Peter, but we figured we'd have to wait until next year to address it, given the expense of the new generator, the current upholstery work, and of course the much needed Zuma scooter. But I got curious one day and started looking into a replacement top and enclosure made by the company that made the top in the first place for Sea Ray.
  I was searching the Internet and found outfits that will arrange to have a new top and other "factory made" canvas made, once you give them a hull identification number, but some of these outfits are in varying locations across the U.S., so I figured there had to be a main factory where they had the work done. It was easy to find out.
  Our 18 year old original top still has the tag attached to it with the name "Boatswain's Locker" and a phone number. Yep. Number was still in service and a very nice girl took my call and assured me that they were still in business here in south Florida. I gave her our hull identification number and she told me exactly what came with our Sea Ray from the factory, made right there at their facility.
  Within a day I had a bid back, at less than half of what I thought it would cost us. They quoted us a price that reflected a 30% discount and free shipping if we ordered everything this month. Sunbrella and Seamark (lined material for the top) materials with Gortex thread, lightly smoked Stratoglas for the windows, along with better zippers than original and new Lift the Dot snaps, with shipping, were quoted at less than six grand. We can't possibly have a new top and enclosure made from a local canvas maker. Even Peter agreed.
  We sent Boatswain's Locker a VISA deposit and they sent a sample so we could see the colors of the canvas and the Stratoglas. We should have it by the middle of April.
  I've also surrendered in the war of the barnacles, at least for now. The other day I spent four hours under the boat cleaning the bottom and even if you remove the nagging feeling that you're about to be lunch for any lurking creature that comes near, scraping is scraping, whether it's above water or not, and it's not a good endeavor for anyone with joint issues. And I have joint issues.
  A fella just happened to be scrubbing the bottom of a 57 foot sailboat on our dock and I asked him for a card and a ballpark quote. The price I got was for $2.75 per foot, which is under $120 bucks for our boat. That would be for a once a month job and I don't have to get my toes wet. Sign us up. We spend more than that on a night out, and I don't have to worry about drowning or getting eaten by shark.

  We had some storms come through southern Florida recently, and there was even tornadoes in the forecast. On the night of the storm pictured above, a boat a few slips over sustained some extensive lightening damage and I think I witnessed the strike first hand. At first I thought we had been struck ourselves.
  In addition, some of the dock boxes were blown off the docks and into the briny deep, which prompted me to have a discussion with Mark, our new dockmaster.
  My concern, as I presented it to Mark, was that the boxes were not attached to the docks by any method other than the weight of two bricks per box, and I want to see a more permanent method to attach them by the time hurricane season comes in another couple of months.
  I had mentioned this same thing to one of the staff when we first got here and was told that due to the fact that drilling into the concrete docks was not something the marina management wanted to consider, some new fangled brackets were being made just for this marina, and they were on their way. They must be on a slow truck.
  Mark has been slammed with issues since he started his job recently and prioritizing problems is, well, a problem, but the issue of the dock boxes are on his radar screen for sure.
  He mentioned that the current plan was to remove the boxes in the event of an approaching storm, but I countered with the fact that that solution was not only labor intensive when there would be other things to worry about if a hurricane is breathing down our necks, what about the contents of each box? The owners of boats may need the contents of the box that is assigned to their slip, especially if they want to store items in the box that they'd like to have off of the boat when a storm comes.
  We both agreed that making holes in the concrete is out, as eventually the holes will compromise the concrete in the way of cracking and such, so he mentioned using epoxy to glue the boxes down was another method being considered, but I asked him to also consider that using epoxy was not only expensive, but it would leave a mess if the box was ever to be moved if a boat owner wanted some flexibility in the location of the box. (I, for one, would like the box to be offset to the side of where it is now if we ever needed to park "bow in" at some point.) I think I've convinced him that using an epoxy is not a good idea.
  I've been around a lot of docks, and in areas of the country that are conducive to tornadoes and floods, and even had our own docks on the Meramec River for 20 years, so I know a little about mounting dock boxes and keeping docks, so I threw my idea out there.
  If I had my way, I'd use a twelve inch length of 2x4 inside each box on either end, with a hole drilled through one side of it (because the boxes sit on the edge of a skirting) to accommodate a 3/8" lag bolt, either stainless steel or galvanized, 5 or 6 inches long. Because the skirting surrounding the concrete decking is made of PVC "lumber", backed by thick treated framing under it, the two lag bolts only need to be drilled through the 2x4 in the box, then through the thin fiberglass of the box, through the PVC decking, and then into the thick framing of the dock. The 2x4s will keep the dockbox from tipping and breaking a hole in the bottom of the box, and using a 3/8" bolt will keep it from snapping off.
  The other issue is that the management here doesn't want to put any holes in the PVC decking. A couple of holes in the decking will be invisible, as will the method of attaching the boxes, but if one wanted to move a box and leave some holes exposed in the decking, those holes will be a lot better to have than a bunch of dock boxes flying around in a storm, and just yesterday they added two more bricks per box as a short term solution, I guess, so now each six foot dock box missile is armed with four bricks each. Could do some serious damage to a boat. Decking material is much cheaper to replace than a boat window.
  It was also actually mentioned that another solution would be to fill each box with water if a storm is coming to weight them down. Really? If removing the boxes, or filling them with water and bricks is the answer, if I was the owners here I'd just sell them back to the supplier and get my money back because the boxes will be of no use to the boat owners when they really need them, and that's to put belongings in when a storm comes, and have access to them immediately after.
 I hope I can get someone to seriously consider my idea to mount these boxes, and I'm going to be beating that drum whenever I can, but I'm the "new guy", and the new guy never knows anything.
  That's why it was so hard at the beer factory to get an idea across, because the turnover in junior management was so frequent, the senior beer brewers were still only "new guys" to them and they had to constantly prove themselves to college age kids, or otherwise older brewmasters with "stuck in a rut" ideas.
  So why do I care? Because I hate to see anyone waste money. Somebody here needs to do a cost analysis, in terms of materials and labor, plus any added liability if they fail to prevent damage to an expensive yacht due to a flying dock box. Seems like a no brainer to me. Maybe this is a military installation and money is no object.

  Progress is seen everyday here at the marina, though. Look at the picture of this 200+ foot dive boat that is here for a stay! There really is no other marinas in the area that can accommodate a boat of this size, and the piers at Mallory Square are strictly for the big cruise ships.
  Otherwise, we had a visit with some folks following the blog. They don't have a boat yet and they wanted to discuss some of their options for when they go looking. Hope we gave them some ideas, and dispelled some others.
  Our blog is not only inspiring non-boat owners, some friends back home on the Mississippi are beginning plans to retire and come down this way in 14 months or so, and thanked us for being their inspiration. That makes us feel good.
  What doesn't make us feel good is folks who resent the fact that we are retired down here enjoying great weather and they are still working and dealing with the cold and snow. We paid our dues. Don't be hatin'.

The Red Tug Boat Is Gone, Really Gone

  I'm starting this post with a picture that was taken by "Ferd" when the Fenton gang was down here a couple of weeks ago, just because we like the photo so much.
  Ferd is Sharon's boyfriend and Sharon is the pretty woman smiling between Rosie and I when we spent the afternoon at Schooner's Wharf.
  Now, I'm not a reporter, so I don't have to research the facts, and I won't because then this becomes work and I'm not looking for more work. But the facts, as I know them, about the red tug boat that I wrote about a couple of blogs ago, is that we woke up one day and Tilly was being escorted out of the channel into Safe Harbor, as promised, one month after it came here.
  The boat, when we first saw it, was named "Tilly" and if you Google "Tug Tilly", you'll find lots of stories about it, but Tilly was tied next to a sea wall at the marina next door, and mangroves had taken root in the barnacles that had grown up to a foot thick at the waterline.
  As I have stated before, one morning we found "Tilly" tied up just a few yards away from where we first saw her, at a T-head on F dock here at Stock Island Marina Village.
  News reports say that the boat had no engines, and that some local shrimpers helped the owner float that boat to the dock here, and the staff member who "checked the boat in" had been called and told that an 85 foot motor yacht was coming into the marina. There was some cardboard hand made signs in the pilothouse windows advertising Tilly as having a new name, "Sea Gypsy". I can only assume that the reservation made for this vessel was made under the new name.
  The staff member told me first hand that he took cash for the slip rental for one month, which for a boat this size would have been over two thousand dollars. I can only assume that the money was taken without seeing the boat. I assume this because SIMV doesn't have a policy requiring vessel owners to provide proof of ownership, registration, insurance, or anything else when reservations are made. Maybe they need to rethink that.
  So, having paid up front for a month's rent, the marina allowed the boat to stay, but the owner was told that when one month was up, he had to go. The marina manager told me this first hand too.
  The boat owner, soon after he arrived, made an attempt to bring homeless folks onto the boat to start a commune of sorts, but marina policy doesn't allow subleasing a vessel once it is here, so a stop was put to folks going onboard.
  You saw the pictures of the little outboards attached to the stern of Tilly, but I'm not sure how the conversations went with the owner and the new dockmaster, but the owner had some things to say in the media that don't ring true to me in regard to how he was "made to leave" the marina.
  One thing I know is that if the marina doesn't take your rent money, you have to leave, and my personal belief is that if the marina wants you out, you're out. Period.
  Another news story says that the owner was duped into buying the boat, but I don't see how this is a problem for the marina here, but think about it from this perspective; let's say a guest comes to your house, under false pretenses or not, and decides to stay the night, or a week, or a month. Maybe forever. Don't you have a right to kick the person out?
  What if someone parks a camper in your front yard, likes the view, and decides to stay a while, rent free. If the camper fails to start, do you have to allow this person to stay until he decides to repair the camper so it can be driven away under its own power?
  Once Tilly was out of the channel into Safe Harbor, an anchor was set (so I've heard), but the anchor dragged and the boat drifted west, endangering other vessels, especially at night because no running lights were on the boat.
  Various tales have been told about how the boat sank, but sink it did, in 35 feet of water, inside the reef near Sand Key.
  There is a lot of finger pointing going on, but the marina is keeping mum. Probably best that they do, because the boat owner just looks like an idiot in the videos and news stories that we have been seeing.
  Too bad the boat had to sink before the boat owner was able to fill it full of ex-patriots and head to Cuba to escape this horrible country, but for our part, we hope SIMV (Stock Island Marina Village) is not held to blame for any part of this fiasco. The Coast Guard has issued their stance as being that "the sole responsibility of a vessel is that of the owner, floating or not".
  Estimates for salvaging Tilly and removing it from the sea bottom are being reported as being $500,000 or more. I don't think the owner has that kind of money, or any money for that matter.
  We have contracted with a nearby sail making shop, Geslin Sailmakers, to re-upholster our dinette, and to make a new sun screen for the windshield on Swing Set. I'll be letting you know how that goes.
  We also had the seals, flush ball, flush cartridges, and shafts replaced on both of our toilets. Perry, the Head Honcho, came on the day he promised to come, and did the work in just under two hours. It's work I've done before, but I wanted to establish a business relationship with Perry so that when we have that real nasty job come up that I cannot, or will not do, Perry will already know us and he'll come to the rescue.
  Perry wouldn't take any money on the day the job was done, and we saw him a few days later and asked to get a bill. We did get the bill and, as promised, he only charged us for one hour labor, and at a reduced "local rate". His price for parts was a tad more than I found them for online, but try to get a computer to fix your toilet when it breaks.
  So far we have a good relationship here in Key West with Key West Engines for our main engines, Mark's Diesel of the Keys for our generator, an electrician, a small instrument technician, a canvas shop, and an authorized Sealand dealer in the Head Honcho. We are also becoming familiar at the local bars and restaurants. No doubt, right?
  We were in Hogfish last weekend and a woman we knew from years ago came by our table and we all recognized each other immediately. We hadn't seen her in over ten years and it was a pleasant surprise. She had a friend with her who is a local cop and he told me to drop his name if I ever got into trouble. This is invaluable networking!
  Last week we were contacted by one of our blog readers who were staying in their boat in Marathon. Jack and his wife Pat wanted to take the Lower Keys Transit System and come for a visit, so we spent a couple of hours with them onboard Swing Set. They're leaving their boat in Fort Meyers for the summer and going back to Arizona for a while, and then making the trip over to The Bahamas next winter and wanted some first hand advice about it. I hope they got it.
  Also last weekend we got a call from some friends that were down in Jupiter to see the Cardinals in a spring training game, and decided to drive down to Key West for a couple of days. Mike and Sherry were just here in November for a week and here we got to see them again! What a great surprise that was. Even better was them stopping by on their way out of town to drop off the beer they didn't drink while they were here. Somebody pinch me.
  Yesterday we got another visit from some friends that were also just here in October and were in for the afternoon aboard a cruise ship that was in port for the day as part of the "Kid Rock Cruise".

  On the left is Renee and Jeff, who are friends of Jeff and Sandy next to them. Jeff and Sandy are friends from LaGrange, KY, but we know them from boating up on the Mississippi. We took this picture at the Lazy Gecko, just one of the stops we made downtown on a too short visit by Jeff and Sandy. Always good to see them.
  Rosie and I have been discussing our options, and we became increasingly convinced that Key West, and Stock Island Marina Village will become our home for the foreseeable future, so we decided to get a small scooter to get around on the island.
  Scooter parking is free anywhere around here, and it seems like everyone has a scooter. We went to the local Yamaha dealer and ordered a new Zuma 125. It should be here by this weekend. It's still small enough to stick on the boat if we want to go somewhere else, but it's also a best seller, so we shouldn't have any trouble unloading it in the future if we want to. I'll show you pictures when we get it. We already bought helmets, not something that folks wear down here, but we might value what little brains we have more than the other people down here do.

  I'm closing out the blog with another photo taken by Robert "Ferd" Frank. It's a picture of "Coconut Row", which is the south pier at SIMV. Ferd took some other photos on his visit to Key West and you can see them on his website, ferdworks.photoshelter.com.