Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Key West was all decked out in her nautical finest for the annual Race Week Regatta when we arrived there last Friday. Boats of all different classes, accompanied by sailors of all different nationalities and tongues, clogged the downtown marinas. We docked at the aging Oceanside Marina on adjacent Stock Island as all the slots in Key West were filled early by the international sailing crews.

Cousins Jim and Sandra Smith arrived Sunday afternoon, came aboard, stowed their gear, listened to the safety spiel and were ready for the adventure. Weather reports for the next two days were for moderately high winds and 4 to 5 foot seas -- an uncomfortable combination for any mariner. We did the smart thing and postponed our little cruise in favor of shore excursions til the weather gods smiled again. That night we drove into the thick of the mischief that is Key West and took a stroll through the neighborhood. We saw it all -- cats and fiery hoops, musicians and artists, roosters and dogs, the ridiculous and the sublime. For dinner, the Smiths chose the upscale Bagatelle Restaurant to treat us as it was our 29th anniversary. Imagine that! DInner was delish, with seafood for all, but the waiter -- oh, my! Clifford apparently took a shine to us and between serving courses would drop by to tell a joke. As the dinner progressed the jokes became more and more risqué, until, as they say, the sailors blushed. Shame on you, Clifford!

The next day the four of us did the tourist thing well and were glad that we did. We admired the gardens of West Martello Tower - an old fort built for use during the civil war but never operational that now houses a garden filled with a broad collection of native plants. Hemingway House was next and we had a very entertaining guide -- we were told not to sit on the cats, of which there are currently 47! Time to re-read all those fabulous novels, too. I've got Islands in the Stream on my Kindle right now, in fact.

Next, a super long walk in search of the perfect off-the-beaten-track spot for lunch that turned out to only be open for dinner, then the Mel Fisher Museum. Mel was a man with a dream! Twenty years of searching for the treasure mother lode left by the Spanish ship Atocha that went down in the Florida Straits in the 1500's. Mel and his crew persevered, brought up small amounts of gold and silver artifacts for years and then, at last, hit it big. The museum tells the story well and the vastness of the riches reclaimed from the sea is astounding.

Calmer winds showcased a beautiful sunrise the next morning and we prepared to set our course south towards the Marquesas. Jim showed great promise and enthusiasm for the boating life and he quickly became the newest Seaman First Class. As cocks'n of the Dartmouth crew in his day, he was most likely more accustomed to giving rather than receiving orders, but he and Captain Bill developed a nice routine and I soon became another redundancy on Let's Dance. Oh well! Girl Time. Yeah!

Four hours after leaving Key West we arrived at the tiny island of Boca Grande. Bill and Jim worked well together on the anchor drill and looked great in the headsets to boot!

We launched the Love Me Tender, (again, my role usurped by Jim), donned our water shoes and life jackets and headed to shore for some exploration. The beach was narrow and did not provide much in the way of shells, but it was a fun little outing. DInner back aboard, another red-hued sunset, another perfect day complete.

We had a wonderful time with the Smiths and all agreed that cousins are the best! We did a quick bump and run back at the Oceanside Marina dock where they had left their car then got back underway for the next leg of our winter sojourn. Our route took us back north to Rodriquez Key (scene of the freak wind action) and then to Angel Fish Creek, just at the northern tip of Key Largo. From there we made the 57 mile crossing to Cat Cay in the near Bahamas. Our third crossing in Let's Dance was as well planned and executed as the previous two. Captain Bill even had the arrival music cued up! We entered Bahamian waters to the tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"

Everybody dance!!

Let's Dance.....Carol and Bill

Anchors Aweigh!

Our plan, upon leaving Palm Beach Gardens and the rigors of boat maintenance, was to travel south for two days and then stop a day to catch up with our onboard chores.  The approach of storms predicted for day three played an important part in this schedule. So, night one of the 2012 adventure was spent anchored off Belle Island in Miami. This is the same spot where last winter we first learned to navigate around floating city blocks called cruise ships. This year was a tad easier as we arrived on a Monday and only one of the behemoths was headed out at the time of our arrival. Night two we anchored in a new spot for us called Rodriquez Key, about 56 miles south of Miami. This day trip would take less than one hour in your car, but we savored it for nine leisurely hours in our trusty trawler.

We anchored off Rodriquez Key, adjacent to Key Largo, in our usual militarily efficient fashion at 1620 hours and settled in for dinner and a movie. (Just like Bogey and Bacall?) The night was uneventful and the next morning's sunrise exquisite. Captain Bill had a laundry list of chores and he was anxious to get the outdoor ones accomplished before the promised storms arrived.
He snuggled into the new camo wetsuit, donned flippers, mask, hookah and cleaning tools and jumped into the 73 degree water. Yikes! He quickly scrubbed the few encrusted barnacles from the hull and climbed back aboard.

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and began tracking the approaching storms on our iPhones. Only two sailboats shared our large anchorage and we watched them begin to bob jerkily as the winds picked up. Rain is now falling in a light but steady fashion. Soon the anemometer spiked to 35 knots and Let's Dance strained a little as the wind pushed increasingly larger and larger waves towards us and the shore. About now a third sailboat enters the area as the winds swirl. We watch the drenched sailor as he lowers his anchor into the froth. Naturally we feel quite confident in our own abilities and are only concerned that his anchor is securely set. He is about 250 yards in front of us and both winds and waves would surely push him into our bow if he broke loose. Vigilant always, Captain Bill measures the distance from us to the new arrival and to the closest of the other sailboats. 250 and 280 yards respectively, as measured by the golf range finder we keep on board.

The "Drag Queen" too is set to sound the alarm should we move more than 180 feet from where we laid our anchor the day before. We stay in the pilothouse monitoring the scene as the waves continue to grow and the winds increase. We now measure gusts of almost 50 knots and this is about as dramatic a wind event as we have ever encountered. Both hurricanes that we experienced in Maine boasted winds of just under 50 knots. So, now it gets interesting!

Luckily for us, it is still daylight, and we can keep both neighboring sailboats in view to make certain they stay securely anchored and cause no harm to themselves or us. The waves are now about three feet high and only a few seconds apart so there is some serious rocking and rolling going on, even by Let's Dance's standards. Eyes still on the wind gauge, we are amazed to see it jump to 55 and then 60 knots. Wow! The storm wasn't advertised to be like this! We continue to be buffeted by the waves, and the winds are running a steady 50 to 55 knots when we get a sudden leap to 60 and then to 65 knots. This feels more like a tropical storm than a rain storm and we are happy to have been prepared and tucked in early.

Then, as the wind speeds begin to drop slowly, the rain fades to a light drizzle and the wave spray diminishes, Bill suddenly says to me, "Didn't we used to be a lot closer to that sailboat with the blue hull?" We look, we frown, we measure. We measure the distance to the other sailboat again, too. Something is amiss. The worrisome sailboats now register 450 and 480 yards in front of us. Oops!
So intent were we on making sure that a hastily anchored sailboat didn't break loose
and crash into us that we failed to notice that our own anchor had begun to drag as the impressive winds and waves shoved us backwards. Where was the "Drag Queen" when we needed her? Perhaps already in Key West? Obviously we need to work with her some more. The Captain hastily put on rain jacket and hat and, with our two-way radios in place, we easily re-anchored Let's Dance in a new position slightly closer to shore and slightly further away from the sailors.

We have learned, over the past 20 months of trawler travel, that the lessons and the challenges never end. We were very, very lucky that no boats were directly behind us and that there was never any danger to us, Let's Dance or to any other mariners in our vicinity. That being said, hear what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported the day after our unfortunate anchoring malfunction:

"A rare weather phenomenon known as a wake low pressure system created strong
winds throughout the Florida Keys during the late afternoon and evening hours. The
strongest winds along the island chain were reported in the upper keys, near Rodriquez Key."

And so it goes.....the remainder of the route to Key West was clear and calm with light winds and sunny skies. We arrived in Key West the day before cousins Jim and Sandra and readied Let's Dance for company. With four aboard there will surely be some partying going on in the southern latitudes.

Let's Dance.......Carol and Bill

Boys & Their Toys

Happy NewYear from the salon of Let's Dance! 2012 is well underway for Captain and crew of this good ship....only two weeks in and we are already half way to Key West down the Florida coast.

Back in December, Bill and great pal Rick manned the two day/two night journey from Savannah to Palm Beach Gardens where our sturdy trawler was subjected, once again, to the attentions of legions of mechanics, electricians, fiberglass buffers, hull cleaners and other assorted nautical personnel. Old systems were inspected and updated. Corrections and additions were made where necessary. New systems were installed. There is no such thing as too much redundancy on a boat. The generator, often given to fits of pique, was coddled and tinkered with until she finally agreed to do her part again for this voyage. She will receive some much-needed tweaking in the spring.

We have some new monitoring devices, too. We are now the proud employers of a "Boat Nanny." This amazing little device monitors the activity, or inactivity, of electrical connections, motion on the boat, smoke, high temperatures and, significantly, the level of water in the bilge. Too much of that can cause drowning in boats, we hear. Nanny will be especially important when we are not aboard as she has the ability to phone home to alert us to adverse situations. She also, we've already learned, likes to call in at 1:30 in the morning just to see if we're up.

There are new toys on board as well. Bill has a sexy new wetsuit that is designed to camouflage him as he descends into the briny deep to enjoy colorful tropical fishes and reefs or to clean the keel of kelp. True! It is supposed to make him blend into the sandy sea bed if sharks or other predators come too close. The bright yellow hose of the hookah regulator might give him away though.

A new friend on Daufuskie, Mark, spent many hours with Bill last fall sharing a lifetime of knowledge about offshore fishing techniques and strategies. He gifted us with lures that assure us of catches in the 100 pound plus range, and the davit has been reconfigured to drag the unfortunate monsters aboard the boat until we can catch our breath and filet them. Let them eat fish!! To utilize the new lures, we now sport a pair of custom made stand-up rods with Penn International 50 reels. (Easy for me to say!) They have yet to be deployed, but a small black fin tuna was caught this morning on old gear. It's always a thrill to hear the "fish on!" shout from the cockpit.

We have not stinted Let's Dance electronically either. There is a computer program that we particularly like and use frequently called "Active Captain." This is an interactive program designed by a New England mariner in which individuals can enter their thoughts and comments on particular marinas, anchorages, etc., a la Wikipedia. The designer of this software has come out with another inventive program that we are currently test-driving. It's purpose is to monitor the distance that the boat moves after it is anchored so that you can tell if your anchor is holding or if it is loose and dragging along the sea floor. The name of this clever little app is, appropriately, "Drag Queen." You've got to love his sense of whimsey. So far the Queen has done well by Let's Dance, but stay tuned for the next chapter wherein our anchoring skills are tested by 65 knot winds.

The trip is going well and we've put in several 60 to 70 mile days to arrive in Key West in time to meet Bill's cousin Jim and his wife, Sandra. They will spend several days with us cruising the area, sightseeing in both Let's Dance and the Love Me Tender. We look forward to the company!

That's all for now from Boot Key, Florida.
Latitude 24 41.62 N Latitude 81 07.13 W

Let's Dance.......Carol and Bill