| Falcon's Log 35 |
| May 21, 2010 - Moored In Marathon, Florida Keys (Cont.) I loaded the dinghy with the two water jugs and my shower kit and went to shore. Just a few feet from Falcon, I got a call from Donny, probably about to ask if I wanted to go in and help with the welding job. That was just about when he saw me rowing across in front of Dulcinea, heading in to the water dock. I got there first and helped him tie up, just in time to welcome the 'House Call' welder. By the time I returned from a quick shower, the job was done, very well, I might add. I filled my jugs and put them back in the dinghy, then hung around with George and Kim for a while as they did some internet inside the big Cruisers Lounge. I suppose I should take some pictures there sometime. When Don and Barb returned with their dinghy after bringing Dulcinea back to the mooring, George and Kim went back to CJoy, Barbara went to the Public Library Book Exchange and Donny and I walked down to Publix again. This time I got some fresh fruit and peanut butter sandwich makings so I can snack any time at all. When we got back, we said our 'Goodbyes' (They are heading North today and will be back in a month, on their way to the Chesapeake Bay) and they towed me in my dinghy back to Falcon before heading over to Dulcinea. We noticed some beautiful cloud formations and I took some pictures, especially for Sandy Bartz, who loves clouds. |
| The other day Donny stumbled upon an odd anchor lying in shallow water somewhere along the Keys as he was headed this way. He pulled it up and left it on his foredeck, then gave it to me to sell at the Cruisers Net. We thought I might get $30 for it. When I got a look at it, I told him that it looked like a Military item to me and could be a very good anchor, so I would research it on line to see what I could find out. He thought I'd probably be wasting my time. He didn't say that, but he laughed when I said it. About a half an hour brought me to a website for guys restoring old military vehicles, Ducks and such, and something called a GPA. I don't know what it is, but this looks like it's a GPA anchor. Very rare and highly prized. I'm glad I looked. It's better to get this to the right restorer than to allow some random boater use it as a mooring until it rots away. Here are some pictures. |
| By the way, someone advertised one of these on the site for $1500 and sold it. Impressive number, but that doesn't mean that's what he got. It will be interesting to see what happens here. |
| May 22, 2010 - Moored In Marathon, Florida Keys So far this morning I have gone through and answered all the Website Contacts and emails that have been waiting and I've been puttering around inside the boat, trying to sort things out and produce a starting point on so many things I have to do. I struggled long enough with getting the two 5 gallon jugs emptied into the water tank that I now know I have to get a good funnel for that job. I tried to get together with George and Kim and exchange the shots we took of each others boats during the trip. I wanted to do it early, before the wind started howling again, but George felt too rocky this morning. I've been waiting for him to call back, but it's too late now - the wind is up and the trip by oar will be a Royal pain. I'll do it anyway. I don't see an option. I may have to make a list and print it out, as far as jobs to do. Energy restrictions dictate that I just can't leave the computer running if I'm not using it. I don't mind. I'm liking this. |
| May 23, 2010 - Moored In Marathon, Florida Keys Time flies. The first day in the Rivertown yard was only 20 days ago, but it seems like forever. I got the pictures from George and Kim and will be posting them here today. I am also going to be setting up the stove so I can start cooking there, and doing some finishing on the icebox so I can get rid of the last of the insulating foam and get the refrigeration system mounted and out from underfoot. George and Kim are mostly off on their own now, visiting with other friends and enjoying some private time alone while on vacation. I am doing little things as I prepare to swing back into the finishing of the interior. Yesterday I wired the Charles Battery Charger to the panel, rather than to a plain plug-in cord, and I ran the two heavy DC supply cables into the electrical panel, along with the depth sounder power lead. I noticed that the two main DC busses got seawater dripping down them in the heavy weather we had heading toward Little Shark River. I KNEW I should have found a way to seal that lid! Now, I have to take the entire assembly apart, polish up everything, then re-assemble it. The water leaks through the piano hinge that holds the Ipe lid. I'll find a suitable seal and install it. |
| I also noticed that the cable ends will need cleaning as well. Some of them still need heavy wall shrink tubing, which I got from Ken and Sandy, though this will be an opportunity to install that. Nice clouds coming right at us just now. I found a new online weather service that I like. It says we only have about one more day of these winds. That will be good. |
| These first two pictures are of Falcon just out of the yard on the 10th, heading toward the Southwest Channel out of Tampa Bay |
| On the left, we are outboard of Anna Maria Island in the Gulf, and on the right, we have left Lido Key where we spent the first night and I loaded the dinghy onto the cabin roof. It was taking on water while in tow, probably through the centerboard trunk. |
| The two shots above are in the Little Shark River anchorage. |
| On the left, we are going under the 7 Mile Bridge in the Moser Channel and on the right, I am heading into the Marathon City Marina to get a mooring. The traffic on this site has increased by over 50% during the haulout and trip and I'm delighted that so many friends followed this stage of the journey so closely. I know that it has been about the only really colorful and adventurous part so far, and that once I again settle into the finishing and fixing of Falcon, that traffic will drop off. Once the REAL issue behind building this boat and living this lifestyle takes shape, however, there may be more interest of a different type. It's not a secret. The name of the site is Blue Schooner Publishing. There are novels displayed on the 'Book Pages'. Perhaps it would have been nice to have a benefactor support me in some way that would have allowed me to concentrate strictly on the writing and publishing. I can only assume that would have resulted in my being a different person, and I'm not sure how well I'd like him or how well he might write. It has always been my desire to be free to do what I want to do in my own way and at my own pace. In the long years since I started writing (it was in 1966 and I was 19) I have learned a great deal, not only about writing, but about life and people. I will write what I like, without concern for others opinions or whether or not it will sell. I will not kowtow to the disturbingly perverse publishing establishment or the medias notions of what is good or bad. I have not come this far, for this long, to be told what to do by those who cannot do it themselves. As Falcon takes final shape - including removing the hideous and now useless TV antenna from the top of the foremast - I will complete the steps, one at a time, to become my own publisher and produce one final product after another in the form of the novels I have already been working on. I hope it's fun, and I hope I make enough to live on. I've been cleaning up inside and I took time to take accurate measurements of the tanks and the remaining fuel so I can get some idea of the usage. Adding the trip into Marathon Marina to the other numbers, I get 330.66 miles and 67 hours. Subtracting the fuel I burned at the dock, gave to George and spilled, I would guess I started with 92 gallons, of which I have 42 gallons remaining. That gives me 50 gallons burned on the trip, or 6.7 miles per gallon and 0.75 gallons per hour. It also adds up to an average speed of 4.94 miles per hour, which sounds just about right. |
| May 24, 2010 - Moored In Marathon, Florida Keys Yesterday I brought the camera back to George and Kim and they loaded the pictures I transferred into their laptop and did a slide show. I took a lot of pictures, trying to get some really nice ones, so they liked them. Now they have some sweet pictures of CJoy, under sail and at anchor, to email off to friends and family. They fed me supper and we made plans to do the bus trip from here to Key West and back. We are none of us fat with cash at this time, so the Seniors Fare ($1.50) on the bus each way, sounds like a good way to spend a day and take pictures all the way out and back. We have no desire to consume a $17 cheeseburger in Key West, so we'll be brown-bagging lunch, but we have elected to find a good Ice Cream Shop and get a decadent cone of some sort. I'll be taking the walk to Publix today to get sandwich fixin's and we'll be finding out where the bus stop is out front. Today is the first day for holding tank pump out and I'm hoping I don't discover that I've somehow botched the holding tank construction job. I'm getting a little bit of head odor inside the boat, so I might have to find where It's coming from and do something to seal it. I WILL seal it. Unless it's the vent up forward coming in through the main cabin hatch. That would be unfortunate, but as soon as I can stop using seawater and start using fresh water, ant odor should decrease substantially. |
| Last nights sunset provided one of those rare instances when cloud shapes almost seem to paint a picture. To me, this looks like a cartoon kid looking at the red cloud. These shots were taken a little bit apart, time-wise, but both shapes and colors were in the sky at the same time. It rained briefly at 3:13 AM and I had to leap out of the rack and close the boat up. Still, it didn't get hot or stuffy inside. I did, however, have one of those sneezing fits yesterday and woke up with a headache this morning. A little aspirin solved that and I'm fine now. I was hoping that was a phenomenon particular to Cortez and I would be done with it when I left there. Apparently not. |
| Kim, George and I took our own dinghy's in and walked to Publix this morning. We stopped in Home Depot and I got this 'Magna Cart', which is almost the 'Magna Carta' and makes me feel historic. Just one more 'a'. I'm a true believer in these things after just one trip carrying a couple of empty plastic jugs. It's just so much easier to wheel things. I got a call from Don and Barb. They are presently passing Naples on their way to Ft. Myers. Don thinks he may go inside until Boca Grande, then go out into the Gulf and anchor in Englewood. Barbara gave me a heads-up about coordinating bus schedules to get around Key West. I checked the bus schedules and it's a problem. |
| May 25, 2010 - Moored In Marathon, Florida Keys We will be heading off to Key West today for our little sight-seeing tour. I have been there before, but neither Kim nor George have, so here we go. I have NOT been there when I wasn't driving, so I am looking forward to the bus ride and I will be ready with the camera. I have not been able to discover the cost of the Hemingway House Tour, probably the only thing I'd like to do in Key West, so I recommended that we not bother. I have a feeling it's going to be pricey and the man only lived there for a very brief period, so what's the point, really. Okay, I finally got the website to open and display the ticket prices, Excruciatingly slow website. $12 each. $6 for children. They ought to PAY YOU $5 each for having to drag an innocent child through something they would find so boring as to be torturous. It rained again last night, but it was early and I slept all night. If it's going to rain every day, I might have to lower the sun shade to prevent rain from blowing in the open hatch or portholes, so I wouldn't have to close the boat up every time it rains. I'll be back after the trip with pictures and details. |
| May 26, 2010 - Moored In Marathon, Florida Keys We returned from Key West about three hours later than expected last night and were fairly drained from the heat and the walking. Consequently, I did not feel up to transferring the 133 pictures and starting to go through them for candidates for this post. I will say that, while I'd been to Key West twice before, I'd previously seen precious little of it. This time, for the first time, I saw ALL of Duval Street, Mallory Square, the Hemingway House, the South Shore Beaches, the Airport, The Hospital and ALL the Shopping Malls. AND the Golf Course! There is a Public Golf Course on Key West. Go figure. Who knew they'd find the space. I saw some Class A Hackers chopping up the sod as we passed. One of the things that caused the delay in getting back was that they continue to dispense Bus schedules that contain stops which they no longer use. We waited in the blazing sun for half an hour before a call to the Key West DoT informed us that there was 'no longer a Stop #1'. Sweet. Another mile hike to the stop where we originally got off the second shuttle bus we'd rode. The good news there is that we arrive JUST as the air conditioned bus did and got the Grand Tour of the South Coast Beaches. I'll go through the pictures a little later and post them here. |
| One of the moorings that we are on is on display in the Cruisers Lounge. It's pretty impressive. The dual plate auger is about 10 feet long and the entire unit inspires confidence. With good lines from the boat to the lanyard, I don't see why it wouldn't survive a pretty wild hurricane. Kim and George on the bus. |
| I took way too many shots all during the day, including a rash from the bus. The idea was to try and get some that came out well and could give you some idea what the Keys are like. I won't bother trying to explain them all. |
| The pictures below are from Duval Street, the main tourist attraction and hot spot for the thousands of people who come ashore from the cruise ships. George spent a lot of time in New Orleans and kept remarking about how much Duval Street reminded him of there. Some years ago, there were almost all bars on the street - now there are dozens of shops specifically designed to relieve the cruise ship customers of some of the cash burning a hole in their pockets. There are also many street artists doing portraits and caricatures, singing, or performing tricks. |
| These were the first two shots as soon as we stepped off the bus, one North and one South. |
| There are many truly beautiful buildings on Duval Street, including the famous Flagler Building, the brick building above. There are also about 5 of those 'Auto Trains' running around. I have decided that if I ever get rich, I'll have one of those to circle the house with on summer days. |
| After the walk up Duval Street - we started in the middle so only saw half of it, so far - we stopped at the waters edge and sat in the shade and had lunch. |
| Charter boats loaded with customers were everywhere, and in this area, making wakes about as large as they possibly could. It was almost as if 'the rockier the ride, the better'. Right around the corner we came to Mallory Square and the giant Cruise Ships. |
| Inside one of the shops at Mallory Square. Now, I know some of you are thinking, "Gee, Ben, how much was that big painted jug? And, could you pick one up for me?" Probably not. Sorry. But, I have to wonder how good brightly colored little stuffed sharks are selling? Do you really need to have about 1000 of them on the shelves all the time? I did love the bright colors, but wasn't tempted to buy anything - except a small Butter Pecan ice cream cone across the way. |
| I found the Wrecker's Sloop interesting, though it is only a replica. In a small courtyard of bronze busts of Key Wests notables, I found one of Mallory, for whom the Square is named. Below, we are back on Duval Street, doing the Southern half. |
| The very last picture is the Hemingway House and we only went to the sidewalk out front. The prices were cast in bronze on the plaque on the brick wall, so I guess they've been at that rate for a while now. Amazingly enough, even though I've been to the hallowed spot, I cannot say for certain that I'm able to write any better than before. Now I know how poor Ponce De Leon felt when soaking in various local fountains never removed the wrinkles from his mosquito-eaten ass. Still, I guess I can add the visit to my writing credentials. I'm getting a lot done on the boat today. I've moved all the line that's been stored forward out on deck. I found a very small leak in the base seal of the head and took it apart and resealed it, this time using substantially more fastener pressure in the process. I believe that might have been the odor problem. I changed the two bridle lines up front from older 5/8 inch lines to newer 3/4 inch lines. For Falcon, they will serve as hurricane lines, though I would still double them up in the event of a storm. Chafe. Even with chafe protection. Can't be too safe. I pulled the galley floorboards and cleaned beneath them, picking up the coins and things that slipped under them during the very rough sections of the passage south. I also bagged the coffee maker and electric frying pan for the dumpster and scraped excess paint from the inside of the AC door on the electrical panel. I wish we would have a few days of blazing sun so I could top up all the batteries at once. Every day here has been cloudy and small periods of rain. Not what you'd expect. It makes it less hot, true, but I'm still trying to sort out what I can get away with, power-wise. That's why the coffee maker and electric frying pan are being summarily dismissed - power hogs. I've gone through a lot of papers and tossed out more stuff, then printed out a copy of the Outback Manual. There's so much I can do right now that I'm just going back and forth, non-stop, doing one thing then another. These little breaks on the computer I consider rest breaks. I squared away the anchors and windlass for their time on the mooring and will stow the spare anchor, shore power cord, windlass remote cord and the 100 ft extension cord all under the port cockpit seat. I talked to Garmin about the GPSMap 545 failing right out of the box and they told me, 'can't help you - $230 bucks plus shipping and you get another 90 days to see if it's working right'. The guy also told me he has no doubt that it was bad right out of the box, but I bought it 3 years ago and should have used it sooner. So, no pressure now to get it fixed. We'll see how I feel six months from now. I might also get another ST40 or ST60 Depth Sounder head. A lot of things can happen between now and then. Meanwhile, back burner for now. Today was the highest traffic number I've had on the site in over 2 years - since the beginning - by almost twice. The traffic Log was 1.75 mb. The highest day ever prior to this was 891kb. |