July 12

We actually set an alarm clock this morning.  I have gotten quite accustomed to just waking whenever it happens naturally.  Most mornings, that's not too late.  Even though we are not exactly on island time yet, without a schedule I fall into bed-at-dark, wake-at-light mode.  Anyway, today that's not the case.  If we are going to get to Marathon before dark tomorrow, we need to be out of here early.

There are two constraints on when we leave.  The first is a bridge we have to get opened, and they don't start opening until 7:00.  After that they open every 20 minutes, not on demand like most we have encountered.  The other constraint is that we need fuel, and all the fuel docks open at 8:00.  There is one we will go right past just before going offshore. 

We were up at 6:15 and starting to make preps to leave.  We had done some stowing before going to bed, and finished it now.  It's amazing how fast you get things out when you are parked for a week.  By 7:00, we were ready to go.  Tammy had stopped by on her way to shower for work to say goodbye one more time, and Brian popped out of the boat to wave as we motored out of the marina.  I had hoped to leave in time to get the 7:20 bridge opening, but it was soon apparent that 7:40 was the best we would do.  We didn't have any water depth problems getting out of the channel, and were casually motoring towards the bridge.  I calculated the distance to the bridge on the chart plotter, and realized that if I didn't hustle, we would miss the 7:40 opening.  As we approached, I hailed the bridge operator and politely informed her that we would really like to make the 7:40 opening.  We had been told that if you aren't there ready to pass when they open, then you will likely wait until the next time.  The nice lady in the bridge tower said to hurry on down here and I said I was coming as fast as I could.  I was watching my GPS based clock and saw 7:40 pass when we were still about a quarter mile away.  But promptly at 7:41, I heard the bridge blast it's warning horn and the traffic come to a stop.  The bridge started to open and we went through almost without breaking stride from full speed.  (Don't forget, full speed is only 7 kts - about 8 mph.)  We thanked the bridge operator on the radio, and to ourselves we thanked her for cutting us a minutes slack. 

The fuel dock opens at 8:00, and we got there just as they were tying their large bumpers to the dock front.  We pulled up and docked as if we were parking a car, despite listening to the guy on the dock telling me I should have done it from the other direction.  I guess he knows how my boat handles better than I do.  Anyway, we filled our tank and our jerry cans, got a bag of ice and were out of there in about 15 minutes.  So our time constraints were met perfectly. 

Once out of Pass-A-Grille channel, we turned southeast.  The forecast is for SE winds 5-10 kts, and 2 foot seas.  We won't be doing much if any sailing on this leg, but we accepted this since we just want to get around FL as fast as possible.  The day was uneventful.  We hardly saw anything all day, including other boats.  Other than a few fishing boats just as we left Pass-A-Grille, we probably didn't see a dozen other boats in the whole trip.

It occurred to us that we had neglected to make a reservation at the marina in Marathon where we were headed, so we used the satellite phone for the first time to call and make a reservation.  Ah, technology.

About 20:00, we switched watches.  We found on the Destin to Tampa leg that four hour watches worked well for us, since AUTO is really doing the work of driving.  There we some thunderstorms brewing to our east and they appeared to be moving onshore, so we weren't too worried.  We were about 30 miles off Sanibelle Island at this point.  I laid down and Barb was on watch.  After just about half an hour of dozing, I was aware that she was pushing a lot of buttons on the instruments (they all beep).  I asked her what was up, and she said the storms seemed to be coming our way.  She had been watching them on the radar, and the rain was now just a few miles away.  I got up and furled the main sail.  We had it up just to add a little stability to the ride.  Just as I finished furling it, the winds hit.  The wind went up to about 25 kts from the east, so it was hitting us broadside.  I figured this would be a quick blow, so rather than be uncomfortable heeling over from the wind, I turned us downwind and cut the motor to an idle.  After it blew awhile though, and the rain started, the rain and splashing were coming in the cockpit from the rear, so I turned us back into the wind and increased the motor just enough to maintain a little forward motion.  Now we were crashing into the waves, which had picked up from calm to about four feet.  This is a little nerve wracking, but overall more comfortable since the dodger protected us from the waves and the rain.  Several times we buried the bow and water came all the way up the deck and over the dodger.  Bless the dodger.  After almost an hour, the wind had died and the seas were calming down.  It was still raining fairly hard, but we were able to get back on course without being heeled over like an America's Cup racer.  About 21:30, I laid down again to get some sleep before my midnight watch.

July 13

Barb let me sleep until 01:00 since she was doing fine.  Since I have been sleeping in the cockpit, I was getting rained on a bit when the boat rolled to port a little, but it was ok.  We switched watches and Barb immediately went to sleep.  The seas were calm now, the rain had stopped, and we were back on track.  As we had switched watches, there were two fishing boats on the horizon.  I altered course a tad to pass them safely and that was the whole excitement of my watch.  I figured I'd split the hour we were out of sync on watches, so I let Barb sleep until 04:30.  When we switched watches, we could barely see the blinking light of a marker in the distance.  This was the first of three markers we that seem to delineate the deep water (70+) from the shallower waters of Florida Bay.  Florida Bay is the body of water between the Keys and the mainland. 

About an hour into Barb's watch at 05:30, there was suddenly a loud thud, the engine sound changed, and the boat started vibrating badly.  Barb and I both went for the throttle handle and got the engine in neutral immediately.  Without being in gear, the engine sounded normal idling.  I quickly went below and opened the engine room cover.  I didn't see anything amiss, so I had Barb put it in gear.  Again, nothing was visually wrong in the engine room, but the vibration was there.  Using my old problem determination rules, I figured the problem was with the prop or cutlass bearing, since they were the last things we had messed with.  I didn't expect the problem to be an entanglement since we were 40 miles offshore in 70 feet of water and there wasn't supposed to be anything like crab or lobster traps out there.  But thinking entanglement, I put the motor in reverse.  Sometimes if you have something on the prop, reversing it will throw it off.  Well, in reverse, it actually stalled the motor.  I tried it again and it didn't stall, but it would not come up much in rpm's.  I tired forward again, still with vibration.  I tried reverse again, and this time it revved up some but not like it should.  I tried forward again and found that we could run at about 2000 rpm without much vibration.  This meant about 5 kts instead of the 6.8 or so that we had been making at 2700 rpm.  I figured this would be good for an hour or so until it was light.

As the sun rose, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to go in the water.  Barb got my fins and mask out and we stopped the boat and shut off the motor.  I should mention here that the water down here is a beautiful turquoise and quite clear.  At least I'll be able to see.  I went over the side, took a breath and went down enough to see the prop.  Sure enough there was a ball of line tangled around it.  Well, at least it's not a mechanical problem.  I got my dive knife out, took another breath and dove to the prop.  The line is a half-inch polypropylene line like what's used for trap floats.  There was no trap or float still attached.  The loud thud we heard may have been the trap hitting the bottom of the boat as we wound up the line.  Unfortunately, I can't hold my breath worth a darn, so my cutting time on the line was limited.  This was not going to work without SCUBA gear.  Now in our infinite wisdom of packing the boat back in Texas, we had put all my SCUBA gear, except for my fins and mask, all the way forward in the v-berth, buried under lots of other stuff, since we didn't expect to be diving until next fall in the Bahamas.  So, Barb went to work digging out the tank, a regulator and my BC.  Once out, I assembled it all, and went back in the water.  It only took a couple of minutes actually under the boat to cut and unravel the line.  I'm sure glad I have SCUBA equipment and know how to use it.  (Thanks Bill.)  I have added a picture in the gallery of the offending line.  When I was done, I rinsed myself off with the swim-platform shower.  I joked that this was all an elaborate plan just so I could have an extra shower.

This whole deal took about 45 minutes and we were back underway.  Back to 7 kts!  The downside to trying to keep a schedule like we have been is that time matters.  We need no more delays if we are going to be in Marathon before dark.  It's not that it can't be done, but most captains don't like entering a new harbor after dark.  I have seen Marathon from the water before when I sailed from the Bahamas with Brian and Tammy a couple of years ago, but I'd still rather be in a slip before dark.  Since my watch was coming up soon anyway, I let Barb go to sleep.  I drove until about 11:00 and then she took over.

I wasn't sleeping well, and after an hour or so I had rolled over and asked if everything was ok.  She mentioned that we were only making 5.6 kts, and as we were talking we both heard the engine slow down.  We pushed the throttle all the way up, but there was no response from the engine.  I was trying to think what could be wrong now.  I thought perhaps the fuel filter was getting clogged and the engine couldn't get enough fuel.  I was mentally preparing myself to change the filter when I had another idea.  I put it in neutral, then revved the motor with it not in gear.  Sure enough, it revved up to 3000 rpm with no problem.  Since there was no load on the engine, this may or may not dispel my filter theory, but it makes me think about something on the prop again.  I put it in reverse and revved it up and it hesitated but then revved.  I put it back in forward and off we went at 7 kts again.  We have been passing through lots of floating sea grass, which I wouldn't think would foul a prop, but maybe.  In the next two hours, this happened two more times.  Each time, simply reversing for a minute resolved the problem.

Since I was up, and we were now in the shallow waters of Florida Bay, I drove the rest of the way.  Florida Bay has depths anywhere from 3 to 12 feet.  I had plotted a course that shouldn't take us under 8 feet, and part of it was the same as the course Brian & Tammy had taken two years ago with their boat which needs a foot more water than mine does.  For all the years I have owned the boat, I have sailed on Galveston Bay where the water is rarely more than 12 feet deep.  But now, after being offshore, I really get nervous when we get down in single-digit depths.  In my mind I know that I only need 5' 6", so 5' 7" is ok, but it still gets a little nerve wracking.  But, we made it and I never saw less than 8 feet.  The marina we are going to closes at 18:00, but we had called earlier and let them know we would not be there by then and they had given us our slip number.  About 18:30, we passed under Seven Mile Bridge which is part of the Overseas Highway that connects all the Keys.  Having this tall bridge here saved us from having to go around Key West.  From the bridge you can see the entrance to Marathon Harbor just off to the east but you have to go out about a mile and then come back around to avoid some very shallow water.  At 19:20 we were docked at Burdine's Marina. 

Burdine's is not a fancy marina.  When Brian & Tammy and I stopped here a couple of years ago though, I liked it.  It is only about twenty slips along a bulkhead just off the main channel into Marathon Harbor.  It is before the draw bridge, so that's one less hassle.  It is all done in a Tiki fashion with thatched roofs on everything.  The bathrooms are large and clean, there is a fuel dock and store, and the Chiki Tiki restaurant.  There are several tiki-style ramadas along the dock with picnic tables.  One of them, right in front of our slip has been taken over by live-aboards who have outfitted it with chairs, a TV, a fridge, a mister and fans.  One of the huts was destroyed by Hurricane Dennis, and it's remains are piled up awaiting disposal.

We mixed a drink, washed the boat, and headed for a good shower.  The restaurant closes at 21:00, so we couldn't enjoy the unlimited shower water quite as long as we might have.  We threw on clean clothes and went up to the Chiki Tiki.  The restaurant is on the second floor, over the store and fuel dock, right on the water.  We were just in time to enjoy a beautiful sunset along with our beer.  Since it was close to closing time, the meal came quickly and was very good.  The only downside to this place is the no-see-ums that seem to always be here.  I remember them from my previous visit.  Just across the water is Boot Key, which is mostly mangroves and a nice haven to bugs. 

We were back at the boat and in bed about 22:00.  I slept until 08:30.  That is very unusual for me.  I always go to the bathroom during the night, and usually am aware of waking enough to roll over a couple of times.  This night I closed my eyes when I hit the pillow and opened them in the morning.  Wish I could sleep like that all the time, but I don't need to do it by only sleeping every other day. 

GPS N 27-42.240 W 81-06.550  Miles made good this leg 228. Total miles covered 1051.

July 14

Today we are relaxing.  We walked about a mile to West Marine to get a couple of things and see a little of the town besides the dock.  Along the road between the marina and the Overseas Highway, I took a picture of a trash pile.  Now, you might think there must be better things to take pictures of in the Keys, but this particular trash pile was right next to a sign that said "No Rubbish Dumping".  We have caught up on mail and real-life things like balancing the checkbook and checking the stock market account.  I will spend some time plotting where we go from here.  I am debating about my original plan to go offshore from Miami to NY.  I am thinking maybe a couple of hops up the coast would be more prudent.  We'll see.

GPS N 27-42.240 W 81-06.550  Miles made good this leg 0.