Miami Boat Show and Key West

Boats! As far as you can see!

After weeks and weeks of projects we decided we needed a vacation. Some would say living on a boat is a vacation, and we don't disagree. But it is a fair bit of work and, well, we needed to get away from it.

The Miami Boat Show served as a good place to start. Many of the projects left us with lists of things we'd like to buy. Things like a seasucker handle (since we cut in new steps on the back we removed a handle, so a suction-type would help getting on and off the dingy without permanently installing something), a new diving hooka, an emergency self-inflating raft, and an LED searchlight to replace our current one. 

BIG boats, too! Fun to check them out.

We'd been to the boat show before, but it had been a couple of years now, since before Covid. It had completely changed since then; now it was in a new location and clearly had a much higher entrance fee for the vendors. As a result, many of the small vendors weren't there. Seasucker, which had been there before, was missing, and we didn't find any LED lights. Tons of boats, engines, flooring, beds, and furniture -- all the high end stuff.

Despite that we did have a great time. We got to see the crew of High Wind again, Hannah and David. They were seeking some warmth in Miami since their boat was stuck in Baltimore. We also got to have dinner with an old high school friend of mine, Bill, who lives in Miami.

Raw bar is right next to a marina.

From there we headed south to Key West for a couple of days. Mostly we walked around the nifty town and ate pizza, tapas, and oysters (not at the same place, mind you) and sipped Dark and Stormys on the porch of the Rum House. This was our first visit to Key West since a cruise we took 25 years earlier. We even found the raw bar we ate at back then. Still open, but the $9/dozen is now $22/dozen, and that's the "happy hour" special!

Key West gecko hanging out by the boats.

During the 4 days we walked anywhere from 15k to 18k steps each day. Once we got back to the boat we kicked our feet up, needing to take a break!

Monthly Update

Kinda been living like this for weeks now.

Yes, we are still around. Still in Longboat Key. Still doing... stuff.

It seems there is never enough you can do for your boat, and just when you think you have it under control something totally, out-of-the-blue, happens. This morning we had no water.

Water in the tanks, pump is on, but the pump isn't working. We put in that pump about a year and a half ago while on the Ohio. These are notorious for being short lived but less that 2 years is really short.

New oven, woo hoo!

We have a spare on the boat because we are prepared. Given Russ was already doing a bunch of plumbing, this fit right in as "a bit more to do." It couldn't be just swapped out; details like affixing it to the wall and electricity had to be worked out. It took the better half of the day but Russ got it working.

We have completed:

• New oven / new toaster
• Replace electronics of new cooktop (oh yes, there's a story there)
• Steps cut into the stern, which I'm totally jazzed about
• New plumbing switches (electric, not manual)
• New engines starters (since the old ones died on our way home)

Before

After

Recall we just got a new cooktop? While working on the new plumbing we had a line break and a stream of water jetted right into the underside of it, shorting everything out. Rather than replace the whole unit the manufacturers sent us just the bottom part with electronics.

We do get dramatic dawns, tho

inQuest has two water tanks. We keep the front one either full or empty -- if it's half way and there's any motion from wind or waves, it sloshes, which is rather loud, making nights long and noisy. As a result we use the back solely, and when it's empty we drain the front into the back. This requires Russ to go into the engine room and open valves. Now these are electronic. With a push of a button the valves should open between the tanks. Sounds nifty. Can't wait to try it.

If you recall we had engine issues 2 days from being back in LBK. At the time Russ fixed it with duct tape. Turns out that part is not at all replaceable -- they do not make them anymore. So, Russ had to redo the electrical system including how the engines start, stop, and we get data like oil pressure and fuel gauges. That involved redoing the helm controls and installing a new chart plotter. Can't wait to try it, either.

Hopefully we're about done with the big projects and can do some fun stuff. We're planning on going to the Miami Boat Show later this month, then spend a few days in Key West.

Assuming nothing out-of-the-blue happens...

Happy New Year!

Suns sneaking up over Sarasota

Hard to believe we docked in our home slip over a month ago. Russ has been crazy busy with projects ever since.

The biggest, at the moment, is the ship's water. He wanted to redo how the water is distributed and filtered. He bought a UV filtration system, so the goal is have all the water pass through it before going anywhere on the boat, so even if you drink from the bathroom faucet downstairs you're getting the same, awesome water as from the kitchen. The only place with space enough to put the unit is under the kitchen sink, so everything needs to go there first, then be moved throughout the boat. 

"The calm before the storm". 
The water looks almost glasslike.

To add to the complexity, inQuest has 2 water tanks, one fore and one aft. We tend to use only the aft tank, and when it's empty, drain the front one into it. (The front tank sits on the other side of the master suite bedroom wall. When it's half full, and if we're at anchor on less than stellar waters, it splashes loudly. So it's either full or empty.) In the past Russ had to manually manipulate valves to move the water from one tank to the other. Since he's making massive changes he's installed electric valves that he can control from, say, his phone.

Floating in LBK about 10 feet from us.
The pic doesn't do it justice -- it's about
12 feet long.

I've always had this saying that no matter what DIY project you do it's going to result in at least 3 trips to the hardware store: FIRST to buy the things you need, SECOND to buy the things you really need, and LASTLY to return what you didn't need. With a boat, this is WAY worse, like 12. You'll take a minimum of 12 trips to the hardware store. Or West Marine. Or both. This project is proving that right!

With a new water system we no loner need the 
special spigot at the sink for drinking water.
So, we're installing a soap dispenser, that has
a long tube to get soap RIGHT FROM the bottle.
It's the little things that excite me!

Anyway, we rang in the new year with our traditional method of going to bed around 9:30 as usual. It was awesome.

Best to you and yours in 2023. We'll see you out there!

Don Pedro to Longboat Key, marina (home!)

Russ determined the issue with the engine was electrical. He believed he isolated the problem and fixed it. As we normally do, we got an early start, hoping today would be short and without trouble. 

It would also end this year's journey. Hard to fathom -- we went to Maine.

The anchor came up nice and clean and we started northward. Right off we met a couple of very energetic dolphins who leaped out of the water. I took it as a "welcome home" type of thing.

Leaping duo of dolphins!

There are little towns on this section of ICW, which means lots of slow zones. We did see a manatee, which made slowing more amicable. Waking someone's home deck is one thing. Harming one of those lumbering and aloof creatures is another. 

Early morning migration. Huge flock, 

all traveling single file.

White pelicans. Many eating dead fish.

We got 2 hours into the voyage when the engines lulled again. Drat! Russ did have a theory. While underway he started playing with some electronics. Eventually, he could interrupt the engine on demand -- he isolated the problem. A loose wire, wouldn't you know. He fixed it with some electrical tape, and ordered a replacement part. Always something with boating.

After that we had no engine issues. As Red Green said, "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." Lucky for me Russ is both.

Sarasota in the distance.
Almost back!

As we cruised both of us started coughing. Neither of us felt sick, but our throats burned, our eyes itched, and we could smell it. Red Tide. Some dead fish were scattered around. It had a physical affect on both of us.

We got in before noon and pumped out before docking inQuest in her slip for the season. 

Later that day Amazon delivered the coffee. Huzzah!

Another touring year behind us, and another ton of projects ahead of us. Such is boat life.

Franklin Lock to Don Pedro, anchor

We spent 2 nights at the lock because of weather. After a good 4 day run from St. Augustine our luck ran out. And, given those long days we were happy to sit around and do nothing. The small park had an anchorage, which we felt more comfortable doing than hanging on the dolphins, unsure of how windy it would really be. We move early Thursday morning, dropped an anchor, then did nothing the rest of the day.

Today was still to be windy but much less than they'd predicted a couple of days ago. While Franklin was excellent protection we decided to go. We are running low on some critical supplies, due to an oversight in the stock room. Coffee. We're running out of coffee!

Within a couple of hours we were slowly moving through the ravaged city of Ft. Myers. It's been a little over a month since hurricane Ian but cleanup is going to take years; boats still on land, marinas closed, and blue tarped houses dot the shores. Just heartbreaking.

I have no words.

The east wind was on our stern all the way to the gulf. At that point you turn northward up the coast. We knew there'd be 1 body of water that could be choppy, Gasparilla Bay. As we neared it the water did get a little lumpy but the playful dolphins had us entertained.

That's when I noticed it first. The boat just -- for lack of a better word -- lulled. Humming along fine, then we slowed for a moment as the engine noise dies out, then back to humming. I ignored it the first time, thinking Russ did something at the helm (avoid a crab pot or whatever). Then it happened again. Then again. While watching the RPMs of the engines, the port side, set at 2300, would suddenly drop to 1600 or less, then start back up again.

From the anchorage. There have always been 
derelict boats, but these were clearly loved.

Russ's first thought was clogged fuel filters. We turned off the port engine and ran on the starboard only while Russ inspected (yep, filthy!) then replaced the 2 fuel filters. At this point we were at the worst of the water, which wasn't terrible, but a little lumpy and made moreso by the lack of movement.

Once done we fired up the engine again and... it happened again. And again. And again. I shut it down and with only our starboard engine we looked for a nearby anchorage. I'm not the mechanic of the boat but I heard words muttered like "fuel solenoid" and "lose ground" so I'm hoping we'll have a fix.

Otherwise, our short day tomorrow to Longboat will be rather long. And rather slow.

But we will get to Longboat Key. We need coffee!!!

Mayaca Lock to Franklin Lock, dolphin

We're diggin' the dolphins!

After a quiet night we had some coffee in the morning and waited with the radio on, listening for chatter by the lock master to know when they were open. Right at the stroke of 7 am he hailed some vessels waiting on the lake side, announcing he'd get them through. We called to let him know we would like the next west bound lock. "You the ones on my dolphins?" "Yes, sir." "When you see them come out of the chamber, drop your line and come on in."

Lovely morning for crossing the lake

Since he was engaged with everyone, we were on the lake and headed westward right at 7:30. At the moment he's our favorite lockmaster: instructive, proactive, and friendly.

Mayaca was the first of 4 locks we went through today. All of them worked well, or with small delays. The last one was the most challenging. According to our Navionics we would arrive at 4:31. We called to let them know we were coming. "Be here at 4:30 and we'll lock you through." Neither of us liked the sound of that so we pushed a bit, just to make sure we arrived by 4:29.

Jammin' to get to the lock
at 4:29. Going 9.4 knots.

Right around the dam is a park. And, hey, they had dolphins! So we tied up. A little less fussy than anchoring, since we don't have to think about swing room at all. We stay put. We like that.

Sunset at Franklin Lock.

Pine Island to Mayaca Lock, dolphins

Long long day, but we had many delays and stops that contributed. 

The first stop was in Stuart where were added some fuel at Sailfish Marina, which took about 30 minutes (a fast fuel up for us!). 

From there we had to wait a bit at the Roosevelt Bridge. There are 3 bridges right in a row, 2 of which you need to have opened. Typically this area is jammed with boats. Thankfully today there were only 3 of us and we were all headed in the same direction. We timed that pretty well, so it was only a 10 minute delay.

The next holdup came at St. Lucie Lock, which was loading boats in at the top to lock down to us. That delay cost us about 30 minutes.

You always wait at Roosevelt.

Lastly we happened to hit a railroad swing bridge on the canal that us "usually open" according to the guides. No one mans it so you have to call them to find out when it will open. Two trains were coming, so it would be about 45 minutes. We dropped the hook at that point rather than stand station, but went on after it opened.

Sunset on the canal.

All these delays cost us getting through Mayaca Lock, which is the lock onto Lake Okeechobee. The last lock through is at 4:30. Our arrival here was 5:50. We had no plans on crossing the lake today but it would have been nice to be on the other side of the lock for another quick and early out.

Should be a lovely day regardless. Thunderstorms are predicted for the late afternoon. We should be well off the lake by then.

Any structure that protrudes out of the water is called a dolphin.
They are usually used by tows to wait for locks, 
setting their loads against them. These are made from large 
wood poles, bound together, looking like a dolphin nose.
We tied in between 2 of them, fore and aft.
You can see the silhouette of the dolphin in front.

Mosquito Lagoon to Pine Island, anchor

The anchorage last night was very quiet. Mosquito Lagoon is a large body of water, and we were anchored close to the ICW. But the wind calmed and, since we put the anchor in so late, no one came by and waked us.

Up early this morning and out. With the exception of the Haulover cut that takes you west to Titusville, the voyage was nearly due south.

We continued to see damage left by hurricanes Nicole or Ian. Boats are strewn everywhere. Some ports remain closed. The mooring balls at Titusville looked very sparse, making me wonder if they were pulled. That area had many boats tossed on the shoreline.

While I usually don't like long days we can "smell the hay in the barn". At this rate, we'll be in Longboat Key by the weekend.

Dolphins are just everywhere!

St. Augustine to Mosquito Lagoon, anchor

Tides do not wait for you; you must wait for the tide. For us, this morning, that was around 6:30 am. To put that into perspective, the sun didn't come up until 7:30. It was dark when we pushed back from the marina, but the tide was near slack.

Despite being a lovely 80 degree day it was quite windy. We were on the channel so it didn't impact us much, but thankfully kept a lot of local traffic off the water. This is "the season" in Florida, now that the hurricanes are no longer a threat.

Been underway a while when
the lazy sun came out.

The plans have changed. We no longer are heading to the keys first. We're going across Lake Okeechobee (again!) and headed directly to Longboat Key. My folks bought a new home and they really wanted to celebrate Christmas there. The easiest way to do that was for use to be in LBK. 

Additionally, a couple of projects have come into view and Russ wants to get started on them sooner rather than later. Said projects include:

• Diesel heat or chillers to replace our current HVAC system
• Remove rooftop AC unit to make space for more solar panels
• Lots of fiberglass work (patch old AC unit, replace sugar scoops with steps on the stern, install a pull-out ladder)
• Wrap the boat (this will be a color, like green)
• Move out of the storage locker in New Orleans

Salvage thing going on here. One of many 
capsized vessels.

This area was hit hard by Nicole.

Many boats and piers got hammered.

Looking ahead the weather to cross LO should be good Thursday. So we're taking a couple of long days to make sure we can grab that window. With any luck we'll be in LBK in a week or so.