The Cruise - Week 11, Plantation Key, Islamorada - March 9-15, 2015

I have updated the previous post to include our trip from Harbour Cay to Plantation Key.  We plan to be here about two weeks so once again the blog will just hit the highlights of what we are up to.  After this stop, we expect to make almost daily progress toward home.

 Wifi at this marina is poor to nonexistent which is why I have not been posting as often.  I may have to resort to my hotspot to update.  Also, when we are staying in “port” for a while, there is not as much to talk about. 

Monday March 8.  Slept well last night.  We walked around the grounds of the park and the docks and stopped at the visitors center.  The stuffing box (shaft log) is leaking more than I would like but my attempts to tighten it made no change in the rate of dripping.  It does not seem right but I don’t know what else to do.  I also am concerned over the wasting of my zinc anodes which indicates that I may have a stray current which could be detrimental to all the underwater metal fittings, including the shaft and propeller.  This is an area which I know enough to worry but not enough to really analyze the situation.  Many times, I worry unnecessarily and I hope that is the case now.  Later in the afternoon, we took a long dingy ride about 3 or 4 miles east/north to “toilet seat cut”, which is a narrow pass through a shoal bordered on each side by decorated toilet seats set on posts.  There must be two hundred or more such posts which are visible for a considerable distance.  In fact, from some distance off, we thought we were seeing high rise buildings; a kind of optical illusion.  On the way back, we stopped at Marker 88 which is a very comfortable but expensive beachside bar and restaurant.  A couple of beers were just what I needed. 

 

Tuesday we have mostly just taken it easy.  We went for a bike ride and another dingy ride but nothing big to report. 

Wednesday, we rented a car for a week; something we have been threatening to do for some time.  One does not realize the sense of freedom that an automobile gives, until it is not available.  Wow, now we can go anywhere!  Or just drive around for fun.  The downside is that traffic here is horrendous.  We went out to the end of North Key Largo and then back west through Islamorada with stops for lunch and at the World Wide Sportsman (a Bass Pro Shops store for saltwater fishing).  Otherwise another beautiful day in paradise.  

Thursday we went for a long walk, Nancy cut my hair, we took a drive around the islands, stopped at the grocery store, looked for tee shirts for our boys, and stopped for happy hour on the way back.  Like I said, life is fairly routine when we are in port.  Friday does not mean as much today as it did when I worked full time and looked forward so much to the weekend.  Today is just another day in paradise.

The rest of this week, we explored by car, did a little boat maintenance, read, ate out a couple of times and generally enjoyed life.  But again we are getting antsy, looking forward to getting underway.  I have learned a lot about cruising and myself over the past few months.  Like any human activity, people cruise for different reasons and enjoy different experiences.  It seems that most we have met fall into three general categories.  This is dangerous ground…I don’t want to judge people or their reasons for doing things.  It’s not about one being better or worse than the other, its just my personal observation of people I have met on this trip.  Of course, as with any generalization, this is not absolute and many if not most cruisers will share characteristics of all three.  Also, there are others who fall into none of these three. 

First is the wintering over group.  These cruiser’s primary objective is to escape the cold in the north.  They will generally go to one location and spend all their time there.  In other words, they make a fairly direct, quick run from where they are in the north to a destination marina and stay there until Spring when they go directly back.  They may also split there time between a couple of locations like the Keys and the Bahamas.  Many now are leaving their boats in Florida and traveling to and from by land or air, so their actual time underway is lessened.  This is a very social group and generally more affluent. 

Second, are the people who see cruising as an inexpensive lifestyle that allows them to escape from the normal world of work and responsibility.  I don’t mean this necessarily in a bad way; many have jobs along the way and participate in the local community.  Generally this group lives at anchor or on a mooring and their boats are not as well maintained as most.  A few are just bums hanging around on nearly derelict boats, but most are great folks who just want to live a different way.

The third group consists of women and men whose passions are about boats, water, and travel. They enjoy the hands on experience of boat operation, navigation, seamanship, and adventure.  Their primary objective is to just go somewhere on a boat.  Where they go is not as important as the process of going; they like to be on the move.  These people will stay at anchor (as opposed to marinas) often…because it is part of the experience, there are fewer people, and it saves money too.  I include myself and those “doing the loop” in this group.