So close . . .

We may have adopted a slightly unconventional lifestyle, but one "land based" activity we haven't given up is watching football. We managed to dock just in time to catch the Superbowl. While none of the teams we had previously been following made it, we like the Steelers coach and Big Ben. But, we found ourselves cheering for the Cardinals because 1-I'm from Arizona, 2-who doesn't like an underdog and 3-Kurt Warner, what a story behind his travels to the big game Sunday. We didn't expect them to win, but were hoping it wouldn't be a total slaughter. We were not the only ones to be surprised at what a close game it turned out to be! We watched the game in the Santiago's Dockside Cantina, a bar and grill at a KAO campground in Fiesta Key, with dozens of other guests. The majority of the other patrons were quite a bit older than us (we find this at most marinas, too) but just as loud and enthusiastic when it came to cheering their teams (mostly AZ fans). They were mostly members of a bicycling association from Maine and cheered as each member made it in after the day's ride.

Speaking of "close," we're getting very close to achieving our goal of reaching the Bahamas. Just after my last posting in Gordon Pass, we followed the ICW to Goodland, arriving late Wednesday afternoon. On our delivery trip last year, we docked at the marina, but this year we anchored just off the channel. As we had reached the 20 hour mark on the new outboards, it was time to change the oil. That afternoon Morgan pulled the port engine and changed the oil while I . . . uh, took a nap (bad form, I know!) We cleaned up and took the dinghy in for dinner at The Little Bar. The inside resembles the interior of an old square rigger. They have no menus; they write what's available that day on a white board and put it on an easel at your table. Last year when we entered, we were met by a very happy, very drunk gentleman who proceeded to make suggestions from the daily specials. We assumed he was a patron. Wrong. Turns out he was the owner! No such entertainment this year, though we had a fabulous dinner. Morgan had what he described as the best prime rib he'd ever had. I had blackened grouper that I would put in that category as well. After dinner, we had a few drinks in the attached bar and started talking to the couple next to us. Helmut and Sanny own a restaurant called Sport Grill in their native Germany. Really nice couple and Sanny's brother shares my brother Hans' name. We had hoped to meet up with them the next night, but the timing didn't work out. Thursday morning Morgan changed the oil on the starboard engine, then we took Nyla in the dinghy to another restaurant called Stan's Idle Hour, which is right next to The Little Bar. Last year when we walked past this bar/restaurant, they were just wrapping up a pretty boisterous party. This time it was mid afternoon and the patrons weren't as fueled up! Nyla was a big hit as usual (she's a great conversation starter for some reason). The food was ok and the wine, well, let's put it this way - I didn't finish my glass, opting for a diet coke instead. However, the staff were terrific and another patron offered to take us to the local grocery store. We declined, choosing instead to walk around the little community. The mostly residential area on the water is primarily made up of a senior citizen mobile home park, so we dodged a lot of golf carts! As we approached The Little Bar, we heard a strange noise, then "Hello." There, at the entrance, was a golf cart with a beautiful parrot on top. He didn't share the more colorful language we later learned that he has, but he let Nyla know in no uncertain terms exactly how close she could get. From her point of view, Nyla just seemed very confused to hear this bird talk like her people! After much preening and squawking and numerous "hellos," we started to walk away and I said "bye-bye." We hadn't walked two more steps when we heard the echo from behind us, "bye-bye!"

We left Goodland early Friday after fueling. While we were fueling, an older gentleman came walking down the dock with a coffee pot asking me 'where was my cup?'! I love south Florida! We were able to do some sailing, but we primarily motored to Little Shark Creek, south of Everglades city. We had anchored here last April and were pleased to find fewer boats this year. We had planned to leave early Saturday morning, but the radio station indicated gale warnings for the area. Having already had our share of pounding in the first leg of our journey (see blog entry "Mother Nature Counsels Patience"), we were not at all interested in a sequel. Instead, Morgan went back to bed till noon, I did some cleaning, then we took Nyla and the dinghy to introduce ourselves to the s/v Lady Catherine anchored nearby. Bill and Dreama, the captain and admiral respectively, are long time cruisers and had aboard one of their sons and grandsons. They live in Florida and we quickly spent an hour talking with them. Dreama had spent a good bit of time in Puerto Rico, as I did, so while we compared notes and recollections of PR, Bill and Morgan talked sails, anchorages and sailing in general. They also gave us some good tips for places to get work done in south Florida. They're headed to Marathon, but hopefully we'll cross paths in the future. We then took Nyla on a dinghy ride through the mangroves hoping to spot a gator, but had no luck, which could be a good thing!

Sunday morning gave us calm seas and good wind and we were able to sail most of the day, motoring for only the last hour to Fiesta Key. As mentioned in the beginning, we are at a KAO campground. They have quite a few slips, none of which we fit in because we're 18' wide. However, they offer a seawall and have just enough water for us to float in. We stayed here last year and it is even better than we remembered. We were met at the dock by Jack with our mail which we had forwarded. While in the ship's store checking in, we asked how far the grocery store was. Jack's response was, "How ya' gonna get there?" As we stammered, he assured us someone would take us. Unlike the slips, the seawall has no power or water, but we have a generator and were able to get the water tank refilled by shuttling across the marina. (We have a water maker, but it is "pickled" for long term storage and we haven't opened it as of yet.)

The weather forecast is not favorable for crossing the Gulf Stream any time soon, so we've been hanging out at the KAO in the meantime. It's incredibly inexpensive and the staff of the both the campground and the bar/grill are awesome. Last night we brought our laptops up to the cantina to file our taxes and check email. We were seated outside because we had Nyla with us. The sky proceeded to open up with strong winds, driving rain and lightning. The outside was covered and Morgan unrolled the canvas sides, so it wasn't too bad. Mike, the bartender/server/cook was very accomodating, kept us in libations and even brought out a hot dog and water for Nyla. He's a hard working young man, putting in 3 days a week in Fiesta Key and 4 days in Marathon. Later in the evening, Mike's friend and co-worker from Marathon joined us. Have you ever seen the movie "Invincible?" It's set in Philly and I swear he could have been an extra in it and would not have needed a script. If one ever needed to sum up a Philly local boy, all one would need to do is introduce Jared. He kept us amused and in the bar far longer than we had intended, but he was so damned funny! Today I asked Mike how Jared felt this morning. He said he had some food and a beer, then asked him if he had been hanging out with a couple from Arkansas. I guess Alaska and Arkansas share a few letters!??!

The marina/campground is right off the Gulf of Mexico and a bridge away from the Atlantic Ocean. The slip area is teeming with aquatic life. We saw what we were told were "moon jellyfish", a flotilla of pelicans and various fish. The coolest sight, though, has been the two ENORMOUS sea turtles. The slip area is probably 100 wide and only 4-6' deep, yet these beautiful, ancient creatures swam gracefully passed us as our mouths hung open in awe. We've had glimpses of them in the Gulf, but they always disappeared right away. One of them poked their head up and Morgan said he thought it looked like a little, old bald guy! With the heavy wind we had today, we had a lot of sea grass gather around the boat, so we're hopeful we'll see some manatees on Wed. The wind today was blowing a steady 20+ knots, with gusts over 30, so (thankfully) Morgan delayed a trip up the mast to retrieve the jib halyard (another blog I'll let Morgan post). Hopefully the wind will die down a little tomorrow so he can get that done.

Looking forward, we'll make our way up the Keys to Tavernier Key or Key Largo for some banking and final provisioning for the Bahamas. Joan, Morgan's mother, will be joining us in the northern Keys for a few days, so we're really excited about that! After that, we'll make our way to Pumpkin Key, which has no facilities, but is very near where we will enter the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream will want to push us north, so we will be waiting for a weather window with wind from the south, west or southwest. Anything else would make for an extremely uncomfortable passing and we don't have a deadline or a deathwish (okay, I'm being dramatic - it would just feel like I was dying and I don't even want to think about what the cat would do!)

I've let Morgan know I'd like him to fill in the gaps I've left, like what kind of sails we flew and how many knots we were doing and how the jib halyard ended up at the top of the mast with the sail at the bottom, so you have that to look forward to. (For our non-boating viewers, a halyard is a rope [sorry Donald] that attaches to the head of a sail and pulls it to the top.)

I close this blog entry with the exciting thought that we are SO CLOSE to posting blogs from the Bahamas!!!!!!!!!