Brooke Smith
12/31/2011, Boot Key Harbor City Marina mooring E4

And of course. Sunset at the famous Mallory Square in Key West

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Brooke Smith
12/31/2011, Boot Key Harbor City Marina mooring E4

Key West Chickens. Some ordinance told Key West residents they could not keep chickens in cages on their property. So they just let them go. And now of course they are protected...

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Brooke Smith
12/31/2011, Boot Key Harbor City Marina mooring E4

Sloppy Joe's Bar

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Brooke Smith
12/31/2011, Boot Key Harbor City Marina mooring E4

Another Key West picture is me going into Jimmy Buffett's recording studio in Key West. Of course he was not there and the door was locked. Oh well.

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Brooke Smith
12/30/2011, Boot Key Harbor City Marina mooring E4

We are staying on a mooring for the next week. Or, at least it will be our home base to go to snorkeling spots.
So, we tok the Bus to Key West and that was a smart and cheap route. $1.50 each was for us seniors. We walked some and took a city tour bus for the overview of the Old Town section. I'm gonna post a few pictures.
1st picture is the beginning of US 1. We are only 1120 miles south of home via US 1.

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Brooke Smith
12/29/2011, Boot Key Harbor City Marina mooring E4

Day 59.
My body recovered from the lack of sleep and the grueling passage from Islamorada to Marathon. Today I pulled the heat exchanger ends off to clean all the weeds that must have been in there and guess what? The heat exchanger was clean. As much grass as I plowed though yesterday I figured SOME must have made it into the system. One guy told me that the weeds are on the surface and my water pickup is near the bottom of the boat. But as churning as the water was yesterday I figured some have gotten in. So that was a relief. Susan did the laundry and I took care of still straightening up the boat and cleaning the dinghy. We decided to at least stay on a mooring ball one day and maybe more too. We can stay on a mooring and use all the marina facilities for a month for about the same money we spent on one nights slip rent at Miami Beach Marina. Lots of people are HERE for the winter. Met a couple this morning on a 25' sail boat. She was 6'1" and he 6'4". That would drive me crazy. She was also drinking Bud @ 9AM so maybe it was getting to her too.
We spoke with lots of different couples and had a few aboard to see our boat. We had so many people stopping and looking at our boat in the marina. WE thought that was odd. But there are lots of trawler people that just happen to own sailboats. That's right, many sailboaters just motor around and seldom put up sails. I think sailboats are very cool. They are when they are in their element of the right wind speed and direction. But, maybe many of the people are getting older and just don't have the sailboat enthusiasm or strength. Our 36' trawler also has much more room and visibility for driving. Visibility of where you are going is always a problem on many sailboats. I watched a guy that I was overtaking leaning out to the side of the boat to see where he was going. The dodger vinyl window or the jib was in the way of where he was headed.
So, I still like our boat after 59 days on it. Very comfortable.
We left the slip at the marina and moved to our new home for a day or so,, or more. We are on a mooring at Boot Key Harbor City Marina. $1.50 bus ride to Key West looks much smarter than taking our boat there. (No marina availability and crowded anchorages.) We spoke to others that have bussed there. So, we might do that tomorrow.
Still have not found my camera but have pulled out my old Canon SD800IS and will start using it. Here is the 35,769th picture taken with my Canon SD800IS. It's traveled well but is pretty beat up. The picture is Susan and I taking a dinghy ride at sunset around the marina.

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