Walrus fleas

The gigantic nautical flea market was gigantic.  Thousands of people both days.  A lot of people came in boats to avoid the traffic jam out on the highway.  We stayed in the park both days. 

 

We has some success shopping for shoes and T-shirts.  (Cheap)  There were lots of vendors with fishing gear and nautical stuff.  I was able to find some new fuel line I needed.  But unfortunately, there were no nautical fleas for sale.  False advertising.

Once again, the hot dog man had some interesting stories from the sandbar.  He ended up in the emergency room Sunday night.  Earlier in the day, a young child was wading along the edge of the sandbar on his way to buy some ice cream from the hot dog man.  The kid started screaming, and hot dog man jumped off the hot dog boat to pick him up out of the water.  The kid was being stung by man-of-wars.  Hot dog man was also stung.  After he got home, hot dog man started feeling a tingling in his arm, and his heart was racing.  He called his wife (in Chicago) and she said he should go to the hospital.  She thought he was having a heart attack.  He said he would get better soon, but she said she was going to call 911 in Chicago, and have them get in touch with the hospital here to send an ambulance to the marina.  Since he didn't want to wake up all his dock neighbors, he went to the hospital on his own.  It was the poison from the man-of-war stings affecting his nervous system.  He's fine today. 

Our boat neighbors, Mike and Kay Ann saw a "walrus" and her calf by the dock today.  

They will stay and drink fresh water all day.  

 

 Dalai (the dog) wasn't sure at first, and hid under momma.

But she came around.

The "walrus" rolled over on her back and floated a while.

 Before long, things got out of control.

Tuna Success

The tuna from our boat neighbor was excellent!   I had to look up how to prepare it on the internet.  They suggested using an iron skillet, but we don't have one on board.  So I got one of the marina's grill's very hot, and cooked the tuna about a minute and a half on each side to sear it.  Delicious!

My pal Wayne (I mentioned him earlier regarding the Illinois river trip) is in the plumbing supply business.  He emailed me this morning that my water connection might be suspect.  He explained that simply restricting the flow of water does not reduce the pressure.  I'm sure if I would give him my credit card number, he could ship me the plumbing parts I need to bring my installation up to code.  Most likely, he would only ship half the parts I would need. When I do plumbing projects I never have all the required parts the first time.  Actually, he suggested I visit an RV store and pick up a pressure regulator.  However, Wayne's email arrived a little too late.  There was water spraying out from behind the walls this morning.  Always consult a professional, and don't try this at home.

When I was growing up in Indianapolis, there was an urban legend about a "House of Blue Lights."  Some people said an eccentric old man lived there, and if he caught you on his property, he would shoot you.  Others said the house was haunted.   Eventually, the story faded away.  We always assumed the guy retired and moved to somewhere warm.  This boat mysteriously appeared in our marina last night.

There's a sign out in front of Founder's Park that says "Gigantic Nautical Flea Market" this weekend.  I'm hoping to buy some gigantic nautical fleas there.  These fleas I have are so small, I usually can't find them.  And since they're not the nautical variety, they keep getting seasick.  Nothing worse than having flea barf all over the boat.

Launching a Party

The space shuttle launch was today.  We thought we would watch from our dock.  We started out with Phil and Cathie and some popcorn.  Looks like the start of a party.

 

Pretty soon, the group grew.  I think it was the popcorn that drew them in.

We had seen a shuttle launch from the Charlotte Harbor area before, but that was at night.  Unfortunately, we were unable to see the launch from here today.  I think it was too cloudy.

There's a guy staying on the boat next to us--Troy.  The boat belongs to his cousin--at least that's his story.  His son is visiting him.  I call the son Sherman (Rocky and Bullwinkle),  but Pam says his name is Sawyer.  Sherman loves to fish off the back of the boat, and is out early.  The first day he was here, about 6:30 am, he hooked a fish, and shouted at the top of his lungs  "Fish On!!"    Of course, he's just 10 feet away from our open hatch, and I'm not usually an early riser.

 

Troy stopped by our boat last night with a gift.  He had gone fishing with a friend down by Big Pine Key.  He said they were out to where the water is about 300 feet deep.  They saw birds diving and the water below them churning.  A fisherman's dream.  They caught up with the the frenzy, and saw tuna jumping clear out of the water chasing bait fish.  He said they were able to pass through the school three times and hooked up each time.  Troy brought us some fresh tuna steaks for dinner tonight.

We have really become attached to this place.  Today, I spliced in the water hose from the dock to the cold water line in the cockpit shower, and we now have shore water.  No more annoying water pump when we turn on the faucet.  I don't yet have a pressure regulator, but I have only opened the hose valve part way to keep the pressure from blowing off my hose clamps.  So now when we want to take the boat out, in addition to the dock lines, shore power, cable TV, we need to disconnect the water hose.  We really are attached.

Another three hour tour

Our friends from Noblesville, Bill and Joyce arrived this morning, and we went out for a ride on the boat.  We were able to get through the "toilet bowl" in Tonic (just barely deep enough for us with the motors tilted up)
They were looking at the hundert decorated toilet seats marking the channel, but since I'd seen it all before, I was watching the water.  Half way through, there's a hole that's about 6 feet deep.  Since the water is crystal clear, I looked down in the hole to see a tarpon that's 5 feet long.  You can see him in this photo.

 


We went through Tavernier Creek, and out to Hen and Chickens Reef.  Phil and Cathie had taken their guests out for a day of snorkeling.  I think today was the calmest day on the ocean since we've been here.

We took Bill and Joyce on the standard three hour tour.  Back inside at Snake Creek (see Brown-O bOb's comment on my previous post) and on to Islamorada Fish Company for lunch.

 

 

Same old boring weather.  Sunny, high of 80 degrees, light breeze.  Ho hum.

Crocker Reef

Out to the reef again today.  When we motored out Snake Creek (the pass out to the ocean) I knew we would not be snorkeling today.  Each of the "bubbles" you can see in this photo is a Portuguese man-of-war.  They're back.

We went out near Crocker Reef, and judging by the number of boats out fishing, I thought it would be a good day.

 I caught several small Yellowtail snapper. 

And this strange looking beast.  When he was in the water, the lower portion was bright yellow.  I think it's a Spanish Hogfish.

After we got back to the marina, I stopped at the gas dock to add a little gas (25 gallons.)  I try to plan out our usage so that we have plenty of gas for our excursions, but when we tow the boat home, it's almost empty.  (Unlike my next door Noblesville neighbor Jake who runs out of gas almost every trip out on the water.)  Also, I don't like gas sitting in the tank for long.  (Apparently, neither does Jake.)  One plus is that what we buy in marinas usually doesn't have ethanol.  While we were pumping the gas, we asked dockmaster Tim what happened to the large boat that was supposed to arrive.  He said it's still coming sometime.  They're waiting for a higher high tide.  The boat's 80 feet long.  The people who own it have recently retired, and plan to live here.  Tim said he thinks they can get it in here on a high tide without pulling the "wheels" (props) off.

When we returned to the slip, I rinsed the salt off the boat with fresh water, and the "walrus" came by for a drink.

 

Neighbors from Noblesville are coming for a visit tomorrow.  Bill and Joice have a condo in Pompano Beach, FL, and are driving down to Islamorada.  We plan to take them out on the boat for a three hour tour.

goo goo g'joob

The hot dog man is from Chicago.  When he arrived a week or so ago, he brought with him two helpers.  He calls one of them Gilligan, and the other Otis (the town drunk from Mayberry.)  I think Otis' real name may be Guido.  Anyway, today, Guido--who hasn't been around the water much--sees the manatee for the first time, and says............"Look, a Walrus!"

A couple of boats left today.  One was "Katabatik", a Leopard 46' catamaran.  It has a 25' beam, so we enjoyed watching them spin around in their own length to get out.  An engine in each hull will do that for you.

Not their first day on the boat.

As we were leaving for dinner, an interesting boat came in to buy fuel.  The marina was all sold out (cheapest fuel in the keys).

  We first thought something was missing.  Luckily, Pam interrupted me before I could say something stupid.  She was standing on the dock with a woman I didn't recognize, and Pam said "Tom, that beautiful boat belongs to this lady."

Dinner was "happy hour" at the Island Grill.  Kay Ann had to fly home today, so Mike, Phil and Cathie joined us.  Looks like Cathie didn't get the memo about HAPPY hour.

More of the same (weather)

The weather here is pretty boring.  Upper 70's and sunny every day.

Pam got bored sitting in the cockpit, so she moved to the promenade deck for a different view.



I also climbed up and took some photos of the neighborhood.  We can see about half of the marina from our slip.

 

Several of the boats are leaving for the Bahamas this week.

The hot dog boat provided some entertainment this weekend.  He left Saturday morning to go out to the sandbar and open for business.  Just outside the marina, he ran aground.  He had to call TowBoatUS to pull him off.  But before he could get away, the Florida FWC (same as DNR--turtle cops--at home) came and wrote him a ticket for disturbing the sea grass.  Then when he finally got out to the sandbar where he sells hot dogs, his house boat was blown sideways, and washed up on the sandbar in such a way that he had to call TowBoatUS again. A good day for the POSEIDON.