Harbor Life

Boot Key Harbor, Marathon Florida
February 3, 2006

Harbor life doesn't inspire me to write blogs as much as the sailing life does. But I do have a responsibility to readers to write sometimes. DonÂ’t look for so many blog articles while weÂ’re here.

Life in this harbor is easy. First, Boot Key Harbor is the ideal anchorage. It is about 1 mile long by ¼ mile wide and well sheltered from winds or waves from any direction. About 80% of the harbor has a depth of about 9 feet (3m) which is perfect for anchoring. The bottom is a very fine sand so holding is excellent. The water, flushed by tides, appears to be clean. Such a fine harbor attracts many boats, and there must be 300 boats anchored here. Most are sailboats. Many belong to cruisers such as ourselves. Many others belong to people who have been here for years at anchor. I'’ll take some pictures and post them.

The harbor is very crowded. The city is gradually converting most of the harbor from open anchorages to moorings and collecting money to use the moorings. By the end of 2006 or 2007 there will be few or no anchorages left here. On the other hand, the moorings allow higher packing density, and they are more secure for shifting winds if there is nobody onboard. Next week we plan to leave for a week for David'’s graduation, so we rented a mooring starting today. They price is affordable, $150/month. No other place weÂ’ve been to charges so little. Libby and I will feel more secure knowing that Tarwathie is moored when we'’re gone. Remember that Tarwathie is our home and paranoia is justified when contemplating leaving oneÂ’s home floating on the end of a hook and some line.

Every day we find some reason to go ashore. I'’ve been rowing about 1 mile per day and biking about 5 miles per day, and I can feel my physical shape improving. Libby walks about 3 miles per day also. Marathon provides stores and facilities within reasonable distance of the marina. Actually, the keys are small islands, and everything is necessarily near by. Also there is only one road that goes anywhere, US 1, and it has a lot of traffic. I have no desire to go to key west because of the traffic I see going and coming from there. It reminds me of Lake George in New York, were one sees heavy traffic from NYC up to Lake George on I87, then very little traffic thereafter. Lake George and Key West are places for mobs, not for us.

Today at the marina laundry I joined the laundry klatch with Libby as we waited for the dryer. There were several women talking. They were all cruisers and most of them were cruising with children onboard. They, and we, were taking turns boasting about the places in the world they planed to go to. Granted there's a lot of B.S. in such talk; that'’s what bull sessions are all about. Nevertheless, one thing really struck me. The women were saying, “Imagine that some people live in the same place all the time.” Wow, how narrow and unbalanced that statement was. I guess that says something about human nature. We tend to project our environment and that of the nearest circle as "typical"” or "normal" even when that'’s plainly untrue.

Also every day we get to meet more of the cruisers in the harbor. I hope to pick the brains on some of them about Central America.

Most of my time here I've spent studying for my HAM license. I'm going to take the Technician level test, and the Morse code test, and the General level test all on the same day. Therefore I've been studying all three. Recently I found that I can go to the library to sit and study in peace for about 6 hours at a time. The material is boring. I have to memorize FCC rules and regulations and lots of frequencies and frequency band numbers. Yuck. The only thing I plan to do with the HAM license is to send and receive email.

And then there are chores to do. Below is my to-do list plus my shopping list for things to do before sailing for Belize. I add about 5 new items per day. It will take quite a few days of work to get to the end of the list.

• 1/2 & 9/16 6 inch open end wrench
• 12 V computer adapter
• 5 gallon pail
• Activated charcoal tablets
• antibacterial soap
• ATF fluid
• baby sitter
• Benadryl
• Burglar Alarm
• Canned Meats
• Check/replace all zincs
• Chisel
• Courtesy Flags Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica
• Eckard gentle skin cleaner
• Faulty Alternator? Do undercharging checklist
• Fialgaecide
• fuel algicide
• HAM License
• HOL-TITE handle
  
• Laxitive, antacid, sunblock, sunburn
• Lube Oil
• Lysol
• Metal Wax
• Metal wax all deck stainless
• Mineral Oil or Baby Oil
• mothballs
• Muratic Aci
  
• Oar lock chafe gear
• Pactor Modem buy, install, configure
• Paint the deck
• Pencils
• Phosphoric acid
• pressure cooker
• Printer/Copier
• Renew insurance or buy new policy
• salt water faucet & plumbing
• Selsun Blue
• Silicone Grease
  
• soldering iron & heat shrink tubes
• spare hose clamps
• The Offshore Doctor (book)
• toliet tank stuff
• Visa for Mexico
• Wash & Wax the hull
• Water Filter & plumbing
• Water Purification Tablets