April 29th: Sailor Dave Visit

We met "Sailor Dave" in Baltimore about five years ago. I was recovering from my broken shoulder and he was recovering from a broken back. Dave was working on restoring a sailboat. At the time we knew several guys named Dave so he became "Sailor Dave". We were in Baltimore together for about 6 weeks so we spent a lot of time together. We have kept in touch and he is at the point he is ready to move his sailboat south. He called and said he was coming to the Keys by car to check it out. We of course encouraged him. We had a fun visit and he was able to check out his options. We visited the usual places, including Key West because he'd never been there even though he was in the Navy, and a variety of marinas where he might stay with his sailboat

Near the original residence of the Crane family. 

A visit to Crane Point was in order the first day. Dave was interested in the history of the Keys and this is always an enjoyable place to visit.

The docents are knowledgeable about both the history and the mangroves and other vegatation that grows here. Plus there is a small natural museum that is quite well done.







I always learn something new from the volunteers who narrate the tour. I already knew that the Golden Orb spider is the largest spider in the Keys.














I did not know, however, why it was named the Golden Orb Spider. We learned that it is because its web is very shiny and golden when the sun shines on it. We were fortunate to see a medium sized spider with a large web.













From there Dave and I took a walk on a 1.5 mile fishing pier. It runs alongside the 7 mile bridge. There was a little more wind than we would have liked but we were still able to look down in the water and see a giant Eagle Ray, some needle fish, a small nurse shark and numerous other small fish.



We did make it to the end and back!





One of the reasons Dave came was to check out marinas to stay at if he decides to move his boat here. This very colorful crab was spotted at Boot Key Harbor. Boot Key Harbor has 225 mooring balls. We don't want to stay on a mooring ball and have to take the dinghy in whenever we want to walk around or go anywhere. Also there is no electricity or water! Even though it costs more, we much prefer being tied to a dock at Banana Bay, as does Dave. After visiting several marinas Dave decided Banana Bay is the best.



The next day it was very hot so it was a good day to ride the Conch Train Tour around Key West. The ride includes a very good narrative history of  Key West.













We also went to the Shipwreck Museum. There is a lot of history about all the wrecks at Key West. In the 1800's Key West was one of the busiest ports in the country. It was also one of the most dangerous because there are many shallow reefs around the entrance. During strong storms and hurricanes many ships would run aground. Salvage crews would head out as soon as they heard there was a wreck. There was on average one wreck a week. They were required to save the people first and then they could claim the cargo. For that period of time the Key West community had the highest average per person income in the country. The highlight of the museum is a 65 foot tower that overlooks all of Key West, 360 degrees.






 The Key West roosters, hens and chicks, are still going strong. Protected by law, they are literally everywhere.










 While Dave was here we observed a pair of Red-bellied woodpeckers nesting in a dead palm tree in front of the boat.



They sound sort of like WoodyWoodpecker and are very colorful. Fun to watch them going in and out the small hole.





It must be a popular tree as there is also a pair of Starlings nesting in another hole at the top. We've seen a number of different birds arrive this month. Usually we are gone by now. It's been fun to see some new feathered friends.











Dave is creative and likes finding new things. He showed us his new "shoelaces". They are stretch bands that take the place of regular shoe laces, no tying!


With Linda's knuckle surgery I have been tying her shoes for the past three months. These sounded like a great idea.  Linda ordered some on the internet and I installed them as soon as they came in. They work great!

















Dave headed for home Thursday and because there was very little wind I decided to go dinghy fishing under the bridge.

I caught only two fish but they were two good ones. A Yellow Snapper and a Hog Fish. They made a great supper.















There continues to be good news about Linda's hand. We went to the Clinic Friday and they removed all of the remaining stitches. For her right hand we needed to make two trips to get all the stitches out because the incision wasn't quite healed. This time the incision looked healed and the x-ray showed the new knuckles are settling in well. She'll have the mechanical splint in about another week. The numbered straps hold her fingers in place in the splint and the little white strips are steri-strips which will continue to hold the incision closed. The strips just eventually fall off on their own. We are on schedule to be on Guppy the first week of June.