April 24th: Having fun with Craig and Karen

 

Guppy and Rendezvous, (the Rahns' boat),  July, 2016 - Rideau Canal

Rahns and Linda, Erie Canal - 2017
(Linda has her knuckles replacement brace on,
never slowed her down!)

I was really looking forward to the Rahns' visit. Not only are they good friends, but they are long time boaters. The pictures bring back so many good memories. Boaters are typically self sufficient, pack minimal "stuff" and expect the unexpected to occur when cruising. The cruising was important because this would be the first overnight trip I had taken without Linda at the helm. I had worked at doing repairs on some of the systems and now I felt we were good to go.

Due to a last minute flight change by American Airlines, The Rahn's flight departed from California at about 7:30 AM instead of about 9:30 AM. I heard they were leaving home around 5 something AM! The good news was, they would arrive at 5:30 PM instead of 8:00 PM. It's about an hour ride back to Marathon. I had made some chicken in the crockpot knowing they wouldn't have had a chance to eat on the way given a very short layover. Dinner was good and duly appreciated. 

After driving back from Key West the previous night, Craig and Karen were recuperating from their long travel day from California. We decided to take it easy the first day. Plus, it was Sunday, not a good day to do tourist type activities.

We walked around the grounds for a short tour, swapped old boating memories and relaxed on the fly bridge. It was great to be together again on Yesterday's Dream.

Sunset from the fly bridge

I barbecued some great Key West Pink shrimp for supper and we watched a colorful sunset. Our plan was to go to Key West Monday,  hoping the crowds would be smaller. The Rahns had been there quite a few years earlier and wanted to check it out.

Remember me mentioning it's good to have experienced boaters as guests? Karen and Craig were sleeping in the v-berth in the bow, and I was in the aft cabin. I woke up about 7 AM hearing Craig's voice calling, Steve! Steve! Half awake I thought, "This can't be good!"

Craig said "We hear water running and there is water on the floor in the forward head." I think it might be the air conditioner. On a boat, marine air conditioners use sea water to operate the cooling system. I sincerely hoped the air conditioner wasn't pumping sea water into the bilge. I hoped that one of the plastic hoses had popped off of a fresh water hose barb and it was fresh water coming in. I had hooked us up to the marina water so the Rahns wouldn't hear the boat's pressure pump, which is right under their bunks, running during the night if someone got up and used water. 

Craig went to the bow and turned off the valve to the marina water hookup. The water stopped running. Whew! We soaked up the water with towels and I investigated. I found the hose that popped off, most likely due to increased pressure from the marina hookup. Should be an easy fix. Except there was a very old fitting that broke off when I tried to fix it. The Rahns said something like, "Relax. We'll take our time to fix it." (And of course with Craig being an engineer, assistance was readily available.) We'll go to Key West tomorrow."

Home Depot is right across the street so I went for parts. No luck. So I went to Home Hardware, a great hardware store nearby. They had just what I needed. Repairs were completed well before noon.

So the weather was great for a dinghy ride. Karen opted to stay on the boat and read. She was really enjoying just relaxing on the boat. Craig and I rode around Crane Point. We planned to do a narrated golf cart tour (now on Wednesday), but it's nice to see it from the water also. 

We rode around a this small key where the water was crystal clear.

Crane Point Bay

There is a very protected small bay which is very pretty and peaceful. No houses.

It's fun to go under the little bridge at the tip of Crane point because there are usually fish hanging out there. We also got to see the small nurse shark that hangs out at an observation deck. We would be on the observation deck Wednesday during our tour so I hoped the nurse shark would put in an appearance for Karen.

The next day, we had a pretty day to ride to Key West. I always recommend taking the trolley tour around Key West to get the history and determine what we might want to see. The Rahns had been to Key West a long time ago and I warned them it had changed a lot. It is now a tourist city with at least one cruise ship in port daily. The trolley tour was pretty good. We stopped at an old fort and saw one of Key West's roosters apparently waiting for a ride. 

There is a lot of history around Henry Flagler's influence on the Keys due to his railroad. Here is a link to a short history but you can Google a lot more if you are interested.

Henry Flagler Railroad

For interesting facts about the origin of Key West check this link.

Key West shipwrecking industry history

Mallory Square pier

By the time we finished the tour, the Rahns decided the place had become too "Honky Tonk". We went to the Mallory Square pier where people gather to watch the sunset. 

Cruise ship leaving, at least 12 decks

It was early and hot so not much to see except a nice view of the ocean and we saw a cruise ship leaving. There has been an ongoing controversy among the cruise ship owners, the state and the city. 

We were in Key West a few times, before COVID, when two huge cruise ships would come in and it was a total zoo. Way too many people for too small a space. We tried to avoid visiting Key West when cruise ships were in, but it became almost impossible. But the tax revenue drove everything. The locals took advantage of the COVID cruise ship prohibitions as you can read in the following links. The battle is ongoing. Just an FYI, the City found few cruise passengers ate at restaurants because meals were provided on board, and not much money was spent at the local stores. The huge crowds, however, were discouraging other tourists from visiting, causing overload problems with the city services and  infrastructures. 

New Cruise ship regulations

New Cruise ship regulations Challenged

Latest efforts regarding Cruise Ships

We decided to walk to the Mallory Square shops where Karen picked up some souvenirs for family members, we got some ice cream, and decided to head to our lunch place, Salute's. 

Key West First Legal Rum Distillery

On our way back to the car we passed this Rum store. Craig likes rum so I encouraged him to check it out. They provided samples. Craig settled on a bottle to take back. 

Salute's on the beach

Salute's is a very fun Italian restaurant on the beach away from most of the craziness. We enjoyed a very good lunch and headed home.

90 Miles to Cuba

After lunch I remembered that Karen wanted to get a picture of the Southernmost Point marker. It was fairly close so we drove by and got a picture. 

Crepuscular Sunset

Saw something new that night. We had no idea what caused it but my artist friend Emily, also a marine biologist, told us it was a crepuscular sunset! The sunset entertainment seems endless!

Here is an explanation of the sighting. Crepuscular Sunset

Fortunately, the Rahns were staying 12 days so we could wait for low winds to do our overnight trip to Bahia Honda State Park marina. Also on our agenda were Crane Point, the Turtle Hospital, a driving tour of Marathon, looking for key deer at Big Pine Key and the dolphin Research Center.