Orlando to Key West

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Again I got up around 7:00 and got going by 8:00. Started running into tolls around Miami. This brought back bad memories of the northeast. Stopped and got a few supplies before heading to the Keys, where I expected everything to be expensive. Arrived at Leo’s campground around 7:00 PM. I had called in advance so they expected me. It kind of sucked in that I was paying $43/night to essentially park my truck. Well it would do for the night, because I didn’t have any other ideas.

1/16/07
Got up at 6:00 and headed to the Regatta to try and get on a boat. Arrived at the regatta headquarters around 7:00 AM and spoke with a person about volunteering. They said I would need to speak with Mike and it would be best to wait for him at the committee trailer and pointed in that direction. I waited about 15 minutes and told Mike I would like to participate in some facet of the race. He said I guess you would probably like to be on the water? I told him if possible but not necessary. He said to wait by the committee boats and he would see if anyone needs a person. I got there about a ½ hour early and waited. A group of people had gathered in the same location in preparation for a snorkeling trip. I listened to the guy give instructions as it was kind of funny. Mike’s wife Brenda showed up and I told her I was waiting around hoping to get on a boat. Mike showed up as well and was talking to another guy. Brenda and I had talked about 15 minutes by now and she said she was going to ask Mike what the scoop was with regards to getting on a boat. I told her that was not necessary and did not want her to pester Mike, but she walked over to him anyway. Every step she took closer to Mike I thought my chances were going down the drain. He’s going to think I am pestering him and tell me to just go away. After about a 20 second conversation Brenda came back and said he doesn’t know yet. I was a little relieved, but thought my chances were less now that Mike was disturbed on my account. Actually Mike seemed to be an extremely nice guy and I had no real reason to believe he was mad and it was his wife talking not me. Anyway the boats began to load and there I stood. Looking like a little kid who is being left behind. Finally, Mike approached me as the boats began to depart and said, “Your on a boat”. Mike put me on the Gate Boat for the Division 2 races. He even gave me a coat of his to take along in case it rained. Our assignment was to set the leeward gates. I have since learned in this Regatta they set a winward mark and a leeward gate. The purpose of this leeward gate is to allow the racers the decision to round either mark. This in turn adds strategy to the race and allows the racers to separate at the gate reducing the opportunity for protest. I have discovered in my limited sailing experience that sailors do not hesitate to protest. No one likes protest so they do everything they can to reduce the likelihood of protest. The starting point on the course is near the gates. The course is setup so the racers are going directly into the wind and going directly down wind during the race. This requires the maximum amount of strategy to win the race.

As I got on the boat I was greeted by Jim, Jack and Hal. Jim is originally from Kirkwood, MO but now resides on Marco Island, where he has a yacht business called Safe Harbor Yacht Sales. As Jim says the business world has been very good to him. We used his boat a 33’ Grady White. A very sweet ride. Jim is a very personable and funny man. He was a publicity guy for Ducks Unlimited from 1972 to 1992. He has a duck hunting place in the Pleasant Hill area. Jim and his wife spent an extended time sailing around the Caribbean. Jim has done a lot of cool things in his life and is the kind of person that you could talk to forever.

Jack is from the Newport Rhode Island area where he has a financial investing business. Jack is an avid sailer and continues to compete in races in Newport. I am not sure where Hal is from, but he is very proficient at using a gps to set up the leeward gates. Hal and Jack both recommended I race my boat at least one summer to really get a handle on how to sail. I have heard lots of people say the same thing.

I had a blast helping them set the marks. My job was to hold the anchor and drop it in the water when told to do so. I also helped to inflate and deflate the marks. I knew my role in this race was minute, but yet I still felt like I was taking part.

The boats were enormous the biggest one being Bon Bon, which is 81 feet in length. Bon Bon normally won the races but had such a severe handicap that it finished 6th overall (I think). Jack was saying the sails on the big boats are Kevlar and cost around $100,000 and the Jib is good for about 100 tacks, while the main is probably good for about 150. There were several other boats in the 50 ft. range with a couple 60 footers. There were 4 divisional races, with our races being the division 2 which were the biggest boats. I was glad of that. It amazed me too that the boats were from all over the world. Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, France, Australia, Japan, Canada etc. were all represented. There were a few hundred boats in the races. This is the most prestigious race in the United States. Other parts of the world have bigger races and the Irishman I spoke with said England has a race that has 1,000 competitors. He indicated sailing is bigger around the world than what it is in the United States.

I took lots of photos and the day went by without a hitch. That night went to Hog’s Breath again and had some oysters on the half shell again like the previous night. Man those things are good.

1/17/07
I got up around 6:30 and headed to get some breakfast. I arrived at the boat around 7:30. Again the charter boat service was instructing people on their snorkeling trip. Jim spends his night sleeping on the boat so he was obviously there ready to go. Around 7:50 Jack and Hal showed up. Hal had been bringing the food for lunch and it was excellent.
Again we were off for day 2 of my race week day 3 of theirs. Nothing new happened really this day. It went very smooth. Again it was beautiful out there and I was having a great time.

I asked Mike if there was a possibility of me getting a ticket to the awards banquet as I wanted to see what that was all about. He said of course so I went to that. The awards banquet was well done and had a nice mix of being laid back, upbeat and professional all in one. They had a grinder competition where you crank this machine as hard as you can, while the resistance progressively increases until you have reached 20 turns. It took me 11.48 seconds when I did it for fun. I did not have any offers from Captains wanting to sign me up on their crew 😊 . The best times were around 9 minutes. I talked to a lot of people, but discovered no crewing opportunities.

Went to Schooner’s Wharf after the banquet where they have this competition where the person has to drink a shot of Mount Gay Rum, tie a bowline knot and lasso a post and then turn around to drink a glass of beer. It was very entertaining to watch. I would have done it, but my bowline tying abilities are (k)not that developed.

1/18/07
Pretty much did the same thing today, but we had to do a course adjustment during the race. This required me to hold up a sign with the new course adjustment heading on the board. This was necessary because the wind had shifted and this keeps everything fair in that the competitors will not have an advantage over either gate allowing for better separation at the gate and less likely protest. This was kind of exciting and I was glad it happened.

I went to Mallory Square that night to watch the sunset which is mandatory according to the locals. They have circus like acts performing there. My favorite was the guy who has his cats trained to do tricks. The sunset was cool too. After that was over went to the awards banquet and had a couple glasses of mount gay rum with orange juice, ate a couple hot dogs and then headed home right after the awards. I was too tired to do anything else.

1/19/07
This is the last day of racing. I am going to kind of miss going out on the nice boat and watching the sailing action close up. I had a blast doing such and the routine of having something specific to do each day will be missed. I think I like somewhat of a routine and of course this trip will be far from that. Meeting people from all walks of life is cool as well.

There was lots of concern that this last day of racing would not get in because of light air being forecasted, but the air was great. I got a good video today of the racing action. The day went great and lots of complements were doled out to the race committee by the competitors. The winners winning the awards were extremely excited. I had a couple Mount Gay Rum drinks and a couple hot dogs and called it a night. The sleeping was pretty good.

1/20/07
I got up around 7 and had breakfast at Denny’s. For $4.09 you can have 3 pancakes, which is pretty much all you can eat. I would have rathered had eggs but decided to save some money. I then decided to have a cup of white chocolate with caramel which was very good. Went to the race committee tent, but didn’t see Jack. Hence I decided to go over to the catamaran boats trying to find a ride. No luck there again as they said it is the slow time of the year and they have trouble finding boats for their own people. Went back to the tent and found Jack who gave me his email address. There really wasn’t anything for me to do so I decided to move on. Found the Key West Sailboat Club. Agreed to pay them the $200 and join the club. Went out with Joan who happened to be there. We were both very controlling people when it came to sailing so we argued a lot in a fun way. We sailed for about an hour and then went back in. She left and came back giving me some free tickets to a couple attractions on the Island.

I then took a 16 foot Victoria boat out. It sure isn’t my 22’ Catalina, but it is going to have to do. They have a boat there called an Opti which is essentially a box and man do those things scoot around. Several people were using them. I took the boat out for couple hours but then decided to head back when the water got rough. I sailed through a mooring area and the smallest boat I saw was a 25’ O’Day. My Cat may be a little too small for this area. All the club boats were a little grimy. After sailing I went back to the bike shop to see if my bike was repaired. It wasn’t after they had already told me it would have been a day earlier. They said it would be done tomorrow for sure. I think Key West time is about two days later than normal.

The locals down here are quite the group. Really I think they are a big family. I have not gotten a good handle on what the locals think of tourist except that they provide the money they need to stay here. It is a little like we are outsiders and to be approached with caution. I am going to be looking into this farther to understand that relationship better.

Decided to head back to the beach bar near my Hostel and have a couple drinks. Linda was there and she invited me to their motel Happy Hour. I felt a little out of place drinking their beer but Linda said not to worry about it. After that went back to the bar just drinking water as I had enough booze for one night. Discovered the bartender, as well as some ladies at the bar, were all from Carbondale. They all knew of Carlyle Lake. I had been talking to the bartender Cindy for several days not knowing she was from Carbondale. Small world.

Came back to the Hostel and talked to Anna for awhile. Anna (pronounced Ah NA) is half Sweden and not sure what else, but a very nice, intelligent and motivated girl. She is from the Boston area. Decided to hit the hay around 11:00. It had been a long day.

1/21/07
Decided to do some typing first thing in the morning. Anna stopped by and we went to a coffee shop she had discovered. It was pretty cool and we enjoyed talking to the local people there. Anna was going to head for the beach for awhile and then to Hemmingway’s house. I went to the bike shop to check on my bike. They had it completed and the cost was only $25. Went to the sailing club with the intention of dropping off a check, but a member of the club said he wouldn’t pay the money if I was only going to be here for a week. I mentioned that to Walter the local retired guy who actually seems a little cranky at times. He said no I probably will have to pay the entire $200, but he said another person has to make that decision. He said to call the person. I called the guy and he said he was going to stop by. I told him I really didn’t want to pay $200 if I can’t use the boats all week, as this day it was way to windy to sail. He said if I don’t get to go out I can just give the Youth Club a donation. At this point I think I will take the boat out Monday and Tuesday and then leave on Wednesday. I have had a good time here, but it may be time for me to head north. I had hoped to get on more sailboats, but my luck may have run out in that regard. I was very lucky to get on the committee boat. That was great.

As I rode back to the beach I noticed the squeak in my bike reoccurring so I stopped in the bike shop and they tried a few things and then discovered the problem to be a foot pedal. They replaced that for $10 and I was back on the road. It felt good for the bike to be running properly. As I rode to the beach at Fort Zachory I ran into Anna on her way to Hemingway’s place. We talked and I agreed to give her a lift to the bus station. We agreed to meet at the hostel at 3:15. I went to the beach, something I am not a big fan of but thought I needed to do it at least one day. It was pretty cool actually as the wind was really blowing and the clouds hid the sun intermittently.

I took Anna to the bus station around 3:30. We had extra time so we went to the beach for awhile. I went back to the Southern Most Beach and Bar and had some supper. They have a great Caribbean Burger. I watched the Bears win and decided to head back to the Hostel. Did some surfing on the web related to the trip and watched the Colts/ Patriots game. I was tired so decided to hit the hay around 10:30.

1/22/07
Got up around 7 and headed out for breakfast. Decided to go back to Denny’s primarily for convenience. Jane at the sailboat harbor had given me some passes to a couple museums so I went to 2 of the 3. The museum of Natural Science and History had one cool display. There were pictures on the wall of 4 of the exhibits. As you walked near the exhibit in the building your picture would appear in the picture on the wall. I tried a few snap shots of the pics on the wall, but they didn’t turn out too well. Also went to the Key West Lighthouse. You are able to actually climb the light house. At the top it was very warm with all the glass reflecting the light.

Headed to the sailboat harbor around 11:00 AM. There was a guy and lady going out in the other Victoria. The wind was pretty high, but I was going regardless. I saw a dolphin in the harbor as I went out. The guy and girl were really getting after it as more than ½ their boat was out of the water quite often. For a couple reasons I made sure not to get that much heal. I ran a ground in one location and had to get out and push. Not being familiar with the area and the critters I was a little uneasy getting out of the boat. There was a bed of sea grass where I got out. I messed around for about 2 hours as the winds were very high and it was a little stressful. Sailing through the cut was difficult that gets you out into the big water. It's about a 200 ft. stretch and a 60 ft. wide area I had to tack about 5 times.

It’s amazing all the people at these Hostels and their nationalities and how nice they are. My theory that it’s not the people of nations that cause bad things like wars, it’s the leaders who are evil. At the Hostel in Key West there were Swedens, Germans, Austrians, Japanese, Australians, etc. Everyone is extremely cool. Not sure of their nationalities, but one group of kids cut up coconuts and offered me a slice. Freshest coconut I have ever had.

I decided to go to the Fort Zachary Beach in the afternoon and work on my tan and do some swimming. Left there and headed to the Duval Street Bar for a last Corona. They are only $3.00 there and I had made it a habit to have one there most days in the evening. I had gotten to know Cindy and Tom fairly well. Cindy was very happy to see me because I had forgot to pay my bill a couple days earlier and she said she had to pay it. She had told her manager that I come there everyday and she was not worried about me paying. We laughed about that a little. The day it happened some people invited me to their happy hour in a motel fronting the beach and I just left with them not really giving it any thought. She said she told her manager that I have been here for several weeks, which in reality it has only been a week. I jokingly told them that man I must be giving you all a hard time if it has seemed like that long. I told them I was leaving tomorrow since I have wore out my welcome here. They laughed and assured me I have not wore out my welcome. They said I would be back. I told them no I was leaving as I need to stay busy and am not the person that can lay on a beach everyday.

Hit the town one last time in the evening. I looked long and hard for the best place to eat my last meal in Key West. I wanted atmosphere and seafood. I got the atmosphere, but decided not to have seafood. I went to Sloppy Joes. Ernest Hemingway helped name that bar as the owners name at the time was Joe and they used to sell fish their too and it was a little messy so Ernest suggested they name it Sloppy Joes. Down here everything has to do with either being the Southernmost Point, related to Hemingway and to being free spirited. I hit a few bars after the Sloppy Joe’s pizza. Went back to the Green Parrot for one last beer and then headed back to the Hostel. The Hostel appeared to be full.

1/23/07
Got up around 6:30 to head for the pier to watch the sunrise. There were clouds, which I had hoped would result in a great sunrise. I didn’t get the photo I was looking for, but it was neat nonetheless. I decided to head down Duvall Street one last time. It is always neat seeing a City, while most folks are still asleep. It’s a whole different experience. Went back to the Hostel to get things organized for my departure. After working on that decided to head for breakfast at South beach. They have very reasonable breakfasts, which I discovered on the last day. Drove to the sail boat club and made a donation to the youth club. From there I headed North!

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Photos

Key West Sunsets
What can you say about that?

Saing Pic
Awe the sailing action was awesome. I was so lucky to participate.

Awe the Keys
Somewhere in the Keys. Does it really matter where?

Key West Campsite
My $43 campsite in Key West.

Sailing Pic - 1
Let the sailing pics begin! Action Photo!

Sailing Pic - 2
Check out this nut. These guys climb the mast of these boats to make adjustments to the sail. They do this in the high seas. They obviously try to get little guys to do this grunt work. It's wild!

Sailing Pic -4
Helicopter videoing the race action.

Sailing Pic 3
Spectator Boat.

Sailing Pic 5
Race committee official's boat!

Sailing Pic 6
Cool helicopter shot.

Sailing Pic 7
This boats over 60 ft. in length. There were some big boys with some big toys competing! The kevlar sails on these boats are around $100,000 and they last for around 100 tacks. After that they throw the sails in the trash can. The maintenance programs for these boats are around $1,000,000 bauckaroos. Yowser!

Sailing Pic 8
This guy motored around in this little boat taking pictures which he would put on a website for purchase. I thought he was a little crazy being out there in that small boat, but he seemed to be comfortable with it.

Sailing Pic 9
A race start.

Sailing Pic 10
I see 17 people crewing this boat. Big boats big crews!

Sailing Pic 11
I hope you brought your hiking shoes, because it is time to hike!

Sailing Pic 12
During the race start a crew members gets on the very bow of the boat and idicates to the captain where they are at in relation to the starting line. See the guys on the bow of these boats?

Sailing Pic 13
This guy is on the ocean with a 25 horse Merc and an innertube. I suspect there are quite of few days he is sidelined, or at least should be with this craft. Do you think he has a spare air pump on this boat?

Sailing Pic 14
We were the Gate Boat. We set out these two markers which represent the gate. When the boats are sailing downwind they can go around either one of these gates. Our job was to set these gates out so their is no advantage for the sailors to go around either gate. The purpose of the two gates is to avoid congestion when the boats are rounding these down wind markers. I know it's all a little confusing for those not familiar with sailing.

Sailing Pic 15
Another hard day at the office heading to the harbor!

Sailing Pic 16
A pic of Jim's butt and Hal's head. Again heading in after another exhausting day! Man am I tired.

Sailing Pic 17
My ride to the office!

Comments

[B town]

Enjoyed this -you're getting better .Looking forward to more. What could we get for your birthday??????-you're experience is priceless.

[Lucky Charms]

A gas card for a few thousand dollars would be handy!