Past couple of weeks have been busy , busy ..it seems that way now many of my sailing friends have left Boot Key Harbor.

Jim and Pam on "Screech" F39 left a few days ago up Florida Bayside on there way to the Bahamas for a month or two . ( love to sail those waters someday -- maybe next year !)

Dick and Anne on "Greyhound" F33 headed down the Keys towards Key West and maybe out to the Dry Tortugas for awhile .

Mark flew in for a long weekend of great weather with some decent winds for him to savour before he left this morning back for Welland Ont. We finally had a day when we could snorkel out on the reef yesterday !! Lots of fish and the water was 79 but still a little murky from the 25 to 30 Knt winds of 3 days ago.. churns the sand up real good when it blows from the NE heavy. We had a great few days of sailing and I am sure Mark left with some good sailing under his belt. Mark is May's nephew and just started sailing last year on Lake Erie with his Sirius 18 sailboat.

Another interesting boat in the harbor... It's maybe 7ft wide and 30ft long .. flat sides and 2 wood masts that are on pivot points so you can lower them quite easily.. both ends of the boat are open .. the stern has a OB motor and the bow is were they owners climb on up from their dinghy.. It"s got to be a boat designed for the narrow canals of England, France and the like..Not something I'd want to sail on in any kind of wind or sea .. It's got to be quite unstable I would think.

Had a visitor this morning when I opened the cabin hatch .. It seems this 2 ft Iguana had somehow managed to get out of the water and onto my boat .. How the H.... he jumped out of the sea got me puzzled. The dinghy was tied up real close to the boat last night and maybe he climbed up the dinghy motor, onto the dinghy then jumped a couple of feet onto the boat ??

I will never know. The rascal just sat their and stared me down for 10 minutes while I made some coffee and ate a banana ... finally I figure he wanted breki to so I tossed him a piece of banana .. he never moved. So out into the cockpit I went and made him "Walk the Plank"he took of real quick swimming his little reptile heart out for points unknown .. I was hoping for a big fish to jump on the boat deck and cook him up for dinner .. Don't fancy grilled Iguana.

Sailed ou to the reef a couple of days ago with 5 sailing friends I met down here.. 6 adults on myF27 and cruising payload made for a loaded up boat .. great wind around 16 kts plus 4ft seas so it was to rough to pick up a mooring ball on the reef and snorkel as we had planned.. these sailors had never been out to the reef and could not believe how clear and blue the sea was out there.. Shall be back out there when the water is a little calmer... see if my 4 ft Barracuda buddies are there again from last year.

Well ... the weather really got nice for the last few days of Clive being down here.

. Wind set in around 20Kts a couple of days ago and off we went for a great sail in 3 to 4 ft waves in the spectacular aqua sea around the reef. Next day more of the same with a little less wind .. We spotted Dolphins both days .. wonderfull creatures !! Feb 9 was another great day with wind in the 10 + range and temps around 78 with sunny skies. We headed out under the 7 mile bridge and out to East Bahia Honda Key around 10 miles west. we figured maybe do some fishing .. No luck but a great last day before Clive flew home to TO.

Now for some time on my own and rest up after 3 weeks of fun with my buddies.

Well ...... he arrived in Miami just when Terry and Dino flew out on Tues.... Clive came down for a week of R & R... No !! he did not catch this fish despite what he may tell you. .. We toured Key West yesterday as Clive has never been down here before .. loved the town.... yes we stopped off on Duval St and had a couple of beers and saw the sites.. great day. Its been real windy down here for weeks and a little cooler than normal.. but no compliants other than its blowin 20 to 25 kts all the time and thats a bit much for a fun sail.. hoping it quites down in a couple of days and we get some sailing in around the 15 to 20 kt range.

Visited some friends from EYC today who are staying just over the 7 mile bridge on their boat.. We plan on meeting up tomorrow for lunch and go for a sail on my boat later in the day if the wind easy's up a bit.

The Tree of Knowledge ... Thats it's name.... the gathering place for some of the long time live-aboards here in Boot Key Harbour... This is a special place to hang out and get some local gossip and from 9am each day, they open their own bar and get started on a lo....ng day of staying well hydrated... staying well clear of this one... prefer to risk sun stroke thatn a serious long term hangover.

OK so hear we go ... no more nice and easy quite days. My Buddies Terry and Dino just arrived from TO for 8 days. Good for some fun.

Just doing a tour of the harbour the other day and came across the 30ft Catamaran anchored out in the boony's. You cannot see the decks for piles of junk, sails jerry cans and who the H... knows what else ? There are some special live-aboards down in the Keys.

Figured I'd better get "Legal" down here and see if I need a "Cruising Sailing Permit" to sail down here .. Don't need it around the great lakes just got to check in the the US Customs each

time you go across the Lake to the NY side. So off I go this morning to the US Customs and Border Security office here in Marathon... Well !! what do ya know .... you got to go to Key West office to check in ! Nice that I have wheels to get me there.

Key West is quite the place and I never get bored visiting the town so off I go (43 miles down Key) Find the office is in the Federal court House Building. Parking is hard to find in KW so I am 15 mins walk from the office .. no problem I need the exercize anyway. Get in the front doors and its like an armed camp .. X ray machines 3 security guards and gates to the offices.. I noticed a sign on the main doors .. NO Cell phones ! I tell the guards I am looking to get a "Permit" and they say no problem .. show me some photo ID.. I happen to mention.. I have a cell phone on me and could they retain it for me at the front desk so I can go get the Permit ?? Not a chance they say ... I can leave it somewhere "Outside" only.

OK ... I leave an take the phone back to the truck and return for the Permit. I asked them if they wanted to "Frisk" me and they decline ( not really true ) On in I go and show my "Ships Papers" to the (Armed) Customs officer ( behind a security screen) No problem .. As I am such a nice guy.. he issued me a one year sailing permit for the entire US of A and said have a nice day. No cost for the permit by the way.

That took up most of my day today so we will see what tomorrow brings. On the drive back up Key my eye caught this UFO just north of Boco Chico Key.. Ya .. its a "Blimp" but doing what out in the middle of the mangroves I cannot figure out !! Its real close to the US Naval Air Force Base so who knows .. maybe their going to draw a pic of OSAMA on it and use the sucker for F16 target practice !!

I don't believe it !! Been in the water for a week and just got out for my first sail today.. It was good to be under sail again .. Sailing along in 10 to 15 ft of ocean reef water .. 3 Dolphins came by for a brief visit .. fabulous creatures .

Been messing with this and that.. fix the dinghy motor .. do laundry. shop for grocery's .. this is getting very domestic.

Weather picked up and got warmer.. check the Sea Mist.. its like I was in Nova Scotia or somewhere in New England .. The 7 Mile Bridge looked real weird in the mist.. this is rare stuff down here I hear .. we had for almost 3 days.. left us yesterday.

Some nice boats plus some junkers in the harbour as you see from the pics. Also some nice ocean front real estate ... big $$ still it seems.

Feb 11. Three Cheers is all set for awhile and in no hurry to see the snow again.

On the anchor for a few days until a mooring ball comes free in the harbour .. dinghy motor quit working so been rowing the rubber dink for 2 days .. a local repair shop fixed it up no problem for $120 .. runs great now. The Marathon harbour holds approx 250 boats on City mooring balls some folks live on there boats year round. The City marina has good facilities with washrooms, showers and the like included in the mooring fees.. Check out the dinghy dock .. pretty busy place.

Hooked up with some sailing friends from Syracuse NY who trailered there F33 trimaran down here a couple of months ago( Dick & Anne Anderson)after spending a month on the Chesapeake crusing. Delivered a 24 pack of there favorite Labatts Blue from the duty free .. we drank a couple with the fish tacos and rice dinner they made on board there boatlast Thurs. The F33 is one good looking boat !!! they just love the boat. They plan on heading N to the shark river area on the Gulf side Sat if the wind swing around to the NE or E. They then plan on heading for the Dry Tortugas W of Key West before returning to Marathon before going to the Bahamas for a month or so. Living the cruising life and loving it.

Stormy weather blew in with the cold front on Mon night Feb 2. The temp dropped big time for most of the first week with strong northerly winds in the 25 to 30 mph range... Still not bad as the daytime high got to the low to mid 60s and nightime mid 40s... cold for the Keys this time of year. Sure it will warm up soon .. it always does down here. This sailor got hit bad from the monday night storm.. blown up on shore .. going to be tough to get out of this situation..if you look closely , in the cockpit, you will see the.. guy sitting there. Not much he can do but get a tug boat to pull him off at high tide if he's lucky.

Arrived in Marathon in the middle Keys around midnight feb 2. Good drive for the most part except for a severe thunderstorm north of Miami around 7pm. Finally, Palm trees and sunshine.

Jan 31.

Dug the boat and trailer out of the snow down at the sailing club yesterday with the help of my buddy, Jeremy. Hooked up to the truck around 11am and off down the highwayto the Florida Keys for a couple of months. Hope the roads are not to snowy.