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.