Key West

We stayed in Key West for way too long two weeks in the City of Key West mooring field and at Stock Island’s Sunset Marina.

While at the marina we rented some beach cruisers and then traded up to two single rider mopeds.

What fun it was to scoot around Key West on mopeds!!!  (Don’t worry mom, we wore our helmets and never went faster than 30mph).

Those are ours with the "Moped Hospital" tags

We got to see and do so much: bar hopping downtown (aka the Duval Crawl), sunsets at Mallory Square, and live music wherever we heard it.

The bars of Duval:

The Bull and Whistle Bar

The Lazy Gecko

Sloppy Joe's Bar

The Smallest Bar in Key West

Slow shutter speed shot of Duval St from the Whistle Bar

Hot dog vender by the Bull and Whistle

Hog's Breath Saloon

Mallory Square was particularly interesting for us…at sunset the street performers come out and you can see magicians, escape artists, comedians, solo musicians, jugglers, etc., all for just a few bucks! 

(Note: don’t go to Mallory Square, watch a show, and then not tip the performer, it’s just not cool)

Bush Man!!!  He basically hid behind some foliage and jumped out at unsuspecting passers by.  He was great to watch while waiting for other performances to start

Bush Man!!!

Mobile mojitos by Jimmy, a great place to score a beverage for the sunset shows

The Red Trouser Show

"Rocket the Wonder Dog"

Rocket's show: over the teeter totter, through the short hoop, ending with a daring leap through a high hoop!!!!

Rocket's handler, what's his face, doing juggling feats

Key West history and culture:

Fort Taylor

Cannons!

Yeeeehaw!!!

For all you history buffs

Key West Aqarium

Lighthouse

Ernest Hemingway home

Southernmost point in the continental U.S.A.

We saw some good live music in Key West!  Michael McCloud at the Schooner Warf, Pete and Wayne at Sloppy Joe’s, reggae at the Green Parrot, hard rock at Durty Harry’s, and a random cover band at the Lazy Iguana.

Michael McCloud

We also couldn’t resist taking in some “alternative” culture at 801 Bourbon Bar where we saw quite the drag cabaret show: hilarious pantomime lip synching and a sassy emcee that had us in stitches. 

My favorite queen was, Boa, the silly one  ^_^

Us with the queens 

Our favorite bar, hands down, in Key West was the Green Parrot on Whitehead St. (one block from Duval St, mostly locals, and FREE POPCORN).

The Green Parrot

Inside the Parrot

Afternoon snack  ^_^

In 1975 the Green Parrot commissioned a painter to decorate the window shutters and the most notorious, The Smirk, is now the bar’s unofficial mascot.

The Smirk

 

It wasn’t all fun and games, though.  We did manage to do some boat maintenance: painting (aka: rust control), swab the decks, wash the canopy, restock supplies, and fill all tanks (gas and water).

In the marina I finally saw a manatee up close!!!

My first up close manatee experience!!!

 

The marina's waters were full of GIANT tarpon!  I swear we saw some that were at least 5 feet long.

Tarpon

 

We set out to leave Key West on March 12^th, but the water was too rough and the wind too strong for us, so we returned to the mooring yard to wait out the weather. 

Glad we hung back, we encountered a group from Maryland on the beach we took the dogs for their “business,” and ended up hanging out with them that night.  

Playing Mega Jenga with our new MD friends

It was nice to hit Key West with a crew instead of just the two of us…I can only hang out with Ransom so much, that guy can be so boring  :P   (just kidding!)

Mamasita!

Ransom is on fire!

Crossing: Fort Myers to Key West

We departed Fort Myers around 9:30 am on Monday (2/27) and sailed through the night to Key West.

Ransom at the helm, Fort Myers Skyway in the background

There were storms over land, but we only felt a short sprinkle of rain.

The wind, however, was not cooperative…the NOAA forecast was for 10-15 knots from the east/northeast, but what we got was a teeny little breeze out of the southeast with 4ft side to swell.

Not fun…the wind was too weak to push us, and the swell was so strong we had to keep the mainsail raised to act as a roll stabilizer, so we ended up running the motor the entire trip (bummer).

Safety gear

The Gulf of Mexico is beautiful.  We saw the sun set, transforming the turquoise waters into shades of orange; the stars come out, creating inky black water you can only hear; and then sun rise, gray skies and slate colored seas eventually returning to the beautiful turquoise I love.

Gulf waters

Sunset

Captain Ransom

Uncomfortable pups

First mate Lala

The most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.

We reached the channel into Key West around 10:30 am on Tuesday (2/28) and immediately had a snip of rum in celebration.

The wind was strong and true to our course within the approaching channel and we were finally able to raise the sails, kill the motor, and harness the wind. 

Yar!!!!

The Key West Express from Fort Myers...probably departed that same morning...show offs  :P

Mallory Square

Charlie looking at the Naval complex

Looking for a mooring ball

So glad to be in calmer waters

Happy New Year!!!

Happy 2012!!! 

I know it’s the end of February, but I’m a little rusty when it comes to writing blogs.

So far our year has been eventful!!

Ransom worked in Australia over the holiday season, missing Christmas and New Years, so to make up for this lost time we decided to have some fun with a portion of the earnings and met in Thailand.

We started in Phuket (pronounced poo-ket) and worked our way north over a period of 2.5 weeks, ending in Bangkok.

After Thailand we flew to Taipei, Taiwan to visit my brother for a few days.

We had a blast!!!! 

Longtail boat in Phang Nga Bay

Baby Elephants at Siam Safari in Chalong Highlands,Phuket Island. (L to R: Hutchu, Lauren, Ransom, Punay)

Macaque monkey (Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park, Phetchaburi)

  Look at that sleepy kitty!!!

(Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno,the Tiger Temple,Kanchanaburi)

Shihfan Lantern Festival, Taiwan (L to R: Mike, Ransom, Lauren)

National Theater, Taipei Taiwan

As soon as we got back to Florida our mission was clear: get Vitte in the water and sail south!

Without further ado we re-launched her, re-provisioned her, and moved out of the house and onto the boat.

 

Back in the water!!!

From Bradenton we motored* to Venice via the inter-coastal waterway (ICW) and spent the night at the Crow’s Nest Marina.

*(note: the only reason we motored was because the wind was blowing directly from the south and we were on a schedule)

Little Frejya 

Motoring along the ICW, aka the "miserable mile"

The next morning we motored to Useppa Island via the ICW to meet Ransom’s family who were travelling aboard Aslan.

Aslan (65' Fleming)

Aslan

We spent a weekend anchored off Useppa and got some last minute family time in before heading further south to Fort Myers.

Vitte under sail in ICW between Useppa and Fort Myers 

(Ransom at the helm)

Wing to wing!  (Lauren at the helm)

In Fort Myers Beach, we stayed in the mooring field waiting on a good wind to make the 24 hour sail down to Key West.

We found a colorful dive bar called Bonita Bill’s where the locals congregate, the beer is cold, the food is simply delicious, and the price tag is low.

The best part about staying in the mooring field for an extended period of time is we’ve been able to do some much needed boat maintenance.  Ransom painted a few spots on the hull, put a back-flow (check) valve on the water tank hosing, and installed some LED lights in the cabin  ^_^

Fort Myers Beach, FL

Apparently it was spring break,  because the 

beach was insanely crowded!

Performer at Bonita Bill's

Bonita Bill's

Walking over the skyway (L to R: Charlie, Rei, Ransom)

Fort Myers Mooring Filed

The building behind the dock with the shrimp trawler 
is Bonita Bill's

The schooner, Wind Dancer, a steel hull, is at the end of the dock.  We wouldn't mind taking that boat off their hands  LOL

So far so good, spirits are high, the dogs are good, and my boat meals improve daily.  I need to start writing my recipes down!

Black beans and rice with fresh avocado, YUM!!

On our last night in town my friends Ellen and Del met us at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar for dinner.  It was the perfect ending for our stay in Fort Myers  ^_^

L to R: Ransom, Lauren, Ellen, Del

Vitte at sunset

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Sunshine Skyway

Headed back to Bradenton

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