Clearing Customs, or Not

The daylight can still bring some darkness. This Captain and The Kid were worn to fatigue from the all night crossing of the Gulf Stream. We tied off and prepared to clear customs in Bimini.

Douglas from customs approached our sloop with a warm greetings and welcome to the Bahamas. Douglas was very helpful. He checked our lines to be certain we were secure.

"Some come from all night and don' tie so well." He explained.

Douglas assured us we could rest and he would do the leg work for us to clear. He very thoughtfully reminded this Captain to hoist our yellow quarantine flag and that only the captain would be allowed ashore until the boat is cleared. He collected a $15 per person fee to begin our paperwork. He said that this would get all the necessary clearing work done and ready for me when I could make it to the customs office.

"I thought the $15 was for each person over four people?" The Kid inquired.

"It is. Dis jus' be gettin' de entry fees goin'."

Douglas was very courteous and somewhat apologetic for the confusion about fees. Fees are always changing. It is good to check ahead so you know what flags you need, how much clearing and cruising permits are, and any regulations or documentation changes or requirements.

We were very tired. The crossing and the near miss encounter drained us. It was day now. The light of day, however does not always enlighten the weary to be wary. More than an hour went by and Douglas had not returned. I went ashore to the customs office to look for him and to see if there had been a problem with clearing us. What I found is that Douglas did not exist.

"We have no Douglas working here." I was informed.

"What about the 30 bucks we gave him?"

"There is no Douglas. There is no 30 dollars." Replied the uniformed customs officer.

I gave a description of Douglas to the officer. He very slightly smiled for what I took as he knew Douglas' true identity. I also took it as we were out $30. I completed the clearing of our sloop and got back on board so we could get out into the bay, anchor and get some needed sleep. We were here to enjoy the island. It is a small island. We will, eventually, encounter Douglas.

"You won't get the 30 back, ya know."

"I know, but for 30 bucks he owes us something. That I will get."

"You'll never see the guy."

"It's a small place. I'll ask around by his M.O. Someone will know."

I took down the yellow flag and hoisted the Bahamian courtesy flag (cruising pennant). We were here to getaway. Escapes are made up of varied and interesting elements and encounters. Maybe Douglas had earned his 30 bucks after all.

The Captain and The Kid

http://hubpages.com/hub/Ish-Meal-at-Sea

Bimini Rising in the East

The island disappeared.

We had come through the night across the Gulf Stream from Key Largo, Florida. When the sun rises on the water it is not only a spectacular display of artistic awe, but also a relief embraced by soul and spirit. The night blends both romance and suspense with a certain measure of tension, depending on the weather. The sunrise over the Atlantic washing across the Gulf Stream is an eraser of uncertainty and a harbinger of a great getaway just ahead.

We had raised Bimini off our starboard bow. An island rising is exciting. It begins slowly with tops. Tops of trees, tops of buildings, and tops of hillsides. Soon more rises from the water and land appears. Many times you can smell land before you can see it. It is a good smell. It is a mix of ground, trees, grasses, sometimes aromas from foods, and life that is of the land, both human and animal. Sometimes you can identify certain smells as earthy and sometimes it is the smell where land and sea meet. The sea can smell differently along the shore than at great depths and has to do with the mixing of salt and sand, seaweed, sea life, and sea-moistened land.

Rising in the east was Bimini. Our Getaway just ahead. Then more suddenly than it rose, it disappeared in a squall. Tropical weather comes quickly. You can see it coming, and you can brace for it, but usually you cannot out run it, especially in a sail boat.

"Where did it go?" The Kid called out, searching for the land that had been just ahead of us.

"Dunno. There was something of a wreck to starboard. The water was breaking over there." I pointed.

This Captain and The Kid have been through squalls before. But during this one we were just coming onto the Bahama Bank. The water depth can change quickly, and thus dangerously shallow. I kept close watch on our depth finder, because we could not see the water in front of us to read any color changes.

"Can you see any break in this?"

The clouds were dropping rain very hard and the winds had stirred the sea and the air together so reading the clouds was impossible. It was best to just hold course. If the squall would pass as quickly as it came upon us we would be OK.

"120 feet" I called to The Kid. " We're a little north. The wind has pushed us out some."

"Hey! It's letting up!"

Just as The Kid spoke those words we had sun and rain; then sun and watched the squall roll toward Florida. Bimini popped up right in front us. The Kid rushed to the bow and began taking visual readings.

"There's the bottom!" The Kid cried out. "What's our depth!"

The bottom came up from the depths very fast. It took me by surprise and at first I was not sure if the depth finder reading was accurate because the bottom was clear like when you are in swimming depth. I tapped at the depth finder.

"It says 50 feet."

As we came into Bimini the depth finder proved accurate as the reading kept showing the depths to be more shallow. We pulled into the pier to clear customs and to begin the Bimini part of our escape. Almost immediately the fun began, but that for next time.

The Captain and The Kid

http://hubpages.com/hub/Theyre-stealin-The-Water

The Land Drifting North--Part 3

The sky and the sea at night are lost to a darkness unlike the darkness of land. When it is very dark the horizon becomes very close and moves ahead of you differently than the daytime horizon.

The Captain and The Kid had been watching what seemed like land drifting northward. With The Kid's keen eyesight, we determined that the land was at least two large ships moving north and possibly intersecting our course eastward. The speed of the two and the distance between them gave me the idea to split the two and pass between the vessels. As we were adjusting sail and increasing horsepower to motor sail our passage The Kid caught something white flash in the black space where we would make our way.

"I saw it too. What is that?"

We knew it could not be rocks because the first vessel passed right over that course. We had now both seen some flash of white or reflection like breakwater.

The odd stories about the Bermuda Triangle are not stories this Captain pays much heed to. We have had odd occurrences while sailing these waters, but odd will often come with being on the ocean. The ocean is different travel than land travel. Every moment can be its own escape with its own adventure. Getting away by sea gets you away to an escape from the moment you cast off, or haul anchor, if not before. The water beneath you is always moving, thus it has been somewhere and is going to other places. On the water you become like the water in how and why you move about. It is not just about a destination, each moment becomes its own unique destination, especially when you watch the water color change, or feel its thickness, and visit with its inhabitants. The sea is about romance and passion and escape.

We luffed the main and throttled down instinctively while staring into the black space before us between the two large vessels. Our radio crackled a voice we could not understand, then static, so we turned it down. We need to watch and maneuver without distraction or error for what may be dead ahead.

"There!" The Kid hollered above the deafening of the silent darkness.

I brought our sloop hard-a-port and then again. The blackness was not space. The blackness was part of the vessel. We had not been watching two very large ships. This was one! We do not know its length or the type of vessel. It was like a container ship and barge in one. Either end was tall like freighters, but in between was quite low and all dark like a barge. We knew if The Kid had not seen that something we would have hit and been damaged or sunk. A faster boat making the same mistake would have collided for sure. There are stories about fishing vessels hitting freighters and barges at night with fatal consequences.

As the large vessel crawled by us there was no noticeable life, nor any acknowledgment it saw us. It just kept steaming north. We floated for a few minutes. Our Perkins diesel was idling, but our hearts were up around 5500 rpm.

"That was so close." The Kid whispered with a hissing on the s of close, not meant to be heard, but just to express, letting pressure out.

I inhaled deeply, not remembering if I had been breathing, but knowing I was empty and all my muscles were hard with tension.

When you getaway to escape, it is always crucial to keep what's real nearby in case you need it in an emergency. It would not take long for us to recover, to continue our getaway to the Bahamas and to escape among the islands and the people. At landfall, night or morn, we would break out the sundowners and lay back on board to recall our safe passage through the lower quadrant of the Bermuda Triangle.

Oh, yes, after the ship went by our radio and GPS came back. Our friend astern caught up to us in port.

The Captain and The Kid

http://hubpages.com/hub/Boat-Problems-in-Sarasota

The Land Drifting North -- Part 2

The night at sea is a different sea. This Captain and The Kid watched the land drifting north. We were too far west to see Andros and too south for Bimini. What we were seeing was massive and it began to appear to be on a course where we could possibly intersect.

The Bermuda Triangle stories we have all read make for good reading if that kind of stuff appeals to you. Yes we were in the quote, Triangle. The Kid climbed up the mast to get a better visual. "Anything on radar?" came the question from the darkness shrouding the mast.

"Nothing. It looks like land, but its gotta be a couple of vessels."

"Looks like maybe two or three big ships. That's my guess anyhow."

Off the mast, The Kid pointed to the horizon. "See there, there, and maybe there. Three big ships, or two huge ones."

Our concern was the seeming erratic course the vessels were following. We knew it best to give way no matter the maritime laws that govern maneuvers at sea. Our traveling friends behind us had now caught sight of our mast and asked if we had picked up radar to our east.

"Nothing on radar yet, but we think there are few ships out there we need to watch carefully."

As we continued on course, it was clear that what we saw were two large vessels. The first was quite a distance in front of the other and moving faster. We could consider passing to the south of the first vessel and before the second one. The distance appeared to be safe to try this and then our friend behind could sail by after the second ship went by. The two vessels changed course again and it seemed we would have to consider sailing between them or tack way south and fight the stream.

When you are sailing at night the charts remind you about faraway places where you can escape to. They take some of the uncertainty and edginess of the night and put in mind why you are crossing at night. Soon the sun will rise and so will a nearby island. There is excitement and romance in a crossing. Escaping to the Bahamas is always a good escape. Usually, the crossing is good and uneventful, but this night was a good reminder about the need to not lose touch with real on your way to make believe.

"We lost the radio." The Kid said with some nervousness.

"GPS too. What's goin' on?"

Our compass, GPS, and radio were all down or improperly operating. The Triangle thoughts came back as we watched the vessels. The one was now to port and the second well to the south but on the same course. Could these two ships be the cause for our navigational problems? Our radio crackled, but we couldn't discern the words. It sounded like our friend off our stern. By now he must see the ships.

"Let's split the two. We have the speed and the distance."

"Wait." The Kid replied. "Wait."

The Kid had noticed something. It was a flash or reflection, or just a hunch, but it was important to look ahead with strained attention.

"There!" The Kid pointed.

Some water disturbance, maybe from the Gulf Stream, flashed some white water onto the black between the ships. What was revealed is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Next time, what we saw off our bow.

The Captain and The Kid

http://hubpages.com/hub/Good-Heart-Tough-World

10,000 Islands

The Captain and The Kid ducked into Indian Key Pass to get out of the weather. The Kid had spotted two waterspouts and the seas were getting rough out in the Gulf of Mexico off of the Everglades.







The 10,000 islands are a place to escape. You will probably see kayakers and they are OK. They are out to escape. It will be in your best interest to avoid the loud, fast, macho fisherman that race down to the 10,000 islands to ruin it under the pretense that they came to fish. Avoid these knuckleheads and you will find a great escape.

I'm not sure if anyone actually counted them or not, but 10,000 islands is descriptive of what you see. If the number is under 10k who cares. 10,000 makes the point about what you will see and enjoy. Some are very small clumps of trees with blotches of land and others land areas where you can get to and explore. Unlike some Florida attraction, this for real, so watch where you step.




We wanted to get into Everglades City, not to be confused with the entrance to the Park. Everglades City is really a place people live in the Glades. Sure tourists show up and wonder where they can feed the gators and take airboat rides while hanging onto their comb-overs, but you also really getaway here if you do it right. There is some top notch history at this place and some genuine characters and not the costumed types.


We tied up the dinghy at the City Seafood. This is a real seafood market and you can eat there. We watched a crab boat pull up and unload, so we ordered crab. The Kid thinks that maybe some just made the walk from dock to kettle by themselves. I think that was a comment about how fresh and how good they were. Some guy at the outside picnic eating style place had shrimp and I asked how they were.

"Mmm Mmm!"


I took that for good. Captain D. ( I suggested he change that) was getting ready to go out. I asked how the fishing was.


"Good."
"Whattaya gettin'?"
"Fish."
"Do you sell them local?"
"Yep."
"Were out onna hook in the Pass, and that's our dinghy over there, so I just wondered if we can hook something for later."

At this point Capt D. opened up. Somehow he took us for tourists. He told us about a few spots he likes that he can't get his commercial boat into. It seems he has been a man of the Glades for a long time. For Capt D. the rest of the world pretty much does not exist. He puts himself into his preferred persona and let's the world spin away from his life.


The Kid asked him about hurricanes. He has been through several.


"I don't leave. This is where I live and work. The weather is part of what I like about here. You just tie everything down and sometimes that means you too and hold on. It passes."


You go to Everglades City to getaway. Don't go to ruin it. If you must tourist, then stop in Ft Myers, or continue over to the Park. But, Everglades City wants to be a place of escape. Some folks there want it to be more touristy, but they don't get it. You can function and survive by being a place to getaway to and escape without ruining it. Don't encourage them. Go to Everglades City, eat local, think local, drink local, and blend. When you do this there is something about this place that will take you far away, and often back in time. It will remain an experience that most people miss because they want other places to be like them and cater to them. This is not one of those places. So, the people who come and don't blend, don't get it. I'm sure that's why this little place has survived.




The Captain and The Kid

Marathon, Florida Keys is never boring.

If you get bored in the keys its because you brought bored with you. The Captain and The Kid have been waiting out the weather in Marathon, about the half way point on the Overseas Highway that stretches from Key Largo to Key West.
We were crossing U.S. 1 on our way back to our sloop anchored out in Boot Key Harbor just out from the City Marina, when a car rushed by nearly missing The Kid. A quick look revealed Charlie Daniels and Spike from Herbie's, and Loose Lips from Captain Tony's stuffed into a Kia heading north. The whole mystery about our missing pirate friend just became more intriguing. What were these three doing together? Did they just meet? Is it coincidence they are together, and was it by chance we had encountered them at different places different days? No way we could rush away, but with the weather clearing and the sea coming down we were ready to head up to Sarasota. Maybe where it all began on Siesta Key is where we will learn more to solve this mystery and hopefully find our friend.
This Captain and The Kid do not do bored. Too many places to go and too many opportunities to escape even when you cannot go other places. Back on our sloop we watched a small power boat head out through Sister Creek. It was a 25 footer with a walk-around cabin. Nice vessel. Behind it was a ketch that was all of 35' heading out the Creek. It is no problem for the power boat to use this short cut out of Boot Key Harbor, but a sailing vessel? The Creek is maybe 4' and at that changing with time and weather.
"She'll never make it out." A voice called out to anyone who was watching the Ketch.
"Hey Frenchy." I responded to the voice.
Frenchy is from somewhere off the Carolina coast. He is not French. He does not speak French and has never been to France. Frenchy likes French wine and French cheese and French pastries, but he is not French.
"Do you think they'll make Whiskey Creek?" I called to Frenchy.
"I doubt it. She must be drawing 6' if its a foot."
"You wanna help if she gets stuck?"
"We'll see. She looks like the type who'll call towing to me."
We watched, busied ourselves with some getting ready to getaway chores, watched some more, and then went below for some reading material.
When you have people to watch and things to read you cannot be bored. We wondered how far the Ketch made it up the twisting outlet of Sister Creek. I was sure she would not make even Whiskey Creek. When, not if, you get stuck on a sand bar, there a many ways to get yourself off. Kedging is recommended. Calling Boat U.S. is an option but if you can kedge your way off, why waste a call. Someone on another boat will throw you a line and pull you off, but be careful about this method. If everyone knows what they are doing, then go for it, but if its more good intention than good experience, go back to kedging or make the call to the pros.
We heard later the Ketch went aground. The stories about how she got off were mixed. The good news, she got off and made it back into the Harbor.
"What've you got?" The Kid asked about my book.
"Tales of a Sea Gypsy. You?"
"On the Spanish Main."
We settled into our books out on deck. The Kid opened a Red Stripe. This Captain opted for rum.
Don't bring bored with you, ever, but especially when you are visiting other places, or trying to escape. Stuck at Marathon is an expression about waitin' on the weather, or doin' repairs, or replenishing your kitty, but bored? Nothing about escape, the Keys, or Marathon are boring.
Keys to not being bored include this short list:
1--People watch and discuss what you saw, what you think you saw and what you would like to think about what you saw and watch that.
2--Meet characters. Characters are kind of like people except better. Characters seem to have a better view of life than people do and they never mind sharing that view.
3--Read books. Actually, reading isn't the best way to read a book. Being in a book is how to really enjoy them. No matter the style, narrative, or subject inject yourself into the story. Some books have a hard time letting someone in who wasn't written in by the author, while others welcome you to join in. Get in there, introduce yourself around, change your name if you want to, and get involved.
4--Eating, Eat fantastic. Cook it yourself, or spice it up yourself if eating on board. Food is secondary to the eating. Whatever food is decided upon, add escape to it. Maybe a dash, but better to make it heaping portions. If eating out look for places you cannot see. You see the Golden Arches, or the Red Lobster, but you don't easily, lazily, see Pink Gold off the Highway, or hard to beat Key Lime Pie at MM 50.5 Bayside. Look for and experience tasting other places and escapes.
5--stop trying to not be bored, or make lists to not be bored. Getaway. Escape.

If Webster is right, the seas will be down in the morning. We will go out the way we came in and then sail under the Seven Mile Bridge, head up the coast to Sarasota. The Kid wonders why we are not going back to Key Largo and set free the African Queen being held hostage at Holiday Inn. We will get there another time. It's possible Charlie Daniels and the gang are also heading to Siesta Key, so we gotta go.

The Captain and The Kid

Stars on the Water

We are still stuck in Marathon. Not a bad place to be stuck but we are still trying to get to Sarasota. A couple of places on Siesta Key we need to check out. More on that later.
Went back to Keys Fisheries for more peel-and-eat Pink Gold. The sun nearing the horizon reminded The Captain again about an unforgettable scene anchored along the edge of the Northwest Channel just out of Chub Cay. The polishing of north Bimini event took too much of our getaway early daylight we had hoped to bank for use later so we could make the run from Bimini to Chub before dark. Many places on the Bahama Bank, and coming into Chub is one of them, can be tricky to treacherous especially when your drawing 5 feet and it is dark.
Bimini is a great place to fish! The Northwest Channel is good too. Chub Cay, though, has a huge reputation for "world class fishing" that can stand on its own to measure up to the reputation Bimini has established from the Hemingway days of fishing in the Stream. The marina, which is only 35 miles west of Nassau and 125 miles from South Florida by boat, formerly had 96 slips. Now it is being rebuilt to accommodate more and larger vessels. The channel in has been dredged to 12 feet.
Transient rates are $4.75 per foot per day during peak season, and $2.75 during the off season (July 16 through November 14). Water is .40 per gallon.
Mostly this is a touristy place and has gathered to it some real attitudes that can make a true escape there a real challenge. Its not for every kind of tourist. Its for the boats from the States type. This remains, however, a good stopover before you cross the Tongue if heading east.
When this Captain and The Kid headed to Chub just ahead of its big bucks rebuild, it was good for escape. The few full-time residents we spent time with were genuine island-timers, not the faux island time that motors in to the newly constructed marina to pose as escapers and pretend that they are on a getaway.
We couldn't make the run before nightfall, so we anchored out. We hung as close as we could to the edge of the Northwest Channel. We planned to do watches throughout the night to keep an eye on our position and watch for vessels traveling through the night. The sunset was awesome, but as the night set in an extraordinary combination of just the right conditions developed.
Stars began to be visible. Time passed. The sea became very calm. More stars filled the night sky. Time passed and soon the stars were reflecting on the water. As you looked out across the watery expanse toward the horizon the sky shared its stars with the ocean. Just the right view across the Channel and the horizon did not exist. There was no clear distinction between the sky and the sea, both were filled with stars.
The Captain has seen something similar to this before, but that one night on the way to Chub Cay, anchored out in the Northwest Channel, would always remain as a place of escape to go to on any given starry night thereafter.
Take places you have been with you when you go, so whenever you need to or have to, you can go there in the twinkling of a star.

The Captain and The Kid

Marathon, Keys Fisheries

Its a hard thing to leave The Keys. The Kid wanted to eat at Keys Fisheries in Marathon, but that's just this Captain's excuse to hang out in The Keys a little longer.
You come in through the west channel entrance to Boot Key Harbor. The bridge opens on demand 7 to 7, 7 days. The harbor opens wider after the bridge as you get into the city mooring field. Around Marker 1A is the city Marina canal with a dinghy dock. This Captain thinks this is more of a dinghy breeding grounds, than just the place to tie up. We tied our inflatable and headed out across the highway and down 35th St Gulf to Keys Fisheries. Its at the end of the street. I'm pretty sure it has an address, but I'm pretty sure I don't know what it is and I'm certain I don't care. Addresses, in the conventional sense, are touristy markers and The Captain and The Kid don't do tourist.
At Keys Fisheries you order at the window and sit out by the water. Don't give your name for the pick-up at the window call. They will want your favorite song, or singer, or something else to call you by when the food's ready. Just an opinion, but it's pretty tough to find better seafood than here. We talked to Gary about this. He didn't act surprised because he hears it so much, but when The Kid told him that the pinks were gold, he hesitated.
Key West Pinks are the Key West shrimp. Peel and eat. No one does shrimp like this. No one. So, The Kid says, "These are Gold. It's a treasure find."
Gary liked that and now you can get them as Pink Gold. You can get full meals, sandwiches, chowders, etc.
If you really want to escape you have to eat here around sunset. The food, the sun, and the water will take you to faraway places, and when during the times you are visiting other places geographically, you will be able to visit here during an escape.
I watched the Sun begin sink, flatten out and sizzle into the Gulf. As it did I went with it to days and one memorable night at sea. Next time about that night. Right now, back to the Marina and the dinghy breeding grounds. We had tied up next to something that looked like a wooden Catspaw. Just the two of us, easy access in and out. After walking back from Keys Fisheries the breeding had spawned a litter of assorted dinghies. Escape at this point is literal. How do you untie, retie, tie-off, and not cast-off someones tender?
Step one: relax. Step two: who is tied to who? Step three: escape during the untangle. Step three makes for the enjoyment and takes you away from the frustration. Think about it. These dinghies are from all over other places. Each one has its story and adventure. Let yourself getaway as you are freeing up your inflatable and enjoy where you are and where this can take you.
As I was carefully re-tying painters The Kid said that it looked like we were in for some weather.
For good or bad depending on who you are and where you want to get to, we may be hanging out in Boot Key Harbor for a few days more than we thought.

The Captain and The Kid

Key West. Clues and Cues

A mid-level low is currently spinning over the Florida Peninsula and interacting with a surface front to bring locally heavy rain to the Florida Keys. A mid-level high in this Captain and The Kid has us spinning in anticipation for our arrival in Key West and interacting with the locally heavy gathering of travelers, escapists, and local Conchs.
Mile Marker zero. In 1982 Key West seceded from the U.S.A. War was declared, no shots were fired, but the long siege did include shots. Immediate surrender followed, and the request to the U.S for 1 billion dollars in foreign aid and war relief to rebuild the newly establish Conch Republic was made. So far the aid has not come, but this Republic is thriving these many years later. Passports are not required, but are encouraged.
Key West is all about escapism. Its encouraged, sung about, written about, lived day by day in this southernmost point. This will be a good stopover. Who knows maybe Charlie and Spike will show up.
The Kid thinks this may be the clue to where our pirate friend has disappeared to, either willingly, or by being shanghaied. My only hope is that there will not be too many wooden pirates around town to make our search more difficult. Our friend doesn't say much, so we will have to find him by some effort on our part.
With great concern for being thorough in our search we went into Captain Tony's to get out of the heat and cool our core temperature by liquid infusion. We had been here before.
Some years back during a touristy run by some 'Northerners' I headed over to Bo’s Fish Wagon for a fish po boy while The Kid stayed at Captain Tony's. When I get back The Kid is hustling pool. The Kid knows better than to hustle locals, so it has to be tourists. I'm thinking money is tight and it looks like The Kid just handed $5 to the guy in the Hog's Breath t-shirt. The balls are racked, words are exchanged and Hog's Breath breaks, but nothing falls. The Kid chalks up and with some pretty sloppy shooting edges out the tourist. Hog's Breath hands The Kid a 20 and more words are exchanged. Balls are racked, The Kid breaks and runs the table this time. Hog's Breath crosses his arms, which are steelworker big arms, holds another 20 between his big steelworker thumb and finger, and stares a dare stare at The Kid.
This is about the time most of us would trade escapism for escape route. With great concern for what may develop this Captain ordered a rum with just a spritz of coke and sat back to see how The Kid would do facing a Great Lakes steel working tourist who had just realized he had been hustled and his hard earned money for his late night fun was about to walk out the door.
The Kid slipped the 20 from between the thick, muscular fingers and said, "Tell ya what, drinks are on me and you keep the change." We sat through two drinks each, swapped stories about days at sea, urban legends from Key West to the Caribbean and then let him escape into great feats about his life in Buffalo; then Hog's Breath the steelworker left happy with $5 and stories to tell back home.
Today we didn't shoot pool. Today we watched the rain lighten up and then pour down again. Some tourists stopped in, but mostly locals hanged out and we talked about food, and historical legends who had once made this town their home. No one brought up if so and so sold out and ruined being part of the escape that we all had come to enjoy.
Later we would ask about our friend. He may be in town. I head someone say something about a midnight sail, or sailor, or something like that.

The Captain and The Kid

The Florida Keys, Clues, and Cues

It is raining in Marathon in the Florida Keys. This Captain and The Kid are staying dry (from the weather). We found our way over to Herbie's. However, what we have not found are any additional clues about our Pirate friend. Key Largo is at MM106 and about mid-way down to MM0 is Marathon. Either we have not understood the telegram, or it was a bogus reported sighting.
We did stop in Key Largo to look at the African Queen. We stopped, not as tourists, but just to escape down the Ulanga for awhile with Kate and Bogey. She is tied up like a hostage. It is not certain if the Holiday Inn is to blame. We know that it was a movie boat, and not a true story adventure, but it seems to this Captain she needs to be cut loose and get back on the water. If that does happen in the near future, please do not contact this blog, this Captain, or The Kid. We will not recall anything that may happen on that night.
Back on Marathon, in Herbie's, we shared a couple of beers with Charlie Daniels. He said he wasn't but why would he tell us that? We didn't want him to sing, we just wanted to have a beer with him. We were concerned that Spike, who was riding shotgun for Charlie didn't understand the concept of escapism because he kept saying to Charlie that they had to leave to get to Key West before midnight. Spike and Charlie looked like two guys who knew how to getaway, but that lack of patience and clock watching was disappointing.
"Why before midnight?" The Kid asked.
"What about midnight?" Spike responded.
"You said you had to to get to Key West before midnight."
"He never said that." Charlie interrupted.
Spike shifted in his chair, Charlie shifted his eyes, The Kid shifted bar stools, and this Captain was shifting into rum mode.
"Closing time at the Cafe?" The Kid asked.
Spike clutched the bar and shifted again.
"Think you'll ever pass this way again?" The Kid continued.
Spike clutched and shifted. Shifted and clutched. He clutched and shifted so much it was more like being at the Sprint Cup Series, than at Marathon.
Charlie winked and said, "Maybe when the midnight moon is shinning."
After they left and we headed back to the marina, The Kid filled me in about the lyrics.
Escapes and getaways are always fascinating like that. Everyone does it a bit differently and yet its the same. Charlie and Spike were on their own getaway to other places and it took a little persuasive playfulness by The Kid to get them to join us in our escape for the night. So, if there is a point, it is this: Everybody is somewhere. Sometimes you can join them in some places, but don't push it. Even if you have to run parallel for a distance, go for it. If they join you, fine, if they don't, that's OK too.
We may continue down to Key West. All the talk about midnight reminded me about our search for our friend the wooden pirate from Midnight Pass.

The Captain and The Kid

Pirate Sighting

The game's afoot! We just received a telegram about our wooden pirate friend. Here is the message.

PIRATE SIGHTED "STOP" LEFT ALLEY "STOP" MM106 START "COMMA" ZERO STOP "STOP"

Was it our friend? Your help with the telegram is appreciated. The Kid has a clue, so we're off.
This getaway will take us to foreign soil if The Kid is on to something. It is a good place to escape to, but for now we need to find out if this was our friend, or perhaps another pirate traveling by land overseas.
Come Monday we should have a report. Please notify us if you have insight about the telegram or there is another sighting.

The Captain and The Kid

Stormy Weather on Chub Key

NOAA said it was the first tropical depression for the season and that the first tropical storm may develop from this rapidly forming system. About half past dark we began to think money spent on a slip was a mistake. It probably wasn’t going to storm. About two Captain Morgans later and we wondered if we were supposed to have brought two of each kind of animals on board with us. The rain fell in sheets. The slips we were in were separated by four foot docks. Next to us, four feet away, was a 40’ plus ketch. We could not see her through the rain.
Much to our surprise, and pleasure, there was very little wind. I’m certain it didn’t stand a chance with the force of the rain. The rain was like being in the water, not having water fall on you. If there was wind it was coming straight down and it was shoving the rain ahead of it. It was hard to tell if there were lightning strikes. It seemed like there were, but they were hard to discern through the rain. Forget thunder claps. The only sound heard was rain.
A tropical confession about this depression is the rain’s ever incessant drain on our mettle. Fiberglass, being pelted by this downpour, was not exactly the same as rain on a tin roof, but it was as exacting on our sanity. Would the rain ever stop? Rain. Rain. Sheets of rain. Walls of rain. And just when we thought it would never end, it didn’t.
What to do when there is nothing to do? We were sitting in safe harbor and would not be going anywhere, so This Captain decided to sit with a little more of that Captain and sip out from under the rain. The Kid escaped without me, but then came back to bring me along. We went to two places that we had not been to in quite some time. The first place was when rowed across Sarasota Bay with a hand-tossed, two item pizza during a storm. The challenge to row against the wind and waves with a rapidly cooling pizza sliding around in a box with a lid that kept popping open takes special seamanship skills. As you pull the oar with its blade bouncing off the surface from crest to trough you must develop a rhythm. The blade of the oar is used to move your pizza safely across the water to your waiting sloop, and the handle is used to bump the pizza box lid closed during this rhythmic exercise. The cadence will vary depending upon the storm intensity and its effect on wave length, height and other dynamics. But this for now is about getting the pizza safely to your boat. Everything can get rained on, splashed, and soaked, but there is no excuse for soggy pizza. So the rhythm went like this: pull, bounce, crest, bump close, trough; pull, bounce, crest, bump close, trough. When we made it to the boat in twice the normal rowing time, and four time the rowing effort, everything on board the dinghy was swamped, except for the pizza. The other place we went was the time when The Kid was hustling pool at Captain Tony's in Key West. The details about that other place escape will wait for the next time, but during our rainy day on Chub it was a good place to go to wait out this tropical depression, turned storm. So, while we waited, the rum was good. The stories were good. The laughter was good, even though the rain continued.
Sometimes, even while at other places, you have to getaway. The rain was over by morning, but just to wait out a storm, to worry about something we could do nothing about, and stress-out, doesn't make sense when you can chill-out by escaping.

Pirate Alert Update: We have no new updates about our missing wooden pirate friend. Please keep watch and report to us if you have any information.


The Captain and The Kid