Key West 2025

  I was awake before Deb’s alarm sounded at 5:30 AM. I must’ve inadvertently put on a pair of her underwear after showering last night because they were cutting off the circulation to my legs. So I got up and changed into roomier clothes and headed to the marina restroom.  Ever since the head repair we have been using the marina toilets as much as possible. Sometimes the facilities are really nice. In fact, the bathroom in Palm Beach was totally automated. The interior light was motion activated as was the water faucet, toilet flush and paper towel dispenser.  That can be a little problematic though. After a night holding in gallons of beer, it can take some time to empty my bladder as was the case Friday. Apparently I sat still so long that the light sensor no longer sensed me and the room was plunged in total darkness!  I freaked out and started blindly fumbling around for the toilet paper and thankfully the lights popped back on. … We threw off the lines and pushe...

  The trip from Ft. Pierce to Eau Gallie takes around 6.5 hours so we didn’t need a pre-dawn departure. Instead we walked the Farmers Market and then walked the docks looking at fish. I was taking a photo of a SCHOOL of Sheepshead fish when a pigeon photo bombed the shot. We stayed in the ICW and rocked and rolled as boat after boat passed us on both sides. That’s a weekend for you.  Debbie drove most of the day because Cat and I were chicken. We let her catch a short nap before propping her up behind the wheel again. We rolled into the Eau Gallie Yacht Basin around 3:00. The owner helped us tie the boat. Then we wasted no time hitting the pavement to our final brewery. The Intracoastal Brewery is a short walk from the marina. They have a delicious new hazy beer called “ Let It Rain.” It was pretty potent so we only had two each. And since we were out of cheese and butter for our baked potatoes, Cat ordered a pretzel appetizer and we brought the beer cheese back to the boat fo...

 For the first time in days it was calm enough to run offshore from Palm Beach to Ft. Pierce. Since the Gulf Stream is in close, we figured we could do a little fishing en route.  We passed this freighter carrying yachts. More than a dozen other fishing boats dotted the horizon. Our first fish in the boat was a Bonita. They are inedible but they pull hard and make good bait. Our second fish was also a Bonita. And the third. And the fourth. Cat caught the first three until finally Debbie stepped up to take the last one. We did have a knockdown from a sailfish. He played behind the boat with the baits but we didn’t manage to hook him up. Wasn’t an amazing day for producing fish but it was more fun than riding up the river. We got to our slip at the city marina around 3:30, cleaned everything up and walked a block up the street to the Sailfish Brewery. Our neighbors just happened to be arriving back from the Bahamas in their boat so they met us there for drinks and dinner. Back a...

  Traffic jam waiting for the bridge to open. Over dinner Wednesday night we discussed the next leg of our trip to West Palm Beach. We all agreed we could sleep in before tackling the six bridges and south Florida boat traffic. Debbie suggested departing at  7:30. I was thinking more like 8:00. So we departed promptly at 7:30! Actually, it wasn’t a problem since I had been awake since 6:20. That is when Debbie decided to wash the boat off directly above my head! The cats had a fabulous morning. Peanut was in the flybridge when some birds took exception to having cats in the marina. They chirped and dive bombed us until Debbie shooed them away before they crapped purple shit all over the boat. The cats were fascinated. We arrived at Palm Harbor Marina in Palm Beach at 2PM. Cat awarded Gaffer and Peanut with a treat before we Ubered to the Civil Society brewery! We had a blast sampling their latest brews and we carried a few back to the boat before walking to Elizabette for dinn...

  The alarm sounded at 5 AM. Debbie fed the cats and I slept in for a half hour. At 6 we had enough light to get underway. We sliced through the water and enjoyed the protection the bay afforded in 17 knot east winds. Dolphin played in our wake as we turned toward Miami. Cat made a fabulous breakfast in exchange for getting to sleep in. We all took turns showering while we crossed Biscayne Bay. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale almost 11 hours later. It was a long day but there are few options of places to stay between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. We rewarded ourselves by grilling burgers and swilling beers in the flybridge. Gaffer took advantage of that relaxing time to explore the center console boat next to us. We are all in time out now. On to West Palm tomorrow!

 When Debbie suggested a 7 AM departure, the crew staged a mutiny. Instead we enjoyed a relaxing morning and a 7:45 AM departure! Even Cat had to drive! This leg of our journey was just under 50 miles to Islamorada. At 18 knots sustained, the wind was every bit as fierce as yesterday so we went on the bayside for which the cats were relieved. Even on the bay we encountered 2-3 foot waves. We planned to have a fabulous lobster roll dinner so we decided a late breakfast would satisfy lunch as well. Cat whipped up eggs sandwiches while we were under way. Deb drove mostly with periodic breaks thanks to Cat and me. We arrived at Plantation Yacht Harbor at 12:30 PM.   Islamorada has two breweries we love. We started at the Florida Keys Brewing Company and then moved on to the Islamorada Brewing Company. The marina suggested the free shuttle so we got to travel everywhere for just tips!  We took it easy on the beers because we still needed to make lobster rolls for dinner. We ha...

  It was deceptively calm in the marina as we pulled out of our slip at 8:23 AM, heading to Marathon. Debbie has been watching the weather and the wind was as calm as it was going to get for several days. At 15 knots, it was doable but it wouldn’t be fun.  Cat did her workout, I had a shower and Debbie did everything else. The wind was out of the southeast so at least we could quarter the seas which is actually something catamarans do well. But the waves were steep and close together so Cattitude bucked and rolled like a deranged rocking horse.  We thought we had secured the cabin but stuff went flying in short order. Deb took green water on starboard that sprayed in the flybridge and seeped in the windshield inside. So she slowed it down and we bobbed along in the Atlantic for four hours until we could cross to the bayside. Cat and I took turns hanging out with Gaffer. We can make it under that. Right? The difference was immediate. The seas calmed, the cats came out and ...

  As usual, I awoke around 6:30 AM eager to see what festivities the day would bring. At 64, I am hoping for copious drinks and no broken hips. It is important not to set the bar too high.  We arrived at the Ocean Grill promptly at 10 AM and the bottomless mimosas started flowing. Cat was hitting the Bloody Marys. We had a fabulous breakfast and then we started the Duval Crawl. But not the fun kind. Sometime during the morning, Deb realized she didn’t order a cake so, after countless mimosas, she thought BAKING one would be a fun activity! So we went in search of cake mix and icing. We bribed the shuttle driver to drop us off at Publix and the two chefs set about the task of learning how to use a convection oven.  The top layer was a little too blackened outside and raw inside so Peanut quickly retreated to the litter box to practice “Stop. Drop. And Roll.” Debbie scraped off the charred portion and gave it another try and it was a success! We ran into town for a final dr...

  After our jog Friday, Debbie made pancakes, we did laundry, then we caught a shuttle into town. For whatever reason, the BOGO drink coupons are burning  holes in our pockets. Betty with us at Bearded Lady We started at Fat Tuesday’s then back to The Bearded Lady for our current favorite beer. One of the patrons there suggested we try The Retro Room and six blocks later, we were there! It’s a cool taproom with 30 or more beers on tap and free play arcade games from the past. We caught a free shuttle back to the boat and grilled some mahi and topped it with the remaining ceviche. Afterward we retired to the flybridge with the cats to enjoy the sunset. Cat enjoying the sunset. Saturday morning we had bagels for breakfast, swore off drinking again and then rode into town for the No Kings protest.  We are not sure why they don’t like ice down here because it is very hot. From there we went and finally got Deb’s mango tree. The price had more than doubled! So she got a smalle...

The rain pounded on the deck above our heads and you could hear a river of water splashing down the gunnel. It was around 1:00 in the morning on Thursday and I was elated because it probably meant jogging was out! Unfortunately, the rain ended and the clouds parted and by 8:00 AM we were jogging in what felt like a terrarium. To add insult to injury, a mile into the run, it started raining again. Hard. I was pissed at first and then I realized it kind of felt good! Definitely cooled me off. We were still pretty wet when we got back to the boat an hour later. Thanks to someone’s diesel spill, it has been kind of stinky outside. But today there was the scent of cinnamon in the air. And it was coming from our boat! Cat had made French toast and bacon after her workout! We grabbed a couple of towels so we could sit at the dinette and we made quick work of a fabulous breakfast. Afterward we biked to Publix while Debbie cleaned and shrink wrapped the fish we caught with Chuck. Then we all ca...

 Last year we spent an entire morning shrink wrapping the fish from our charter fishing trip with Chuck. He’s rough and abrasive but he he knows a lot about fishing. Until today. There was a full Strawberry Moon when we got up at 5:30 this morning. Usually that means the fish have eaten all night. But Chuck was eager to impress us again with his knowledge. So we packed drinks, sandwiches and gear and headed to the bikes before sunrise. We put the drinks in a red bucket to carry them to Chuck’s cooler. Cat had a backpack of stuff as did Debbie so I hastily grabbed the red bucket and tagged along up the ramp to the bikes. The weight of the bucket took my breath away and I asked the gang if anyone had given thought to how much the drinks weighed. That’s when I noticed there were two red buckets there. The one I carried had 40 pounds of dumbbells we were avoiding using on the boat! Then I had to carry it BACK to the boat! I should’ve known then…. Debbie caught a strawberry grouper the ...

 The alarm went off at 5:30 AM and we began preparing the cabin for fishing. It was still going to be sporty but the weather window is closing so this would be a last chance at trolling for mahi. The ride in was better than the ride out! The fishing was shitty. Poor Peanut puked up his breakfast. Cattitude bobbed around in the sloppy seas. By the time we got outside of the reef, the waves were more like 6 footers than the 3 footers predicted. Deb and Cat raced around to clear weed and then we’d snag more weed. We caught a couple of fish but they were small.  At 10 AM, we threw in the towel. We cleaned the boat and the gear then had lunch. After a brief nap we decided to head to the Hurricane Hole to see what our favorite charter captain was catching. He happened to have tomorrow open so we’re getting up early AGAIN! From there we swung by our favorite brewery and hung with our peeps. Then we decided to bike back for leftovers and sunset with the cats. I know, I’d hate us too!