OK Kitty , here ya go...

I thought that after eating blue crab, that I had tasted some of the best. Now I am not so sure after catching stone crab.
These buggers are little in body(about the same as blue crab), but are amazingly huge in the arms!
Not to mention they are a LOT slower , still quick but not lightning like a blue crab!
Honeslty there is twice the meat in just ONE arm from a stone crab than there is in the WHOLE body and arms of a blue crab!!
And yes , Kitty got to eat some too. Ears perked and tail ablurr she snarfed it down without a pause, I'm not even sure it even touch her mouth!
Needless to say I had her complete attention for a bit....
Tune in next time when you'll read," Am now at ????

Soggy ol swamp...

Still here. The wind calmed down a lot. It has not stopped raining since very early am. everything inside is damp to the point of soaked.
After tonight things are supposed to return to "normal". It says warmer and thats a good thing. It also says north winds for a day or more. Par I guess since I am going north.... My friends Glenn and Joann Dean seemed to have the same "bow wind" as I seem to get ....Frustrating to say the least.
Oh well, I might have to turn on the heater to knock off this damp a bit. It seems to be seeping into me bones..
I have come to realize that my pc emits a fair amount of heat when it's working hard. This does lower the battery level a bit but it has me thinking of alternate heat sources that we use everyday that doesn't use a lot of amperage and is moisture resistant for the most part.
I didn't bother check the trap today. no sense in letting in more humidity than needed.

Tune in next time when you hear Kitty say " but but but I like crab too!!!"

bit-o-wind

The 20 mph wind that NOAA reported to be her seems a bit more than that . I am guessing it's gusting 30 or better , but hey , I am in a sheltered spot so I can't imagine what it was like for the other sailboat that arrived after dark on the other side of the island.
My poor ratty ol dingy keeps going airborn and slamming the side of the boat... not much I can do about it this time. just glad it's rubber!
At least the forecast was wrong about the temp also! upper 50's is way better than lower 30's .
Hoping the trap is working so I can have crab tomorrow.

My current location .

Off the grid

Hello everyone!
I will start with an apology for the absence recently.
I had to get out of the keys due to the "new rule" the had me in a pickle.
So I took the first available opportunity to "jump ship" and use my mobility to the maximum benefit.
Unfortunately I only had about 1.5 days of good weather to find a hidey hole somewhere.
That somewhere ended up being  the aptly named Shark River , near Ponce de Leon bay in the Everglades.
I was really dreading going back through the Everglades due to the noseeums and skeeters and snakes, I hadn't figured in what the cold weather may have done to the area.....
If there is ever a time to visit the Everglades , it's JANUARY! little to no bugs to speak of and not a reptile to be seen or heard!
So,
while at shark river I decided to do some fishing while waiting on better weather.
yeeeaah ok.
 The first day , no bites. The second day, 6 or so catfish(go figure). the third day I managed to hook another catfish but before I could catch another one , a shark( I think) came along and bit the end of the stringer off..."it was a raman noodle night....).
4th day I thought hmmm shark is tasty enough, so I got a couple small catfish for bait. hooked one and waited....and waited.....and waited.
I had 200 ft of line out using the tide to get it there and the tide was about to turn plus evening was coming on. As I stepped out to reel in and call it a day the pole bent, reel screaming and me scrambling to get it to stop the loss of line!!!
Grabbing the 13 ft pole that was bent double, I braced for battle.
Using the sleeve of my jacket for protection on my thumb, I press HARD on the spool without any affect!
I thought " Dammit !! not again!!!!" and used BOTH thumbs to brake the spool and it worked!!!
Grinning ear to ear and laughin out loud I couched the butt of the rod under my belt and PULLED!!!
Over and over , pull like hell , reel real fast, repeat.
I knew I had a shark , a fairly large one too. I didn't even know what I was going to do with the monster when I got it but man that was a good time!
So I finally get the beast to the stern and once I got its head near the surface I realize that I was out matched.
Even if I DID get it on the boat , it was big enough to break a LOT of stuff once there (including the helm).
So there I stood with my "U' shaped fishing pole holding this shark head that had a mouth big enough to swallow my foot without touching it's lip and here come these sports fishing boats that had left earlier.
I though "hey they might like a big ol fish to take home to the family!".....not.
I waved and motioned them to the shark and all 3 went right on past , none waved but one passenger gave me a thumbs up .....not what I expected.....
Standing there holding this shark was starting to lose it's "magic" and while I was standing there looking at it I realize it's looking at me....calmly suddenly.......
At this point I got the knife out and cut the line. I knew it wasn't tired but was planning .... It was another raman noodle night.
5th day I tried for catfish again and managed to get a couple on a stringer before the sharks (yeah more than one) showed up and for some reason the fish stopped biting..I noticed one of the sharks was fairly large and similar to the one from last night. I found some markings on it throughout the day so I know it was the same shark all day and I had this "JAWS" feeling slowly creeping into my brain.....I had a lady from another boat paddle her kayak over to visit early in the day . Nice lady. She adored Kitty, so when she went back and told her friends about Kitty's friendly manner, naturally another one got bored later on and came to visit....
I saw her coming and went to the bow to meet her since the shark(s) seemed intent on my stringer at the stern.
I mentioned the big shark and she says " oh cool where's he at ? I wanna see!".....with a sinking feeling I pointed astern and away she went! The lady was also in a kayak and didn't have a life jacket in sight, and she no more got downstream of DAWGFISH when the shark darted towards her while I says loudly it's coming at you and it's right behind you !! She twists to look at the same time the shark bumps her kayak with a startling splash!! OH! she says.... (I had some other words in mind...)
Earlier the other lady mentioned that her friends liked fish but hadn't had any luck , so I told this lady that she could take the 2 fish I had back with her . "lemme see em" she says as she paddles up to my port side.
I untether the stringer from my starboard and swing em around to port to show em , when she said call our captain to see if she wants em.
I lash the stringer to the rack so they were in the water behind her stern and as I was turning to go to the radio the shark comes up grabs a fish, ricochets off DAWGFISH then glances off her kayak with a very large splash and disappears.
I look at her and see shes ghost white and I told her that I would have probably pissed myself had I been her and mentioned for the 5th time that she should go back to the boat. She finally agreed!
We both left Shark River the next morning.motoring into the wind in a desprerate bid to escape JAWS if possible.
I ended up in First bay next for a night but the radio was calling out tough north wind and I had to move to 2nd Bay to get close to some shelter.
One early morning while in 2nd Bay, I had no more woke when I heard the Coast Guard hail me on the radio. I thought "oh great! NOW what have I done."
They proceeded to tell me that I needed to contact my mother asap.
I told them I would but had no signal and no weather to go and get signal.
They asked if I had supplies to last, I said yeah.
And that was that!
I knew my Mom had to be worried but there wasn't a thing I could do about it ....
The next day a young Park Ranger stopped to see if I was ok and offered advice . He only had to mention the dogs are not allowed on ANY keys because kayakers were complaining about shit.
I said I wouldn't take kitty ashore due to the snakes n gators. He said "oh you don't have to worry about those"........I changed the conversation due to confusion...
The rest until now has been fairly routine. Slightly frustrating due to the lack of wind, but uneventful none the less.
I am running a bit low on gas but am staying here for a few days to wait out some weather and get some winds going my way to the next marina which is about 17 miles away. This may not sound very far but my last 2 days of sailing had me moving at .5 MPH or less...yay.
I did get a few pix from this trip but still not enough signal for them to upload. sorry.
While I was typing this up tonight, about 7 canoes full of people with headlights on passed by me. I had to poke my head out and tell em they was crazy for being in the Everglades at night in canoes.
What IS it with these paddlers?!?!?
Oh well.
since I am back on the grid , I should be able to post daily . It will seem like a rerun since I have been through here before. I hope my posts don't get too monotonous ...

Heading North

In the morning I will be heading north from the keys and their "spur of the moment law creation".
Once again I will be in the land of skeeters and snakes.
With the way the weather is so unpredictable I honestly have no clue when I'll be back in signal land.
So my last night in Boot Key Harbor seems to be quiet for the most part. wind out of the NE @ 5-10 mph.
There is a band at dock side. My neighbor seems to be a bit drunk and loud.
Everything is as stowed as I can get it till the "right before sailing" settle that I always do to try and keep things from spilling and falling if things turn out rough(which they seem to do a lot.).
I am going to miss the friends I was able to rendevous with. That is one of the cool things about staying mobile.
I am really looking forward to mainland style beaches.


I will end this with a quote from yours truly:
If at first you don't succeed , get a bigger boat.
                                                                    Robin Wiest
                                                                   Owner/Operator
                                                                           of
                                                                    DAWGFISH

Fail

This S-clip used to say stainless steel till it rusted where it said it.

not good enough

I haven't yet had the unfortunate necessity to have to dump my porta potty in the water at all.
I have always used a public facility in one way shape or form to empty my tank.
Today I went in to the marina to use the porta potty dump that  they have installed for setups just like mine which I have used once already since I have been here.
Now, in order to get the marina to allow me to dump my porta potty today, so I can be legal , I had to sign a paper that says, I am not legal and that  I will change my porta potty into a permanent head by cutting holes in my boat to allow for a pump out service to come to my boat .
The paper also states that I have 7 days to comply but I may get a citation while trying to comply regardless of whether or not I am trying to comply .
So .      New rule, great.           I know when I am not wanted.
I will take what revenue I do have elsewhere.
My time spent in the Florida Keys may have been warmer than the rest of the states but ya know...
                                                                ...enough is enough.
If  laws were straws , the poor ol camel would be smashed flat .

 I will be gone within 48 hours.

I seriously doubt I will ever come back.

Surprise !

I went to MOONLIGHT SUE to hang out with Keith & Carol last night.

After the pizza was gone and the rum started workin, Keith gone out his new toy he acquired on the radio net! 

I am here to tell ya now this guy can play!!!

Notice Face(the cat) pretending not to be listening.

A test

Here is rope that you normally find in lower end retail and is fairly cheap to buy,  it comes in 100 ft coils all nicely wrapped and the rope itself is very bright in color which varies across the spectrum.

In big letters it says 1/2" IN Braided Rope.

In very small letters on the back it says 300 lb breaking strength .

It is made with a poly foam core and has a thin braided sleeve on the outside. 

I have tested a single rope and found out early that it will stretch almost DOUBLE it's length. It has served for several purposes one of which includes anchoring in moderate wind with my 3000 lb boat. I never relied on it alone by having an additional anchor out to catch it if it broke.

Recently I have found the time to try an experiment with 3 of these braided 300 lb ropes. 

Here is a picture of the test piece.

What you are seeing is 3 ropes braided the whole length and eye spliced onto the anchor chain . 

So now it's a 60 ft braided 3 strand rope with 900+ lb breaking strength that will stretch past double its length before failing. I am guessing the " strength in numbers multiplier would be about 30% per strand, making it a 1200 lb breaking strength rope. 

I honestly hope I don't have to test it's full capacity. 

I do feel it will be much safer for obvious reasons plus some other not so obvious ones.

Canned 'somethingorother'

I don't quite know what this is supposed to be but, DAMN it good!!

Once again Collette's Dad has sparked my taste buds ! This is the last of the canned goods sent to me while at carrabelle . 

Rowdy night at Boot Key Harbor

Well here are the stats for the conditions last night and today at Boot Key Florida.

Last night:
1 ship had 3 people overboard and one nearly drowned. All are ok and recovering.
1 vessel pulled anchors and drifted , tide leaving it grounded this morning.
41 mph wind recorded last night.

This Morning:
with sun shining into my sealed cabin it was 65 degrees.
I am now wearing 2 hoodies, sweats, shorts, thermal socks.
Florida Keys is the warmest place on the us continent today......
-----------------------------------
Here is some photos from my Key west excursion(after sawyer key and before boot key) , such as it was.

Hurricane Hole

Location

I moved In here for protection and after I get here and set up , I hadn't been here an hour before FWC tries to roll up, getting hung up in the shallow water but eventually getting close enough to allow for communication and hand off of credentials. It seems the lady in charge was training a rookie. Their attitude was excellent and everything went like a routine safety check should. 

Since I seem to keep getting their attention, I think an "FWC" kit is about to be assembled, having everything they want to see in one spot , so when they ask , I can just hand em a bag to sort through.

I really wish I had found this place on my first visit. I haven't found better protection from wind and wake since I have been in the keys. 

Thanks Carrol!

Dinner aboard Moonlight Sue! Thank you very much! I was perfect after the day I had!!

Ridem cowboy! yeehaw!

The day started @ 4:20 am with being woke up by 30+ mph winds from a direction my anchors weren't set for . Thanks to Jim Crammond for the kick ass rope that held all by itself till 9am.
I moved to the south side of the bay to get some relief from the wind and wake , no sooner set down the hook and the wind dies....
So I prep to step out to Hawk Channel knowing that there would be leftover chop from the earlier wind, but needed to get somewhere else before the next gale hit.
Rounding the lil island into 4ft waves had me debating on turning around, but I continued.
the seas grew as the day rolled on. by noon I was sailing in 7-8 foot seas with 1-2foot chop.
by 1:45pm the seas were 10ft average and breaking with an increasing wind.
Reefing the genoa I continued on, one hand on the wheel , one hand holding me in place.
Miraculously I only got a little bit of spray. I felt the hull go airbourne a few times and landing made an incredible splash.
All the rockin an rollin that goes on in these conditions soon points out what I forget to stow or brace, having shut the hatch to keep the spray out also let me disregard the crashing noises coming from the inside of the cabin from my stuff getting tossed.
I watched a power cruiser go by on the opposite heading , it was also broadside to these waves but was rolling so badly that I could tell he was having a bad day with it.
Not long later I started hearing the radio announce vessels capsized while I am fighting to hold a parralell course to the shore on my downwind side and the reef between us.
Now about this time I get a message from Miss Lemann stating that she would rather be where I was since it was so cold where she was. Reading this text was an act of saving my phone battery for gps use but (after quickly glancing at the seas, nav , sail ) I couldn't help it. The laughter came and all my worries evaporated( for the most part). If my non swimming friend only knew how terrified whe would have been had her wish to be in my place been true , I am positive that msg would have read completely different.
So the laughter came and went for the rest of the day.
Towards the end of the day the seas subsided a bit and the frequency changed a bit when finally the wind was so slight that I rolled up the sail to continue on motor only.
I had the motor on an idle the whole day because of the severity out there then and the desperate flight to safety had to be done by dark if possible.

I have only been in waves this big 2 other times but those times were at night . Now that I have finally seen the big monsters that had their way with me at night I have the feeling that I wouldn't have any problems with these anymore pending proximity of shore.

Feeling more alive than I have felt in quite a while. Exausted sore and alive!

Thank you everyone

I just wanted to thank everyone for the well wishes and happy birthday wishes today.
The feeling I get from these simple happy birthdays is very uplifting at a time when I needed it.
I try and send happy birthday msgs when able because I know how it can lift a person up on every level regardless of age gender origin class or creed.

Sundowner

I felt a sundowner was in order. It may turn into 2 or 3 .....

update

Sunny , 72 degrees, 25-30 mph north wind, watching 5-6 ft chop go by in the main channel(niles channel),
Kitty doing ok, I think she picked up some fleas when we went ashore though.
Anchors are holding better than expected. May get to have a Birthday drink later. Wind is supposed to ease a bit towards dark.
East wind forecast for tomorrow, then it turns to be a southerly wind that should get me to Marathon just in time to hunker down for the days to follow with predicted 30+ mph north winds again for about 2 days if the forecast holds.
May try for a mooring ball at Boot key Harbor to get some laundry done get a shower ( or 2) get gas etc. Will have to wait till the wind settles so I can paddle in without trauma.

Meanwhile back at Ramrod key

location
by clicking the word "location" above will take you to my google maps location.
Please leave some feedback to lemme know how it works!

I left Key West at around noon today after getting gas at a shell station by Boca Chica harbor.
The day before I started to get a headache about the time I was told to move out of my safe spot.
It may sound weird but the further I got from Key West the less my headache hurt.
Now after setting out 3 anchors I anticipation for this small craft advisory from the north , I wait on the south side of Ramrod Key as close to the shore as I dared. This spot has flat rocks just under the sand and anchoring with confidence is out of the question. One can hope for the best though right?
The wind is supposed to clock from SW to W by 9pm, pick up speed and then clock to the North at just after midnight. No rest for the wicked. No swimming on my birthday . No drinking on my birthday.
Oh and I saw 2 Man-o-war jelly fish today.(as if sharks and stingrays and barracuda aren't bad enough...)
I didn't get many pix today . when I left I found 4-6ft chop with an occasional 8 footer here and there.
I was a little worried while motoring into them on the way out of the channel, they were at my bow at that point and I dunked the bow a few times.
Once I got out of the shoals and turned east I had the chop at my beam and things were rough till I got both sails up and full. After that I got a rhythm and the day went ok till the very end when the wind died and the chop remained.
I isn't too bad here though cause the shoals block all the hard core stuff from the Atlantic.

Key West

After I got visited by FWC today(heck of a way to start my year off) and  I was told to move from my safe spot to a shallow anchorage that has limited holding and little wind protection and several sunken boats according to them. I moved. (what else could I do?)
I get over here and the strong winds I have been watching for, have jumped a day forward on the forecast , so now I am unable to escape this unholy tourist trap call Key West as soon as I wanted, due to these 30+ mph north winds that I would have LOVED  to had on the way down here....
I will be moving on asap though, back up the island chain . This will be difficult due to the dominating easterlies in this area that hail from the Bahama's .
Will be stopping one more time in Boot Key Harbor to say bye to some friends and then it's back to the mainland and away from Monroe county.
I think I may have gotten lucky, this time. My luck won't hold forever .
Honestly down here you must prove your innocence because when you arrive you are guilty, That's all the proof these boys need. You are here , they have the gun and if they don't find something to scold you over(at the very least) then  they will be happy to fabricate a way to make you pay if they are feeling frisky. .
I have the feeling american media has their fingers in this pie , along with with a few political tangents.
Extortion with lawfully documented records is still extortion, is wrong and is as un-american as it gets.