The game

It appears to be 5 way rumble here in Vaca Key, between Coast Guard(federal), FWC(state) Marathon(City) Conch Republic(Keys) and Cruisers(us) !!! 

Tickets, harassment ,fear, prejudice and the holidays all afloat and salty as heck!! 

If you are heading this way ya best be aware of the situation before you get here! 

Cleaning day 1

I spent practically all day wiping down the inside of DAWGFISH . The mold had gotten to the point that oranges exposed to the cabin for 3 days were molded badly.
I can't imagine what it does to my health.
Thanks to Terry and Donna I now have the rags to get caught back up and maintain the mold issue to tolerable levels.
Will have another day of cleaning tomorrow and the next day and the next until it's done. Things are bad enough that to stop half way would waste the work already done. The mold would reverse all the cleaning done in under 2 days.
The wind is supposed to pick up after tomorrow, 20 mph easterly thats supposed to blow for days.
maybe the mail can get to me soon so I can use the wind to go to the key west area.
will see how things go .

Keys sunset

RENA

When I mentioned rags to Terry (RENA), he said he had some old clothes he would give up for the cause and when I returned from visiting FLEXIBLE , Terry has several bags of stuff waiting for me ! Most of which was clothes he had extra of and a couple bags of food ! After telling me about what was in the care package he had made up , I was invited aboard and offered some Jamaican Rum he had run across at a local shop!!

The crew from MOONLIGHT SUE was already there and we all passed the night telling stories, drinking rum and enjoying the 70 degree night aboard a 100 year old tall ship! RENA's missen flag (below) can be seen from miles away, approx 200 sqft of flag waving is hard to miss.

It's an inspirational sight to say the least.

There was sooooo many cool things aboard this vessel . The history was tangible. I was aching to snap pix but held off because this was their home and it just didn't seem right to record every single thing. However I did ask to get a photo of the flare gun. Another piece of ancient but still usable equipment that had been aboard the ship for years .

Over 2 lbs of KABOOM.!!!

Thanks Terry &Donna for the relaxing evening! 

My temp oar rig

Gotta love duck tape!

Stove

Dave let me borrow his old stove till I can replace mine.

Visiting friends!

My visit with Dave yesterday went great! On the way to his yacht I stopped to say hi to Terry aboard RENA. I didn't get far when one of my oars broke ( again). 

I managed to splash my way back to RENA to borrow an oar till I could get back to DAWGFISH to get my spares.

Upon arriving at Dave's yacht FWC decided to do their make their presence felt and did a safety check on Dave's setup. 

They left promising to return to see his equipment (he wasn't able to find some things they wanted to see. ).

Then I stepped aboard and we commenced to chat the day away! 

Dave's vessel FLEXIBLE, is a previously sunk , 3 deck yacht which he bought for less than $1000. He has replaced both motors and is remodeling the interior. 

Our conversation was enlightening as well as entertaining! Kitty was happy to see him also!