I'm sure that I have mentioned how diligent we must be regarding the placement of our anchor in sandy spots, avoiding sea grass, and then making sure the anchor is holding all night long. A large portion of the Keys, well actually all of the Keys, are designated as a national marine sanctuary and we have made concerted effort to comply with the rules and regulations concerning our anchor. With the constant tides and strong currents, boaters must be vigilant with anchors and most locals, who are at anchor and not on a mooring ball, use one of two anchoring systems, Bahamas style, 2 anchors set for each direction of the current, or Bermuda style, 3 anchors set in triangle.
When we got to Boot Key, we dropped our anchor near a private mooring ball that we actually later attached to after the lady at Burdines Marina said had been abandoned. When we attempted to raise anchor to go to the nearby marina for a pump out it got fouled in some chains that apparently were configured in a Bermuda rig. Despite all Carter's efforts, he could not get it free so it was time for a little swim.
It was at about this time that our new neighbor rowed over to ask Carter for assistance resetting his Bahama rig since his dinghy did not have a motor. As Carter is always happy for a chance to play in his Whaler, he was happy to assist. When they completed the neighbors anchor ops, Carter donned his mask and snorkel and retrieved our anchor. Now we can pump out!
Over the past 3 years since we have been refitting the Archimedes, we have experienced a couple of pretty interesting scenarios concerning the head, from marinas having systems without the umph to pump, to urgent emergency trips to pump out in the torrential rain when the holding tank became unexpectedly full to brim. But we both say that that today's experience in Boot Key tops them all.
Imagine trying to put 75 gallons of poop soup into a 50 gallon tank with 2 small air vents on the top of the tank. In our defense, their tank was located out of view behind a small trailer so we didn't know that the marina pump out system was not directly connected to a sewer system like most dockside units are and they never asked how large our holding tank was. I bet they make that a policy from here on out!!!! It is also unbelievable that the system didn't have some kind of limit switch to stop the pump when it was about to overflow but it didn't and 3 minutes into the pump out our shit was literally flying 20 feet in the air spewing, from the air vents on the top of the tank. Thankfully it was aimed in a direction other than our boat.
The dock hands got the situation under control quickly, turning off the pump, then getting out the hoses and bleach water to clean things up. It was a miracle nobody called the health department to dispatch a HazMat team. What a system! More adventures in marine sanitation!
Then, to top off it off, on our way back to our anchorage, we ran aground. There was shoal in the middle of the anchorage and we cut it just a little to close trying to avoid an anchored sailboat nearby. We tried to skegg off but the tide was going out and we were stuck for the night. As we were safely aground and out of the channel, what next? Yep, we got in the whaler and went out to dinner! Seems to be a recurring theme for us. Running aground means it's time to eat. LOL
We got off the bank the next morning at high tide, no problem and it was our intention to depart Boot Key that day but Mother Nature had different plans for us, bringing in a couple days of rain, strong winds, and 7' seas in Hawk Channel so we laid over a couple more days in Marathon. Since we have not been able to pick up any local TV stations while down here in the Keys, we were forced to hang out on the boat watching old movies from our CD collection. I cooked up a big pot of beans and some homemade fudge and we hunkered down until Saturday only getting out to take Radar for his daily shore leave.
Saturday, January 25th
Finally, the weather cooperated and we departed Boot Key heading for Grassy Key as our next anchorage. Carter has an friend living there that offered us the use of the laundry facilities at his trailer park. It was getting to a be a serious situation with the laundry by now and I completed 9 loads in 3 washers in record time! Thanks to Kirk for the ground transportation and use of the laundry facilities! It was VERY MUCH appreciated.
We departed our anchorage in Tom's Harbor just north of Grassy Key on Monday morning heading toward the lower exit on the other side of the island. There were markers showing the way out and we had witnessed lots of other boats going in and out, plus the chart plotter showed 4' of water so we figured No Problem, right? WRONG! We ran aground right in the middle of the channel. We were stuck and not going anywhere for a few hours until the tide rolled back in.
Carter got into the whaler and began taking soundings so we would know where the water was when the tide came in which was to be in about 3 hours. While out taking soundings a local called him over and they had a conversation about the hurricane that came a couple years ago bringing in sand and filling in the channel. The powers that be decided this was an entrance that could be let go and would not allow the locals to dredge it so it seems the new controlling depth for Duck Key channel is now 2'. We would be forced to go back out of the harbor the way we came in from the southern entrance. Having a couple hours to kill, Carter decided to go to the nearest marina and fill up on gas for the whaler. He returned later with gas and...food! Yep, once again we sat down to eat lunch while waiting for the tide to come in! LOL
The Atlantic was a little bit rougher than we like it but all went well and we dropped anchor that night in Long Key Bight just outside of the Channel 5 Bridge that will take us back into the Florida Bay and to the ditch, (ICW)!
Sunset at Long Key Bight.
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