2021: Overnight at Johnson Key

 3 January 2021

Depart: Faro Blanco Resort, Marathon, FL 12:30 

Arrive: Johnson Key Anchorage 2:35

Distance: 16 nm

Conditions: 80s, slight south wind, calm seas, abundance of crab pots

As we pulled away from our slip in the marina, I planned on preparing an on-the-go lunch for the two of us as soon as we got going. That quickly turned out to be a poor assumption. As we headed west, crab pots and shallow water greeted us. These two factors meant that all eyes needed to be on the water. Knowing that I would not survive without food, I quickly ran down and grabbed a small snack for each of us. 

Along the way we passed "Fred the Tree".

"Fred the Tree" on the 7-Mile Bridge

Traps all around and
sometimes closer to the boat than we would like!

Looking at anchorage reviews in Active Captain, Clark decided that the highly-rated Johnson Key location would be a great spot to try for the night. Having not been to this location before, we overshot the turn off towards the islands and had to backtrack.  When I saw the size of Friend Key that Clark was looking for, I understood why we sailed on by the cutoff. He said he should have put in a waypoint.

Slightly larger than a postage stamp:
Friend Key near Big Pine Key, FL

With several possible anchorages listed in Active Captain for this site, Clark scoped out the area checking water depths, evaluating protection for anticipated wind-direction changes during the night, and looking for a sandy (as opposed to a weedy) bottom. The color of the water, light versus dark green, told us where the bottom should be sandier rather than weedier. Standing on the bow of the boat ready for the anchor to drop, I could see the water bottom and help direct Clark to a better spot to drop.

After exploration and discussion, we agreed that selecting a more open spot to capture the slight breeze would be a prime choice. We found a spot surrounded by Friend Key, Johnson Key, and Little Pine Key. We had nothing but calm blue-green water and scraggly, scruffy islands around us. 

Views from the anchorage ...

Looking towards Friend Key

Looking towards Johnson Key

Looking towards Little Pine Key

At 3:00 we had the anchor down and the systems shutdown, so we could finally eat lunch. Thank goodness I grabbed a handful of nuts at 12:30, or Clark would have been picking me up off the floor! Without a reminder, Clark would have gone about as if his snack was his lunch. He sometimes forgets to eat! (not me!) Where we would have been hot and sticky in our slip, we actually donned long sleeves to be comfortable at the anchorage. 

One would think that after anchoring almost exclusively for the weeks it took us to get to Marathon from New Jersey, we would have had enough. Instead, we both thoroughly enjoyed being at anchor away from other boats and the general hubbub of the marina such as the Pigeon Key tourist boat firing up its engines every two hours. I find our hour-long maintenance runs to be an annoyance. I like taking the boat out and staying out. With no WiFi and poor cell service, we ate lunch in the cockpit, sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed total peace and quiet.

Sun setting at Johnson Key anchorage

Sky after sunset looking towards Friend Key

4 January 2021

Depart: Johnson Key Anchorage 10:35

Arrive: Faro Blanco Resort 12:20

Distance: 11 nm

Conditions: much cooler than yesterday, wind from north, slight chop 

We slept in and ate a late breakfast. Clark scoffed his down in a hurry. I had just started to enjoy a leisurely breakfast when Clark came and asked how soon I would be ready to leave. He instantly ruined my mood. I growled at him that I would be ready once I had eaten but I had no plans to rush! 

Clark's hurry to get back stemmed from the fact that he had scheduled a pump out for today with marina staff. Since he told me when he signed up that they had a long list ahead of us, I thought we had plenty of time to get back. I did have laundry piling up and expected a package to arrive. Given those factors, I did not grumble too loudly about leaving our quiet spot.

Wind direction changed and the boat started rocking around 4:00 a.m. this morning. With a northerly wind, we knew it would get colder as the day progressed. Time to leave paradise! The water for the ride "home" was definitely choppier than we had yesterday.

Buried among white caps on the water, crab traps challenged us more on our return trip to the marina. I  am a much better spotter of traps and markers than Clark, so I sat beside him either pointing out traps and markers or shouting out depths as we made our way "home".  I missed seeing "Fred the Tree" on the return trip, but Clark did point out Pigeon Key where the tour boat goes 4 times a day.

Pigeon Key near 7-Mile Bridge

When we pulled into our slip, two boater friends handed us our lines and assisted us in tying up. I tied a short breast line which should have stopped the boat's forward motion coming in. Unfortunately, the boat was a tad too far away from the dock for the breast line to do its job. The northerly wind pushed us into the slip, and before I could get a spring line on, we bumped the dock. It did not feel bad to me, but Clark was upset that we hit the dock. "It sounded loud to me!," he exclaimed.

After we got the lines on, (Ken said, "You have more lines than a Stephen King novel!"), we checked out the "damage" which turned out to be a slight scuff mark that Clark wiped off with his hand. Following that, we had a lengthy discussion about how to set lines up for our next outing to avoid a reoccurrence. 

Neither Clark's nor my afternoon worked out as we thought they would. As I sat at the upper helm on our trip, I could not help but notice how filthy everything looked. Standing on the dock to tie up lines, I could see that parts of our white full enclosure appeared almost black from dirt. After lunch, I grabbed a bucket and supplies needed to clean the upper helm. Clark followed behind me with supplies needed to apply boat wax to the areas I cleaned. 

I started my cleaning by climbing over the instrument panel and out the front opening of the full enclosure to reach the dirtiest part of the full enclosure - dirtiest due to how inaccessible it is for normal cleaning.  The platform I stood on sits several feet up in the air and narrows to only a foot wide on either side of the upper helm. I cleaned what I could, but with a fear of falling, I left some portions for Clark to clean in my stead. 

After doing what I could on the outside of the upper helm, I moved to the inside. I started my cleaning efforts around 1:00 and watched the time as I worked because Sandy offered me a trip to the supermarket at 3:00 that I couldn't turn down. I managed to complete my work just in time to get cleaned up and change my clothes ready to leave with Sandy. At 3:00 I left with Sandy as Clark continued cleaning and applying 3M wax. 

Before stopping at Publix, Sandy took me to see her friend who said that she had fish to give us. When we got to their motor home site, they were cooking and sat us down for a mini feast of fresh-fried fish. Having never eaten Spanish Mackerel, I had no idea if I would like it but had to try it to find out. Having been cooked perfectly, it had no fishy flavor, and I enjoyed it enough to accept two more pieces when offered! Besides feeding us fresh-cooked fish, they sent us away with raw fish to cook for ourselves later.

When Sandy and I returned from our outing, which turned out to be much longer than anticipated, I found Clark still busy polishing the boat. Since it was now 4:45, I asked about the pump out, and Clark said the dockhand never came by. Since we are approaching full, he was concerned that it had not happened. Besides no pump out, I never did get to my laundry. I did, however, get one of the two packages I expected. 

Since I had a large fish "snack" at 3:30, I could not face cooking the raw fish for dinner. I knew it would never taste as good as what we ate at their motor home site. I put the fish "on ice" in the fridge with a plan to cook it tomorrow.

Sunset at Faro Blanco Resort in Marathon, FL

5 January 2021

No boat travel.

Sandy offered to take me to the Key Colony farmer's market this morning. I had no plans to purchase anything but thought I would enjoy time away from the boat (and my husband). We left at 9:30. At 10:10 we finally arrived at Key Colony. Traffic was backed up for miles on Route 1. Cars moved very slowly or not at all, and we had no idea why. The trip took about 25 minutes longer than it should have.

As Sandy moved the car up inch-by-inch, I chattered away somewhat oblivious to the time being eaten up. Driving over the bridge, approaching Key Colony, we strained to look for the cause of the backup as we reached the peak of the bridge. Sandy said she could see flashing lights ahead, so we hoped that signaled the traffic jam would clear so we could continue on our way. 

Our timing could not have been worse for the drive down Route 1. Just as we turned into Key Colony towards the farmers market, the police started removing the cones marking a detour around Route 1. We browsed the market and bought a few items. After concluding our shopping and returning to Route 1, we found no traffic jam or any evidence of an earlier slowdown. 

When we got back to the marina, I asked Clark about the pump out we did not get yesterday. He said he talked to marina staff, and we would get one before the end of the day. Yay! He worked on polishing the boat until they came and then went back to it after the pump out was complete.

I, on the other hand, got to work on that laundry that did not happen yesterday. I am thoroughly disgusted with the laundry facilities here at the marina this year. Two washers and dryers have never been enough in the past to handle the demand. However, in prior years, they did at least do the job once you got your turn. This year, I find the dryers, even on the highest setting, do not dry the clothes - the clothes come out damp every time. 

Last time I used the washers, one of them stopped working mid-job. After poking at it for a few minutes with no results, I reached into the dark, soapy water, felt around for my clothes, and moved the sopping wet laundry to the other washer. Once I paid to start that washer going, the one I had removed the laundry from went into the spin cycle when I closed the lid. Dang! It must have been a balance problem. I should have played with it more. Obviously, removing the laundry cleared the problem. 

Today, when I returned to my boat with my laundry, I hung some of it up to dry and put other in the dryer on our boat. I grumbled at Clark that I hate doing laundry, but I do it expecting it to be done when I come back from the laundry room. I do not expect it to be an on-going event. 

I cooked up my free fish from yesterday. I cooked it in two batches but overcooked the first batch. The second batch was definitely not as dry as the first batch.