Cruising with "Best Mate": Key West Florida, Day 18

Tuesday

Miles Traveled 21.1

Total Miles Traveled 2181

Days 154-159

We have been riding our bikes around town, and have found some great places to eat; it’s hard to believe the month of February is half over.

We had a scary moment a few days ago with the dinghy. There is a seafood restaurant about a mile bike ride from the marina and a 20 minute ride in the dinghy. The route we would have to take in the dinghy would require us to leave the marina and enter the channel going out into the Atlantic Ocean and follow the coast around to the next inlet to the restaurant.

We left the marina and entered the channel and found the wind at our back and a strong tidal current going out to sea, normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but about 500 feet from the marina the outboard motor quit. I didn’t put the anchor in the dinghy when we left so we had no way to hold the dinghy while trying to work on the motor. We were sailing toward the Atlantic Ocean at a pretty good clip. I grabbed the oars and started making our way back, oaring as fast as I could and barely making any headway. We were finally able to get closer to shore and back into the marina.

I found that the motor wasn’t getting any fuel, and when I pulled the carburetor apart, found a small amount of grime in the float bowl. I purchased a carburetor rebuild kit before starting the loop, so I rebuilt the carburetor and let it run hooked to the boat for an hour, then rode around the marina for another hour. It starts on the first or second pull, and runs great, but I think we’ll putt around close the boat before getting too adventurous. And we won’t leave without the anchor the next time either.

We have a new member at the marina, well he’s probably been here for awhile but it’s the first time we have seen him. A couple of the kids at the marina have named him Walter the Manatee.

He must be 8 or 10 feet long.

I need to put on my bike helmet before getting to the bike, this cactus tried to give me a head butt just as I was ready to take it out of the bike rack.

The wind has been blowing for the last two weeks making the ocean too rough for boating, but after a storm rolled through this morning, we were able to make another cruise to Key West and Fleming Key. This is the Southernmost Point of the United States viewed from the Atlantic Ocean looking back at Key West.

Entering Key West Shipping Channel.

We dropped the anchor across from Fleming Key and ate our lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the view, and attempted to catch a few fish. We didn’t get one bite.

We passed this shrimp boat on the way back.