Here’s why the last post was so brief…

While waiting in Marathon for the new water pump belt, I kept calculating and re-calculating my LPD – Last Possible Time for Departure. I had already lost 1 day being towed, and most of another day waiting for the replacement belt to arrive.  I didn’t want to lose another day, because the winds are expected to increase as the week proceeds.  (I lost two fairly calm days getting towed in and waiting for repairs.) I figured I could make it to Key Largo by sunset if I left by 3PM. I didn’t want to arrive after dark.

I FINALLY got underway at 2:45 PM!

Sea conditions were moderate, and the repairs seemed to be working fine: we were making 19 knots and the engine temperature was normal (178 degrees).

The waves abated as the afternoon proceeded, and we made it to Key Largo just as the sun set.  In fact, it grew dark as we finished tying up. WHEW!

We had dinner at a nearby restaurant – outdoors with live music.  The diners looked like a bunch of old hippies, but there were BMW’s and Maserati’s in the lot! I hope I live long enough to outlive every band who keeps playing those tired old 1970’s playlists… Does anybody really need to hear “Black Magic Woman” or “Ramblin Man” one more time? Come on people, they were good songs, but you’ve been listening to the same stuff for 50 Years!

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BTW, in my post last night, I was dictating into my phone, and I forgot to check the spelling…I meant to say that I was “tucking into” a Hogfish sandwich.  (It’s an expression I picked up from my UK travels.)  I will correct the post.

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It’s 6:45 AM now on Friday, and Guinness is bugging me for a walk. He’s very subtle: he just plants a paw in the middle of the keyboard and looks me right in the eye. If I ignore him, he repeats the process and adds a sharp bark.

Today was supposed to be an easy 4-hour trip to Ft Lauderdale, but sea conditions have worsened overnight, and we expect to encounter 5-foot seas off Miami. We’ll just have to take it slow. Time to get moving.

We made it! We rolled into the marina at 6:30 just as the sun was setting. It’s now 7 o’clock, and we’re already tucking into a grilled hog fish sandwich. More details to follow!

Well, we are stuck here in Marathon for an extra day waiting for parts – the spare belt that was on the boat (left by prior owner) was not correct.

I will lose two full days, which I hope is not going to be a problem with friends and marinas. I just have to notify all my friends that my arrival will be delayed by two days, and I need to call several marinas.

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This is a working boatyard, so we are not exactly lying around the swimming pool, but the weather is pleasant enough, and we’re taking care of chores like washing the boat, holding tank pumpout, West Marine supplies, etc.

And – since I emptied out the bilges for the mechanic, I was able to do some bilge cleaning that I had been putting off. Talk about good times! Yowza!

I’m just grateful that I keep having access to these boatyards with real mechanics!

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Last night, we just ate a frozen dinner on the boat. Tonight I’m hoping to find a good restaurant that we can reach on foot or by Uber.

Tuesday Morning: We left right on time: 6:50AM.  The full moon was still up; the sun not yet risen.

The boat was running very well; We had a diver clean the bottom, and we picked up a knot of speed.

Unfortunately, the good vibes lasted only two hours.

At 9AM, just off Big Pine Key, the engine alarm went off – it was overheated.

I don’t know yet what happened…maybe we ran over a crab trap and got the rope wrapped around the propeller shaft.  I don’t think that’s what happened, but maybe.

Maybe we blew the impeller in the water pump.

The seawater strainers for the cooling system are clear, and she has plenty of coolant.

A mystery at this point.

At any rate, we are getting towed into Marathon Boat Works, where they can try and diagnose the cause of the problem.

Thank heavens I have unlimited towing insurance.  I reckon this will be a 4-hour tow.

The good news is that Marathon Boat Works can take me and can work on me tomorrow!  They are the best yard around here, and they have a Travel-Lift, so we can check the running gear. Hopefully I’ll lose just one day.

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Update – They put us right on the lift. The running gear is OK…nothing wrapped around the prop.

Turns out we blew a belt – the belt that drives the water pump simply self-destructed.

Hopefully, we get that fixed tomorrow and get back on the road Thursday!

I am publishing this a day late because the WiFi at our marina had a complete meltdown.

It was written on Monday; you’re reading it on Tuesday.

This is our last day in Key West, and we’re almost ready to go.  

It’s a spectacular day: 82 degrees and sunny with a light breeze.  

Several people have asked me what my rush is, but I think arriving home around April 1^st should be just about right.  We’ve been away for 4 months at this point; it will be five months when we return home. 

That’s long enough.

We had a great time last night…we went to a beachfront restaurant called Salute with David (photo below) and Linda, two boating friends.  There is a large concrete bandstand on the beach in front of the restaurant, and one of my favorite Key West bands was playing: Coconut Victrola.  You can check them out on You Tube and Facebook.  One of the best things about Key West is the music scene.  So many good bands, and you can watch them for free.

As usual, Guinness worked the crowd off-leash and made a lot of new friends.

Today we have very little left to do: pick up some fresh ice and a load of clean laundry. We also have a diver working under the boat – cleaning marine growth off the hull. She’s been sitting for almost a month, and she looked a little “fuzzy”. I’m not sure it will make a huge difference, but I suspect we will enjoy cooler running temperatures, better fuel consumption, and maybe faster speed.

 I have a feeling that we’ll also find some time for a rum punch on Sunset Pier, per our usual practice.  Of course, I can buy a whole bottle of wine for what I pay for one drink, but the setting is spectacular. I really love sitting there enjoying a cigar.

Later tonight we’re going out for Italian food at Angelina’s with David and Linda.

Then early to bed – we’ll be underway at first light.Jetpack

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80 degrees and breezy. Going down to a chilly 76. Ha Ha. The sea is deep blue with those diamond-like sparkles from the sun’s reflections, A beautiful sunset. And there’s a full moon rising.

Drinks and conversation on the Sunset Pier with Michelle. No photos:: she’s married and has two children. But a great conversation nevertheless. A kindred spirit. She made a not-too-subtle pitch to sign on as first mate. YIKES! BTW, she thought “Send Me On My Way” was by Talking Heads but I finally convinced her it’s Rusted Root! “I’d like to agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong!”

(Thanks to Guinness for providing the introduction.)

Now I’m back n the boat with my dog and my playlist. Listening to Sarah McLachlan. Does it try any better?

Time here is winding down. It’s bittersweet.

We’re back. iPhone all restored. New credit cards activated.

Contact us through blog comments or:

rodmanheckman@gmail.com or call/text to 484-883-1666.

For those of you who did NOT take four years of Latin in high school, as I did, it means “unique unto itself” or – loosely – “one of a kind”.

In a moment of quiet reflection last night (or was it a drunken stupor?) I began thinking about all the individuals I’ve met on this trip. And I realized that they are truly individuals – no two alike. As individual as snowflakes: every possible skin color, economic circumstance, religion, political persuasion, gender, body shape, and sexual orientation.

I’ve met some of the wealthiest people I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve befriended some of the homeless folks who populate the Key West waterfront. And they’ve all been equally kind.

I’ve met boater friends from all over the country.

I’ve met folks with all sorts of approaches to life…

• some are working remotely from their boats
• others are retired
• some live and work in Key West
• some live on their boat full time
• others live on their boat part time
• some divide their time between Florida and other wonderful parts of the country – like Colorado

And they all have their stories to tell.

I realize that this epiphany is a bit of a cliche, but it’s still a very comforting thought…if one of the purposes of this trip was to seek out new experiences, I’d have to say that it’s working. Changes in latitude; changes in attitude.

In his Intimations of Immortality, Wordsworth wrote: “Trailing clouds of glory do we come: From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy!” For some years now, I’ve been trying to age backward to that blissful state of purity and innocence. Trying to become a better man, despite my predilection for clownish misbehavior and protracted self-abuse.

I’ve also come to realize that what I like about these people is that they live unconventional lives. Unlike me. I’ve led a very conventional (if somewhat priviledged) life: college; graduate school; military service; marriage; career…

Earlier this week I met Andrea, my masseuse. She’s Hungarian, and she’s traveled all over the world on no money. Two weeks in Nepal with a Sherpa and a cook for $300. Three weeks in Asia for a total of $3,000. She did it when she was younger; she backpacked. That’s not right for me at my age, but still..

This summer, I’ll take the boat to Maine… after that it’s a blank slate.

I’m determined to bring this attitude home with me…to view everyone I meet as Sui Generis. With his or her own story to tell. And to consider a more unconventional life.

I’ve created a spreadsheet for our northbound itinerary.

Almost certainly, the plan will change, depending on several factors:

• Weather in the northeast: my yacht club friend Art Nielsen advises that the long-range forecast for the northeast is ugly, and he suggests staying down here a couple more weeks.
• Weather in the Keys, particularly the Hawk Channel: I will need a 3-day weather window to run outside past the keys and up to Stuart, FL
• Weather during the balance of the trip
• My ability to stick to my plan of running roughly 100 miles per day, which is aggressive: it means 6 hours per day underway; that’s a lot when you have no one to relieve you at the wheel.

It’s most aggressive as I try to cover ground in Florida – more than half of the trip is measured from Key West to Savannah. I’m going to focus on that segment first.

Let’s talk about the value of redundant systems.

I keep my phone in a handy leather case that also holds my credit cards. Very convenient until it vanished yesterday. In the middle of the day.

Remember my post about how everything must be in its place? Well, the phone/credit card case wasn’t where it should have been. It didn’t take long to search the boat – no joy. I used the Find My iPhone app, and it led to the boat at 2PM, but then nothing. No idea where it went. Overboard?

So today was a scramble to cancel credit cards and get a new phone. New cards are on the way, but I didn’t have enough cash on hand to buy a new phone, and without my debit card I couldn’t get more cash from an ATM.

Plus. some of my boat buddies were going to treat me to dinner, and they couldn’t reach me because I had no phone. So I finished off a FABULOUS lasagna that was a gift from my cousin Kim.

I have my Mac Air laptop (hence this post) and Cathy’s iPad, but the iPad doesn’t have cellular service.

The phone was insured, so I took a taxi to the T-Mobile store (no Uber app without the phone of course), but the store is “Closed Indefinitely. System Failure.” Whatever that means. What a pain.

Once I get the credit cards, I’ll get a new phone, but then I have to re-install all my Navigation apps.

I’m pretty sure I’ll work my way through this, but it is unsettling to have these problems arise on the brink of our departure.

And I am certainly not going to keep my credit cards and my phone together again. It’s like putting all your eggs in one basket. And I plan to get an Apple watch for redundancy.

Wanna hear the good news? One of my marina friends gave me $400. In cash. To tide me over until I get a new ATM card. Amazing. Touching. Trusting.