Two Weeks in Key West--an unexpected honeymoon. Oh, and a new transmission



Sevilla and some of the architectural wonders of her neighborhood



 No fairy tale ending here.  The transmission ordered on 24 Jan. arrived one week later and was up and running by Tuesday afternoon.  One last lunch at Hogfish, near the marina where Sevilla has "lived" the past 13 days in boatyard squalor surrounded by dirty water and a dead bird, and then we loaded the boat for the trip to Marathon on the Wed., the second of Feb.

When we first started the engine and let it run awhile the day before we left, Glen saw that it was overheating.  So he quickly called the mechanic who installed it. He came right over and checked it out, decided it was an "air pocket," and applied the usual remedy.  It looked to me like they were running water through the lines.  Anyway, a new mess to clean up.  Not too bad.  We're just glad the ordeal is behind is. 

I was pretty dismayed, however, that the boatyard charged us $2.00 a foot for Sevilla's "slip."  That turned out to be as much as the whole installation cost!  When I freaked out at the high charge, the office manager said, "that's nothing; you should see what they charge in Key West."  I looked at her and said that at least we could've stayed on our boat there. She said with a straight face that we could have here as well.  Yeah, over my dead body.  Definitely a dangerous location to even get to on foot, much less climb or sleep on the boat. 

One of the biggest seamanship challenges for Glen was to back the boat straight back down the fairway for more than a hundred yards, and then back her into the channel to turn around and head east.  Quite a feat that he handled most admirably.  I'd have taken better pictures, but I was too busy hold a very large fender on the starboard, hoping I wouldn't have to fend off any anchors down the line.

Our home in Truman Annex

The Naval Air Station joint command



The city fathers



A raffle prize!



The Conch Republic

Willie T's and a big Thursday night

Oh well, it's only money.  Right?  "Bring on another thousand," as they say about B.O.A.T.  Now I definitely understand why people speak in terms of "boat units" when talking about boating expenses. 



Sunday Brunch at Pepe's--the oldest restaurant in Key West



If you're asking why we are not hightailing it for the Bahamas, re-read the above paragraph.  A big part of our Bahama budget was blown on the "Tranny drama" and Key West sojourn.  It's a pity that we aren't going, but we've had enough boating thrills to last a while.  The unexpected long stay in Key West turned out to be a fabulous vacation--kind of a "second honeymoon"--once we recovered from the Tranny Trauma, and decided to have a very good time in a beautiful setting. As we sail off into the sunset, here are some of our memorable spots from the two weeks in Key West.

Bye for now.  Next stop Marathon. 

                                                           Best to all, Glen and Maureen