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VII. Fun, Food, Fellowship, and Thanksgiving at Isla Mujeres We had a lot of fun with our cruising friends at Isla Mujeres. One evening we had a nice “Last Supper” in the Third World with the crews of catamarans Evensong and Neos. There are really good restaurants on Isla Mujeres and we all decided to go out and have a nice meal to say goodbye. Roger and Sue were heading out on Neos before Thanksgiving . . . they were on a mission to be in the Bahamas for Christmas. Sue and Steve on Evensong were planning on “buddy boating” with us to Key West and spending time there before moving up the west coast of Florida to the Ft. Myers area. As for us, we planned to stay in Key West a long, long time and really enjoy that area that we love so much. Anyway, we had a wonderful evening with our friends from Neos and Evensong wherein we reminisced about all our adventures together.
Roger and Sue went to seas the next day. We decided to wait for the weather to get a little calmer, and, in fact, the way the weather window was shaping up, the best day to leave was going to be Thanksgiving. Tom, the marina manager went out of his way to cook a Thanksgiving ham and turkey, and cruisers brought side dishes. I made a spicy Spinach and pepperjack cheese casserole that is always a hit, and Melissa made pecan pies and deviled eggs. We had a nice meal and then stood up, walked back to Indigo Moon and cranked her up, loosed lines, and made for sea! It was not your typical Thanksgiving! While most folks are napping in their Lazy Boy recliner and watching football, we were heading out into some of the most notoriously confused seas (more on that later). Let’s get back to Thanksgiving Dinner. During our stay at Isla Mujeres, we met new friends Bob and Janice Ross, missionaries headed for Guatemala. Naturally, they had heard about, and were very concerned about, the piracy incidents and murder that had just occurred on the Rio Dulce a few months earlier. They wanted all of the advice and information we, and all the other cruisers who had been on the Rio Dulce that year, could offer. I spent quite a bit of time with Bob over the days we were all in Isla Mujeres, encouraging him that they would be fine as long as they followed good, rational advice, accepted that going to a marina with armed guards was the responsible choice, and did not take unnecessary chances or underestimate the need to be vigilant and responsible for their own safety. In fact, I still had my TIGO cell phone from Guatemala, complete with important numbers in the phone’s memory. I gave Bob the phone as a gift, along with some additional time cards I had purchased and never used. I also provided Bob with waypoints I used to get across the shallows at the mouth of the Rio Dulce. The last time we saw Bob and Janice was at Thanksgiving dinner at the Marina Pariaso. Bob said a nice blessing over dinner, and included prayers for the safe passage of Indigo Moon and Evensong to Key West. They were really nice people, focused on trying to make a difference amidst the severe poverty that plagues Guatemala. It is heartbreaking that we eventually came to learn that nine months later, on September 2, 2009, Bob and Janice were both killed in a head-on car collision near Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Although we obviously did not know them well, it was still crushing news and such a terribly unacceptable end to their generous efforts to try and help the poor and disadvantaged of Guatemala. It was with heavy heart that we had to add Bob and Janice to the list of cruisers we have met who subsequently lost their lives during their adventures. These tragedies always underscore the precariousness of earthly life and the fact that none of us know what will happen next. We look back on our brief time with Bob and Janice and are thankful we got to meet them. They were very sweet people and I am sure they are terribly missed by friends and family.
With all our goodbyes said and with our weather window’s time ticking away, we did not waste any time getting away from the dock on Thanksgiving afternoon. In fact, I think Steve already had their Manta 42 catamaran’s engines running and only one dock line on! Their getaway was so fast it seemed like they ran down the dock and jumped onto Evensong while she was already moving! By the time Melissa and I got untied and underway, Evensong was already two miles ahead of us. Both vessels had two days of offshore work ahead of them and a distance of about 350 nautical miles to cover before making landfall in Key West. VIII. Passage from Isla Mujeres to Key West The first thing you need to know is that this is yet another one-of-a-kind passage because it requires crossing the Yucatan Channel. Through this narrow one-hundred-mile-wide straight, all of the currents and waters from the Caribbean Sea flow north into the Gulf of Mexico and continue on between the straights between Cuba and Florida, creating the super-powerful Gulf Stream that sends currents of up to four knots up the east coast of Florida and the Carolinas and then out northeastward across the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Europe.
As you can see, through the relative narrows of this channel, a tremendous volume and velocity of water flow occurs. And with any such current comes turbulence. Even when the winds are zero and it is dead-calm glass-flat, the waters in the Yucatan Channel can still render a “washing machine” ride of confused seas and current-induced turbulence ripping the sea surface into a perpetual obstacle course. Considering our departure from Isla Mujeres will be at about 15:00 that means we will hit the mainstream currents after dark. That always adds to the excitement. Melissa and I always remark about how sometimes it can be really good to see what’s going on, and sometimes it is better NOT to see what’s going on. Oh, another thing too: there is quite a bit of fast-moving ship and fishing vessel traffic in the Yucatan Channel. Finally, there’s the “Cuba factor” and one must decide how close they are willing to pass by Cuba. A straight rhumb line from Isla Mujeres to Key West put me a little too close for comfort to Cuba. From all that I read, I decided it would be prudent to stay a minimum of thirty miles off the coast of Cuba. So, I used the Dry Tortugas, the very westernmost island in the Florida Keys chain (uninhabited except for Park Rangers at Fort Jefferson) as a waypoint. We had even talked about stopping there first, but a strong cold front, a “Norther” was coming in three days and we would make the call while underway later in the passage on whether to stop at the Dry Tortugas, when the weather forecast would be more certain. As we made way around the northern tip of Isla Mujeres, it was a “tip-of-the-hat” to the Caribbean and a bittersweet moment wherein we were absolutely ecstatic about having our bows pointed at the First-World yet sad to be leaving the "tropics proper" in our wake.
Steve on Evensong went his own way. He always does. By nightfall, we were out of sight of each other, but I still had him on radar. At about 20:00 hours, I giggled while listening to Steve use the VHF to try and get a fishing trawler to respond. The trawler was obviously on a collision course with Steve and he was putting his cutting Massachusetts accent to work trying to get the other vessel’s attention. It’s funny and not funny. Of course we don’t ever want our comrades to get into real trouble, but after cruising all these years, it does become a form of monotony-breaking entertainment on passages to hear one of your buddies “going at it” on the VHF radio now and then with the inconsiderate or dangerous captain of another vessel. And yes, in case you are wondering, I have provided more than my fair share of the entertainmen. But not tonight. It's Steve's turn. Steve had numerous exchanges with some effing moron running a fishing trawler who kept promising to maintain course and speed but did not, evermore placing the vessels on a certain collision course. Steve managed to avoid the guy. But there were a few “words” in the process. Steve decided to shave some miles by going closer to Cuba and soon we were out of radar contact. By the next day we were out of VHF radio range as well. As the sun rose after the first night, things were going well for us. We were still making great time and, despite the very confused seas, we were managing to enjoy the passage.
Night number two would not be so easy. As the sun set, the winds were picking up and the seas were getting nastier and more confused still. We were picking up the Gulf Stream and hitting some turbulence that was not providing a fun ride at all.
It was at some point that second night that I got into radio range and picked up NOAA weather radio on the VHF and began listening to the weather forecasts. It was absolutely spellbinding! To be honest, I had forgotten about it being available and switched the radio over to the weather frequencies and there it was! I had not heard the NOAA VHF weather radio for three years in the Caribbean, where, down there you can get weather from emails or the internet if you have a signal . . . but immediate, real time, 24/7 weather information right over the VHF . . . well that’s just nuts! It’s awesome! I caught myself giggling like a kid entering Disneyland. How cool it was to be coming home to discover it all anew . . . a service that we totally took for granted before we left the U.S.A. was now remarkable in the extreme. And while I was totally in awe and appreciative of the NOAA weather radio, I was not, however, liking the weather forecast broadcast that was coming in over it. An exceptionally strong cold front was due to hit the Dry Tortugas and Florida Keys within the next 36 hours and the winds would remain very strong with high seas for several days. As such, I decided to head straight to Key West, especially considering the complications of re-entering U.S. waters and being required to check in with Customs and Boarder Patrol (C.B.P.) officials within a certain time frame. We had hoped the weather would hold and that we could stop in the Dry Tortugas and get a good night’s sleep before continuing in to Key West, but this weather system would pin us down there for several days, if not a whole week, if we stopped. That would mean re-entering U.S. waters from a foreign country and taking way too long before checking in. We have read about horror stories from some cruisers who were hassled by C.B.P. upon returning from the Third World and we did not want to invite trouble or have any “explaining to do.” So, considering the immediately impending severe frontal system, it was a “no brainer” to head straight for Key West.
As the morning light came up, we began to hear more and more radio chatter. We decided to duck inside the reef once we got past the Dry Tortugas. By so doing we could finally enjoy calmer waters. That was a mistake. We had been gone from Florida long enough for me to stupidly forget the severe gauntlet of crab and lobster floats that we would encounter inside the reef. What a bummer! Crab and lobster trap floats prevent you from using the autopilot and they require constant steering adjustments to avoid snagging a float (and the float's line) in propellers and rudders . . . and constant steering is NOT what someone wants to deal with after two nights and day in the Yucatan Channel and the Gulf Stream! Like all passage tasks, there was no use complaining about it. We sucked it up, persevered, and kept going. In fact that is the entire essence of cruising sometimes: persevere and keep going. Ah, I hear Evensong on the radio! They are still on the outside of the reef. We were able to chat and we caught up on what our routes had been and where we were currently. Our routes could not have been any different, yet after 350 miles we were only five miles apart when we got to Key West! That’s pretty amazing.
Very soon we would be passing in front of Mallory Square in Key West. It was surreal. We kept laughing and grinning and talking about all our favorite places in Key West and how cool it was to finally be there on our own boat!
We continued on north to go around the tip of Fleming Key. There is a channel around the northern end of the key that continues down the western side of the key to a huge mooring field: the Garrison Bight City Mooring Field that contains well over two hundred moorings.
Gee, it was all too much. All I could think about was getting checked in and going ashore to a really good restaurant. During the passage, I had developed a terrible sore throat. I knew that with a throat infection this severe, I would soon have a "monster" cold that would prevent me from tasting anything good, so by sundown I wanted a great meal in my stomach and some First World cold and flu medicine in the medicine cabinet. I remembered that while checking out of Isla Mujeres, a very taciturn and very sick Port Captain Official made me stay in his hot, dank office for an hour. He coughed on me, wiped his nose on his hand, and made me take forms and fill them out for what seemed all afternoon. So, I guess, he was feeling better now that he gave the bug to me. Anyway, we made it in and picked up a mooring very close to Evensong. Steve already had a cell phone that worked and he came over and let me borrow it to call the Customs and Boarder Patrol. Now listen up! This is very important. There is a C.B.P. credential that is available to boaters called the “Local Boaters Option” and we had heard about it way back the in the U.S. Virgin Islands and applied for it there. You go into Customs and fill out forms and submit all required information and you, as a person, are issued a serial number written on a credit card-like credential. Both Melissa and I have the Local Boater Option cards. We got them at Cruz Bay in St. John, because we were tired of the checking in and out when just going to the neighboring British Virgin Islands and then having to re-appear in person at Cruz Bay to check back into the U.S.V.I. every time. This is the purpose of the card: all you do is call Customs, give them your Local Boater Card number, tell them you are back in U.S. waters and where you are and that’s it! You don’t go to any office and they don’t need anything further. Steve lent me his cell phone, and, right from my boat, I called the number and gave the official the Local Boater Option numbers for Melissa and me and there were a few clicks on a keyboard and the officer said: “Okay! You’re all done! Welcome home! Welcome back to the U.S.A.” How awesome is that? In about one minute, over the phone, we were checked back into the U.S.A., vessel included. It’s phenomenal. If you don’t have the card, you have to physically appear at the Customs Office and I hear reports that there is an occasional “Barney Fife” there who may want to inspect your vessel, or otherwise give you a hard time if you have been out of the U.S.A. So, the Local Boater Option is the way to go! Alright! It’s time to hit the Bight and grab a bite. There are many great eateries in Key West but we wanted to hang out down in the old harbor at the Key West Bight and feel the ambiance we were so longing for. Turtle Krals restaurant had just been refurbished and looked great. I ordered a full rack of baby back ribs, and I tell you, it was the best thing I put in my mouth in a LONG time. Soon after the first bite it dawned on me that other people in the restaurant were staring! I was like a wild animal, eating with both hands! I had to calm it down a little and try to remember my table manners and not become too emotional about it all.
After finishing a great meal, we wandered down Duvall Street and to the Walgreens where I almost again fell to my knees with emotion: an array of top quality cold and flu medicines that I had not come across in over three years. It is obscene, that’s what it is. I had not been in Key West more than four hours and it had already struck me as to why people risk everything to come to America! And more “spiritual” experiences: sidewalks so nice, you can look up while walking on them without literally risking your life. It really was a priceless experience to see Key West after being gone so long and getting numb to the low living standards of the Third World. It’s enough to have changed my perspective permanently. And Boy, Oh Boy! I would need that quality cold medicine! By the next day I was feeling very poorly and then that weather front moved in too! A ferocious front it was, with one of the scariest cloud banks I’d seen in years. When it hit, the winds in the mooring field went to 47 knots as the leading edge of the storm blew through.
It took a while for things to settle down, but after a few days, the skies cleared and the sun came out again.
As the weather improved, however, I felt much worse. I was coughing, sneezing, moaning, and lived in my P.J.’s for a week. It was so bad that a horrible cough would wake me from a dead sleep in the middle of the night. I did manage to update one of our planning charts, showing our route all the way around the Caribbean.
All that was left was the short hop from Key West to Marathon to close the circle of an entire “circumnavigation” of the entire Caribbean!
My illness turned into a terrible respiratory infection and was obviously due to a regional viral strain in Mexico we were not used to and had no immunity at all. Soon Melissa had it too! We were very ill for two weeks. On top of that, the weather front brought temperatures that were unusually cold for the Keys. For about a week there, we did not know if we would make it! We were sick and cold and I managed to take the dinghy in and hobble to the store and get more medicine still. Being sick on a boat is just plain terrible and the inconveniences of everyday life, like having to drop down the dinghy and go to shore and then walk to the store become epic "life and death struggles" of pain and misery. One asks the question: what would be better, laying here on the boat and just dying, or going through all that hell to go get medicine? Luckily, I decided not to lie down and die. But it was nonetheless an awful, unforgettably miserable episode for sure. Slowly the weather warmed, and our respiratory infections made the turn toward recovery. In fact, I’m exhausted just remembering it and this is a good time to take a break. I’ll let my remembrances heal up the rest of the way and start the next trip log after we are rejuvenated and ready to show you why we love Key West so much! In our next report, we will tour Key West and then we will head to Marathon for a reunion with great friends! We’ll enjoy a “Caribbean circumnavigation party” thrown just for us . . . a great time we'll never forget! So, stay tuned! There’s still much more to come!
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