Thursday – March 6th
Six of us went to dinner last night at “Mangrove Mama’s” on Sugarloaf Key – Carl and Patty, Jim and Shelia, and Bob and I. The restaurant was recommended by a military friend and colleague of Carl’s who makes a point of stopping there whenever he’s in the Keys. From the road it doesn’t look like much, but once inside the ambiance is interesting. The décor is eclectic, artsy, and very Key West. I had envisioned “Mangrove Mama’s” to be a plump, elderly, weathered woman in brightly colored Bahamian clothes. Quite the opposite! “Mangrove Mama,” the owner, is a tall, attractive, well dressed blonde in her 40’s. I tried one of their house drink specialties – a Key Lime Pie Martini! I couldn’t believe the bartender poured milk into the shaker. It looked like liquid lime pie in a martini glass, complete with a slice of lime garnish. Interesting drink – but one was enough – too sweet for me. The waiter suggested Blue Moon Beer, a very light beer served with a slice of orange - very nice. We all ordered fish, every dish was outstanding!
Jim and Sheila are from the panhandle of Florida. Sheila drove to Boca Chica last weekend to meet Jim - who sailed four days across the Gulf of Mexico in a 30 foot sailboat. Jim was an Air Force fighter pilot who retired last year after a second career flying for American Airlines. He’s been sailing for years.
Over dinner he shared the harrowing experience he, and his inexperienced male crew member, had when an unpredicted thunder and lightning storm created 30 foot seas 80 miles off Key West. The storm hit with such suddenness and violence he was unable to get his mainsail completely down - the upper section was shredded by the wind. On the verge of losing control and broaching in high seas, he deployed his drogue sea anchor and spent the next 30 hours bracing himself inside the cabin as the boat rode the steep waves. During the storm, the drogue trip line tangled in a crab pot and broke, which made retrieving it quite a challenge. I said, “Your adrenalin must have been rushing.” He said, “No. That drogue was my ace-in-the-hole. I rigged it before we left port with dental floss that breaks away if it’s deployed - I’d never do a crossing without a drogue. I hated to deploy it because I knew that was the end of our forward progress; we were blown backwards at ½ knot. We just had to ride it out. It wasn’t comfortable but I knew we’d be O.K. once the drogue had us headed into the wind.”
When Jan and Luke left for the Bahamas, they gave us two tickets they had won for a snorkeling trip off Key West. Thursday was hot and humid, and the morning winds were light, so we decided to call Sunny Days and book their afternoon three hour snorkeling excursion. We brought our own gear -- I was glad we had. Their equipment was the inexpensive variety without inverted cap on the snorkel top that prevents sea water from entering.
Most of the tourists, many of them college students on spring break, had never snorkeled. The snorkeling instructions, given by a young and quite tattooed male employee, were minimal. His presentation smacked of sarcasm and came across as somewhat demeaning. To his credit, he did demonstrate and have the group return a demonstration of the two diving signals for “I’m O.K.” – tapping a closed fist on top of your head - and “I am in distress, I need help” – waving both arms overhead.
When we reached Western Sambo Reef after about 30 minutes, the waves were 1-2 feet. As folks entered the water, many of them had difficulty clearing their snorkels and were swallowing sea water. While Bob and I were on the reef, I looked up to see where we were in relation to the boat. I saw the largest of the college co-eds frantically waving her arms overhead as she went under and returned to the surface. Two crew members spotted her and dove in to rescue her. When I returned to the boat, she was wrapped in a large towel looking very unhappy, and complaining of feeling seasick. Not a pleasant day for her.
The tour made a 2nd stop at Eastern Sambo Reef which offered more interesting snorkeling. In spite of the fact that visibility was only about 12 feet, we had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
When we returned to Key West we waited for Carl, Patti, Sheila, and Jim to return from thier day at the Dry Tortugas. We all went to dinner at Chico's Mexican restaurant on Stock Island. Their parking lot has been packed with cars every time we've driven by - and for good reason! Their food is homemade and delicious. Even their tortilla chips are made on the premises.
Friday – March 7th
Another day in paradise. After doing some boat maintenance and cruising chores we headed to Fort Zacary Taylor beach for the afternoon with Carl and Patty. Bob was very helpful - he offered to walk the beach in case there might be any topless bathers for me to report.
The Navigator Grill had a chicken and ribs barbecue this evening - complete with beans and cole slaw – for the outrageous price of $12 a plate. It was delicious. One of these days I’m going to have to cook some of the well stocked provisions I have on board.
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