Floating Face Down

The last week of February was a wonderful week for us.  We had the blessed opportunity to spend several days floating face down.  Mafia movies might lead society to believe that floating face down is a bad thing, but no, no, no...let me shed new light on this amazing position.

We left Key West on the morning of Feb. 24, with the intention of anchoring at Big Pine Key.  We were still buddy boating with Seaquel, and planned to enjoy a few more days snorkeling together.  Our trip was less than 30 miles, so by early afternoon we were getting close.  

Since the conditions were so calm we decided to move our snorkel plans up a day, and headed directly to Looe Key (the blue circle) with the big boats.  Looe Key is a reef located 4 miles offshore, but has accommodations to provide easy access to the reef.  There are numerous mooring balls, and both Right Hand and Seaquel easily secured a ball for an afternoon of snorkeling.

The first thing I did was launch the drone to get a ‘lay of the land’ before we entered the water.  Immediately, I spotted this shark about 200 feet in front of our boat.  Enlarge this picture and tell me what you see.  I’m sure it is the way the water’s surface is reflecting off the shark, but I swear it looks like this shark is tied up with rope. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice until I downloaded the drone pics, a few days later, so I couldn’t double check.

As I was flying the drone back to the boat, I spotted this shark swimming up behind this sailboat.  We had the mooring ball right next to this sailboat.  I decided that too much information might be a bad thing, so I landed the drone and got dressed for snorkeling. I can pretend I didn’t see sharks.

There was a lot of life on this reef. Probably the healthiest reef we have seen thus far in our trip.  This is where I would like to challenge my grandchildren to dig out those fish identification cards I sent you and start identifying!

Many of the fish here were also larger (this fish was over 18 inches long) than the reef fish we have seen in both the Bahamas and the Dry Tortugas.

Visibility was still a little cloudy, but many of these fish allow swimmers to get very close.  I had the feeling right away that these fish expected us to feed them, and it didn’t take long to see the proof, because that is exactly what was happening.  A person on a small boat, moored nearby, yelled to us to come closer if we wanted to see a lot of fish...then he threw a handful of bread in the water and the water erupted with hundreds of fish.  Yikes...I did not want to be anywhere near a ‘feeding frenzy’!  No one should be feeding the fish here!

We have never seen a whole school of Blue Tangs!  Unfortunately, about 30 minutes into this snorkel trip the battery died in the camera.  We saw fabulous things, but didn’t get pictures.  A reef shark swam right past. A nurse shark was resting on the bottom, and the winner of the day was a green moray eel.  I have never seen a moray eel outside an aquarium, but this guy just swam right under us like a beautiful ribbon flowing across the bottom.

After this wonderful excursion we dropped our mooring balls and headed to Big Pine Key to anchor.

The next morning we decided to follow Gail and Eddie to snorkel a reef that is only .5 mile off the coast (the red circle in the first picture).  This time we left the big boats anchored and we took the dinghies.  This location also has mooring balls to protect the reef from damaging anchors. However, about a half mile from the site the Whaler died.

 Oh my...thank goodness my personal mechanic is always close by!  It sounded like it needed fuel, so we checked...yep, there is fuel in the tank.  Next step, squeeze the ball to pump fuel through the line.  Problem identified...fuel is spilling out of the top of the fuel filter.  As it turns out, the top of the fuel filter rusted through, and it was less than 6 months old.  Keith was able to bypass the filter and connect the fuel line directly to the outboard.  Back in business, after a few short minutes.  In the mean time, Eddie and Gail noticed us missing, and doubled back to check on us. It’s so nice to have buddies👍

Visibility was still a little cloudy, but this site was much more shallow so we were closer to the organisms.

The parrot fish were amazing!

Sea urchins were huge.  The spines on this guy were at least 12 inches long.

There always has to be a trouble maker.

We saw thousands of fish at this location.

I LOVE floating face down!!!

After this wonderful morning snorkel excursion we returned to our boats for lunch and a rest. However, since the weather conditions were predicted to change with high winds forecasted for the next few days, we decided to make a trip to town that afternoon for a provisioning run.  I have mentioned in the past that this life has a lot of wonderful parts, but it’s not all dolphins and rainbows.  Everything we need to accomplish requires more planning and energy than the same activity on land.  Let’s take a look at grocery shopping.

We took the Whaler two miles across the small bay and entered this canal system.  We left our dinghies at a marina (at the red dot) for a $5 fee, and walked one mile (blue path) to the Winn-Dixie.

The canals are very long here.

For Keith and I this was mainly to restock fresh fruits and veggies, so we each left the store with a backpack and a bag. However, this was a major provisioning trip the Gail and Eddie so the wagon was in order.  We actually tried to get an Uber back to the marina, but no Ubers were available (which is a very common occurrence in small towns).  So...a one mile hike carrying our supplies is how we roll! 

Once we get everything loaded into the dinghies it’s a two mile ride back to the boat. At this point the acquisition of groceries is similar to the land based job.

Bring everything in, unpack, and put everything away (yes, Keith and I both have a bit of a sweet tooth).  After our morning snorkel excursion and the afternoon provisioning trip we are exhausted...BUT it is definitely the good kind of exhausted!

Sadly, on the morning of March 2 we waved goodbye to our friends on Seaquel as we started our northern migration.  Again, there are a million things that are wonderful about cruising, but one of the down sides is that the lifestyle can be a bit lonely.  I know that due to the pandemic many people have experienced loneliness, but when the world returns to normal...this will still be our normal. With that said, we really loved being able to spend so much time with Eddie and Gail...and we missed them before they were even out of sight!

Putting this blog post together has given me time to reflect on how lucky I am to be able to spend my retirement years living like this, but it also makes me feel a little guilty.  I can’t shake the thoughts associated with a radio call we heard the morning we were leaving Key West for the Dry Tortuga Islands.  As we were pulling the anchor we kept hearing the Coast Guard making an announcement for all mariners to be on the lookout for people in a raft.  Sometimes, the original announcement is lacking detail, and leaves a lot to the imagination.  

Within 30 minutes the picture became much clearer when a captain called the Coast Guard and asked them to pick a different channel for a conversation.  The Coast Guard asked the person to go to 22 alpha (which is their ‘none’ emergency channel)...of course we listened.  The captain explained that he was directly outside the main channel leading into Key West and he sees two men in a homemade raft constructed from styrofoam and wood. They have water jugs tied onto the raft and they each have a paddle.  They are flagging the boat, but neither man speaks English.  The captain then explains that he has paying customers on board his vessel and he does not wish to be involved.  He gives the Coast Guard the coordinates of the raft, and signs off.

Many things passed through my mind at this point...particularly, how desperate must one be to get into a homemade raft and float 90 miles across the ocean.  How could anyone possibly think that would be a good idea? Considering all of the resources and safeguards we had in planning our 70 mile trip, this news made me feel a little like a wimp. 

I thought for sure the Coast Guard would pick these people up (considering there was a station within 5 miles of the coordinates) but apparently they did not find them! A more detailed message was broadcast on channel 16 ALL day.  

“The Coast Guard has received a report of two males in a handmade raft of foam and wood, traveling out of Havana. All mariners are advised to keep a lookout and report any sightings to the Coast Guard”.  So my questions are...how do they know they came from Havana, and what happened to them?  This experience also opens the door of, “what would we do?” That topic can fill a whole blog post on its own.

I know it’s been a tough year, but please remember how incredibly lucky you are!