A fun day with the family at Sea Bird Marina

Day 24:  March 23, 2013

Today was a wonderful day.  We awoke early after a nice peaceful night off of the north side of Lignumvitae Key, prepared an oatmeal breakfast, got the boat ready to sail and headed out at about 8:00. 

Cormorants resting on daymarker 98

Our big thing for today is meeting our son, Scott, and his family and spending the day with them.  They live in Miami FL and we have very few chances to visit with them so this will be special.  We were originally going to anchor out near Robbie’s Marina off Lignumvitae Channel, and take the dinghy in to visit but realized that they might want to spend time on the boat so we contacted the Sea Bird Marina and the slip that we had used was vacant so we reserved it.  We had to back track for about 5 miles but Sea Bird would give us a dock with easy access to the boat.

Our trip back to Sea Bird took only about an hour and a half and it sounded like Scott would not be able to get to us before noon so we had plenty of time to spruce up the boat for visitors.  We added water to our tank, bought some blocks of ice and hosed the salt off of the outside of the boat.  It’s amazing that the salt buildup on the windows makes them hard to see out of. 

The family arrived at around noon after traveling in the extremely heavy traffic onUS Highway 1.  We spent the expected time visiting and getting our 3 year old grandson, Wyatt, somewhat acclimated to the boat.  All agreed that we needed to find a great place to eat and the one with the highest vote was the Islamorada Fish Market.  The long, stretched-out town of Islamorada is located about 5 miles east of Sea Bird Marina and was having some sort of fireman’s celebration so traffic was a bit snarled but we were rewarded with an outstanding dining adventure.  We began our meal with raw oysters; a new experience for me.  I followed that with a pasta medley of clams, mussels, shrimp, and lobster in a marinara sauce.  It was really outstanding.  

Another Cormorant Keeping Watch on Daymarker 93

During the meal, the waiter told us that the restaurant staff was feeding fish on the pier and so Scott and Wyatt joined in the crowd watching sharks devour the morsels tossed to them.  Also next door, a large fishing supply store had a huge salt water fish tank that was a hit for the little ones.

Interestingly, the supply store featured Zane Gray.  They had a Zane Gray bar that was richly appointed with lots of pictures and memorabilia of the author.  It seems that he was very into the conservation of the game fish of the keys and formed a fishing club on Islamorada.  I quarried the staff working in the area but they knew little of the Zane Gray background that those of us who live near Zanesville might possess. 

Back at the boat, Scott and Claire expressed interest in going out for a sail.  The wind was blowing from the south as a pleasant light breeze and so we headed out into the bay for about a two hour ride.  It was a perfect setup for taking little kids out for the first time.  Our youngest grandson, Joseph, was acquainted with a life jacket and like me wanted no part of it.  Wyatt was thrilled to play in the water that accumulated from the leak at the centerboard pin.  I offered to pump it out, but I was overruled.

Friendly pelican hoping for a morsal

Back at the dock, we said our “so longs” and parted ways.  It was very hot.  We found it difficult to be comfortable in the boat but we I was also tired and fell asleep in the sweltering sleeping cave in the front of the boat.  After about an hour, I awoke, ringing wet from sweat and decided that a cool shower would feel really good.  I was not disappointed. 

We had eaten large lunch meals a bit latter in the afternoon than we were accustomed so it was easy to forego supper.  We walked out on the pier to watch the sunset, but were distracted by activities in the boat ramp area.  Some fish were actively feeding in the area.  The water was clear and when we finally got to a place where the reflection would allow us to see, they were a type of large fish that was unfamiliar.  Some were probably up to 3 feet in length.  They worked around right at the service of the water so as to expose their dorsal fins.  At first I assumed that they were small sharks, but that was not to be.

Back at the boat, Janine read her novel of the moment and I worked on our course of travel for tomorrow.  Bed at 9:00