Long Key Bight to Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina

Day 22:  April 16, 2014

At around 3:00 this morning, we were both awakened by the sound of rain on the cabin roof.  We had left the port holes open so we both got up to shut them. As I was standing there, I remembered that I had taken a saltwater plunge in the late afternoon the day before and decided that this natural shower would serve me well to remove the residual salt from my body.  So, it’s 3:00 in the morning on a dark night with no boats near – off come my night clothes and out into the cold rain I go.  As I am dancing around in the chill of the shower, I look up and there I see my lovely wife, bar of soap in hand, in a similar state of undress climbing out onto the cockpit.  There we were, two 70 year old fogies dancing naked in the rain on a boat in the middle of the night in the Gulf of Mexico!  But!  It was fun!

Heading Back North

In the morning, while fixing our last pancake breakfast, I noticed that the closest boat to us was actually very close.  Much closer that he had been when we went to bed.  I checked the other boats and they were also in what appeared to be a different location.  Our anchor had again drug.  I had not felt that the wind during the night had been particularly strong, but it had happened again. 

After breakfast, I contacted a local marina to check on the feasibility of getting some ice.  They were located on the opposite side of Long Key and I questioned the lady about taking the dinghy to the shore of the Bight and walking across the road to her establishment and she acknowledged that it was doable.  So I put the motor on the Dink loaded up my partner, and began trying to start the motor.  It wouldn’t fire.  After removing the plug, burning out the flooded cylinder, and pulling too many more times, I realized that the safety clip that shuts off the motor if the operator is lost overboard was missing.  I took the one off the big motor, put it on the little motor and away we went.

Coming back from the marina, I looked out at Second Wind and was surprised that

Entrance into Founders Park, Plantation Yacht Harbor

it was so much farther away from the shore that I had remembered.  As we approached her, we realized that she was again dragging her anchor and heading really fast for the very shallow waters on a distant island.  We got onto the boat secured the dinghy, pulled up the anchor and when I went to get the safety clip off of the dinghy motor, found that the second one was now missing.  We were getting very close to the island shore but I got the big motor running by manually holding the safety switch closed.  Janine then steered the boat into deeper water while I sat on the boat’s stern holding the switch.  Once we were safely clear of the lee shore, I found a piece of wire that I wrapped around the safety switch and we were able to proceed on our way.

Beach at Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina

We decided that we would head back toward the place where we were going to pull the boat out of the water and spend the rest of the trip exploring anchorages and reefs on the western side of the Keys.  The wind had shifted around to the northeast so we were again motoring into a headwind during the entire trip.  Later in the afternoon, our propeller again became intimately involved in a lobster buoy line.  I am amazed.  Last year, we traversed this same area and didn’t kiss one of these things.  This one was our fourth one this year.

At around 4:00, we were passing Plantation Key and decided that with our track record of dragging anchors, we would pull into the Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina for the night.  The wind had piped up to around 15 to 18 knots and I didn’t feel like worrying about ending up on a lee shore in the middle of the night.  I called the marina and they did have a slip available.  I asked if they could stand by to lend assistance because of the strong winds and they agreed to do so.

 

We came in looking for the helpers and not seeing them, I headed for the fuel dock.  I was making a perfect slow approach but at the point where we were to land, the wind caught us and blew us sideways away from the dock.  I put the boat in reverse and began trying to maneuver her into position.  The second time I put her in reverse, there was a bang and the motor, although running, stopped pulling us backwards.  It seemed that the transmission had self- destructed.  We were in a very narrow confined area with big yachts lining the dock and we had no control over the boat.  Luckily, the boat blew toward the only open spot along the dock wall all be it that it was heading straight for that spot.  One of the dock hands saw our dilemma and was able to stop the boat before any damage was done.  The dock master told us that we could stay in the open space. 

Disabled Second Wind in Plantation Yacht Harbor

 

Upon checking the motor, I found that a clamp that attached the motor proper to the motor mount had parted and ½ of it was missing.  Since the motor was in reverse when it separated, the motor had pulled back and bent the shift rod that connects the motor power head to the lower unit, hence, disabling the reverse gear.  The motor was not fixable without replacement parts and there are no Suzuki outboard dealers in the area.  

Nothing to do but call a cab, head for the Islamorada Fish Company for a wonderful grouper dinner (Janine had fried oysters), and make plans for the rest of our trip.  

Islamorada Fish Company

We resigned ourselves to the fact that the sailing portion of the trip were abruptly terminated and that we needed to start figuring out how to get the boat back on the trailer and on up the highway.  Back at the boat, we began removing sails in preparation for lowering the mast once we pulled her out of the water.