Day 89 - Oculto — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased 0, slip fee $133, daily high temperature 74*f

Tony picked us (John and JP) up at 9:00 am go to breakfast at the Doubletree. They have a wonderful buffet breakfast. Then we toured three marinas on Stock Island one of which we have a reservation for two weeks at the end of January. We drove by one of our favorite restaurants the Rusty Anchor. The owner had recently passed away and the restaurant was closed. We next drove through some tough ethnic neighborhoods to get to the Stock Island Marina. This is the marina where we will stay in January and is new with state of the art docks and facilities. Just don’t go walking around outside the marina day or night. They offer a shuttle to downtown Key West five times a day. They recommend using the swimming pool at Dante’s in Key West harbor which is currently a short walk from where we are now.

JP made a world class bowl of grits at the Doubletrree buffet .

We checked out the Sunset marina which shares a barbed wire wall with the Florida Youth Correctional facility. Not a good choice and then we drove though another rough neighborhood and industrial area to get to the Key West Harbour Marina. Once you enter this gated facility it is a lovely marina with a swimming pool and restaurant. This marina came highly recommended by a fellow Looper we had met along the way.

Everyone we told that we will be staying at a marina on Stock Island joked about the high crime rate.

Our next stop was the Key West cemetery where Tony’s parents are buried. He maintains their grave sites whenever he visits Key West. The graves are covered by a roof which unfortunately invites homeless people to stay overnight and shelter from the rain. He cleared out numerous empty liquor bottles and beer cans as well the three full beers and a full bottle of vodka. Some hobo will be very unhappy tonight.

“I told you I was sick.” A nearby gravestone.

A nearby gravestone. “I’m just resting my eyes.”

The highlight of my day was Priscilla’s return to the boat. She departed the boat at Marco Island and has been in Boston for two weeks awaiting the arrival of our grandson Jackson. Tony gave me a ride to the Key West airport and then dropped us off at the Galleon.

Jackson O. Augusto on his way home from the hospital.

The wind is slowly starting to subside and our fishing captain suggests fishing near a reef that is somewhat sheltered on Monday. We will give it a try. One charter boat did go out today. It was very rolly but they caught fish. JP is departing on Tuesday so Monday will be his only chance to fish on this trip. Tuesday will be a flatter day on the water and we (Tony, Taylor, Mark and I) will fish again on Tuesday.

JP and I are known as beer snobs so we decided to try a new brand we had recently seen on the market.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“The only way to get a good crew is to marry one.” – Eric Hiscock

Eric Charles Hiscock (14 March 1908 – 15 September 1986) was a noted sailor and author of books on small boat sailing and ocean cruising. Together with his wife and crew Susan Oakes Hiscock (18 May 1913 – 12 May 1995), he authored numerous accounts of their short cruises and world circumnavigations, accomplished over several decades. His works also include several technical how-to books on sailing and ocean cruising and a film made on board Wanderer III entitled Beyond The West Horizon.