Day 102 - Cap't John's Greyhound V

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $133, daily high temperature 83*f, daily low temperature on 77*f

It was a slow day on NewYear’s Day. Another warm, sunny day started with a trip to the gym and then a pancake breakfast with blueberry syrup to put all the recently burned off calories back on. The swimming pool beckoned like a sirens call. We met Tom and Maryann at Grunts to hear the Bubbas play and eat at Garbo’s food truck. It was an hour wait for the food. Well worth the wait. Good eating!

The wind has died down for the first time in three weeks. Key West harbor is flat as glass. This is the day Tony Forns should go fishing. A cool front is working its way toward us. A high temperature of only 75*f is forecast for Monday. We had rain today. This is the first time it has rained during the day in 16 days.

Priscilla successfully navigated our dingy to the Hurricane Hole restaurant. We enjoyed seeing the Atlantic side of the island. There are numerous mangrove islands and canals to traverse.

A mangrove tree full of pelicans.

The restaurant was packed with boaters and sports fans watching football at the bar. The restaurant has a guest dock for visiting boaters. There are dozens of Pelicans fighting with the tarpon for the scraps tossed in the lagoon by the fisherman cleaning their catch. When it rained we were under the canopy eating a shrimp Po Boy and a shrimp basket. Both were excellent. It stopped raining and we about to leave and it started raining again. By now it was happy hour so we waited out the rain with a cocktail. The dingy ride back to boat was down wind and dry.

Hurricane Hole restaurant

The menu

We saw a beautiful rainbow on our trip back to CL. Because we are trivia ofreaks we know that scientists have identified 8 distinct types of rainbows.

Tom, Dale and I will go fishing on Sunday on a boat called the Tortuga V. For the past 25 years I have always fished on the Greyhound V. Ironically we passed the Greyhound V when we entered Key West harbor on December 14. Little did I know that was the last voyage of the Greyhound V. Captain and owner John Potter writes – “It is with a heavy heart that I must share this sad news. Capt. John’s Greyhound V is no longer in business. The coast guard has made it impossible for us to continue to be in business. As a wooden fishing vessel, there are so many requirements that must be met, unfortunately our boat is too old and due to financial constraints we cannot continue. The cost to fix the boat is beyond astronomical and although we wish we could, we simply cannot afford to. Captain John’s Greyhound has been a piece of Key west history since it was originally owned by the late Capt. Tony Tarracino in the 1950’s.”

Bonus photo from Henry Fuller – Key West Conch – sunset on Year’s Day.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

My escape is to just get in a boat and disappear on the water. – Carl Hiaasen

After becoming an investigative reporter, Carl Hiaasen began writing novels in his spare time. His first three were co-authored with fellow journalist William Montalbano: Powder Burn (1981), Trap Line (1982), and A Death in China (1984). His first solo novel, Tourist Season (1986), featured a group of ragged eco-warriors who kidnap the Orange Bowl Queen in Miami. The book’s main character was memorialized by Jimmy Buffett in a song called “The Ballad of Skip Wiley.” In all, seventeen of Hiaasen’s novels and nonfiction books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller lists.