We would not be alone for our week in Key West and the Dry Tortugas.

Stuart and Elizabeth Ann left six days earlier on Shearwater for some leisure time at anchor.  Bob and Evonne Langenbach, S/V Cheers were two days ahead of us, staying at the Key West Bight Marina. Ralph and Mary Ann Close, our Texas Expatriate friends, would join us in Key West for the trip to Dry Tortugas.

The trip from Marathon to Key West was quite pleasant: sunny day, gentle breeze, minimum choppy sea.
After topping off the diesel at $1.35 gal, we idled out the Boot Key channel. We were running on Auto Pilot at normal cruise, 1500 RPM, and making 9.0 kts.

"Marion," I called, "can you take the helm."

"Sure," she said coming up from the aft deck, "what's up?"

"I'm not sure, but the autopilot heading is about 25 degrees off of the compass. Did you store anything metal under the sink?"

She looked in the cabinet and said, "It's just the same old stuff."

"You take the helm and hold the course on standby, watch for any change in heading," I instructed, "I am going to experiment."

The auto pilot has its own independent flux gate compass. It is housed in the cabinet under the wet bar sink. It is sensitive to objects made of iron. They don't even have to be real close. We have seen the heading deflect as much as 5 or 10 degrees when we pass under iron bridges.

I removed every item from the cabinet.

"I said there was nothing new," she said when she realized what I had done.

"I just had to look, honey. It's the logical explanation." I explained somewhat sheepishly. "Thanks, I'll take the helm."

She left me to ponder the problem. "Is there some large magnetic anomaly in these waters?" I mused.
Not likely, or I would have surely heard of it. Once again I asked Marion to take the helm while I went below to get the book on the Auto Pilot. The trouble shooting guide had nothing to help. I vaguely remembered a setup adjustment for heading biases and decided to redo the autopilot setup underway. There was no real danger doing this. If all failed, we could just steer to the GPS way points by hand.

I went through the procedure step by step. It includes doing a large circle maneuver at slow speed. At the end of this circle the computer comes up with a verdict. Compass calibration would be either successful or would fail. Three boats passed me while I was making the large donut in the water. I'm sure they wondered what was going on, but there was no communication, even though two had to change course to avoid collision with me.

At the end of the maneuver the Auto Pilot proudly displayed: "Calibration successful."

I checked its newfound heading against the compass and the GPS track. All three agreed within a degree or two. The 25 degree error was gone! And I was still looking for an explanation.

"Eureka," I cried. "It must be the Missing Laundry Machine."

I went below and studied the position of the old Washer Dryer. The top dryer section had been less than a foot away from the Fluctuate Compass. We had replaced that unit with a new front load Washer/Dryer. There was no dryer on top. The nearest metal was now over four feet away.

The mystery was solved so I celebrated victory by engaging the Auto Pilot in Nav Mode. It would let the GPS automatically steer the course to Key West. I also had a gin and tonic.

Key West

"Remedy, Remedy, this is Shearwater," I heard Stu on the VHF.

We went to 68, "Heard you talking to some other boat and decided to check in."

"That boat was A Sante, a 44 foot Tayana, we had met in Joliet on the Great Loop." I explained. "It is a small world." (We had also spent a grand evening with John and Linda Freeston at Fast Eddie's in Alton. It is a super famous Honkey Tonk.)
 

"When do you expect to get in?" he asked. "I expect to be there in 38 minutes," I replied with my usual high precision response. "Then you will find us 213 yards due west of channel marker 31," he responded with equal mock precision.  "There are two Norseman 43 catamarans parked here." "We will look for your red sail cover... See you soon." We were about a mile away making our turn before Mallory Square when we got a full view of the Key West Harbor. Sure enough Shearwater stood out among all the rest.

After getting set at anchor we dinghied over for cocktails and Hors d'overs.

Next morning Ralph and Mary Ann joined us. They would be with us for the three day excursion to Fort Jefferson. First we got their gear transferred aboard by dinghy, and then we did lunch at Chico's Mexican Restaurant.  It's definitely Key West.  One of the locals at the next table urged us to try the Burrito Deluxe Wet.  "Deluxe" means they add guacamole salad and sour cream INSIDE the burrito. "Wet" means they cover it with enchilada sauce and bake it in a super hot oven. It is an enormous and messy dish, but very tasty. Rating *** $$.  I asked to meet and congratulate Chico on this superb innovation, but was told he was out.

Stuart and Elizabeth Ann travel with two cats and the older one, Albert, had been sick. They decided to seek care for Albert and attend to other business they had at home. They would take advantage of good conditions for sailing to Marco Island and not join us on the trip to Dry Tortugas. We missed their company but made plans to link up again.
 

Later that afternoon we made contact with Bob and Evonne on Cheers.  We changed plans from Dinner ashore to heavy snacks, and watching the sun set aboard Remedy.

Here is the sunset at Key West. This is the best of seven I took that evening. I Emailed  it to KPRC TV in Houston. The 5:00 PM weather show on June 13 featured it.

Dry Tortugas National Park

The cruise to the Dry Tortugas is 62 nautical miles and at our usual speed takes around 7 hours. For the first third of the way you pass several lesser keys, the last of which is the Marquessas. These keys are  uninhabited, but they are part of Florida and the U.S.  Many refugees from Cuba have made their way to these keys and once ashore can legitimately request asylum.  The US Coast Guard patrols these waters and will turn back any refugees on boats. It's a cat and mouse game with high stakes. Many who have attempted the crossing have perished at sea in makeshift boats.

We were not boarded on our trip through these highly patrolled waters. Our boat does not go fast enough to be a smugglers boat, and we certainly don't look like a makeshift raft. We had other problems to deal with.  About two thirds of the way there the Genset quit running. That would mean no electricity for the refrigerator, or for Air Conditioning, or for getting the dinghy crane to operate. With only two hours to get to our anchorage I decided to press on and attempt a repair at anchor after the engines cooled down a bit. Meanwhile we used the small inverter to power the laptop computer and declared the refrigerator Off Limits to conserve the cold.

The small inverter was used to power a large fan and the fluorescent trouble light during repairs. The Genset had overheated and automatically shut down. When I opened the covers I found an eighth of an inch salt deposit covering the left side of the engine. The seal on the sea water pump had failed and salt water had sprayed all over the hot engine. The water evaporated leaving a cake of salt behind.

I removed the water hoses from the pump and surfaced from the engine room to cool off.

"Can I help you," offered Ralph. Ralph is about fifty pounds lighter than me. He would be able to get into the cramped space and work more easily than I.

"You sure can," I responded, "It is a very cramped work space and you are in good shape. I want you to remove the pump for me."

We worked together. I held the light and passed him the tools he needed. He removed the four bolts holding the pump to engine and retrieved the pump. With cold beers in one hand and the failed pump in the other we went to the aft deck to diagnose the problem.  I found that the seal failed because the small coiled spring that tightens the rubber around the shaft had broken. I searched the spare parts inherited with the boat but did not find a replacement in the collection.

Using a penknife I picked the broken pieces of the coil out of the seal. Then I spent about a half hour packing the removed coil's space with Whipping Twine. ( It is a waxed polyester string normally used to finish off the ends of rope.) Packing the space as tight as possible seemed to tighten the seal around the shaft. We crossed our fingers and reinstalled the pump. Before starting we topped off the engine coolant and added motor oil which appeared to be dangerously low. (It turns out the reading must have been wrong because we overfilled the oil slightly.) The Genset started and ran without trouble for the rest of the trip. We never dared to turn it off.  We immediately used the crane to lower the dinghy.

For future reference I later found that there are two standard 110 volt outlets on the main dock at Fort Jefferson. In a pinch, and with permission from the park rangers, we could have plugged in and saved the food in the refrigerator.
 

Fort Jefferson Fifteen minutes before dinner the park ranger came by in his launch to invite us to the candle light walk through Fort Jefferson that evening.  It was a once per month special tour.  We were hungry and tired so we declined the invitation and had a grand supper aboard Remedy.

The Dry Tortugas are a group of  a half a dozen small islands at the extreme Western end of the Florida Keys. They were discovered by Ponce De Leon in 1513 and named Las Tortugas for the many sea turtles found on the islands. Later the name Dry was added to let mariners know there was no fresh water to be found on the islands.
 

Ft Jefferson was started in 1846 in an effort to control shipping lanes into the Gulf of Mexico. The fort covers 11 of the 16 acres on Garden Key. It was under construction until the time it was finally abandoned by the Army in 1874.  The fort was built with an extensive system of catchments and cisterns to collect rain water. The moat was designed with a set of weirs to control flow of the sea water and flush the moat, that also served as the temporary collector for sewage.

The fort is the largest we have seen on our cruising.  I figure you could easily fit Ft Sumter, Ft McHenry and Castillo San Marcos all within its acreage. The fort was used to house prisoners in the Civil War.  It's most famous prisoner was Dr James Mudd, convicted of aiding John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln.  Booth came to Mudd with his broken leg.

While at the prison there was an epidemic of yellow fever that killed a third of the population, including the regular Army doctor. Dr Mudd ministered to the fort throughout this period. He was later pardoned at the urging of the many troops he had saved.

We did the self guided tour. It takes you 3/4 of the way counterclockwise around the fort at ground level. Then up a flight of stairs to the second level where you back track on that level for about 1/4 of the fort.
Then up a another flight of stairs to the top level where the pictures above were taken.

After the inside tour we walked all the way around the fort on the moat wall. This gives a preview of the snorkeling opportunities. The moat wall is 1/2 nm around.
 
 

After lunch we took a short trip over to Loggerhead Key. There is a dive site about 3/4 nm south of the light.  It's a large schooner that went aground on the shallow reef. There is a portion of the ship protruding from the water. It's great for snorkeling. We finished just before a tour boat with about twenty snorkelers came to the site.

That evening we had Fillet Mignon and all the trimmings courtesy of  Chef MaryAnn and Maitre'd Ralph Close. Rating **** no $ WOW!

Our last day we snorkeled around the perimeter of the Fort. We took over an hour to slowly snorkel the 1/2 mile around.

We were rewarded with many close up encounters with the tropical fish on the reef... A large grouper, several varieties of snapper, parrot fish, sergeant major and yellow grunts... And many for which I have no name.

The most unforgettable was an gigantic school of silver minnows... there were tens of thousands of them swimming in a tight formation. The school resembled an army in perfect formation, but the fish were less than two inches long and the space between them was less than one inch in each direction. The formation was three or four feet high, five or six layers of fish thick, and ten or more yards long: An undulating wall of fish. It glittered in the sunlight. As you approached the wall, a hole would open in the wall, just six inches clearance for the diver passing through. It closed automatically after passage. It was a magic experience.

Alas, I forgot my underwater camera.

It was wonderful having Ralph and Mary Ann along. They are experienced divers and pointed out many sights we would easily have missed.

Key West Again

After three nights and two full days we cruised back to Key West. This time we stayed in the Key West Bight Marina. Somewhat expensive at $1.85 per foot but we needed to plug in, wash down the boat, and give the Genset a break.

We had one last meal with Ralph and Mary Ann; this time at PJ's right near the harbor. They are famous for their home style cooking. I thoroughly enjoyed the Cuban style Roast Pork dinner served with black beans on rice, and sautéed plantain. Marion had the Pot Roast and raved about it as well. Rating **** $$

Next morning we decided to pull up stakes and head to Marathon. But first we took our bikes on a total tour of Key West. We did Truman Annex, a lovely gated community that had formerly been the Naval Base Housing. We skirted Ft Zachary Taylor and the Keywest Beach. Next we worked our way East along the shoreline roads, the fancy Southernmost Hotels and beaches then a return down Duval to harbor. Bicycle is the best way to see the sights once you know where to look for them. Our previous Conch Train tours had passed this way.

Back at the marina I tried the Genset without luck. The trip back to Marathon is slightly more than four hours so we just closed the refrigerator down and used the inverter to run the computer. We would work the Genset problem in Marathon where the rents are more reasonable.