Making Mischief

Might not look like too much, but its a big win at the boat today. Officially pumping out our own perfectly fresh 15 gallons per hour of drinking water.

Officially made the jump to Starlink. Looking forward to testing it out in some remote places. 22 watts is not to shabby!

Sort of a rough boat day last night. I’ve finally been installing the watermaker I bought a couple years ago, but have been missing one part. So I brought my lithium travel station, my laptop, my work laptop, my cell tower internet router, AirPods, etc right after work. Wanted to order right from the boat so I knew I got the right thing.

Everything was in the kayak packed efficiently, when for some reason the battery station got caught when I lifted it out of the kayak onto the sailboat. I’ve done this just about every weekend since getting to Key Biscayne without issue. In hindsight it was sort of peak ebb and a little windy, but didn’t notice at the time. Anyways, as you likely imagine the power station didn’t make it all the way onto deck, the off-center weight tipped the kayak, and everything went for a swim.

My phone, AirPods and the fob for my Mazda seem to have survived. The lithium power station started smoking about 10 minutes after sitting on deck so I tied a rope to it and prepared to chuck it overboard if it caught fire, but it never did. Pretty sure both laptops and the internet are smoked. We’ll see.

Break Out Another Thousand…

Turned into a real pretty afternoon / evening here at the marina.

Officially did the thing! Currently sitting on my ball with 5 bars of 5G baby. It looks like my mooring pendant hasn’t been used in a hot minute. I could barely get a line through the eye there was so much growth. I even have a small view of downtown. Glad to be in the water with the ability to stop by after work and stay the weekend. To a new chapter Slim!

Looks like I didn’t take any photos today. I’ve definitely started a stalagmite salt farm on deck. It was a challenging day. The wind has been right out of where I’m headed. Definitely caught a couple whole body splashes before I got foulies on. The morning was the worst with the wind consistently in 20-25 knot range. When I got to the cut through on the other end of Long Key the seas were confused and the crab pots hit peak levels. I just wasn’t feeling it so decided to come in and anchor behind Indian Key. Once I got a little closer into shore the wind died into the 15-20 knot range and the seas dropped down to about 3 foot swells. So I pressed on instead. The middle of the day got nice for a while, but it built back up in the late afternoon. I’m now anchored near the Miami side of Key Largo in the most pathetic excuse for a cut in ever. There’s not a lot of cover on this stretch on the Hawke side of the keys. Should be in Key Biscayne tomorrow if the weather cooperates!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I know I’m thankful to be back on the south side of the keys. Had a couple imperial stouts last night and enjoyed the sunset. I think I’m going to keep on trucking past Marathon. While I’d love to stop at Burdines and 7 Mile Grill, I’ve got plenty of fuel, food, and electric. Think I might anchor a little early tonight somewhere and go for a dip, it’s hot out hur!

Pretty morning out on the gulf. Got to finally try and learn how to use my cast net. It’ll take a little practice, but bait fish beware!

I have to give up my slip this morning around 11, but I’m just going to go anchor out here in Factory bay so I can finish working till 2pm. Going to head for Snake River in the South Everglades tomorrow before sun up. If all goes well I should be pulling into Marathon / Boot Key Friday night. Not sure if I’ll have much reception along the way, so Happy Thanksgiving!