We have pictures of the mooring field here in Boot Key Harbor, but without a wide angle or panoramic view shot, it is difficult to convey the density of the boat (over 90% sailboat) population here. So a shot of the dinghy dock gives an idea about that topic. This was an uncrowded day. There are hundreds of people living on hundreds of boats here, and this is in a down economy.
Mooring balls allow for closer spacing of boats than do simple anchoring grounds. The chaos that must have reigned here before the recent advent of the mooring ball field must have been nothing short of epic. Imagine yourself trying to find a spot to drop the hook not too far from or two close to neighbors in all directions of the compass. THEN you must be sure to set the anchor with the engines, and if you drag even a little doing this, you run the risk of getting too close to another boat and/or picking up somebody else's anchor. Then guess what happens to some boats when the winds shift and pull their anchors from the bottom? Yikes!
There was a lot of yelling by long-term squatters and others who paid no fee to have their boats here year-round when the city put the field in and started charging 21 bucks a day to moor to one, but the security of hanging onto a ball hooked up to a giant concrete weight on the bottom versus letting your own anchor corrode in the sea is certainly worth it.
This place tends to collect cruisers in a blood clot kind of way. They drift here with intentions of jumping off across the Gulf Stream to cruise the gin-clear waters of the Abacos or Exumas in the Bahama chain and then hang here as do drips of water on the end of a stalactite avoiding the forever last fall. Several have told us of being trapped here since December by the weather, but I wonder about that.
Cruising the Bahamas to me means few if any marinas with highly expensive and extremely limited pier space, little to no connectivity to the US unless you are willing to pay lots of money to BATELCO (a ripoff corporation run for the benefit of the well-connected in Bahamas), third-world level of living by the inhabitants who look at the rich cruisers with obvious envy, poor medical care if you get sick or injured, and no infrastructure. Fine for those who wish to hang out and do little other than swim and look at nice remote beaches and islets. Been there, done that, got really bored doing it.
Mary and I agree about one thing regarding cruising, and that is you have to CRUISE, i.e. MOVE. After a couple of days in any spot, we're really to hear the rumble of main engines beneath our feet taking us to the next destination. An old saying goes, "It's the journey, not the destination that is important."
We left the boat yesterday with no clear plan, and that's just what developed as we wandered over to a seaside restaurant after a late morning breakfast aboard and had pina coladas for lunch, well, a pre-lunch starter. Back to the dink, we motored across the harbor to the infamous Sombrero Marina Dockside Cafe for mid-afternoon hamburgers while we watched the denizens of this tropical reprobate haven drink their lunches and tell lies to each other. This place is a locals hang out and center of the Conch Republic-like opposition to the city of Marathon's harbor improvement efforts. It's one of this places you don't take pictures; you can just recall it in your mind's eye - sort of like the Wanchai District of Hong Kong or Olongapo in Subic Bay in 1968 at the height of the war.
Back to the dink dock again after a tour down Sister's Creek (the other outlet to the Atlantic) and then a bit of a walk up to Home Depot concluded our day ashore. There really is little to do here for active folks like ourselves unless we had our bikes ashore, and even then, there is nothing to really spark much interest ashore. Indeed, I had not planned to come here at all, but decided to do so when we realized that the Atlantic was going to be pretty rough for the required 36-mile run in it to Boca Chica Naval Air Facility Marina. I thought two days here would be enough to see the winds die off a bit, but it turns out the big change we are looking for will be tomorrow. We signed up for two days and then two days later, after further weather review, added two more for a total of four. It was always too much hassle to ferry the bikes ashore for two days. Had I realized we were going to be here this long, I am sure I would have gone through the bike-ferry drill.
So now we can say we have "done" Boot Key Harbor and hopefully are done with it. On to more interesting places.
Tomorrow will hopefully see us leave this place and get to the Key West area where we will have a pier berth with power and a rental car.
