tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post3355286266634858799..comments2024-03-28T08:26:58.108-04:00Comments on Our Odyssey: Headed for the Conch RepublicLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306854459459257368noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-25611512816596511982021-02-11T11:54:05.333-05:002021-02-11T11:54:05.333-05:00Lots to answer here, as I catch up on comments. Re...Lots to answer here, as I catch up on comments. Re frequency of posts: that varies up and down according to how busy I am, and, frankly, how much "interesting" stuff I have for inclusion. Interesting is, of course, subjective, and since we have many categories of readers, what is interesting to some will be superfluous to others. I try to strike a balance. That said, when we were much newer at all this, lots of things made it into the blog that I simply no longer include, because long-time readers will have heard it all already. There's only so many times that you can hear that the party boat passed us close aboard, with the band playing the same song every night. But, of course, it did.<br /><br />Re pumpouts: Key West has a free pumpout boat. When you arrive in the anchorage, if planning to stay a while, you go to the web site and sign up. They put you on the schedule and they come around maybe once a week and pump you out; you don't even need to be aboard. That said, we have over three weeks of capacity, so we only signed up after our second week, and we had them come just a single time. They came by again a week later just as we were getting ready to leave, and we waved them off.<br /><br />Regarding energy: We burn about two gallons of diesel a day keeping everything running; that's around three hours of generator run time. At today's prices that's less than four bucks, but you also need to add in oil, filters, impellers, and other wear-and-tear on the generator; I use $2/hour as a rule of thumb, or about $6 per day. That's less than most marinas charge us for shore power (which is on top of dockage), but of course we don't run the gen in marinas. And we run longer than three hours on days where we have significant air conditioning or heating needs (not needed in KW).<br /><br />And lastly, boredom: While we've gone through the gamut of feelings on board throughout the pandemic, we're never bored. The boat keeps me busy full-time. And in KW, other than the two days where it was too choppy to want to tender ashore, we did go ashore daily, usually for an early dinner (5:30ish), before the crowds picked up and when we could easily score a nicely spaced outdoor table. We enjoyed strolling the town in less crowded spots or at less crowded times, and I also got out and about to run errands. That said, it was not the "usual" KW experience, and I missed taking in some nightlife and some of the other aspects of life there. It met our needs for food and entertainment while being far away from the more intense surges in Miami/Dade and Broward counties.<br />Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17930398671280529448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-30141575667194565932021-01-25T09:12:20.638-05:002021-01-25T09:12:20.638-05:00Is it my imagination or do you post less often tha...Is it my imagination or do you post less often than you used to when staying in one location for a long time? <br /><br />I'm kind of curious about the challenges of anchoring off Key West for a few weeks at a time. How do you manage pumpouts? How much fuel do you burn keeping the electricity going? What about just straight up boredom? Its one thing to be off Key West when you can tender in and enjoy it in normal times, but with the pandemic your options are limited.Ramblingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08174202747233567172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-80276111967642332692021-01-13T23:09:47.115-05:002021-01-13T23:09:47.115-05:00I was going to have you look for the stolen tiki b...I was going to have you look for the stolen tiki bar when navigating hawk, but they already found it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com