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Originally Posted by ScarabChris  Yup...sounds like the trip from hell.
Couple of questions though.
Did you have charts for the Keys to avoid the shallow water?
Any why didn't you rent a car for 40 bucks to get back to Dania rather than spend 200 bucks on a cab? |
Yes, had charts from Dania and down through the Keys. We didn't hit any coral with the exception of a ding to one of the blades of the front prop of my Volvo DP. I was busy negotiating the canal from the West Marine in Marathon around a docked larger boat and had to swing really far right. While keeping a sharp eye on one of the coral out-croppings lurking in the corner, one of his buddies popped up unseen directly under the boat. Thank God I was only at idle speed and able to immediately reverse away before doing any more damage. The bad thing is we just replaced the lower unit and props last year to the tune of just shy of 9 grand. Fortunately we have a spare set (which I should have had on for the trip) and the damage was minor. The biggest bummer was a kink to the skeg when a not so conscientious fellow boater splashing in at Dania ramp forced me wide right into a rubble pile in the canal. At least I can fix that in about five minutes aside from the cosmetic damage.
The two scariest instances of coral encounters I had however were the channel leading into Ramrod Key, literally 3 feet of depth and looking at the edges only about a foot below the surface it seemed. And the ICW channel across from Haulover Marina while trying to get back behind this little island that we overnighted behind the night before (I forget its name, but it has great protection in the cove behind the island.) Didn't hit any there, but sure did come close. Maybe you guys are used to it down there, but you have to remember that I've never been to such a coral-rich area before while piloting a boat. Destin and Tampa are almost all nice soft sand and though coral is easily found even up above Ft. Lauderdale I don't remember things being as hairy up that way previously. If I ever lived down in a coral infested area like the Keys I can assure you my boat wouldn't be a I/O cabin cruiser.
As for the Key Largo cab debacle. The problem was that the breakdown occurred on a Saturday after the rental offices were closed, and none are open on Sunday (of course). I attempted to catch the supposed "8:25 PM" Greyhound at the MM 99.6 flag stop and was out there at 8:11 pm thinking that with traffic and all that it would be early enough to not miss the bus. Called Greyhound at around 8:45 inquiring as to why the bus had not arrived and was informed by the idiot on the other end that the bus was running late. Stuck around until 9:20 and called again. They gave me the number to the Miami depot that informed me that there was no such delay.
At that point I was so pissed that I actually was willing to just say to Hell with it and was not about to wait again for another phantom bus, so I woke up Sunday morning and called the cab co., got dressed, and grabbed a tube of lube. Also, I had already lost one day of vacation time and wasn't about to lose another. Why make the money if you can't spend it foolishly right? We are all boaters here afterall
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I did fail to give the proper and well earned plug to the Key Largo Harbor Marina earlier for the help I received there. After the POS "boat-tow-bandito" dropped us off there I went into the office and explained to the guy behind the counter what was going on and when I asked how much I would owe him to slip for the night was told not to worry about it. On top of that, when I got back with the trailer, he and his side kick helped me get the boat on nice and straight. He and his coworker got the most earned tip of the trip for that one.
Raining outside = 
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