A Hole in the Water

 

 

Sunshine Key Rv Resort and Marina, Ohio Key, Florida (high 73, low 65)

 

Some people say the definition of a boat is a “hole in the water in which you throw money.”

That has certainly been the definition of our boat lately.

Of course, even with a brand new motor, the boat is still a 1986 model, so it needs some TLC.  We’ve been to West Marine more times than I can count in the past few weeks.  Other than the motor, these are just routine maintenance things, but it seems all we ever do is run to West Marine for some new part or the other.   Not really complaining.  It’s all a part of boat ownership.

Yesterday, was to be our reward for all the work and expense.  We were looking forward to a nice day out on the water.  Normally we try not to boat or kayak on the week-ends when it’s more crowded, but since it’s been such a long time coming, we broke our no week-end rule.  We trailered the boat over to the marina at Bahia Honda State Park and launched.  We were both a little nervous I think, after the last time, but the motor cranked right up the very first try!  Yay!

We motored out through the narrow channel, around the rocks and under the Bahia Honda bridge.  The bridge is the dividing line between the Atlantic and the Bay.  We had to decide which way to go.  One side us usually calmer than the other, depending on the winds.

The following picture was taken of the campground last year.  Campsites at Bahia Honda are most the coveted waterfront campsites that NO ONE can ever get reservations for!  (except the people there now)   Rarely do you see an empty waterfront site.

As we headed out, we realized it wasn’t going to be a wonderful boating day, but we figured if we could find a place out of the wind, we would be happy just parked somewhere and reading/napping.

We went towards Sunshine Key and found a nice windbreak by that bridge.  We anchored and ate our eggless egg salad sandwiches.  It was breezy, but we were plenty warm in shorts and t-shirts.

We sat there awhile, but Al started getting antsy and wanted to run his new motor.   We have two batteries on the boat and Al had been worried about battery #1. It hadn’t had much power when we last tried to start the motor, but since then, he charged it and checked it out and it tested fine.  We have a battery cutoff switch just like we have on the motorhome.  You can run with both batteries, or either one.  He switched it over to #1 and the battery was too weak to  start the motor.   Luckily, battery #2 was new last year and it cranked the motor right up.   We don’t like running without two good batteries, so we didn’t plan to go too far from the marina, but as we headed back towards Bahia Honda, we found the wind had kicked up and we were going in just the right direction to get sprayed everytime we hit a wave.  Getting wet made it a bit chilly.

On the way back the wind caught my favorite baseball cap and sent it flying into the water.  Normally, we can retrieve them, but with the winds and waves, it sunk before we could grab it.  RIP  little white hat. I felt kind of sad about it.  :(

We quickly realized it wasn’t a good day to go for a ride and there was no windbreak to hunker down in this area. Since we had one bad battery, we decided to call it a day and go back in.   It was a good test run and we made it back to the ramp safely.

As soon as we got back home, Al pulled the battery and we had it tested, which told us that it was bad.   

So $157 later, we left West Marine with a new battery, locking gas cap and a few other things.

It’s still a bit windy today, but we may break our week-end rule and go out again today.  The nice thing about our location here is that we can take a short walk and check out the seas on the Atlantic or bay side.

 

We’re looking for a day like we had last year.