Leaving Key West

We spent an uncomfortable week in the Key West mooring field waiting for the weather to break. The winds were high and out of the northeast, the one direction the field doesn’t have protection from. White caps and rollers were whipped up from the constant blow. Some evenings reaching 30 knots. Trips to shore in the dinghy were wet and wild. Just trying to board the dinghy was a trick, but it’s all part of the fun.

All in all, it was a good stay. Grocery stores, West Marine, Napa, and fuel all within walking distance. I even found a barber shop to get a hair cut. But, it was time to move on. The more time we spent in the mooring field, the more depressing it got.

The cost of living in Key West is extreme. While doing laundry at the marina, I was able to talk to several locals who live on their boat in the mooring field. Interestingly, they’re not boaters. They chose living on a boat as an affordable alternative to a house, or living in their car or van. They were telling me that renting a room, not an apartment, but just a room in a house costs $1,700 a month. The mooring field is only $450 a month. You just need to provide the boat. The big controversy now is that the city wants to require proof of insurance to stay. Almost all the boats are uninsured. Most don’t even run or sail.

Living on a boat is not easy. Everyday items you take for granted are difficult on a boat. No electricity, unless you run a generator or have wind or solar. Refrigeration: it also needs power. Water: you have to carry all your water out to the boat. Sewage: The city run pump out boat is supposed to come out once a week to empty your hold tank. It’s all weather dependent. The heat and humidity is stifling, especially in the summer. No air conditioner unless you run a generator, and if you do, you need to truck all the fuel for the generator out to the boat.

Hey, wait a minute, I live on a boat… Don’t get me wrong, if you’re traveling and want to see remote places, it’s worth the hassle. But, to put up with all the boat B.S. and have to hustle 2 or 3 jobs to live in “paradise” well, it’s not for me.

The other annoying thing about Key West is they allow people to ride their mopeds (aka e-bikes) on the sidewalks. And there does not appear to be a speed limit. If you can’t do at least 30 MPH, it’s dangerous to try and walk on the side walks. I felt safer walking in the street than on the side walk. The dopes on their high speed mopeds were going faster than the cars on the street.

Enough ranting about Key West. We headed out to Marathon and have a marina reservation for 2 nights. I was also able to get Amazon packages shipped. In the Keys, Prime 2 day shipping is more like 2 week shipping. It’s actually worse than Mobile.

From Marathon, we’re going to watch the weather. We might head up to the Key Largo area or Miami to make our jump to Bimini. It all depends on the weather.