Boot Key Harbor

[cap-couillon]

Heading south out of the Chesapeake around Labor Day.  Sea-trials for Solitaire refit, and cold weather escape. Eventual planned destination Boot Key mooring field for winter layover and to finish projects not completed prior to departure, also modify what didn't work as planned. No particular schedule heading south short of drop-dead departure date. Curious as to when Boot Key starts to reach capacity as reservations not available. Estimated ETA with early Sept departure is late Nov.  If I need to get there earlier, I could, but always seem to get in  trouble tying myself to a schedule.

Anybody with local knowledge of when the moorings really start to fill up would really be appreciated.

Planned (plans? man makes plans and God laughs) route.

Norfolk to Beaufort via the Dismal Swamp (ICW water depth permitting) Never been that way. just curious. Several days on  the ditch will give me a chance to iron out any gross problems not showing up on local sea-trials.

Beaufort to Wrightsville Beach (Outside weather permitting) Short trip on the outside to see how she set's up in open water.

Wrightsville Beach to Southport (ICW)  Inside behind Cape Fear... Make any changes required after above outside run. Re-provision for next run outside.

Southport to Savannah. (Outside.. will wait for weather if required) Straight run to Savannah if all works out. Numerous cut outs available (Georgetown, Charleston, Port Royal, etc) if needed. First real sea-trial. Layup in Tybee Roads for 10 days to see friends and fix whatever. Re-provision 

Savannah to Fernandina Beach (Outside) 100 mile milk run.

Fernandina Beach to Fort Pierce (ICW) Just piddling along the ditch.

The rest of Florida as far as Govt Cut will probably be done outside to avoid the bridges. Or not.... Plenty of options between here and Marathon. All depends on weather and timing.

Wish the rain would let up a bit....  Got stuff to do.

TIA
Cap' Couillon

[s/v Faith]

Sounds like a great trip!

  I think you will be glad you did the dismal swamp, I never miss it if I can.

Boot key seems to wax and wane wrt popularity.  As I understand this year it was packed, quite a few boats went no farther south.  No specifics on your question, but I think it will be more crowded as folks may not do short trips to the Bahamas with the fee increase,.

[ralay]

Going through the Dismal Swamp Canal in fall was one of my favorite parts of our trip down from the Chesapeake. 

I'm sure it varies every year, but we went to Boot Key Harbor 2 winters ago and arrived in February.  There were still mooring balls, but we were told we weren't allowed to stay without a pumpable holding tank (we had a port-o-potty).  We had to sign a paper saying we would leave within 7 days.  We anchored out for that time and moved on. 

Sounds like it'll be a great trip.

[cap-couillon]

@ sv / Faith
Tks Craig.... Know it usually fills up, my big question is when.  Other than gunking around the keys, not planning on moving too far myself over the winter. Quit stopping in the Bahamas when they went to $300 ... What's it up to now?.  When I get tired of Fl will probably go back to Panama. Would rather be in the Marianas, but just getting too old to make that trip anymore.

@ralay
Tks for the info... 20 gal holding tank part of the refit. C-25 came with a head but no tank. Gotta keep the man happy. Found the head never really gets used much on my boats. Inside, I tend to use shore facilities except in case of emergency. Offshore a 5 gal bucket in the cockpit is easier than dancing on a marine head. Tks again for the info

Cap' Couillon

[s/v Faith]

I specialize in non-specific marginally helpful replies  ;D

"... He's dumb, but at least he tries" I hear, I think it is intended as a complement.  :P

I just posted the rumor about the fee increase, I can't recall the new number I just posted.... Maybe I should use a mask when grinding bottom paint?

[CharlieJ]

Going through the Dismal Swamp Canal in fall was one of my favorite parts of our trip down from the Chesapeake. 

I'm sure it varies every year, but we went to Boot Key Harbor 2 winters ago and arrived in February.  There were still mooring balls, but we were told we weren't allowed to stay without a pumpable holding tank (we had a port-o-potty).  We had to sign a paper saying we would leave within 7 days.  We anchored out for that time and moved on. 

Sounds like it'll be a great trip.

That's when and why I changed Tehani to a MSD which was pumpable. Been glad I did ever since. Tehani doesn't have room for a composting head-they are all too tall.

And hey gal- see ya'll Weds- I'll be home tomorrow.

[CharlieJ]

@ralay
Tks for the info... 20 gal holding tank part of the refit. C-25 came with a head but no tank. Gotta keep the man happy. Found the head never really gets used much on my boats. Inside, I tend to use shore facilities except in case of emergency. Offshore a 5 gal bucket in the cockpit is easier than dancing on a marine head. Tks again for the info

Cap' Couillon

Should point out that a weekly pumpout is included in your mooring fee in Boot Key. Also a part of the weekly dinghy dock fee if you anchor out.

[s/v Faith]

I have the pump out issue figured out.

I heard about their irrational need to pump a boat.... They did not do that when I was last there, but that was 2 years ago.... 

  If one had a pump out boss, a waste fitting still left in their deck, it could be connected to the bilge.  Just make sir ethere are are a couple inches of water in the bilge while you are there. 

  Just enough to keep the bureaucrats happy.

[CharlieJ]

Craig- I was in Boot Key for a month in 1981. Far fewer boats, but you sure didn't want to get in the water, even then. I was there again for a month in 2010, with some 460 boats in the harbor..BIG difference.


The pump-out requirement has led to far far cleaner water in Boot Key, and I for one don't see it as at all unreasonable. And the charges are well within reason. Dinghy dockage was $45 week, or about 6,50 a day, and that included a pumpout, day room with wifi and shower room use. (dinghy dock fees in Wash DC were $15 / day, but included showers and a pumpout)

I found pump out boats in a good many other spots, with fees tied to dinghy dock charges, and or mooring ball charges.

I'd rather see them pumping, than have people dumping, like we had to do in the 80's when there were a total of TWO pump out facilities in the entire keys

[s/v Faith]

I don't object to the pump out requirement, the thing I see as unreasonable is their objection to composting heads.

The bilge pump workaround I suggested was not to avoid getting pumped out (not sure why anyone would want to avoid a pump out they had paid for).  I think composters are so much cleaner, it seems as though they ought to make a more reasonable policy.

  I should have been more clear.

[CharlieJ]

That I can't comment on. But I'd bet a composter would be accepted these days, with an explanation.

I'd like to try one aboard Tehani, but they are all too tall for the available space. Over all, around the coast, I found the pump out to be the simplest, and cleanest method. With two aboard, we had to pump the 5 gallon Porta holding tank about every  8 days and single hand, I'd go 15 to 16 days between.

This trip I tried WAG bags on Necessity when I needed to use onboard facilities. Lord I'd hate to use those on a hike and have to carry a few days worth in a pack :-\

They do stink.

[Captain Smollett]

... the thing I see as unreasonable is their objection to composting heads.

...

I think composters are so much cleaner, it seems as though they ought to make a more reasonable policy.

There is a psychological aversion to composting heads.  It's like every other "bias" we've discussed on sailfar over the years.  It has nothing to do with rational thought or fact and everything to do with "fear."

Several years ago, when composting heads first starting being commercialized in the sailing community, I started researching the efficacy of such waste management strategies.  What I found fit the exact pattern of LOA is safer, EPIRBS keep you from getting killed, Big Brother is The Great Protector.  (No Politics!!!!...I'm talking about a mindset, not which administration is office in any given year).

On the Mother Earth and off-gridder type sites, they talk about composters, and the pop reaction to them is generally, "eeewwww, I could never do that," usually in regard to the simple act of NOT FLUSHING.

We have been conditioned over several generations that the ONLY way to dispose of waste is to "flush."  And, there are huge industries and bureaucracies that surround this simple construct.  ANY deviation from that and the reaction is exactly the same as one gets to "I want to sail across the ocean on my 26 ft boat."  You are simply nuts.

So, I don't think the resistance to composters aboard is "bureaucratic" per se.  I think it is part of the collective consciousness that one MUST FLUSH.  This psychological driver is pretty powerful and leads people to say some purely ridiculous things.

Take also, for example, the reaction that some people to things like horse manure.  Horse poop is different than human poop...it does not contain the same kind of bacteria.  It's not really unhealthy to be around at all.  Yet all the time, we see "city people" (for lack of a better word) "yuck"ing and giving total freak-out because they got a little on their shoes at a horse show.

Sorry to hijack the thread..I don't have anything to offer on Boot Key Harbor other than to say there is so much momentum against any non-water-flush waste system that I doubt the policies will change soon.

This "fear" and "ignorance" psychology simply fascinates me.

[s/v Faith]

There were folks reporting that this year in boot key harbor that they were being treated like they did not have legitimate heads.  There was an add on Craig's list for a composter being sold with the seller saying he was selling it since he was at marathon.

[CapnK]

If one had a pump out boss, a waste fitting still left in their deck, it could be connected to the bilge.  Just make sir ethere are are a couple inches of water in the bilge while you are there.

Plumb it straight outta the bottom of the boat. Let 'em fill up their tank and go away while wondering how in the heck you had a tank *that large* aboard, and what you were eating/drinking to fill it all the way... ;D

[SalientAngle]

There were folks reporting that this year in boot key harbor that they were being treated like they did not have legitimate heads...

Well, while planning a 2014 trip to the keys, I had occasion to contact the Harbor Masters office... I also downloaded their mooring info sheet that included on the pull down both composting and porta potty... this is what the administrative assistant said:

We have several composting heads in the harbor.  Airhead is the most popular.  We do have a porta-potti dump station where you can get rid of your liquids.  Just ask one of our staff members and they will unlock it for you to use.

Jennifer Meany, Administrative Assistant II
Boot Key Harbor City Marina
305-289-8877 meanyj@ci.marathon.fl.us

not trying to overwhelm this thread with attribution; just saying neither porta potty nor airhead should no longer be a problem...

cheers, -jim

[cap-couillon]

But When Do The Moorings Start To Fill Up?

;D   This thread has gone to poop..... Worth while poop though. Worth while enough that I started another tread as a follow up.

Now, if we could get back to my original question?

;D ;D ;D

[SalientAngle]

But When Do The Moorings Start To Fill Up?

suggest you send an email or call the contact person:

Jennifer Meany, Administrative Assistant II
Boot Key Harbor City Marina
305-289-8877 meanyj@ci.marathon.fl.us

edited to include mooring field contact mentioned in previous post to get the str8 poop, so to speak  ;D

[s/v Faith]

There were folks reporting that this year in boot key harbor that they were being treated like they did not have legitimate heads...

Well, while planning a 2014 trip to the keys, I had occasion to contact the Harbor Masters office... I also downloaded their mooring info sheet that included on the pull down both composting and porta potty... this is what the administrative assistant said:

We have several composting heads in the harbor.  Airhead is the most popular.  We do have a porta-potti dump station where you can get rid of your liquids.  Just ask one of our staff members and they will unlock it for you to use.

Jennifer Meany, Administrative Assistant II
Boot Key Harbor City Marina
305-289-8877 meanyj@ci.marathon.fl.us

GR8 news.
not trying to overwhelm this thread with attribution; just saying neither porta potty nor airhead should no longer be a problem...

cheers, -jim