March 2011 Sailing trip to Key West in Potter 15

Parking lot in Taverner Key near the put in. It was a long ride down from Boston. This  boat was originally Larry Brown's Boat and came with a signed copy of his of his sailing book. I had sailed the Keys in this boat in April 2010 with a friend and had a good time. This prior trip was my first sailing experience and we could barely figure out how to rig the boat. Many sails and a year later I returned with a much better rigged and outfitted boat.

I ended up putting two twist and lock ports in the rear of the cockpit seats where you hardly sit. I drilled a small hole in the center of the screw on lid and tided a rope to it that hangs down into the interior. On it I attached other ropes using cheap aluminum carabiners. This way I  can store a lot of smaller ropes and they never get tangled.

In this picture you can see part of the crew awaken after almost carrying out a mutiny the first day. This picture shows the green line of the jib down haul and the lock down cleat. All lines running to the rear set up. And the wood slider top I built too provide a platform for two water proof LED lights, a big kayak compass and a 5 watt solar panel (not in photo) that charges my AGM battery. I installed navigation lights (LED) on the front top of the cabin, LED red and white interior cabin light, and two LED bait well lights at the rear of the transom were the old Potter data plate was . These transom lights illuminate the cockpit and sail controls for night time sailing. The navigation and bait well lights are Atwood brand from Walmart. I also added a boom vang and changed the main sheet from the companionway door to the rear of the cockpit.

In this image you can see the addition of a foot hold and one loop of a swim ladder rope to get back on the boat, it is below the name of the boat.

 In this picture you can see the rear traveler and main sheet set up. It really freed up a lot of room in the already small cockpit. This picture is taken on the Atlantic side east of Lois Key. We were on a very fast down win run and had one reef in the main. It would have been better to run with just the jib because the wind and seas really picked up and we had to run over some shallow coral to get closer to shore. The Garmin GPS was some. The maps are more detailed than the charts.

The above picture is at the end of our first day which we stayed at Fiesta Key. You can see the 3 inch PVC anchor holder on the bow pulpit. This was a quick fix for not having a anchor holder.

 Fiesta Key was a little run down but had hot showers, a bathroom and good bar with live music.

After leaving Fiesta Key we stayed on the Gulf side and continued south. I brought my Sears 19.2 volt work radio with the $80 Lithium battery. It lasted the whole trip. It also has a Ipod jack. You can also see the blue and red line with the lock down below the companionway door. Blue is to lift the keel up and red is to lock it down in bad weather. This is a great addition for me who single hands a lot and can know stay in the cockpit to adjust the keel. My first mate is covered up because she was getting sun poisoning due to her fair skin. In Key West we purchased Under Armor brand SPF / sun blocking clothes.

 In this picture you can see the white cutting boards on the rudder I used to strengthen it. I used one on each side and bonded them to the rudder with 5200 and ss screws. The key was were we stayed on day two. It is covered with birds so we stayed on the boat to sleep. It smelled so we called it bird shit key.

The sunset at Bird shit key.

The below picture is of the down wind run that started on day three and became very intense at times. I forgot to tie off the main sail after reefing for a good part of the trip.

At the Seven mile bridge crossing a pod of Dolphins joined us. They swam along and across the front wake of the tiny Potter for a half and hour. What a treat for New Englanders in the beginning of March. Right after this we watched a huge sting ray swim close to the surface over a patch of white sand. We are still south on the Gulf side.

This video is us right before the seven mile bridge. I had a "keyzee" jazz station playing.

Sorry about it tilting. I was using my Ipod video camera and should have kept it straight.

On the third day we stayed south of the Bahia Honda bridge in a protected cove. It was a "worm moon" and the tides were very low. The winds were also very bad. We were told by many that this was uncommon. At night we drifted out to the center of the cove and set anchor to sleep, away from the bugs and people. Great place. Good swimming.

 

You can see the black hand pumped solar shower out getting warm. This garden sprayer device worked great.

Cove at dusk.

The next day the wind on the Gulf side really picked up and came a little out of the west as well as the north. We sailed and motored north through the Bahia Honda bridge to the Atlantic side to avoid the harsh wind. I believe it shifted about a hour after we sailed over and was getting very harsh.

In this photo I had just reefed the main and forgot to tie it off. It look like it has the stays too loose. My first mate and I dawned our life vests, got the door ready and radio after the wind really picked up. The waves started to crest over the transom so we changed course to get closer to shore. The tide was very shallow and we had to run fast over coral reefs. The Potter was great with its shallow draft. If I had to due it again I would have just run under  the jib. Later in the trip thats what I did. The accuracy and detail of the GPS was a great aid. The water was a awesome color. We had a sea turtle pass under us and fighter jets dog fighting over head.

  Heading south on the Atlantic side.

Moving along south of Lois Key.

This is when we pulled into Boca Chica on the Atlantic side. It was the first protected area we could find after  the wind really picked up. I had to get out and pull the boat over the sand bars. As we pulled into the cove I noticed no one on the beach had cloths on. It was a nude beach on a Navy Base, as a former Army guy I got a chuckle out of it. We ended up having a great time collecting sponges and shells on shore and hung out until dark. Then we slept on the boat. The tide came in as it was getting dark. My first mate wanted to stay a extra day at this location and we should have. It was very pretty and only had a few beach goers due to its remoteness. 

Thats me setting the anchors and ties off "Fearless" for the night.

 Sun going down, tide coming in. We are almost to Key West.

 

 We always tried to eat and cook on land. I bought a Rubber Maid hard Box at Walmart  that we kept the food and stove in. We call it or vittles box. Like all Potter sailors everything had to go in the cockpit at night.

Me cooking.

Sun going down.

Fearless at night. I put a lot of reflective tape on the boat and a red piece at the top of the mast. I felt it may help us from getting run over. It also helps when trailering at night.

 After we left Boca Chica I did not want to sail around the south side of Key West. Instead I found a river that had a dug out channel to a marina. I sailed into it and dropped sail and started the motor. At the end of the channel was a bridge that was very low. We motored next to it and tried to measure the height. I was tried and wanted to get across so in the very center I gunned the engine and went for it. Chris closed her eyes as the Windex scraped so slightly. We made it and were in Key West bay. This bay has power lines running down it which most sail boats can not go under. The Potter 15 laughs at comments like this. As we entered the bay I was very tired. Chris had not yet sailed on the trip and the wind / crazy tides of 8 hours a day of sailing had made me tired. I put up the jib only and asked her to sail. As I was sleeping Chris woke me worried about how she was sailing. I told her she was doing great  and try and let me sleep for a couple. She woke me again and said that paratroopers in BDU's had jumped out of a plane and were on both sides of the boat. I chuckled and conitnued to sleep. When I heard a plane right over the boat and she said  more are dropping it got my attention. For a minute I thought she had sailed to Cuba while I slept for a whole day. It ended up being the US Army Scuba School.

 

Soldiers being recovered by Zodiacs in the North side of Key West Bay. 

 We continued on a down wind run by Jib only (slow) to Garrison Bite Marina in Key West.

As we pulled into the Marina in Key West a Manatee came and greeted us. He was as large as the Potter. The next day he came back with his "lady" and kid.

Very sweet animal.

We went into the marina office and they asked were we sailed from. They then asked how long our boat was. The lady did not believe us at first. The people in Key West could not be more friendly. A guy on the dock lent us his bike. Everyone was so laid back and easy going. Not like the uptight Pilgrims in Boston.

Old Key West building.

 The best place in Key West we visited was Hemingway's house. It is a great building that has not been touched. He was such a interesting person who I have read more about. He had a herd of pterodactyl cats which still live on the grounds (descendants) .

 I learned a lot from the trip. The Potter was great for sailing over shallow coral and sand bars. It was nice to be able and not have to sail Hawk Channel. I have made further improvements to the boat. The GPS was key. We change plans and adjusted on the fly because the charts on it are so good. The depth markings on the map helped out a lot although the crazy tides made low tide lower than posted. A Potter 19 would have been better but the Forrester would not have pulled it w/o brakes. The P 15 was great but I have sense bought a Tacoma 4 cylinder and have been looking at P19's Montgomery's and Precision 165/18. Hope you enjoyed this trip. For time sake I left out some of the side  like traveling up canals ect. 

7/24/11 I just purchased a 1996 Potter 19 and have sold Fearless. We are planning another trip to the Keys on the Potter 19.