Pete left early this morning to check out the rain and snow that is hammering the northeast at the moment. Rob and Phyllis completed their first day flying solo by logging some serious leisure time, catching up on emails, reading and generally goofing off.
The marina is populated with about 100 boats with many as transient cruisers like us. They all stop to chat and exchange boat stories, where they are from, and how (like us) they stopped here for an overnight and elected to stay a while. One guy has been here two years!!! That is not the norm however, most stay about 3 months. Everyone is very friendly and the cruisers all connect via VHF Channel 68 at 9am each morning to announce activities, organize parties, and swap stories.
So far we have been told in no uncertain terms that it is illegal in the Keys to be in a hurry. I was walking down to the shower and it took about an hour to get there due to all the stops for random conversation. Sunday is the Super Bowl, and everyone has been invited to Banana Bay to hang out and have a watching party.
Sundown is a ritual occasion. Several very gnarly dudes (they all look like retired members of the Grateful Dead) congregate at the end of the dock and blow conch trumpets as the golden orb descends and extinguishes in a green flash. The rest of us sit in the open air bar and toast the occasion with Key West lagers- very like the local Yeungling we enjoy in Maryland.
Saying this place is laid back does not do it justice- if time stopped these people would never know it. Our remark was, "so this is what retirement is all about!!" As they say, the problem with doing nothing is figuring out when you are done.
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