Merry Christmas from the Keys

It's hard to believe that Christmas is knocking on the door with baby New Year right on it's heels. Time has flown by since we have been here and it doesn't seem as if we have gotten anything accomplished. We have actually only been downtown to do the tourist thing once. Still wanna do that, but something tells me we will be back here one day to stay for a little longer. Well maybe a lot longer, who knows…..

Let’s see, when I last wrote we were waiting on our solar panels to arrive. Well, we are still waiting….we hear they should arrive this next week sometime so we will just wait and see. Dirk finally figured out how he wanted to mount them so he went and bought the stainless steel poles and all the doo dads to attach it over the bimini top. I will keep you posted on that one. Another project we have been meaning to do is to add extra insulation to the interior of the refrigerator. The previous owner put spray foam everywhere on the exterior hollow spots he could get to but we still felt as if it could be improved a bit more as it seems the fridge is a big source of our power usage. Since being down here in the Keys has afforded us the luxury of having a vehicle every once in a while as I have family here, we took the opportunity to go by Home Depot and buy a big sheet of the insulation. It was only ½ inch thick but in some places we doubled it up such as the side that faces the oven and the bottom which is by far too deep anyway. I usually end up doing a hand stand in the fridge to retrieve any item that has managed to find its way down there. So we got that done and I have to say I lost very little fridge space and we figure any improvement we gave it has to be good. Dirk still has not come back with the numbers to tell us how much but if I remember I will let you know when he does. Below is a photo of the fridge before, followed by the photo of the final product.

Dirk has been enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having by dividing his time between fishing and lobstering. He has seen so many lobster but since we are towards the end of the season they have all been too small. He took me with him one day and we see all the lobster sitting on the wall laughing at us as they are the size of a very large shrimp and know that they have time on their side, unless of course the two large new buddies Dirk spotted, Moray & Eel decide to have them for lunch. We went out again the other day and Dirk takes off snorkeling as I am relaxing in the dinghy working on my tan lines when he comes back with a big grin on his face. Yep, he got him a legal lobster, finally!!!! Only got one, but saw several more so he will return to that spot at a later date. We brought the catch back to the boat and in about 15 minutes we had our first taste testing to do.

Ready for the grill

It wasn't huge, but it was a nice tasty morsel. I want to try a few different ways of cooking them. My aunt gave me a few ideas that I will have to give a try.

Well, Christmas is in a few short days and then we find ourselves ushering in the New Year. Dirk and I will celebrate the New Year downtown in Key West. I hear there is much fun to be had, so we have gotten us a room within walking distance to Duval Street. Can't wait, but then on the other hand New Years also signals us that it is time to move on. Before we know it we will begin our journey north to Marathon where we will do some of our final provisioning, then we wait for a good weather window to make the jump to the Bahamas.

Dirk, myself, and Butters want to wish all our family, friends, and readers a wonderful Christmas, and we hope for a safe and happy New Year to all. Till next time.....Cheers!