We returned to the Mother Ship, threw our lines in the water, took showers, had happy hour and ate dinner –Yet another night that we didn’t take something out of the freezer for dinner hoping for fresh fish… We had hot dogs, but not just any hot dogs mind you - but the best - Sabrettes!…Everyone went to bed way early again !!! We haven’t played Dominoes, Gin or scrabble – or any of the stuff we were excited to do. I got see only bits and pieces of Celebrity Apprentice because the satellite acted up again. Monday, April 5th Birthdays for, Wayne’s son, Mike; my best buddy in Philly, Paul & my mom - 8 years since my beloved mom passed away. Miss you bunches mom. Brilliant sun beams find their way to my face thru a tiny opening in the bathroom porthole. Of course, everyone else has been wide awake for hours and ready to go – I hate mornings. I gave Wayne a hair cut and trimmed his beard.
Difficult decision weather to stay in this beautiful spot - now free of people - OR go on to the Marquesas. Reluctantly, we left @ 1015; Seas were somewhat choppy but with the paravanes deployed we smoothed out nicely; after 2 ½ hrs we arrived and anchored down; Not another soul around. We loaded the dink with two dawgs, cast net, bucket, fishing poles, water, shoes, cameras, towels and water - the dinghy was pretty full and we anticipated another wonderful day at the beach and to explore the island. As usual, the outboard started without a hitch. We untied the lines and off we went. We got about 20’ from the ‘Mother Ship’ and the outboard quit. OK, let’s not panic, Wayne can fix anything. The motor was flooded (?) The motor’s not turning over, fuel is leaking out, and we’re drifting further and further away from BLUE MAX heading towards Cuba! I threw the anchor out so we wouldn’t drift further…a frantic search for the paddles netted us only one!?? Where the hell is the other paddle??Since Mickey is the youngest and the fittest we voted he should be the one to battle the current and choppy water and paddle us back to BLUE MAX. And a battle it was! After lots of sweat, spastic muscles and a heroic effort by Mick, we reached the swim platform ! ! 
What the heck do we do now? Too late to continue on to Ft Jefferson and fishing here was the same – it sucked. Kathryn got her bird book out trying to identify more species, Wayne trying to fix the motor. It was finally sinking in – we have no transportation off this boat.
Believe it or not, this is a picture of the only fish we saw that day… Tuesday, April 6th As Martin Short said in Captain Ron “….Ah…the dawn of a new day” ! We were so desperate to catch something, we took the southern route to Garden Key and tolerated 6-8 foot seas. But it worked, we didn’t get sick and we had a blast. Mickey caught the biggest Crevalle Jack I’ve ever 
seen. Unfortunately, not a good food value. It took Mick about an hour to land the sucker. He was almost 3’ long and had to weight at least 40lbs. (The Jack, not Mick) We landed a whole assortment of fish 
Winnie's little Tunney
today including, a Little Tunney (tuna) not a good food value; a nice size Wahoo - good when smoked (note from 2011-who knew Wahoo was the best eating fish back then !?); something unidentifiable and a Cero Mackerel which we had for dinner. Scupper was locked inside the boat for everyone’s safety. Another famous line from Captain Ron said by a Coastie; “It’s a Hell of a day at sea, sir” And it was for us. 
Since Captain Wayne was running the boat and Mick and I were fishing, Kathryn (bless her heart) became our gopher. Everyday she dressed with care as if she were going shopping at the mall. Here she is in this darling little summer dress; and here she is, in the same dress, straddling the boom, trying her 
best to crank the bird out of the water. I wish I had taken the picture at a different angle. No one stops Katie Kate. We arrived at Ft Jefferson at 3pm and settled in with happy hour and, finally, fresh fish for dinner. Wednesday, April 7th We’re thankful for 
another beautiful day – The breeze made it tolerable to be in the sun. We moved the boat to the anchorage closest to the Fort in case the outboard quit again. It quit again! Loosing the use of the 
best to crank the bird out of the water. I wish I had taken the picture at a different angle. No one stops Katie Kate. We arrived at Ft Jefferson at 3pm and settled in with happy hour and, finally, fresh fish for dinner. Wednesday, April 7th We’re thankful for 
another beautiful day – The breeze made it tolerable to be in the sun. We moved the boat to the anchorage closest to the Fort in case the outboard quit again. It quit again! Loosing the use of the 
Anchored amonst the 'rag baggers'
Inside the Fort
The moat around the fort - fabulous snorkeling
dinghy was bad enough, then Wayne gave us more bad news. He discovered the Inverter was fried! Kaput! Without an inverter you can’t use AC appliances like the microwave, computer, toaster oven and the water maker! unless you run the generator all the time. And since we’re in the DRY Tortugas we can’t get water without making it. If that wasn’t enough, we were also out of water! The good news is, that this is a shake down cruise meaning before cruising to some far away place you want to be certain everything operates as it should. Morale of the crew was dangerously low – everyone was cranky and we were still without cigarettes! 
Deep pass now open between Garden Key & Bush Key (Anchorage just to the right)
Kathryn was having withdrawal symptoms!
We met Brian and his wife, Christie on their dinghy. He told us the boats in the anchorage are monitoring channel 17 and some talk of a get together on Thursday night (you mean a party?) . I put a call out to the boaters to beg for a ride ashore. Brian picked up the three of us but poor Wayne stayed behind to work on the problems. Kate and Mick took the self guided tour of the fort - I was on a mission to find cigarettes for Kate. I managed to con one or two here and there but I wanted the Mother load – a full pack! I hooked up with the men who were working to restore the fort and the word was spread. A wonderful guy named Allen sold me a pack of Camels for only $5 – Camels?? hey, beggars can’t be choosers. I thought Kate was gonna faint when she
saw a whole pack! Peace !!! Picture is Kate with a Cuban ‘Chug’ - it took the Cubans two days to arrive at Ft Jeff and because they landed on land, they’re legal - don’t let me get started on that issue!
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