Last day

Well, all things come to an end. We've just finished packing. Everything has to go into big bins, which are tied to the deck of the Fort Jefferson. This has to be done today, because the boat leaves at 7 AM tomorrow. Early start! We will arrive in Key West about noon. Somebody will take us to get our SUV, we'll transfer everything, then ice cream! Can you believe a whole month without ice cream? What a sacrifice we made. We plan to drive straight home the same day.

Hope you've enjoyed the blog. Thanks for the comments some of you made; a couple were even serious. We'll probably make one more post after we get home.

Windjammer wreck

Today we got a chance to visit and snorkel a wreck in the Dry Tortugas. There are about 300 known wrecks in the park. This ship, the Avanti, ran aground and sank in 1907. It was about 300 feet long and is in 20 ft. of water, so it's easy to see snorkeling. It's made of iron and is the most complete wreck here. Much coral has grown on it, but you can still recognize it as a ship. Since we don't have a boat of our own, one of the park rangers took us to see it. Very nice dive.

Camping is still slow. Usually only one or two campers here at a time. Also, one of the two ferries is not running now, so the crowds are still light. Gives us more time to goof off!

Billions of stars

This place is a dream location for star gazers. For one thing, there is no light pollution - none. No matter which direction you look, there's no light from houses, streets, buildings - nothing. The only possible interference is the moon, if it's up.

Also, if you're on top of the fort, you can see for 360 degrees, all the way from straight up to the horizon. As a result, the number of stars is staggering. You can clearly see the Milky Way - it just jumps out at you. Because we're much further south than home, some of the constellations are different. And we can't see the north star - it's below the horizon.

A few nights ago we were looking out our patio, which faces south. We saw a faint glow on the horizon. It was too big to be a boat. We later found out that we were seeing the lights of Havana, 90 miles to the south, reflected off clouds!

It's raining - inside

Living in a 150 year old fort has some interesting quirks. All the living quarters and offices are constructed in open casements. (A casement is a room where a cannon is placed.) Here there are casements on the first and second levels. Many of the casements were never finished, so to make one into a room all you need to do is frame some walls, add electricity and plumbing, and finish inside as desired.

All the walls and ceilings are made from brick. (16 million, more or less) There are lots of arches to carry the load of the structure, and it's some amazing workmanship - very striking in spots. Many of the quarters and offices have the original brick arched ceiling. But, there is a problem. All the brick and mortar is old, and it's constantly shedding bits of mortar and brick. It's very small, like sand, but it's constant. So, all sensitive things, like computers and TVs, are kept covered with plastic when not in use. Likewise furniture, kitchen appliances, whatever you want to keep clean. Every floor is always gritty, unless it's swept every day. Our room, thank goodness, has a drop ceiling, so we don't wake up with sand in the bed.

Also, after it rains, the water starts seeping down through the bricks and mortar. It's porous and has some cracks. 2-3 days after a rain the ceiling may start dripping in a new spot. Definitely makes life interesting!

Let there be light..

Or more precisely, electricity. We do need our air conditioning. (And computers and TVs and refrigerators, etc) Where does it come from?

Nothing fancy - there are three diesel generators here. Each one can generate 100 KW and uses 60-70 gallons of fuel per day. Only one runs at a time - the average load is 3o KW. I've been in the generator room. It's like a mini-inferno: very loud and hot. I can't imagine what it would be like if all three were running at the same time.

And there's some type of automatic switchover system if the online generator should stop for any reason. This is all good news. The bad news is the two backup generators are currently down for repairs. If the third fails, it's going to be very dark here!

MV Fort Jefferson

The Fort Jefferson is here again. This is our ride back to Key West on October 1. It arrived Tuesday afternoon. After all the cargo and passengers were unloaded, we asked if we could look around. No problem, got a personal tour by the captain.

It's very impressive, 110 ft long with a crew of the captain and two deck hands. There are three levels. The highest is the bridge. It has a great view all around and all the latest electronics.

The main deck level contains the galley and seating for passengers. This is all air conditioned, of course. The galley contains all modern, full size appliances. There a couple of big tables for eating or writing or playing cards or whatever. There is other seating for those just wanting to read or sleep. (The trip takes 5 hours each way). This trip we counted 18 passengers - some staff, most here for a few days for special projects.

The aft part is where all cargo is stored. If it's water sensitive, it's put in big plastic bins. All is secured to the deck with straps. For loading and unloading there is a winch.

The next level down contains, forward, quarters for crew and temporary guests. They run a lot of research trips and can carry up to 8 guests for up to 2 weeks.

Aft of this is the engine room. There are 3 diesel engines, each of 925 hp and each with its own screw. (That's a propeller for you landlubbers.) We were at the dock so they were not running. Aft of that is another room containing two 65KW generators, a sewage treatment plant, and a reverse osmosis fresh water generator. Below decks are four diesel tanks - two for boat operation and two for cargo. Each trip the boat unloads about 4000 gallons of diesel for the generators at the fort. The final room aft contains electrical panels and distribution systems.

All the comforts of home. Not quite the QE2, but pretty close.

A tarpon at last

Finally got a tarpon! We had noticed that right at sundown, at a spot on the south swim beach, the tarpon were feeding on minnows. Yesterday I caught some live bait (mostly grunts, 2-4 inches long) on a sabiki rig. (What's that? Click here and/or Google.) So today at sunset I was ready. The tarpon showed up right on time. The first 3 or 4 baits I caught snapper. Good to eat, but not what I wanted. Finally got a strike from a tarpon AND hooked it AND landed it. Since tarpon have a hard mouth and jump a lot, most strikes don't result in a catch. I was lucky, I admit it. It was about 30 inches long - a baby, but still a tarpon. Sorry, no picture, it was almost dark and, well, I was busy!

What if there is a hurricane?

Many people asked this when they first found out where we were going. You'll be pleased to know that there is an official policy for hurricanes. (This is the federal government at work. There is a policy for everything.) We know that for a minimum hurricane (category 1 or 2), this is place is considered so safe that they evacuate any park personnel in Key West back to the park. So, no worry.

This afternoon we snorkeled all the way around the fort. Lots of coral, both soft and hard, and plenty of tropical fish. In two places there are remains of docks used to load coal, when that was the primary fuel used by ships. Nothing is left now but rusted metal pilings. This area is very attractive to bait. Today it was loaded with glass minnows - at times they are so thick you can't see where you're going. And the tarpon love them. We saw lots of them, up to 4 ft. long. They're not afraid of us, you can almost get close enough to touch them. Now if I could only cateh one!

Day off

Today was an official day off for us. We're supposed to work 5 days & be off 2, but on a day off it's a bit difficult to go shopping or to a movie, so we've been ignoring the days off until now.

There was a bird biologist visiting from Everglades National Park, so this morning we went with him to Bush Key to look for bird nests. Bush Key is just across the harbor, but closed to the public because it's a major nesting site of the Sooty Tern. They generally nest from February through the summer, but are done by now. This year they estimate there were 21,000 nesting pairs. We looked for any stray nests (they lay eggs on the ground), but found none. There are also some saltwater ponds on the Key and a saltwater crocodile. We looked for it, but it was hiding today.

This afternoon we went back to Loggerhead Key and spent the afternoon snorkeling. There are some really nice reefs on the north side of the island. So now, we're refreshed and ready to work again (although it's more fun than work).

A trashy subject

I'm sure you have all wondered what happens to the trash here (or maybe not.) In any event, you're about to find out. For starters, Key West Sanitation does NOT make house calls here. But, I bet you knew that.

For visitors, whether they come by ferry or private boat, there are no public trash cans. Everybody has to take their trash with them when they leave. Some of the campers try to get creative, specially when they've been here for a few days, but we're on to their tricks now.

For the staff here, there is a good process in place. First, we're big into recycling. Everybody has to sort their trash: paper (burnable), plastic (no. 1 or 2), cans, glass, and cardboard. Each of these goes into special cans or bins. There is a final can for everything else called "the dump". There are also compost barrels for some types of organic waste. I've been assembling some in my spare time, so every residence can have it's own.

The burnable stuff gets burned here, once every week or so, along with brush and other yard waste. (It's surprising how much vegetation there is here.) Everything else goes back to Key West abord the Fort Jefferson, which usually comes every 2 weeks. Every type of trash gets loaded into one or more big bins, which are they loaded onto the Fort Jefferson. And then we start over.

See, aren't you glad you asked?

Taking it easy...

Now that Labor Day is over, the campers have been few, so not much to do there. Both ferries still running every day, but less than half full. We've been helping out with office work and maintenance. Monia has been doing some filing - it seems to have gotten behind. (They say they are really short of staff, several open positions. Anyone want to live on Dry Tortugas for a while? We really recommend it!)

Starting today the regular bookstore operator is on her 4-day leave, so we're covering that. Lots of times people wander in for the air conditioning. We tell them they can stay 10 minutes for each thing they buy. Hasn't worked yet, but we'll keep trying, it might...

Last 2 days there have been several Coast Guard boats coming and going. We hear there are some training operations in progress, plus they are responsible for the lighthouse on Loggerhead Key.

There have been lots of swallows the last few days. Migrating somewhere, this is a rest stop. Hope to get some pictures, but they're always zooming around. Sooner or later they have to land, maybe then.

Not much fishing activity at the moment. All the bait fish has left the dock, no one knows why. I made a really cool bait bucket out of trash I found on the beach. Now all I need is bait.

More later.

We're going to be rich!

Yesterday we went to Long Key to look aroung and pickup trash. Long Key is very close, just across the harbor. As volunteers we're allowed to go, and so went by kayak.
It's a nesting site for Frigatebirds and closed to the public. They don't seem afraid of you - here's a picture of one.

So, about getting rich. We found this note in a plastic bottle, sealed with red wax. It must be authentic, right? What do you think, should we call the number?

All about turtles

Dry Tortugas is famous for, among other things, turtles. There is a resident biologist whose main job is just to keep track of turtle nesting.

Yesterday we went with her to Loggerhead Key to look at some nests. About 3 days after they hatch she will dig up the nests to count the eggs and look for turtles that may be alive but didn't escape the nest. Monia and I helped dig a couple of sites (no eggs), then went snorkeling. The biologist and her helper continued looking and found 2 live turtles in another nest. We put them in the water and off they went!

Today we went to East Key. It's smaller but has lots more nests. Monia and I dug up one that had 90 hatched eggs and 5 unhatched. No turtles, but very interesting!

Bush Key / Long Key visit

Yesterday, I went to Bush and Long Key with the biologist. leaving John here to greet the ferries and campers. We found no turtles but I got great views of the brown noddys and frigate birds there. Also I walked past many tantalizing shells; fun to see even if I had to leave behind. We plan to go with her to Loggerhead Key when we get the chance; may find some baby turtles there.

Fishing report from John: Early in the week we saw lots of small tarpon around the docks, and some people were catching them with live bait. By the time I got a chance to fish the tarpon were gone (but they say they'll be back). Yesterday I caught a Spanish mackeral from the dock. Didn't want to keep it; as soon as I threw it back a big barracuda zoomed out from under the dock and ate it. From now on I'll keep them for us. This morning I was fishing again and caught a small barracuda. I don't really want to hook these; they tend to cut off hooks and the nearest store is 70 miles away!

Otherwise keeping busy with the campground - it's totally full now. We're also helping out with minor maintenance and the bookstore.

Weather was great today. Threatened rain early, but clouds went away. Nice 10-15 mph breeze to keep the heat down.

They expect us to WORK here!

First full day on the job, & we're tired. Prior to the ferry boats arriving at 10:30, we had to put up the flag, record previous day's temperatures and rainfall, get the visitor center ready, and clean the changing rooms on the dock. Both boats had campers, so we had to go over the rules and get them settled in. Afterwards we got a lesson on how to clean the bathrooms for the campground, what to look for in the way of problems, and more details about how to look after the campground in general.

In the afternoon we got trained on how to run the bookstore. Not sure how much of that we'll do, maybe next week. I think the regular attendant is off for a few days.

BTW, found out that the employees work 10 days on, then 4 off, during which time most return to Key West. The Fort Jefferson left this morning and took about half the staff, but it won't be too bad for those of us left, because the crowds are down now.

After the ferries left, we had to secure the visitor's center & do some cleanup. Last we replaced a 4x4 post at one of the campsites. They say that at times (when it's wet - definitely not now, it's been dry for weeks) there are problems with rats getting into food at the campgrounds. The posts are used to hang up food to keep the critters out.

All for now...

First days

We arrived at the park Monday at 10:30 AM. The boat trip was uneventful - calm waters the whole way. We did get breakfast & lunch free - yes!

We spent most of Monday unpacking and settling into our apartment. It's tiny - you can stand in the middle and touch every piece of furniture without moving. We have to eat outside on a picnic table and wash dishes in the bathroom. But, it's air conditioned!! Later in the day we got a private tour of the whole fort, including areas that are off-limits to the public.

Part of our job is to greet the tour boats (2) that some each day, and if there are any campers, give them an orientation talk, show them the campground and facilities, and be available for questions. Monday there were none, today 2. They say that it's slow now with the end of summer and start of school, but it will pick up on Labor Day weekend.

We've not done any fishing yet. You can't fish off the dock while boats are there, and between the tour boats and Fort Jefferson park boat, there have been boats there ever since we arrived. The FJ is leaving tomorrow, so we may get a chance then. We've seen lots of tarpon in the water. This afternoon we got a chance to go snorkeling and saw a school of squid in the water - first time ever.

For you computer geeks - I brought a laptop just in case. It turns out there is a wired network used by the rangers and also a wireless network, which I am using now. Problem is, I have to sit outside to use it - weak signal.