Bed races!

What does this have to do with the Dry Tortugas? Actually, nothing. But we're now in Key West, it's during the Conch Republic Independence Celebration, and as you know, Key West has a reputation for being - well, weird. We got here early afternoon, heard about the races, and went looking for them. It's advertised as "the most fun you can have in bed with your clothes on" - use your imagination. We got there a bit late for the actual race, but got to see the beds and racers. Anybody want to enter next year?

Back again!

It's been a while (about a year and a half) since our last post, when we left the park at the end of September, 2009. Now we're going back again. We'll be there the month of May, 2011. It will be interesting to see what has changed and what is different. We know there have been some personnel changes, and also that only 1 ferry is running now. (There were two last time.) This is supposed to be the time of year for bird migration and nesting, so we'll probably see lots more birds. Stay tuned!

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!