Key West in the Time of the Covid

White Pepper's stay at Stock Island Marina and Resort, Key West, FL in March and April of 2020 was greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as it was for everyone. We arrived three days before the lock down with reservations for a month. We had planned to restock, rest, and party. We would fly in guests and make a trip out to the Dry Tortugas. Covid wrecked all of these plans. The marina shut down on March 18, 2020. Anyone with less than a 28 day lease was asked to leave. As we had a 30 day lease we could stay. This was so fortunate as we had nowhere else to go!

All of the amenities were closed including the two pools. The hotel was shut down and were the three restaurants on site. We could walk to the liquor store, a small convenience store, West Marine, Car Quest, CVS and the fish store—that was it. We never got to visit Duval St., Mallory Square, South Point, or Smathers Beach. They were closed. We ate every meal on the boat and never visited a restaurant. However, we were very safe. Monroe County quickly closed the Overseas Highway at Key Largo and would not allow any visitors into the Keys. Covid was stopped cold. Only 3 deaths were recorded in the Keys and one was 101 years old.

There was a time in Florida when walking into a liquor store with a mask on would get you shot.

Where did all of the toilet paper go?  Our first trip to Publix.

Unlike so many stuck at home, we were stuck on the boat. The boat provides endless opportunities for chores. I greased all of the winches. I coated the exterior wood with 3 coats of Cetol. We replaced the parted main halyard. Jan repaired the torn genoa. The oil and all of the filters were replaced. A new friend, Chris, cleaned the bottom. It was so hot the extra insulation had to be added to the freezer/refrigerator. Most of all, extraordinary effort was spent replacing the linear drive component of the autopilot. The project was so over the top that it deserves a blog post of its own some day. Finally on the next to last day of our stay that project was finished.

Jan changes the secondary fuel filter

Serviced the Barient 736 three speed winch

We walked everyday usually after dark because it was so hot. Often to beat the afternoon heat we piled into the dingy for a tour of the marina with cocktails. There was wild life in the marina including several large tarpon, an eagle ray manta, thousands of mullet, and even a manatee.

Two tarpon find shade under the boat

Dingy "tea"

We made good friends with Tom and Jessie Page who are just starting out on the cruising life. They were so helpful giving us rides around the island. Our slip neighbor Larry was great. Our friends, Tim and Cricket on Whodoggie, lent us a fan which was wonderful.

Jessie Page

Tom Page

One of the curious aspects of Stock Island Marina was that numerous super yachts flocked to the place for refuge from the Covid. There were at least 3 yachts over 300 feet and about 5 more in the 100 to 200 foot range. Needless to say we did not interact with these folks. Although one yacht did drop off two N95 masks, gratis—many thanks.

Bella Vita, super yacht

Red Head,  not a super yacht but famous as Billie Joel's old boat

When the super yachts started to leave we thought it was time to go as well. Florida was cautiously opening up and marinas were accepting transients. We set out for Fort Meyers Beach but ended up at Clearwater, Florida. We did an overnight stop at Eggmont Key in Tampa Bay along the way.

Storm looked ominous but turned out to be mild