Sharksucker:  Echeneis naucrates

We have arrived at a new level:  when we went swimming yesterday, we had our own remora.  Or Lorenzo did, anyway- I think they like the bare-chested look.  He may have picked them up going by the nurse sharks.  Plus a pair of tiny blue fishes- lovely, but who knows who they were.  They stayed with us the whole time we were swimming.

Happy Easter!

brought to you by the Mangrove Upside-down Jellyfish, Cassiopeia andromeda.

they're 6 or 7 inches in diameter, and very lovely.  Ours had more brown, contrasting with the white branchy parts.

from Gulfspecimen.org,

True scyphozoan jellyfish are a familiar sight along the seashore, and they can usually be seen pulsating along the shallows, contracting and expanding their umbrellas.  Along the southeast Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts a number of species are common.  In some summer months millions of pale white Cannonball Jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris rapidly move through the blue water, stinging everything in their path. 

sounds romantic, no?

90 degrees and gorgeous, we eat, we swim, we sleep.  Have to do errands outside of siesta hours.  The cats look very hot today- think perhaps Cleo would like to be shaved.


We'll stay here for another week or so waiting for packages to show up, setting up a SAT phone and firing up the SSB radio.  When we leave here, we will effectively go off grid as far as phone and internet go.  We'll still get email- internet cafes are everywhere- but we can chuck our verizon phones overboard, causing heavy-metal pollution in the deep.  When we arrive in a new country we'll get whatever phone card they're using and call everyone.  We do, of course, have multiple layers of emergency electronic equipment should thing go sour, but have no plans to use them.

Barbara and Bob on the Dry Tortugas ferry

We've always wanted to make this trip, and it's best to go by ferry- the anchorage for other boats is so limited.  So we made the journey Sunday along with 140 fellow tourists.  Toured the fort, snorkeled, ate.  2.5 hours each way.  Recommended.  
more pix

It's fun being tourists!  This week we're staying with Bob and Barbara in this lovely cottage, in walking distance to all the attractions of Key West.   They rented a car, so we can visit the cats several times a day.  Though we do miss the access to heavy equipment and welding supplies, we'll get back there soon enough.

Reaux, Joyce, and Chew at the museum (note the metalic trees)

This is one of the few photos I took in SF that's even in focus-  surrounded there by competent photographers, too.  We had a wonderful visit- saw lots of friends, and It was all great.  We got back yesterday morning to tropical heat- the ocean is now like bath water.  

Lorenzo and Fausto

Frederick and Barbara

with Dugan at SF Playhouse