Marina Review: Key West Harbor Yacht Club

The Key West Harbor Yacht Club on Stock Island is approximately 3 years old and very, very nice.  We were able to get the same monthly fee as the other marina, but it's 10 times nicer.

It has a small convenience store and dockmasters office--but that's not what makes it nice.

It has a club house with restaurant and lounge--but that's not the best part.

It has it's own pool and little private beach--but still not the best part.

It has a Tiki bar for members to use--still not the best part.

It has these open air showers on the point that are absolutely divine.  After several hours wrestling with batteries, inflatable dinghies, no shore power and assorted nonsense. Taking a shower with a hot water rain head, large stall and a view of the water with the sea breezes blowing over you--well, it's just about as close to a religious experience that you can have.

The shower/bath out on the outer basin is also a tiki hut, my one complaint is that the actual bathroom part is poorly lit and has no ventilation, so the feeling of suffocation happens quickly. It looks like it's set up to have a/c added, so maybe they'll do that one day.  Absolutely no complaints about those showers though, but I'm sure they could be a bit nippy on a cold day.

The staff there was really nice, including the cast of thousands that came jetting out to us when we were having shore power problems.  Even our boat neighbors were nice and friendly, maybe too friendly for Tim since there were two ladies chatting it up about 20 feet from where he was taking a shower with only the bamboo screen as privacy.

If Southwest makes my dream come true and takes over AirTran's route into Key West, this will be a definite option for us, it's about 10 min from the airport.

It's also in the direct path of the Key West NAS, so it's rather alarming to hear the jets go screaming by, because you don't hear them coming. However, I like the fighter jets so I don't mind.

Entrance from channel showing club house and small beach area

The entrance into the Harbor, and the one time that ignorance is bliss.
Evidently, the channel is dredged to around 7 feet, however, the
charts are not updated to reflect this and we had more than one
sphincter moment on approach.

Battery woes...

When you see this, it doesn't bode well for the day....

In order to start diagnosing the little problem we've been having with the non-charging/keeping voltage of the batteries, we had to access the batteries. Which means emptying the cockpit locker.  No wind, 90 degrees.

Oh, and due to some weirdness with the new marina's shorepower we kept blowing breakers and so we had no a/c running to cool off.

So, back to emptying out the cockpit locker. Out goes the dinghy, out goes the oars, out goes 10 tons of odds and ends, out goes the boom tent.  Then the battery box cover needs to be removed.

Tim finds that two batteries are shot, but they are new, what happened.  Still waiting to figure that out.

So the next step is to remove two 70 lb batteries, and gravity isn't on our side.  But we did it, the whole working out thing paid off for me and I was able to help heft the suckers over the side of the boat to Tim.

So, Tim will be going down for a work day to figure why two batteries went kaput, he thinks it has something to do with the alternator, and he read that in our year boat there were some things going on with the Tach on the Yanmars not reading correctly, so he bought some fancy Laser Tach Monitor (sounds like a video game to me) to see if he can get an accurate measurement.

While he was messing around with turning things on and off and scratching his head a lot, I proceeded to refold Tiny D up and get her in the bag.  Inflatable dinghies are like maps folks, once unfolded, that's the best they were ever gonna be.

Also, after much merriment and blowing the breakers on about 5 slips, Tim finally got to the marina manager and after jawing at each other got all the breakers reset. Spouse was losing his patience because everytime we called them out, we'd get a different person, none of them electricians.  Then we find out that we need a two pronged (basically the ground is removed) 50 amp to 30 amp connector, problem solved. We gots power, we've restored good graces with our neighbor, who arrived on his boat to say...is the power out. Which my job was to bat my lashes prettily and say, uh, yeah, I think a breaker blew.

So, we got the boat repacked sans two batteries which is making the Leaning Tower of HemiD a whole lot happier.  

The HIdden Bar and Tales of Key West

So, more back to the story about how the Southernmost point well, ain't really the Southernmost point.

The story goes back to World War II when the Navy built a base on Key West to port ships and subs.  After dredging the channels and sub basin, the fill was used to create what is now Tank Island (Sunset Key for those who spent much moola to stay there), Christmas Tree Island (not developed) and basically enough fill to make Key West grow by several square miles.  And thus, what is marked the Southernmost point....well, if you look straight west from it, you'll notice a spit of land jutting out to the South with some military radars and sat dishes on it.  All man made.

However, these are the little things in life that makes my ever logical husband absolutely batty.

And its hilarious.

However, geography aside, I was fascinated to know how much of Key West was built up during WWII and then in the '50s during the Cuban Missile Crisis and those ne'er-do-well Soviets and Cubans.

If you ever want to hear a good tale, tall or otherwise, you must visit the Chart Room that is now surrounded by the Pier House resort.

But Kim, you ask, why do you say surrounded?

Because the bar was there first.  It has been and always will be locals bar. However, show your proper respect and you will be welcomed like a local.

And here's how the story goes.  Evidently, when the family that owned the Chart Room bar and the surrounding land was ready to sell (and trust me, I would have also), they sold with one provision. YOU SHALL NEVER TEAR DOWN THE CHART ROOM.  However, these wily Conchs knew not to trust those scabby mainlanders and those most evil of creatures called Lawyers (very sorry to my friends that are lawyers--you know who you are), they did this: They held onto the liquor license. Evidently, it's harder than hell to obtain a new liquor license in Key West. In most property agreements, the license is handed over. However, in order to protect the rights of the locals to keep their bar, they resorted to blackmail. Which continues to this day.  If the resort ever tries to do anything with the Chart Room, the original owners will terminate their liquor license.  And the resort would be SCREWED. Because having no liquor in Key West would be a death knell for a property.  The whole resort depends on the Chart Room's liquor license, and that's freaking awesome.

So, on to this day, the merry little Chart room prevails.  And you can go into this nice posh resort, past all the fancy restaurants and rooms and stroll into a little hole in the wall. And enjoy your free hot dogs, popcorn and peanuts. Please throw the shells on the floor.  And look around, you'll see all sorts of history and cool things that visitors left.  More times than not, the bartender is a sailor. If he or she find out you sail, you are part of the family.

Behind the bar, be careful what you read there, you might go blind.

Local heros of the Conch Republic (Mel Fisher is on the right)
Also ensigns from visiting ships.

The bartender with one of the locals--meaning the bird.
We were all sharing peanuts together.

Wrecker's Race--Key West

So Sunday, we decided to have somebody do the sailing for us and jumped aboard to take part in the Wrecker's Race.

Every year, Key West, namely the Schooner Wharf Bar, hosts a series of four races to commemorate the golden days of yore when somebody would ride/walk/shout (?) through town and announce that a ship had wrecked on the reefs.  So every able bodied man, sometimes women and child would set off in whatever floated to try to lay claim to the prize.

Our race headed out to Sand Key, which is actually a reef.  We were on the Schooner Adirondack III and she's a sweet little ship.  Gaff-rigged cutter and swift on her feet.

Anybody is welcome to join the race, you sign up and then attend a very informal and semi-intoxicated Captain's meeting. They told us we could enter HemiD late if we wanted, but I preferred to take pics and get buzzed instead (BTW--that didn't work out so well, old Cap'n Chris had his game face on).

So, with a brief dial up before the very anti-climatic start. (C'mon people, you got paying customers aboard!) We took off. And by that I mean. We. Took. Off.  We quickly passed everybody to be in the lead.
We passed the Schooner Appledore like it was standing still and she had her full sails going.

We won our class, but we didn't win the race.  The winner of the race was a guy in a Hobie Cat. Holy shit! Hobie Cat, 7 miles out to the reef, ocean.  I was impressed.  The second place was in the multi-hull class. Everybody else was way behind.

Since the crew of Adirondack almost beat their all time record, they decided to take us out to a little joy ride. They wanted to get to the Gulf Stream to see the colors, but it had shifted outward and we wouldn't make it and get back in time.

On the way back, we lapped a lot of the ships and commenced in some good natured jeering.  Maybe next year we'll enter HemiD.

Ye Olde Schooner Wharf Bar

Tim's new boat (never got the name of her)
She's definitely a Perini Navi

My favorite.  Big schooner with mini-me.
A homemade schooner from a dinghy, some bamboo and tarp.

The Sand Key Light and end of our race.
Rumor has it in the old days, the wreckers would knock out the lights or
cut loose the light boats to make ships deliberately wreck.

 

Part of the pack of racers behind us.

 

 

Capt. Chris with his game face on.

Tim admiring the neighbor's very pretty Shannon after the race
and during 'Afternoon Tea.'

Key West--Love it or Hate it--A Midwestern Conch's survival guide

There's this thing about Key West.  I have found people either love it...or they despise it.

We've been going to Key West since we've met and that's about 14 years now.  I always wanted to go there, it's a history buff's dream, Tim, well, I got two words for his desire. Jimmy. Buffett.

See where I'm going here? Me: History. Him: Margaritaville Mecca.

So, here's my 10 second guide to Key West.

1. Duval Street--Do it once, and said I got that checked off my list.
2. Southernmost Point--See above, however, bring your GPS and see if it truly is the most southermost point (BTW-it ain't-more on that later)
3. Mallory Square Sunset Festival--Yes.  The local arts and the buskers are totally worth it.  Go to the Westin and visit the Mojito Man in his vintage Woody.
4. The Mel Fisher Museum--Yes.
5. The Hemingway Museum/Audubon House/Little White House--Yes 
6. Wandering around getting lost and looking at the historical houses--Yes
7. Schooner Wharf Bar--Yes
8. Chart Room (Hidden in the Pier House Resort)--Yes
9. Almost any restaurant off of Duval--Yes
10. Restaurants on Duval--Only if you need to stave off a massive hangover
11. Margaritaville--If you have to.  Okay, I find it one of my favorite people watching areas and the bartenders have always been great. (That should keep me out of trouble with the Spouse)
12. Dry Tortugas by Ferry or Seaplane--Yes
13. Danger Charters Day Sail or Wind and Wine Sail--Yes
14. A sunset sail on one of the schooners--Yes (current favorites are Western Union and Adirondack)
15. Finding a locals bar and meeting somebody very knowledgeable about the area--priceless.
16. B.O.'s Fish Wagon--Yes.
17. Smather's Beach--Meh.  Make sure you have some sort of protective footwear for the water. There are only manmade beaches in Key West.
18. Art galleries (not the cheap souviner shit either)--the true art galleries--YES

So, I've known people who've gone to Key West and absolutely hated it.  Basically, because they stuck to the tourist guide.  And let me tell you, if you arrive in Key West when three cruise ships are in town and it's 80 degrees with 90% humidity, you most likely will not be overwhelmed by the place.

However, come into my world.  Stroll over to Sunday bruch at Blue Heaven and hear Mustafa and Brady play.  Or, go to Croissants de France for a wonderful European style breakfast.

Stop and listen to the Sunday morning services, it's actually quite pretty.

Wander along the lanes of Old Key West and look at the historic Conch Houses and feel the history.

Find a true blooded Conch and have him tell you the stories of 'the good old days'--and enjoy the ride.

Or, have a few drinks and get evil.

Laugh at the east coast Jersey Shore douchebags as they roll into town. Okay, Tony Soprano, it's called a shirt, put it on and cover that grotesque steroid induced puffiness you think is hot.  Amazingly enough, I don't see a lot of Snooki's, just the male douchebags.

Do the cruise ship slug bug.  

1 point if they have the 'I'm wearing a sticker give me a discount'. 

2 points if they have a new shirt from a caribbean island or cruise line. 

3 points if they are wearing matching outfits.  

4 points if they have rented one of those 4 seater bike wagons.  

Shoot the moon if they are standing in the MIDDLE of Mallory square and ask:  We want to go to Mallory Square, can you help us get there?  (usually, by that time, I'm half in the bag, and my husband will say look shiny things to me and then be the good samartin--cause I would have them all the way to Key Largo, yes I would)

Marina Review: Galleon Marina

The Galleon Marina is in the Historic Key West Bight.  So to start, here's what that means.

1. Deep enough water for boats.  
2. Right in the center of the action.
3. Plenty of fuel and pump out options.

However, you gotta pay to play, and for us, that means, just a few nights stay.  Since it was Conch Republic Independence Celebration, they jacked up the price to $4.50/ft/night and I think 40 ft minimum.

However, the marina and its staff were wonderful. I mentioned earlier my bonding with Eric at Tim's expense.  

But, some of the other plus sides.

• Floating docks with fingers on each side, plenty of cleats and/or pilings.
• Electricity/water included, internet (land line) for $3.00/day.

Access to all of the Galleon resort facilities which includes a nice pool, private (albeit small) beach, sunset deck and sauna.

Restrooms are shared with the pool area, but there's a code only entry to the showers. All redone and very nice.

I would prefer to have restrooms/showers in the same area, personally. Not a big thing, but more of a convenience thing.

And although the showers were nice, there was a lack of places to put your crap, a bench per shower would be nice.  There was a nice sink area for primping, no hair dryers, not a big deal. (Only was a big deal when the Florida Keys were 48 degrees!)

However, when you got Blondie Big Tits not being particularly shy about her body, it's really hard to brush out your hair and put on makeup with her standing next to you stark ass naked. And when I say stark ass naked, I mean, Stark. Ass. Naked.

I'm not necessarily a prude, but it kinda put me off, so I return to finish up on the boat. Luckily we have a great sink area for that.

Overall, though, we most likely will stay there again. The access is much simpler than the other marinas. However, over winter it's best to make reservations way in advance.  True off season our boat neighbor told us, starts Memorial Day.

And on the flip side.....

So, despite the stories of beautiful anchorages, sunsets and dancing dolphins--the story wouldn't quite be complete without the other side of the coin.

After all, it's a boat. And shit goes wrong on a boat.

In this case, it happened to be the battery bank.  The actual full diagnosis and solution is still up in the air, but however, with 4 house batteries and a start battery, we managed to go dead the first day. Voltage went skydiving and in one of the most inopportune moments--the chartplotter does also.

Did I mention we were in skinny water...with coral heads?

So for the rest of the way down, massive attempts of diagnosing the voltage drain ensue.  At this point, all we know is yep, it's happening.

At this point, Spouse has concern that maybe the alternator/AGM batteries/Yanmar are not quite synching properly.

He wound up removing two batteries that were definitely shooting craps on the voltometer, which created a bit of joy for HemiD to not have to list to port so bad.

So, I feel sorry for my 12 Volt Man, he work so hard and to have his hard work start acting up is quite disconcerting.  One amusing moment was that Ten Second Tim and his lack of short term memory seemed to gloss over the fact that we hadn't had this problem before.

Guess who's the databank in this family?

The boat isn't in danger, thankfully, however, it's not a good scenario for when we want to do a passage, whether it be to Dry Tortugas or Bahamas.  Dry Tortugas would particularly suck because there's not what you call boat friendly facilities there, the National Parks would have to give us a jump start and most likely not be amused.

So, there'll be an update soon. Tim has a work trip to Miami soon, so he's adding on a few days to work on the voltage problem.

Key West ho!

After a long, but pleasant downwind run from Channel 5, we made it to the Key West Bight around 5:30pm.

It was cool to be that boat cruising by Mallory square into the Bight and not the poor slob on land wishing they were.

The captain got himself psyched out a bit in approaching our slip.  Multi-million dollar boats tend to do that to him.  Also, without a working knot meter he's been kinda misjudging how fast he's going.

So, thus, we approach our assigned slip at the Galleon Marina at a fairly rapid speed. As in fairly rapid, I mean. HOLY SHIT!  Our dock master, who looked rather like Lewis Black was trying to remain calm while saying "Slow down there, Cap."  In the meantime, I am wondering how far I will be launched off the bow when we hit the dock.

However, 'Cap' really did a good job controlling the boat and we got her tied off.  I went to go check us in while Tim sprayed off the boat.  By the time I made it over to the dockmaster's office, Tim and already become legend.  We had a good laugh at my husband's expense and in his absence.  And they invited us to share their barbecue later--since somehow in the midst of 5 knot docking Erik and Tim managed to have a full conversation about the non-working Magma grill.  WTF?

By the time I got back Tim had rinsed of HemiD and himself and was ready for a drink.  I wanted to fulfill my personal goal of waltzing into the Schooner Wharf Bar crusty with salt and smelling like a sailor, so we just headed over.  Yeah, that's right, I SAILED here  you bitchesesess.

I kicked off the eve with a Dark and Stormy and from there on out the evening got progressively fuzzier.

Shrimping boat heading out for the night.

The USS Normandy in town.  This is a real f***youup ship with
armaments to blow you out of the sky, off of land,
out of the water or even underwater.

Mallory Square pre-Sunset Celebration

Hemi D in her slip safe and sound.

Dancing with Dolphins

We got our dolphin visit.  A pod of six came to play in our wake for about 15 minutes.  I will never tire of these guys.

We were averaging around 5 1/2-6kts at the time and they would just fall behind the boat and then race forward ahead of us, almost as if they tried to get to the bow first.  Then they would repeatedly criss-cross across the bow.  Very fun, and not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

Enjoy the pictures.

 

Thar be Cookie Pirates aboard

We once again get up at the butt crack of dawn to continue our journey to Key West.  We should hit the bight by 5-6pm if all goes well.

Once we get stowed and underway I call first dibs on a nap.

Now--before we went on this trip, I explained to my darling spouse that I was having issues with trusting him when its his watch.  This insulted husband immensely.  However, I stuck to my guns and reminded him that every time I went to catch some shut eye (especially since I cannot sleep on the hook) I would wake up and find him down below dinking with the iPad or making a sandwich or some other nonsense.
So, I beat him down to submission and he said he'd try to be a good boy.

Thus comes the Legend of Captain CompyComp the Cookie Pirate.

No sooner than I fall asleep, Tim gets the munchies.  Realizing that if he gets caught down below will just give me more reason to read him the riot act, he proceeds to stealth cookie acquisition mode.

Except, I had stowed said cookies and he couldn't find them.  So, stealthily he perused the cabin for all my food storage spaces pleading to the gods that I will not wake up.  And I'm asleep in the salon also, not our berth so he's really up for a challenge.

He managed to find his cookies and headed back up top.

When I awoke, he was very proud of himself and of course, being my husband, couldn't keep the secret of cookie piracy to himself and promptly told me.

And yep, I yelled at him again.  While laughing.

No one shall come between me and my cookies!

Skinny water sailing for dummies

Okay, now it's time for the next adventure of the day.

Spouse is review the charts and says, right before this channel marker you can cut through, we have plenty of depth.

Ha. HaHaHa. HardyHarHar.

So, trusting his chart reading skills--quoth the raven, nevermore--I proceed to do what he says.  Then decide that the grounding of the boat will be while he's at the helm. Not I.

He takes over.  Keeps going, I'm starting to see in startling clarity and HD reception some coral head and bottom.

Then, here we go, OH SHIT, hard left, hard left.  That was 4 feet of water, NOT 6.

For once, I realized it would be wise that only one of us on board should be shitting mickies, so I kept relatively calm and started watching for potential grounding opportunities.

Okay, I was privately smirking to myself.  At least I kept us in 15-20 feet of water with my stupid ass stunt. (of which I am STILL blaming RayAutopilot)

So we get out of a potential grounding situation and my darling spouse meekly proceeds to head through the proper channel to the Florida Bay side.

We found our anchorage and nailed it.  And for once, the whole hand signal think worked, and didn't involve use of the middle finger hand signal.

And it was wondrous, the boat was SO STILL.

So, it's time to grill some steaks, have a drink and crash. (it was a 13 hour sailing day--I TOLD you I put forth an ambitious plan)

But, Sir Captain forgets that his duties entail maybe cleaning out the Magma once a decade (or in our case within the last 3 years). It's so clogged it won't start. Then the crack lighter will not work.  Then, just because we hadn't had enough excitement in the last 2 hours, Spouse breaks out the butane torch from his tool box to light the grill.  Oh Lordy, just let me swim to shore now.

Grill never lights.  So grilled steak rapidly becomes Sauteed Filet Mignon d'HemiD.  And I NAILED IT.

Also roasted my ass off down below. BUT I NAILED IT.  Despite the Captain's attempts to coach my cooking technique, which was rewarded with some proper hand gestures of the middle finger, they turned out really well.

Of course, as soon as it's time for bed, the wind kicks up and starts howling. We never moved, but I just can't seem to get the sleeping under anchor down.

It also didn't help that some night fisherman decided that our anchor line was a great place to fish off of and not amusing Tim a'tall.

However, it was all worth it.

Nothing beats a beautiful sunset.

Best anchor image yet on the GPS, still couldn't sleep.

So, today's trip covered 75nm, only 60nm more to the Key West Bight.

A (somewhat) organized plan to sail to Key West

Bright and early we got ready to shove off for Key West.  I set a ambitious sail plan for us.
Which we made.

Stuff like re-reviewing charts and all that?
Not so much.

We hit the road, a little later than planned, but no big deal.  We got through Biscayne Channel with a dolphin sighting to bless our voyage.

Then out in Hawk Channel we deployed the sails and got headed off.

Tim went to bed.  I started sightseeing.

And Ray the Autopilot started heading for the Bahamas. Shit you not.

Okay, my fault was not to review again the paper chart to make sure I was heading for the correct day marker.

And as person on watch, I might have taken note that our illustrious autopilot was going on a joyride.

But. But. BUT.

We were sailing beautifully, the sunrise was gorgeous. The water was beautiful.

And got really beautiful.

And I thinks to myself, this is the beautiful water and blues you see when around a coral reef.

..........Coral......Reef......d'oh.

Shit.  Question: Okay, how can I finesse my way out of this mess before Tim wakes up.
Answer: I won't.

Tim comes up top and I do my best batting of the eyes and "uh, honey, I wuv you, but oops"  He assesses the situation, however, since he's not what we call a quick waker upper, he gets rather alarmed with my slalom sailing through 3-4 MLLW coral rocks.

Some guys, no sense of humor at all.

So, it wasn't really THAT BAD. (He had his moment later in the day, but that's another story)  He found a break and I literally did a hard right and barreled to our proper course and water depth.  Then I was sent to bed without any supper.  Okay, it was still 8 a.m. in the morning.

However, it wasn't like was doing NOTHING!  See?

Going through Biscayne Chanel and the flats before Biscayne Key

Old Glory off the stern catching the rising sun

As usual, the camera can't really catch the true beauty of the color.
But this is when I started to realize that something may be amiss.

The rest of the day went fabulously well, until just before Channel Five Bridge......

Keep reading

Restaurant Review--Bimini Boatyard, Ft. Lauderdale

Just a stone's throw away from our usual favorite haunt the Southport Raw Bar.  (fly KC to FLL, stop at the West Marine just by the airport, go eat.  THEN you are ready to start vacation)

However, I had heard about a nice joint called the Bimini Boat Yard, literally just around the corner (or down the canal) from the Raw Bar.

In a word. Yum.

First of all, any joint that will offer me Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc as a happy hour drink wins a special place in heaven with me.  Tim had a couple (40?) Bahama mamas that were kick ass.

Then the food came.  They specialize in fresh made Bimini Bread. OMG! You get a cavity just looking at it.  It was so good. Our fabulous waiter said that we should make french toast out of the left overs. We didn't get a chance (there was a big boat mouse called Tim on board), but I just probably would have died.

I had a seared Ahi Tuna salad that was incredible. Avocados, mango, champagne vinaigrette. Yes.  Tim had Mahi Mahi wood fired grilled. Also, quite awesome.

So, we may have a new favorite place. Didn't hurt that we had a view of some really nice sailboats and fresh breezes and sun.

The cure for the common seasonal allergy

Get ourself out on a boat, put said boat about 3 nm offshore and sail for 130 miles.

The midwest spring allergy season has not only kicked my ass, but several people I know.  It doesn't help that the farmers are taking advantage of the dry spring to set half the state on fire either.

So, when the going gets tough, the tough get their asses on a sailboat.  I'll gladly trade my Zyrtec, Nasocort and Pulmocort for some Dramamine and seasickness bands. Bring it the f*ck on.

So, the plan, and actually planned out this time.  Heading down to Key West to not only get some long haul sailing practice in, but help celebrate the annual Conch Republic Independence Day, er, Week.
We managed to snag a slip at the Historic Bight (Galleon Marina-review will be forthcoming) for the weekend and then leave her over at Stock Island again (different marina-review to come also).  Considering a hotel was going to cost for two nights what our slippage is, no brainer.

So, as a reward for suffering through the coldest mutha-f*cking winter the Keys has seen, Mother Nature and Father Neptune have blessed us with warm weather, sunny skies and awesome winds.

Then this shit pops up on my Weather Underground page:
Invest?  INVEST?  What the hell is INVEST?

However, I do love the computer model.  It could hit Cuba....or Bahamas....or Bermuda..... or British Isles.  What the hell. It's a crap shoot.

Of course, The Weather Channel is just pissing themselves with joy over a semi-formed low pressure system in the Atlantic.  Between that and the wicked storms traversing the country, it's a weatherman's  wet dream.

So, cheerio. See you on the flip side.  Or for reader's entertainment, possible drunk post.