Shark porn

Now that I have some time on my hands, I can take advantage of some of the cool stuff around here. For example, I spent a morning with Wes, a researcher studying the mating habits of nurse sharks and learning all about shark fornification.

A step ladder is a primary tool in this process, along with standing in waist-deep water. Pretty neat stuff!

See the photos of how all this stuff works.

Fort headlines

• Leaking toilet wastes 3,000+ gallons of water: Due to a negligent resident who continues to ignore repeated pleads from maintenance to make sure the toilet shuts off, non-potable water loss has exceeded 3,000+ gallons over the course of three days, a 300% increase. (Maintenance has turned off the toilet until repair parts arrive.)
• Population explodes 85%: A huge influx of people has elevated the population to a whopping 37. This far exceeds system capacity of 20 people. Potable water usage is expected to skyrocket 400% to 1,600 gallons/day. This population explosion follows a brief week of relief for the much-overloaded system when the recommended 10-12 residents held potable water usage steady at a respectable 400 gallons/day. Non-potable water usage was around 350 gallons/day.
  
• Extreme water shortage expected: Due to all of the above and a project for dredging out the sand from the moat, maintenance expects that all water making activities will cease due to stirred up sand and salinity in the moat. Rain is not expected.
  
• Water shut off 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.: Due to a potable water leak somewhere in the thousands of feet of PVC piping, water was turned off nightly for 3 days while digging commenced. This saved 1,200+ gallons of potential wasted, good drinking water. (Maintenance dug, located and repaired the leak.)

Ice cream!

What originally was going to be a gathering of 10 turned into a crowd 25-strong for my Independence Day celebration. Robin cooked up a mess o' meat, including deer and beef burgers (all was dee-lish).

We had both vanilla (two gallons) and chocolate (a big 5-gallon container) ice cream. We had all the toppings we could think of: hot fudge, raspberry sauce, strawberries, bananas, Robin's peanut butter sauce, pralines, whipped cream (real and canned), peanuts, sliced almonds, cherries, caramel, Twix candy bars, M&Ms and more. It was AWESOME!

See photos.

Independence day

My seasonal Park Service job is officially over. We are having an Independence Day party to celebrate the event. As with most island gatherings, this will be a potluck. We're cooking a deer haunch ... thanks to Robin's Kentucky Kill from last fall during our roadtrip and move here. I hauled it out of the deep freeze and it's thawing now.

In a herculean effort, we also have ice cream to commemorate this occasion in a memorable way. Getting ice cream to the fort entailed the coordinated efforts of island support on Garden Key and in Key West, plus the vital assistance of the M/V Fort Jeff crew and the ship's freezer. It is going to be an ice cream social event, complete with $40 worth of toppings. I can hardly wait!

Although fireworks are not allowed at this national park, I foresee a "kitchen accident" with sparkley things. Stay tuned for the photos!

Loggerhead getaway

Loggerhead Key is 3 miles and a world away from Garden Key, home of Fort Jefferson. A couple weekends ago, Robin and I went to Loggerhead Key for our standard days off. We went snorkeling and kayaking and had a great time, even though we had no running water due to a downed water system. And even though a sandbar shark kept stalking us while we snorkeled, causing us to make a beeline for the beach.

We stayed in what is known as the "Little House", while some friends of ours stayed in the "Big House" (also known as the party house, complete with icemaker, that the Coast Guard uses when in the area).

See some photos of our Loggerhead weekend, including an exciting photo of a turtle nest and our only way to shower (no nudity, please).

(Although Robin has since gotten the water system back up and running, a lightning strike just destroyed the power source that ran the water pump. Sigh. A maintenance man's job is never done.)

Top 10 reasons why our ghetto Jetta is the perfect vehicle

In preparation for hurricane season, we swapped out our 2007 Toyota Tundra with a circa 1998 Volkswagon Jetta. It was originally recovered from a wreck, fixed up by Robin and subsequently (ab)used by Robin's son.

1. Weight loss aid. The air conditioning is broken, resulting in significant weight loss from all the sweating.
2. Built-in mister. When it rains, a leak in the windshield mists the passenger (a pleasant relief from the sweltering heat).
3. Great donut. The spare tire comes in mighty handy whenever one of the old tires blows (which is what happened last weekend and we drove 150 miles on it from Homestead to Key West).
4. Health aid. The significant amount of water we drink because of the broken A/C contributes to clean pores and bladder health.
5. Easy spot. Unique body work and features (different colored hood, broken off spoiler, different colored bumper) make it easy to find in any parking lot.
6. Conversation starter. A theft-proof radio frozen in the locked-out mode encourages conversation because there's no music.
7. Gas economy. This cruiser gets 34+ miles to the gallon (way better than the Tundra). We hardly ever have to fill up.
8. Easy parking. Measuring a full 5+ feet shorter than the Tundra, it is a dream to parallel park and get around the narrow streets of Key West.
9. Blank canvas. The hood and various other parts need some paint and body work, the perfect artistic outlet (we're thinking about painting a shark on the hood).
10. Worry free. It's already beat up and not worth much monetarily so we don't worry about scratches, dents and dings from all the yahoo drivers, bikers, scooters and pedestrians swarming around Key West.
    

Photos

It's been a while since I posted some photos so here are a few of work and play.

• Work: Getting trash off Loggerhead Key and Garden Key is always an endeavor. For Garden Key, we load it all on the park service vessel, haul it to Key West, unload it from the park service vessel into a truck and then haul it to the dump. From Loggerhead, we airlifted the trash using helicopters! Take a look!

• Play: It's been pretty windy but things are calming down a bit. We've been able to get out fishing some. Here are some pics of what Robin's caught recently.

• Work: It's a huge birding migration area, especially on Bush Key. I headed there one day with a renown researcher. See some of the birds.