In view of cruise ships that appear too big to be real, the sunset is celebrated here every night. In the hours before the sun dips below the horizon, bands are playing and street performers are making their living. Tourists overflow into the streets, glad to be in shorts and short sleeves. During their brief stay in paradise they try to cram in everything they can. Activities come to a halt in the minutes before the sun sets and is followed by applause.

I've been in Key West for awhile now. Often, in the evenings I was lucky enough to enjoy the company of friends and family. I was able to relish in good conversation, tasty meals at many restaurants and kindhearted company. And for a limited period, if you can imagine, I stayed in a house.

Sadly, in due time, each and every one of them left. I heard, "I can't believe I'm leaving", from them all. Personally, I can't believe they all actually left.

Tasting the relaxing Key West environment, several times I've run across a retort that I can now relate to: "maybe tomorrow". Commitment is just shrugged off and the words Key West are somewhere in the excuse. That's not true for everybody, certainly knot for me, I have been quite busy.

Without hesitation, real life sets back in. To the LTD, mate:

While I was stationed on land a windstorm passed through Key West, as they frequently do. When I returned to the boat the next day, I saw she had dragged. The LTD, positioned 200 yards west of where I set her, was posed in the middle of the channel. After boarding my boat, I noticed that someone had been there and let out another 70 feet of anchor line. I started her up and out of the busy channel, I moved the LTD with no delay. It wasn't until the next day that I noticed damage. While on the dinghy, I inspected gouges that I thought I might have caused when I allegedly dragged. I say alleged because, after the examination, little time had passed before I heard from behind me, "Did you sort all that out with the boat that hit you?" At that moment, I met my neighbors Kim and Charles aboard the sailing yacht, "Lady Elsie".

It turns out that another boat broke free of its anchor and took me off of mine. Charles, a Brit, went to gather help and was told not to get involved with an American boat because 'they're all sue happy'. He listened to the American who gave him that advice and notified the Coast Guard. After the mishap had already occurred, the Coast Guard arrived and it was they who let out more anchor-line before towing the other boat away.

On a boat that they built, Kim and Charles sailed from Hull, England. This was their first view of the United States and their first encounter with Americans in America. They were a fun couple to talk with. The stories of their travels were splendid. They were played with by whales and took night pictures of sea turtles in a trance coming out of the water to dig holes and lay eggs.

He also had a few pointers. Here they are directly from England:

• To chill white wine, insert a bottle into a wet sock and let it sit in the wind. (He said that the evaporation process causes the bottle to cool).
• Swallow the toothpaste when you're finished brushing for a good dose of calcium.
• Digest small amounts of Cod Liver oil, daily, as a vitamin supplement to make up for the lack of fresh vegetables.

Here are some pointers that I learned the easy way. These rules should be, and are, common knowledge:

• Taking people on a dinghy ride to your boat without having a PFD for each of them is like taking someone on a motorcycle without a helmet. Result- Warning Ticket from the Florida Marine Patrol.
• The other lesson started while dining at the Hilton with my friends Paul and Joan. In the harbor, he noticed that I was the only one shining an anchor light. Paul, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary back home, told me that I don't need to have the light on in a designated anchorage. Result- Boarding from the United States Coast Guard and another warning ticket.

Later that week, I took a day trip to the reef for a little snorkeling. One anchor I pull up and stow and the other I leave with the dinghy and mooring stick. The one that I pulled up had line tangled all around the flute. Kim and Charles had been diving here and warned me about the debris on the bottom causing anchors to fail. The tangled line was connected to chain and the chain was connected to a 45 pound CQR anchor. That was a big fish.

Once on the reef, the marine life was just amazing. I am humbled to be in their silent, colorful world every time I visit it. I made an illustration that I'd like to dedicate to all the Yellow Tailed Snapper that get caught. Watch out, you make good eatin'.

The next page we're planning to release, discussing what there is to do in this town, will be worth looking for. I'll be posting pictures with contacts and reviews for the "to-doers". To keep you occupied with water activities, there are many things to soak up your time. Besides the old sailing vessels, you have snorkeling, diving, parasailing, sunset cruises, glass bottom tours and fishing trips, just to name a few. In the air, you have skydiving, aerobatics in a biplane, ultralights, and cruising to the Dry Tortugas in a seaplane to keep you busy. Whereas, land activity might not be as adventurous, on it there is still a variety of things to do.