Suzuki DF 140's

[THEFERMANATOR]

Living in the KEYS isn't all that you would expect it to be RANDLEMAN. I did it for awhile and it got old quicker than you think. The average person is lucky to last 6 months down there before you leave.

[randlemanboater]

Originally Posted by THEFERMANATOR

Living in the KEYS isn't all that you would expect it to be RANDLEMAN. I did it for awhile and it got old quicker than you think. The average person is lucky to last 6 months down there before you leave.

I still wouldn't mind giving it a shot.

[Slightly_Twisted]

I have the 20 in transom on a CC also. This past winter I moved my two battries forward to just infront of the console and before the fishing platform. I've only had the boat in once to change out my bunk brackets, but I noticed a BIG differance in how she sat in the water. I've only been at headway speed and just above so I can't tell you how the proformance is, but it has to be better balanced then before.

I got new cable off ebay for half price about 1.60 a foot and ran the cable in the void space between the outter hull and the cap. It was no problem at all. Since I put my battry switch under the console front seat I think it took 40 feet of cable, but you could do it with less if you try and fish it though with your controls and depending on where you switch is.

[snoozer]

Sorry Randle,
I am told what an insensitive pig I am a lot, so it must be true.

I am from Cape May NJ, and used to fish in the bay. The wave sets are different down here, it is roughter than I thought it would be. The flare on this V-20 keeps me dryer than I thought I would be. So I am plesantly surprised.

I do have too much weight aft in the boat; I looked today. It is due for some yard time and maintaince. I'll see what I can do.

On the Keys: This place is not for everyone. I have been here four years and I have seen them come and seen them go. It is very expensive to live here if you must work. Rents are high and prices higher. Insurance is untouchable for wind or water damage. Everone needs two jobs to stay even. Wages are low and so are the brows of the people who can afford to buy a house here now (this can't include me as I live on a boat).
But the water is clear most of the year, the reef is still full of fish, temp is warm. Let me recap; clear water, fish, warm, yep that's it. I am a very lucky sob, and I know it.
I guess that is bragging a bit, But anyone can come on down and try it. Any job that there is up north, there is one like it here.

[THEFERMANATOR]

The rampant drug use is the major reason my dad left there years back. He worked at the JEEP dealer in KEY WEST and the guys down there would do lines of coke right out in the open on top of there tool boxes while working on COP cars with the cops STANDING RIGHT THERE! Then there was the high costs(the conch card helped with that a little), and then the massive GAY PRIDE PARADES was a real deal killer for an old time FLORIDA CRACKER that had grown up in old time FLORIDA(where the elite wore white robes). Couldn't take it for but 6 months before we left. He moved up to NAPLES area, and I went back with my mom for my senior year of high school.

[snoozer]

Well then, there is that too.
Drugs are a big problem here. The easy going way of the place fosters that. If you can pass a drug test, and show up on time, you can have any job you want here. Good help is hard to find and in demand, but I suppose that is everywhere these days.

We hardly ever go to Key West any more, they call it Key weird for a reason. Marathon has always been more into fishing, and now into diving. It is a better fit for me.
After the hurricanes, couple years back, and the high prices of homes, about 20% of the population packed up and left.

I spent a few years in Clearwater before I made the move here. Too much traffic, too many people. But living on an island is not for everyone.

[randlemanboater]

The grass is always greener..........until you cross the fence.

You guys are destroying my idea of the Keys, in my mind it is just like it was on "Flipper".

I plan on getting down there for a visit in the next few years.....and maybe in 9 years (when I retire) I will do like my retired Uncle does, rent a house in So. Fla. for a month each January.

[THEFERMANATOR]

If your going to go down, skip GAY DAYS. And when you go into KEY WEST, think of it as MARDI GRAS in a sense. From the sevin mile bridge east it isn't that bad, and ISLAMORADA is pretty much a fishermans haven. But KEY WEST has gone to the flambouyant types, where the boys like boys and girls like girls. The girl girl part can be amusing at times, but not for the entire family. I did notice that they have halted alot of the same sex displays except for GAY DAYS.