HOUSEBOAT HAVEN Islamorada, Florida February, 1995

Driving back to Boston from a great road trip to visit friends in North Carolina, the question came up as to where do we go next? When we arrived home, in our mail was a brochure from a Houseboat rental company in Islamorda, Florida in the Middle Keys. Perfect, we both agreed, and immediately started making reservations!

Flying to Miami is a piece of cake from Boston (and very reasonable). However, there is only one way to get down to the Keys (which is about a two hour drive or so depending on how far you go), and that is to rent a car. So although we were planning on being on board for seven days, we still had to invest in a rental car. Fortunately, the price of a rental in Florida is fairly cheap. We left a day before we were to get the houseboat. This gave us plenty of time for traveling and we could get a whole day's worth out of our houseboat.

We stayed over night at a small motel in Key Largo ll motel in Key Largo and headed down to Islamorada first thing in the morning. Since we were there with plenty of time to spare we did all of our paper work. There was a small tutorial by the owner of navigational techniques and use of the marine band radio. This session is used also to prove to the owner that you are somewhat responsible and not a total moron before he lets you off the dock with his boat! Then we went to the nearest market and loaded up on groceries enough for 7 days. We are pretty experienced campers, so we are used to judging how much of what we will need. We brought a collapsible water jug which proved to be pretty handy as well. We also travel with our usual favorite spices and herbs along with home smoked salmon and other goodies! The owners stood on the dock as Geoff navigated this floating Winnebego out of the slip. They believed they would see us again before the week was up. Apparently, most people go out for a day or so and then pull back into dock and take their rented car and go to fancy restaurants! Not us -- we had water, we had food -- we were in it for the long haul.

The Houseboat looks like what you probably imagine. Big and square with one bedroom, a sitting area, kitchen/dining area, one small bathroom with a separate shower, plus a big upper deck for tanning and star gazing. Cooking facilities were very good and it was very well equipped. As a matter of fact, back on shore there was a communall refrigerator that people put their leftover condiments and stuff like bait that they never used. We were told to help ourselves to anything we might need. This was a great idea and we saved some cash buying the little stuff that costs a bundle!

In negotiating the rental, I was able to have the owner throw in a canoe at no charge. So we were able to go fishing from the canoe -- not that anyone caught anything all week! Navigating was great fun for us novices of the sea. You stay on the bay sid e so things get pretty shallow, the last thing you want to do is run aground. Reading the charts is very important. We only had one mishap when we both turned around to discover the canoe was no longer tethered to the back. We could see it floating upsid e down not too far from us. So we turned the boat around for the rescue. This was not as easy as one might expect, and the canoe got a little beat up in the process. But we managed to get it back on board and be on our way to the next cay.

p> As for activities, I must admit I was a slug for a week, got real tan and read lots of books. There is not much to do but relax when you are not underway. Each day or so we would pull up anchor and head off for another cay. This all national or state park and these cays are uninhabited, floating piles of mangroves. They are not for exploration. So our primary territory was the Houseboat and canoe. Fortunately for us, the weather cooperated up until the last day or so. When it got stormy we battened down and played scrabble inside. We had some mechanical problems too, like the battery dying. But this too was our last day, and we weren't going anywhere. So we radioed in and told them to take their time coming out with a new one. By the end of the week, we had just about used up all the water, so that it was kinda lucky that it rained. Since we were saving what little water was left for drinking and showering, the dishes were piling up! We collected the rainwater in pots and pans and were able to do the dishes before we pulled into port! We were greeted with smiles and awe that we stayed out for the whole week.

This is a great vacation idea and can also be pretty cost effective since there are no shops, restaurants or anything else to spend money on. Only one thing though -- you better make sure you love the one you're with!