For some time I have thought about organizing a cruise for El Caminos down the Fl. Keys to Key West . Rtawk , Randy , has asked a few times about it but it has been on the back burner . Recently , I saw an announcement for the first annual Key West Power Cruise in Mike Kelly`s Cruise News Magazine and have been in contact with the organizer , Cheri . For our local club , Fl. Keys Southernmost Car Club , I am helping her to promote and organize it . While it is not just for El Caminos , I thought some of you might be interested . As of today 20 rides have committed . The cruise starts in Lake City and collects cars in Ocala , Orlando , Palm Beach etc. and spends the night in Homestead . Thur. the 4 th , the cruise stops along places in the Keys including Bahia Honda State Park and has lunch at the No Name Pub on Big Pine Keys then stops by the Blue Hole hoping to see some Key Deer . Arrive in Key West around 3 pm and check into your hotel , then at 6 to 7 pm meet up with our local members of the Fl. Keys Southernmost Car Club and do a cruise around the island and famous Duval Street . After , we will probably go to Salute Restaurant on the ocean side for dinner or a drink and park together . The next two days the cruisers will meet in the morning and then either go individually or as group to see the sights . Hemingway House , Sloppy Joe`s Bar , Mel Fisher Treasure Museum , ferry to Dry Tortugas , Hog`s Breath Saloon ,Conch Tour Train , Ft. Taylor civil war fort , beaches are only a few that are available . There are numerous excellent places to eat depending on your price range . Each afternoon the group meets to park together, talk , then cruise the island and perhaps meet up for dinner and a drink . On Sunday ( you can stay as long as you like ) , cruises head home and stop along the Keys for photos , lunch etc. For a full itinerary ( including hotels , pricing ) , and RSVP contact Cheri at vwcheri@gmail.com . To see some photos of her last two summer trips to Key West click on her various photo links . I am not sure but an thinking I might drive up to Homestead , spend the night and cruise down with the group . Is anyone else interested ?

That sounds like fun, Lenny. If only it wasn't such a long drive from Boston, I'd be with you.
Visiting Key West is on my "bucket list." Also on the list is going to Cuba and liberating a rust free ride from the nifty fifties! Have a great time.

What timing! I pretty much had no work this summer and committed to a 2 week job during that time frame. :twisted: I'd be there in a heartbeat otherwise.
I guess I'll checkout the Palm Beach stop though.

John should you get there and find a vehicle that has no rust it would be the first one. Have number of fellow that came form there and they laugh about how the cars are still standing let alone running.

John , Hope you make it to Key West some time . For such a small island that is less than 2 by 4 miles , it has a lot going on with a wild and rich heritage . You just gotta be careful that you don`t end up like the T-shirt that says " arrive on vacation , leave on probation " ! Hopefully at some point the Cuban embargo will be lifted . If you have not seen it , RTAWK has a great forum with photos of Cuban cars , trucks , bikes and people . Maybe someone could the link thing but his forum is entitled " Check out this artwork " , posted in Region 6 , Fl. on 4-6-11 . The photo link is a couple of posts down in that forum . This cruise should be fun . Hopefully it will serve as a test run and we can do a cruise for El Caminos at some point .

Yes , we heard a tropical storm may be offshore of Florida in a couple of days but the event is still going on as planned and hoping it makes the predicted turn to the north and open water . :dontknow:

What a good time ! I drove up to Homestead to spend the night with the 14 sets of cruisers that made the trip which started in North Florida . A very nice and friendly group and cool mix of vehicles such as a 67 VW Beetle ( our lead car ) , 69 Charger . 72 Ply. Duster , 34 Ford Coupe , 66 Merc. Coupe , 11 Camaro , 64 Mustang , 87 El Camino , 71 Chevelle , etc. We headed down the Keys in beautiful sunshine that highlighted the turquoise and blue waters then stopped in Islamorada at Robbie`s Marina and hand feed the dozens of huge Tarpon that come up and eat out of your hand . We stopped at Bahia Honda State Park for a while and the group loved the beautiful park , bridge and beaches . In Big Pine Key we ate at the famous No Name Pub that has dollar bills stapled over the entire ceilings and walls . We did a slow cruise around and numerous diminutive Key Deer were easily sighted along the roads . In the afternoon in Key West , the cruise met up with the Southernmost Car Club for an hour of talking and had a great crowd of local cars and spectators show up . We did a long slow cruise around Key West with two passes on Duval Street to the delight and applause of the tourist and locals that lined the sidewalks . A great dinner and refreshments were had as we then stopped at Salute Restaurant on the Oceanside for sunset and their famous Key Lime Pie . Friday and Sat. the group meets up each morning , cruises the island , visits local attractions and did another island cruise in the afternoon before meeting for dinner and refreshments , went to Sunset , then walks along Duval Street enjoying the craziness and characters . Today the cruise is doing some of the same before going off individually for some more fun . I will meet up with them this afternoon for a cruise and dinner before they head back for the mainline Sunday morning . The weather has been great as the temps have been in the 80`s and very little rain .

sounds like fun, wish i could've gone

Was at Robbies 3 weeks ago kayaking ( didn't make it down any farther to say hi Lenny)

Fl Kymino , I often driven by there thinking it would be a great place to kayak ; especially , the Gulf side of US 1 . It was a favorite area that legendary Boston Red Soxs left fielder Ted Williams popularized through his flats fishing . Photos are still coming in on the Lake City to Key West Power Cruise 2011 but some are posted now . Google www.vwcheri.com (http://www.vwcheri.com) . Click on Picasa Web albums for Cheri Copeland and then the Key West power Cruise .

Lenny link to the picture is not good??

Got my first bonefish on those flats back there. Tarpon along the channel edge before daylight and just after dark aren't bad either. I need do go back and do more research on the meaning of that name for the channel running through there. Lignumevitae...Vital ight is the best I could come up with :dontknow:

I also had the priveledge of having a cold one or 2 with Robbie right there at the marina before he passed on.

Great photos Lenny,looks like fun,how do you protect against RUST with all that SALT air down there.My nephew said they used to spray the under carriage with old oil from oil changes in KW.

Randy,I think that limgumvatie or whatever is the name of a local tree or bush that only grows in the keyes.

Chris , You are right . The name of the key is derived from the very valued Lignum-vitae tree . It is an extremely hard wood that has been used for things like marine salvage work and prop shaft bearings on ships . The first US atomic submarine " Nataulius " used the wood as shaft bearings . Early Europeans used the oil from the tree as a cure for syphilis but unfortunately found that it only masked the effect but did not cure it . I drive by the area often but have spent almost no time there . I would like to go on it and it is accessible only by tour boat and kayaks . It has been preserved as a park and is listed as a tropical hammock with trees like Lignum-vitae , Strangler Fig , False Mastic , Gumbo Limbo ( tourist tree ) and Pigeon Plum trees . The Upper Keys gets more rainfall than the Lower Keys which is part of the reason that early settlers and farmers had groves of Key Limes , Pineapples and Sugar Apples up there . The Island is supposed to be the highest point in the Keys , one foot higher than Solarus Hill in Key West .

Skiny , Clicking on the link does not work for some reason but comes up if you Google it . You know me and computers . The computer wins ! Randy landing a Tarpon really must be fun and I would love to try it . Growing up on Key West waters , I would get sea sick rolling around cutting up bait , so I was into free diving , scuba and spearfishing . Got to pick out what I wanted for dinner and enjoyed the scenery . If you got to talk with Robbie of Robbies Marina you had to me , a real privilege . Robbie also bought the old Safe Harbor Marina in Key West after the hey days of the drug import era . He was a very wild but lovable guy as well as his lovely wife Mona that I loved talking to . I used to bring my racing/coastal cruising catamaran sailboats into their boatyard for work and visited friends that worked for him . I`ve got some good Robbie stories to tell you sometime including his stories of his early drag racing and experimenting with nitro that would not be appropiate for this site . . It was entertainment you couldn`t pay for ! I`m sure glad he liked me and I wasn`t on his bad side . Chris , what your nephew said is correct and the old way to help keep off the salt was that several service stations had an outside lift that the new guy or lowest on the totem pole pressured sprayed used motor oil underneath the vehicles to help prevent rust . It really did help ; especially , if you did not drive through the high tides of salt water . It made an awful mess and would not be allowed today due to environmental reasons .

Chris , I just realized I did not answer your question on how I keep rust off my 87 . My way is probably too much for some to do but it works for me . I do common sense stuff like keep surfaces painted , try not to drive it around places like boat ramps , boat yards and I know which streets in Key West flood with salt water at high tide and avoid them . I layed out a cheap 10x20 tarp and cover most of it with cardboard that I was saving from a refrigerator and large boxes . Without warming it up , I drive the car onto the tarp , turn off the car , disconnect the battery terminals and spread rags , old sheets , blankets underneath . I use a product called Marine Formula 656 . Boaters and fishermen here use it to spray on engines , wires , running gear and hardware . It`s about $ 30 for a gallon . I`ve been told that it used to be called formula 666 until they realized that was the number for the Devil . I put it in a cheap garden pressure sprayer and spray it from one end to the other , getting into the openings in the frame , bumpers and undercarriage etc. I`m careful to only do a light coat around the starter , switches etc. I wear some throw away clothes , painter`s face cover and eye covers . I spray behind me as I go to minimize what I get on me . I let it sit for a couple of days to let it drip off then warm up the engine to slowly dry off the engine and exhaust system . Repeat starting and drying a couple of times before using . There will be some smoke . It eats the salt and leaves a light film coat behind but does not seem to collect dust . I then dispose of all the soiled materials and head for the outdoor shower .

The 656 product has been around a long time and it is just several clicks above the other ones WD40 and the simalar shelf product all made by one or two people. This 656 was developed for marine by the marine industry, I have used it for 30 years + or - on boats mostly and general use. On boats you coat the entire engine several times a year and running gear hydrolic puller gen setsetc it will hurt nothing (maby stain some things) real good during long down time. I do not use on my Elky but I am 6 or 7 mile inland and have a very secure garage, but in Lenny's case and anyone on the water front area and with a high air flow that is carrying the salt moisture "his method is about the best" I would come up with short of painting all metal with GREASE.

But if you do this you must BUY a Lazor Lock Device for frame spraying to detour theft of the spray product:poke:

Skiny , I buy the special gallon can that comes with the attached security chain you can lock to your wheels . LOL !!