Sunday, March 30, 2014

March 30, 2014 Stuart, FL to Green Bay WI

Our Altima
We were up at the crack of 8 and the Hertz guy picked us up at 8:30.  Mary was armed with her shower bag and I was packing my wallet.  We had requested a Corolla type car but instead we were  presented with a Nissan Altima.  A bigger car and really comfortable.  And gets really decent gas mileage.  So no complaints especially since the price was the same.




Roosevelt's.  
We left the rental place and immediately headed over to Roosevelt's which is our favorite breakfast place in the same strip mall where Uncle Giuseppe (our favorite Italian place) is located.  The same cheap, really good food like it was a year ago when we left.





In the slip and ready for us to leave
We headed back to the boat intent on leaving at 11.  I dropped Mary off at the marina office so she could shower while I packed everything up and hauled it out to the car.  I might mention the walk from the boat to the car is a good 1/4 mile.

Mary returned and we packed all the stuff we forgot to pack the first time.  After running through the "leave-the-boat" checklist we drove out of the marina parking area at 12:30 and headed out on the highway towards the north    But of course I had to make the obligatory stop at Publix to buy a few waters so I could get cash back thus avoiding an ATM and its associated cash withdrawal fees.

The day before we left I was talking to some of our dock mates and found a guy willing to change the outboard power tilt motor and do some patch work for us in the Caribe (dinghy).  I also took the measurements for a new stove since Defender was having a 10% off sale and stoves are not cheap.  So we're well on our way to spending a lot of money in the coming few weeks.  But at least this will be a soothing drive free from boat planning chores.

We were able to drive around 80-85 mph since that's what all the traffic was doing and the mileage was still in the high 20's.  We started looking for hotels around Macon Georgia.  We stopped first at nice Hampton Inn around Macon and it was full.  Same result for the Holiday Express across the road.  Odd, I thought but ok.  We have a lot of road to travel and it was only 8:30.

I guess I didn't notice the little black cloud hanging over my head.  We stopped 18 more times at various interchanges and hotels looking for a room.  Nothing.  Even the integer motels (Motel 6, 8) were full.  We kept this up for 600 miles all the way to the Kentucky state line (at 3:30am) before I gave in and pulled into the Kentucky Welcome Center and reclined the seat.  Mary's was already prone.  The temperatures were mild (50's) so we slept reasonably well.  The lack of a pillow-top mattress though .....

We're kinda hearty folk.  You wouldn't come to that conclusion seeing us creak and groan trying to exit the car and then shuffle bent over to the rest rooms.   A contributing factor might have been the hour.  It was 6:30 when we woke up.

Captivating and comfy attire
We headed out again and stopped for gas somewhere in southern Illinois.  We drove over to the nearby MacDonalds for some egg muffing breakfast thing.   I had abandoned my shorts at the rest area  for my Dr. Suess comfy pants.  The rather elderly group of stern farmers in the MacDonalds at first seemed disapproving of my attire.  But when two teenage girls complimented my pants they seemed to relax and even engaged my in a conversation of sorts.











Revived, we flew up the highway until we hit Rockford  Illinois in the early afternoon where we got a room in nice Hampton Inn right off the freeway.  We succumbed to Mary's decadent idea and called a local restaurant to bring us food.  Ate that, watched a bad comedy movie and went to sleep at 9pm.

Slept for 11 hours before waking up.  And if I had remembered we were in the central time zone, we'd have made it 12 hours.  But I didn't so we got up at 8:55 right before the free breakfast was over.  But it was really 7:55.   Oh well.

We sailed the remaining 60 miles to our daughters house to retrieve some mail, and then stopped at my sisters house in Milwaukee to get all their tax papers (3 stacks measuring 1 foot high) and made it up here to a hotel in Suamico around 3pm.   We had to get a suite in order to avoid moving rooms. After Mary finished with all her discount cards and sweet talking the clerk I think we paid abut the same for the suite.

So now, after discovering I left the stove measurements back at the boat and the sale ends tonight, I'm   eagerly looking forward to sorting through tax records.  Yeah ... life is good ...??



 







Thursday, March 27, 2014

March 25, 2014 Stuart, FL

I was up at 6:30am getting everything ready to depart.  Engine room check, nav systems up, coffee for Mary and then getting Mary up.  All told that all took only 30 minutes, the bulk of which was spent .. well you can probably guess...

Anchorage in Palm Beach, Flager Bridge in background 
We lifted the anchor in the rather dismal dawn light since it was still lightly drizzling.  But at least it wasn't raining steadily like it was last night when we were anchoring.  We waited around a few minutes admiring all the huge yachts evidently here for the Palm Beach boat show which ended a few days ago. We were the only boat going through the bridge when it finally opened.  All those cars just waiting for us to pass through and thinking unpleasant thoughts I would guess.  




This first bridge, Flager Memorial Bridge, was the only one we would need to have opened for us.  All the rest were 22 feet and over.  So it was easy cruising the rest of the 36 miles.

One of several marinas in Palm Beach stuffed with big yachts
The ICW going north out of Palm Beach passes right by a number of large marinas and they were all filled to capacity from what we could see.  And these weren't small little yachts either.

Peanut Island.  Blue Heron bridge in background









We went by Peanut Island and skirted Singer Island‎ before heading under the Blue Heron Boulevard Bridge and gawked at more gargantuan homes lining both shores.

The ICW here, runs through numerous wealthy neighborhoods interspersed with mangrove shorelines.   Interesting things to look at and we sure didn't miss much lopping along at a tortoise pace of 6 mph mainly because the current was against us.



As we came around the bend at Jupiter inlet the bridge there was being opened on a request from a small catamaran.  We didn't need the opening but since the bridge was going up anyway and there was a large tug on the east end waiting to go through, prudence dictated we hang back.  But the current was racing through from the outgoing tide so it was dicey trying to keep station and not crush the catamaran or run aground on the nearby shore.  Once the bridge opened the catamaran had difficulty punching though the current with his little outboard and that just complicated matters since the big west bound tug was chugging towards the narrow bridge opening.  We made it through but in order to avoid the tug I had to get within 10 feet or less of the cat.  Not a comfortable distance especially considering the wake this tug was throwing.  It all turned out ok, but sure woke me up from the sedate cruising we had been enjoying.  Heck, who needs coffee.

Jupiter inlet
Here's a picture of the inlet.  We came into the inlet from the left in the background between the two bridges, around the bend and through the second bridge before making a hard turn to the right in the image to continue on the ICW towards Stuart.








We ran though Jupiter‎ and gawked an even more impressive (ostentatious is perhaps a better description) estates, many with large yachts parked on their private pier.

Peck Lake anchorage 
We entered Hobe Sound sound soon after and came upon the spot of our first foray beyond sight of the marina back when we first purchased the boat in 2012.  Peck Lake.  It's where we anchored and where we discovered how to lower the dinghy and run the windlass and ... well there were a lot of little tricks we stumbled on back then.

But alas, it's now a temporary station for depositing material from the St. Lucie inlet dredging operation.  The operation should be completed within a few months so on our way back down in the fall we'll most likely anchor here.

Passing the barge
A little ways down from Peck Lake we had to wait for a barge and tug to maneuver.  He was having a hell of a time fighting the wind while trying to get the barge straighten out and in the channel so he could move it up the dredging operations.  The wind was really playing havoc with the empty barge and it took him a good 15 minutes before he was moving in the channel again.  Once he was underway I elected to pass him since it gave me an opportunity to push the engines up near full throttle and blow them out a little after all the days of cruising at slow speeds.


Crossroads. inlet to the right, St. Lucie river to the left and ICW straight ahead
We reached the crossroads (a local term for describing the junction of the St. Lucie inlet, ICW and the St. Lucie river) just as a heavy downpour began washing the boat again.  Rain is usually a welcome event since it washes off the salt accumulations.  But in this case it hindered our ability to follow the ever changing buoys marking the channel.  But having gone through here numerous times in the past we did ok.

We followed the charted channel as another downpour drenched us.  We went right by our very first anchorage when we took the boat out for the first time.  It was a sunny day then and we sat up on the bow and had a few beers in preparation for taking the boat back into the tight slip for the first time alone.  Ahh, memories.

As we got close to Loggerhead I called them on the radio and Steve, the dock master who marshaled all the marina staff to help us in the first time we took the boat out a year ago, answered and directed us to slip L9 on the floating docks.  These docks are quite a distance from the marina office, pool and bar.  When we were here a year ago we were in slip G80 which was right next to all these conveniences.  Oh well.  After all the weight we've added on this trip it'll do us good to walk as much as we can.  I came in the same entrance we left a year ago and turned left instead of right this time and had to back the boat into the slip  But this time, in contrast to a year ago, it was just another docking event.  No big deal.  I guess we've learned a few things in all those miles and months.

We're the small boat, 3rd in from the right
We got tied up and Steve the dock master kinda remembered us as did a few others we met on the docks.  We went and signed the paperwork came back to the boat noting that we seemed to have the smallest boat on the L pier.  This is a quite a change for us since we were usually the largest boat in the marinas where we stayed.  Doesn't really matter though.  We love the boat we have!



We showered and then headed over to our favorite eating place, Uncle Giuseppe  located in a strip mall close to the marina.  Really good food.  And wonderful Chianti, Campobello Chianti which can be purchased at only a few places, one being BabyCham Liquors in Hobe Sound.

So we are now veteran Loopers and entitled to fly the gold AGLCA burgee.  But I have to purchase it first.  Yet another boat thing to buy.

In our new slip (L9) at Loggerhead
We contacted Nyla to do some little projects on the boat while we are away.  And I also talked with David of Imperial to replace the dinghy's power tilt pump which seems to have failed.  So we may have a several issues resolved before we return.  Well, I still haven't changed the main engine oil or several fuel filters yet.  But maybe if packing goes well I'll have time to do it this evening since its raining anyway and I can't take my normal nightly stroll downtown.

We also ended up having to pass up doing business with what was our favorite car rental place, Enterprise.   Down here in south Florida they charge quite a bit extra for taking a car out of the state of Florida.  Yet in Destin for example, there is no such out of state fee assessed.  Pretty bizarre.  So I basically told them good bye and found a decent deal at Hertz.

What are we doing next you might wonder.  Well,  we are leaving for Wisconsin in a few days and will return here to Loggerhead in early April.  Then we will be in St. Augustine in late April and then start heading north through Georgia to visit a few friends up that way.  We'll hang around the outer banks for awhile and head as far north as the Chesapeake where I want to park ourselves for some time at Waterside Marina in Norfolk to watch all the naval activity.   And visit the fabulous Harris Teeter grocery store which sports two stories of grocery type stuff and an elevator capable of handling 4 shoppers and their respective grocery carts.

 We'll probably anchor for a while at Hospital Point near the marina and then start to head back south.  A stop in Jacksonville for a few weeks for some boat work is in the plan before trekking down the Florida coast to end up in Marathon again for much of February and all of March.  Then we're planning on heading over to the Bahama's for a few months before returning to Florida and heading back up the coast towards New York and Long Island.

But then again, plans can always change...

Yes, only 8.  The 9th is below waiting for more used oil..
Oh, and I did change the oil in the two main Cummins engines this evening.  Every time I do this it just re-enforces how old I'm getting since it requires some Olympic contortions to get into tight places and I seem to be unable to easily bend like that now.   Anyway, 9 old gallons out and 9 new gallons in.  Of course I have to haul all 9 gallon used oil jugs to the oil re-cycling place a few miles from here but we'll do that when we return in April. I still have to change the transmission oil so will do that before taking all the used oil to the re-cycling center.


And I wasn't even surprised this evening when I learned its snowing/raining in Wisconsin. Oooo ... we cant wait!




Wednesday, March 26, 2014

March 22, 2014 Marathon to Palm Beach and points in between


Manatee's love fresh water
This evening, we ended up taking a cab to a pot luck dinner at the marina where many of our cruising friends are staying.  We arrived and headed to Curt and Marilyn's boat where a manatee was lounging around.  They love fresh water.  We bought lobsters and Sal, from one of the boats there steamed the up for us.  Yum!







Pot Luck on the dock
Guys talking boat things.  Yes that's me with my back to the camera


I spent the next day running errands.  First fetching the repaired props from the prop guy which meant a 1.5 mile walk to the place and another 1.5 mile walk back with 3 props on  a little cart.  I must have looked pretty pathetic.  2 people asked if I wanted rides and a third, a tan little old lady driving a huge dodge pickup truck cut right in front of me on the sidewalk (actually the sidewalk in some places is the side of the road) and shouted, "hey sonny, you want a hand with those things?".  I declined all three invitations but its great to know how helpful people can be sometimes.

Got the props loaded on the dinghy and to the boat then turned around and headed back in to visit the computer store where I found out my replacement screen is still on a slow boat from China.  They are going to ship it to me in Stuart.

Marathon Movie Theater.  No its not a hotel!
Then we made plans to go out with Rob and Sue so after showering and getting dressed (Mary yes.  Me, same old "clean" shorts and t-shirt) up for a night on the town  they took us this neat little movie theater, the Marathon Cinema.  It has spacious seating, with tables and comfy chairs.  And they sell hot dogs and beer at the concession stand.  Saw some movie about soldiers rescuing art during world war two.



We then went to the only bar we haven't been to here in Marathon, the Hurricane Bar.  They had a good band too.  Although it made it a little tough for us to engage in a conversation.  Maybe we shouldn't have sat 20 feet from the band.

The next day I  ran a few additional store errands in the morning.  Then Marilyn and Curt came by the harbor from their marina about four miles away.  They're energetic, riding their bikes all the way down here.


We now have blue lights on the side deck stairs
Marilyn and Mary talked of kayaking so I switched from errand boy to deck hand and got both kayaks down and in the water.  The girls embarked gracefully(?) and went off towards Sister Creek while I went back to fixing the deck lights.  Curt called a few minutes after I had everything working again so I went and picked him up and we went up Sister Creek looking for the kayakers and found them poking around Sombrero Beach.




Marilyn and Mary starting off towards Sister Creek











We had wanted to take a little tour of the yellow submarine which is up this little creek on the other side of Boot Key.   So given the hour and potential time required to paddle back to the boat, we hooked both kayaks up to the dinghy and towed them the two miles back to our boat with much hilarity and inquisitive stares from other boaters as well as shore side onlookers..  

Once we made it back and the kayak disembarkation was completed (gracefully?) we hauled the kayaks up onto the sun deck overhead and then hopped back in the dinghy and ran up the harbor and out around the island to the yellow submarine creek (my moniker).  We went in here at low tide and it was incredibly shallow, even for the dinghy.  But it was still impressive!

We headed back to the boat where Marilyn and Curt picked up their stuff and I grabbed our garbage.  But Marilyn forgot her sandals so I zipped back to the boat and fetched them.  We dumped our garbage and then walked the bike down from the bike rack to the dinghy dock and got in on the dinghy and said our good-byes.

Went back to the boat and hauled up the bike and then moved the dinghy into position to lift it up onto the deck.  But, I forgot to re-attach the lifting harness.  Took a few minutes and I had it on but then we couldn't get the outboard motor tilted up.  The dinghy battery was pretty drained but I suspect its more likely the tilt motor isn't quite right.  So I had to start the generator and use a battery charger on the darn battery and after about an hour, was able to incrementally tilt the outboard up high enough so we could winch it aboard and in its cradle.  So by about 9pm we had it all secure and ready for sea.  Along with the tilt not functioning, I noticed an amazing amount of growth on hull and even the side tubes.   Barnacles were everywhere.

Leaving Boot Key Harbor
We left at 8am next day with Priorities on a calm, clear day.  We made water while out in the ocean on our way to Channel 5 inlet,.  Water maker worked fine after about 30 minutes of running.  I think the membranes are a trifle plugged.  $800 a piece.  We have three.  I'm afraid to do the math.







Anchoring in Tarpon Basin
We took Channel 5 from the ocean into Florida Bay where we ran the majority of the the 60+ miles to Tarpon Basin which lies across from Key Largo between Grouper Creek and Dusenbury Crek .  We anchored in 7 feet of water but after we anchored I heard an odd hissing sound.  I figured it had to be a water leak somewhere and after shutting down the fresh water pump the hissing stopped.    Great!  We cycled the pump on and off a few times until I could pinpoint the leak.  It was behind the shower stall wall at the faucet .  Luckily there was an access plate and after prying that off sure enough, the cold water hose was loose.  Whew!  Minor problem and pretty easy fix.

Field Trip and ReUnion came into the bay and anchored near us so we had them all over for a party.  After a few hours we broke up and Mary and I headed over to Priorities to eat  a little dinner and see their boat.  Randy and Sherry are great folks.

Hard to see but that is a big fish, larger than it appears
The next morning we waited until the tide starting coming in before leaving.  Meanwhile I was watching these large, like 4-5 feet large, fish inching along under the boat.  They must have been Tarpon.  We were in Tarpon Basin after all.

We left around 10:30 and all of the other boats intended on going to Boca Chita Key hoping that the weekend revelers would be heading back home by the time they arrived.  We had already decided to head right into Miami and anchor near Belle Isle along the Venetian Causeway in Miami Beach.


Biscayne Bay and Miami in the distance
We parted ways in Biscayne Bay as Field Trip, ReUnion and Priorities headed towards Bocha Chita Key.











Miami and lots of boat traffic
We entered Miami and briefly checked out an anchorage for our wayward traveling partners who decided to forgo Boca Chita Key.  Seems even at 5pm on a Sunday, Boca Chita was still packed with loud parties on many boats squelching any desire to stay there.  Besides there wasn't any room on the sea wall.  So they radioed me asking to check out another anchorage, Marina Stadium, which had plenty of room.





Government Cut
We went on a few more miles past Government Cut‎ and ran up a channel to Bell Isle and anchored there.  The views were marvelous with the sky lines (Miami and Miami Beach) and all the boat traffic.  Well, the boat traffic was a bit annoying since they made wakes and some brainless souls in big power boats went through this little anchorage a top speed.  But we did watch a number of huge cruise ships leave port past MacArthur Causeway‎ bound for wherever.  Quite a site..




Anchored by Belle Isle, Miami skyline in the distance
Cruise ship leaving by MacArthur Causeway















Another new water toy?
Before it got to dark we watched this weird sight with some guy in a water jet-pack flying around over the water.











It was a little windy and with the boat wakes we were rocked to sleep which was a good thing since we were determined to leave around sunrise.  So we left at 8am.  But we did make the Venetian bridge opening to begin our trek north through countless bridges and no wake zones.  Ugh ... it was slow going sometimes but every so often I opened up the throttles and hit a hair tussling  9mph.  We did this because the bridge openings are such that some you need to putter around slowly to wait and others require a mad dash to make.  Intricate calculations of time, speed and distance.  I couldn't remember the formulas so turned to technology and downloaded an app to do it.  And you'd think we'd have noted all these speeds and times between bridges somewhere to be used again when we head back down this way in the winter.  You'd think  ...

A small winter house
Interesting sites to see all along the route.  I couldn't count the number of ostentatious homes we saw interspersed with elaborate condos with large pools and expansive decks.  I would venture to say there is a lot of wealth down here.  And I didn't even mention the mega yachts that were every where.










Yacht transports ship.  Stern is sunk so yachts can drive on  
Fort Lauderdale was particularly rife with large pleasure craft.  We ended up in a little line of yachts waiting for the Las Olas bridge to open.  It's undergoing repairs so only one span is opening which makes for congested traffic.  The density of boats and boat traffic around here is startling.  Mega yachts, cruise ships, commercial freighters, water taxi's and even fuel barges (where you can fuel up you boat for competitive prices) all milling about in a rather constrictive area.  Awesome!   We went by the area where the Ft. Lauderdale boat show is held every year and recognized very little from our perspective on the water.

Entering Ft. Lauderdale















Our little procession through several bridges
The little group we were traveling with between bridges included some big yachts, one with a helicopter.   We were feeling a little puny along side these monsters.









Our well equipped traveling companion
As we made our way further north past Ft. Lauderdale there were more bridges, some of which we had to request an opening while others we were able to breeze through.  Our air height is 18' 6" as measured by Dave Boyd and myself several times.  Still, one gets a little tense when that first span appears close enough to touch.  But those we passed under that were a little nerve racking were 20' or more so no worries.







Anchored in Palm Beach
Rain began to really pour down around 6:30 as we approached Palm Beach so we decided to anchor there off the ICW across from Palm Harbor Marina and the Flagler Museum.  So here we were anchored in the middle of the city during an all night downpour.  Good sleeping weather!  And there is free city wide wifi available and actually works .. sort of.







Our plan is to be underway at 7am to make the 7:15 Flager Bridge opening because the the next opening would be at 9:15 which would put us in Stuart and Loggerhead near closing time.  The winds were supposed to pick up in the afternoon as the front goes through and docking our beast in the wind isn't easy especially without someone on the dock taking lines.  So we opted for the really early departure.  Nothing like getting up when its dark on rainy morning.  Someone I know revels in this sort of activity :-)

But once we're in Stuart we will have completed the loop.  Rough estimate is around 6,000 miles.  Yikes!


Sunday, March 16, 2014

March 15, 2014 Marathon

Offending disconnected switch
Come one.  We’re in the keys!  So ok.  I started fixing the washer and dryer 2 weeks ago and perhaps by some standards the repair should have been completed 2 weeks ago.  But in my defense I did fix it. Even if it took, by certain peoples (named Mary) measure an obscene amount of time. Snipping a few wires and taping them together … a satisfying resolution to a potentially complex problem.  Man … no gratitude


But before the astounding repair of the washer and dryer I did manage to replace one of the deck lights with these rather bright blue lights Mary seems to like.  But I prefer the original, pleasantly dim lights with enough illumination to highlight the stairs along the side decks.  These new ones are dead ringers for the bright blue lights you see on some hot rods sans loud, bass driven music.  Oh well. 


Dockside
The previous night we headed over to Dockside to see Eric Stone perform.  Had a riotous time with Jeff, Judy, Curt and Marilyn after spending the day putzing around the boat.









Farmers Market
We were up early (relatively) and were at the dinghy dock by 9:30 this morning to meet Jeff and Judy.  We decided to visit the farmers market about a mile down the road.  Nothing like a nice brisk walk in the early morning.  Lots of stuff there. Someone over-bought, thus burdening the schlepper(me) with a bulging bag of fresh fruit and vegetables.




Bubbie?
We walked back a few blocks to the Publix and waited for Jeff and Judy to finish up some shopping.  We shared a cab with them to return to the boat where we put it all away and started compiling a list of items we’ll have to purchase before leaving here over the weekend.


The (heavy) agricultural bounty














Mary napped while I researched routes to take north and fixed the windless deck switch and installed the deck light. We had a dinner engagement with Alan, the former owner of the boat.  Alas, we could only get an 8:30 dinner reservation at this really good hole in the wall Italian restaurant, Franks.  So we went to the Marathon Ale house instead which was pretty good.  Alan was his same old vibrant self.  We talked about technical boat issues and traded stories about cruises etc.  Very fun evening. 

He drove us back to his hotel where we met a few of his old boating friends.  We had a few drinks and shared boating stories.  Always fun.  Alan dropped us off at the dinghy dock about 9pm so we’re planning on delving into Boston Legal now that we've finished up West Wing.





Thursday, March 13, 2014

March 13, 2014 Marathon, FL

Our plans for rising at the crack of dawn to meet some people at the bus stop petered out somewhere between 6:00am and 8:15am when we woke up.  Curt and Marilyn did indeed make the bus while we, well, missed the bus.

So we were left with rushing around to get everything completed by 10:20 when the next bus to Key West was slated to arrive.

Props loaded and ready to by dragged to the Prop Shop
I had dug out and loaded the spare set of props into the dinghy the previous night. These are a spare set that were dinged up on the Eire Canal. We finally decided to have them repaired here.  So we got into the dinghy dock and hefted them ashore.  I loaded them on our little cart while Mary went off to get change for the bus (they only take singles).  I stared off on the 3/4 mile hike to the prop shop dragging 70 lbs of props on a little metal cart along the highway.  No one batted an eye so I guess it must be common place to see people dragging propellers around town.

The prop guy said he's have to do some welding so the price was a tad high but probably worth it. After dropping them off I had to high tail it the 1/2 mile back to the bus stop where Mary was waiting.  And after a few minutes the bus pulled up and we along with three other couples boarded.  And this was a real bus this time unlike the dilapidated thing we took earlier when we visited Key West.

Bo's
Another 2 hour bus ride and we were once again  in Key West where our first stop was the Olive Oil store (2 bottles).  We talked with Curt and Marilyn who had hooked up with an old friend who suggested we all meet at Bo's.  Ok, so we walked the half mile to Bo's.  Pretty eclectic place but surprisingly really good food.




Cruise Ship 
After lunch Mary and Marilyn did some shopping and I went over to Mallory Square to watch the cruise ship come in port.








Truman's Little White House
Once they were all tied up and disgorging hordes of tourists I  headed over to the Truman Little White House and waited for Mary and Marilyn and Barbara to show up.  We took the tour and it was pretty interesting.







Kathy.  Do you know this Rooster?
We went for some ice cream after and then headed over to the bus top for the return trip and another 2 hour bus ride.  I may have not mentioned the free roaming chickens around the city. They are protected I guess and aren't very skittish.





Since it was late we went out to eat at a little Italian place, Franks, up by Curt and Marilyn's marina in Marathon.  Pretty good!  Took a taxi home which here in Marathon is $5.  And that's a flat rate for anywhere on the island.

Tropical breezes and cheap taxi's.  Life is good!



 


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

March 10-12, 2014 Marathon

In the not-to-early hours of the morning we left to make water and head out to the reef.  I was too lazy to put the dingy up on the sundeck so we towed it.  And since Curt and Marilyn came with us it was just easier to have it down.  The water maker took another 45 minutes before getting to the point of safely making water.  No issues though.  We have full tanks until next week!

Snorkeling at Sombrero Reef
We snorkeled for a few hours, came back to the boat on had some food and went back in the water. It was a wonderful day.  I saw a nurse shark and swam with several of these big barracudas.  Also followed a sting ray for a while as it glided across one of the sandy spots on the reef.  Think we have to get an underwater camera.  And, being the industrious person that I am,  I took the opportunity to clean off the hull again.  I couldn't get all the barnacles off the props and shafts, but that's what divers do.  And we'll be hiring one when we get to Stuart.

We heard that Jeff and Judy on Just Fakin It were coming into marathon.  We got a hold of them on the radio and as we left the mooring ball at the reef, we headed over to the anchorage where they were staying to say hi and make plans for tomorrow.

I got this light bulb .... think you guys could maybe ...
We came back through the harbor and got up to the mooring ball where the crack deck crew (Curt, Marilyn and Mary) snared the mooring and had us hooked in well under an hour.  It seems there was some confusion on how to run the lines.

Since Curt and Marilyn had biked here from the Marina where they are staying a few miles away, we decided to go out and eat at Dockeside, a bar/restaurant about a 1/2 mile from where we were moored.

We left there after a fun meal and dropped Mary off at the boat while I took them into the dinghy dock so they could hop on their bikes and pedal the 3 some miles back to their marina.

Manatee family
I woke Mary up at 8:58 so she could call Marilyn and assure her that she was indeed attending yoga which, incidentally, is taught by Sue of Rob and Sue off of Papillon.  So I took her into the dock to drop her off and headed back to the boat to change the generator filters and oil. But not before I saw some manatees. Specifically a family of them.  Baby, mother and father.  I guess Mary and some other yoga practitioners saw them too and took to petting them.  I guess they like to have their belly's scratched.

 I was half way through changing the oil when  I heard this ruckus out on deck.  It was Jeff and Judy who took their dinghy in to try and secure a mooring.  They came aboard our boat first though and we talked a bit until my phone rang with Mary wanting to be picked up.  So I sent Jeff and Judy to the marina office where they could complete their paperwork for a mooring ball and run a few errands.  I, in the meantime, completed the genset maintenance and ran back into the marina where we all met up and decided to go have lunch at Castways.  Incidentally, Castaway is the name of curt and Marilyn's boat.

Stubborn pelican
We had nice lunch inside... the sun was really hot outside.  But, there are pelicans all over and one decided our dinghy was a comfy place to rest while he chewed on some pierce innards.  I actually had to get on the dinghy and reach out to push him off before the stubborn beast would leave.




Curt and Marilyn, the same crack crew I had earlier
We then took Curt and Marilyn back to Jeff and Judy's boat which was anchored outside the harbor so they could help them secure to their assigned mooring.

One the way out to the anchorage Jeff, with his new outboard, was suggesting it might blow ours out of the water with mind boggling speed.  So we, with 4 people in our dinghy laid to rest any thoughts of grandeur he might have had, and blew right by him much to his chagrin.

They followed us into the mooring field and to their ball where Curt and Marilyn did a superb job securing lines to the mooring tether.  It only took them about a minute not an hour!.

Curt, Mary, Judy, Marilyn and Jeff
We left and went back to the boat and they followed over shortly because we all decided to go to Dockside where they were having free food!  Well, Hors d'oeuvres actually, but still it was free!  We hung around awhile and listened to  local band comprised of a guitar player and electric fiddle player.  Pretty good.






Mary and I left everyone there and headed back to out boat relatively early.  Guess we're getting old.

Today, Wednesday, I walked over to the computer repair place to see if my screen arrived yet.  It hasn't so Monday we'll have to work something out since we are leaving here Tuesday next week.  I came back and took my bike to this well stocked hardware storeabout 4 miles up the road.  I needed a shower head and some screws.  Made a stop at Publix again too and finally returend to the boat to see if Mary still had  a burning desire to go see the Turtle Hospital.  She wasn't there so I waited. for a awhile until she kayaked back to the boat.  

Seems plans were made with several other couples to do the Turtle Hospital at 3.  So we went back inot shore a little early so I could take a dinghy prop to the prop shop to have it repaired.  The guy also agreed to do my big propes that were damaged up on the Erie Canal.   So tomorrow morning I have to haul two,  24 inch bronze props that weigh about 30 pounds apiece a mile up the road on a pull cart originally designed to haul Mary's stain glass.  Did I mention that I have to be there at 7:30am.  If that wasn't difficult enough we seem to have plans to take the bus to Key West again tomorrow.  And it stops at the Marina around 8am.


One of the patients at the Turtle Hospital 
I pondered all of this while at the Turtle museum which probably contributed to my lack of attention during the tour.  Although I do remember that turtles with intestinal gas cant dive. Their rear ends wont go down because the gas makes them too buoyant.  The things you learned.

So I'm sure it's going to be an exciting day tomorrow.