March 2-16 2016 Marathon Marina

We stayed aboard most of the morning here at Marathon Marina.  Mary played with her new boat washing toys purchased when we came into the marina yesterday.  I fixed a door hook, and a side curtain snap before tackling the Bullet 5HP and trying to get it to work with the our router.

Here in the marina, the wifi is broadcast on 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz bands.  The 5 ghz is the less commonly used and also boasts a larger pipe i.e., more capacity.  So when all the boaters here try and watch a YouTube video the 2.4 ghz band slows to a crawl.  The 5 though seems quite spry and quick!  So I wanted to use our 5 ghz wifi booster.  And after an hour or so of configuration  fun I did get it working and mounted it up on the spare GPS mast.  So now we have a sort of good internet connection.  Except during certain times when all the grandparents start watching grandchild videos.  Oh well.

I made a quick trip to the Publix on the bike before meeting Dave and Joann at the pool for cocktails.  Also met Mitch who's on a 38 Senator.  It’s a Taiwanese trawler too.  He’s been here since August though.  Don’t think we could stay in one place that long.  But he and Linda bought a condo here and are refurbishing it to sell it this summer.

Found out that Tuesday is pump-out day.  And the weather is going to be pretty good for a few days.  Light winds, and mid 70’s for temps.  Maybe tomorrow we’ll head out to the reef and see how cold it is.

More dead sea treasures

Mary was up early today.  Marilyn drove down here to pick her up and then they, including Rhonda, walked the Coco Plum Beach and found plenty of fascinating dead things to bring back.  My, how thoughtful of them.

I did some computer work most of the morning and then started to wash the dinghy but noted we had run out of dinghy cleaner.  Conveniently, Dave just happened to stop by and said he had to run to West Marine so we all, (Joann, Dave and I) biked there.  They were looking for clothes stuff and I needed dinghy cleaner.  End result was I took back some free sample cleaning pads and an antenna extension which I need for our other wifi extender.

Once we returned we each took our respective small craft out for a joy ride.  Theirs, called The Red Devil, is a speedy little jet boat.  And ours is a hopefully cleaner by the weekend dinghy.  

Dave and Joann in the red  devil

We ran out into the ocean for a few miles, came back in at Sisters Creek and then went into the Vacca Key canals where many of the big homes are located.  I specifically wanted to see this one area near the golf course where I had noticed an anchored sailboat when Dave and I were there at the driving range a week ago.

Yes we made it under the bridge

The route to this place is rather torturous and narrow in some spots.  Its basically a 50 wide foot canal passing through the backyards of the homes lining the canal.  Maybe a mile or so later we came into the area.  Its deep, 12-18 feet and large enough for several boats.  The only downside is the long winding route to get there and the depths.  It was close to high tide and I was seeing some places with 6 feet.  If the tide level is 2 feet we’d be aground so I guess if we ever decide to use this anchorage we’d have enter and leave at high tide.

We wound out way back to Sister Creek and headed over to Burdines dinghy dock.  I had made the mistake of not changing out of my dirty work shirt thus the received a pointed suggestion that I should purchase suitable attire.  So I had to buy a shirt.  At least I got to pick it out, not that there was an expansive collection to choose.

At Burdines

We all, except Mary, had Burdines famous green chili burger.  After consuming that we went back to the boat and where I dropped Mary off and then went out in the dinghy to the Bay side through Knights Channel to Faro Blanco Marina to see all the boats paying $4 per foot.  Several Looper boats were there.  I turned around and got back to the boat.  We sat around for a little bit and then I took a walk and returned around 8.  Mary was going to bed.  Those early mornings are a killer.

Marathon is really an island of sorts.  There is the Bay side, Florida Bay and the ocean side.  When one is navigating in Marathon its no unusual to add, "Bay side", or "Ocean" to describe a location.  

Mary was again, up early while I putted around the boat.  Later, I headed off to the store to buy some fittings for a new antenna and a dinghy rear light.  And some groceries.  Mary's bike is racking up the miles.

I got back and Mary had returned but wasn’t feeling well and ended up napping.  I had to ride back to Home Depot one more time and also stop and get a card for Marilyn.  She's another year older and the party is tonight.  It's going to relatively clam out so we'll take the ocean side there and back.  It's about 10 miles or so.

Ultimately Mary elected not to go so I took a solo dinghy ride to Colony Beach but tried a different route this time.  From the ocean there are several private marked channels at Colony Beach.  These lead to shore and usually into one of the many canals.  One was very close to Vaca Cut so I figured I’d be able to avoid the long swing around the large shoal making the entrance to Key Colony.  It's about 2 miles further to do that,

Dinghy resting at Boat House marina after an ocean romp.  

I found this one channel fine and made it in but then running along the shore, I was close to going aground a few times.  There is 4 or 5 feet of water usually very close to shore as I found out.  But it was high tide so nothing to much to worry about. 

There was a dock party for Marilyn’s Birthday and many folks were there.  Jay made the meat and others brought dishes to pass.  All I brought was a small bottle of rum and a card for Marilyn.  Slacker!

Happy Birthday Marilyn.  

I had to leave before Donny started playing.  It was pitch black, partly cloudy and no moon with 1-2 foot seas out on the ocean.  I could only go about 15 mph because it was so dark and my backlit gps  was set to dim after 30 seconds so dead reckoning was my primary navigation technique.

Sure was pretty out there though.  Small boat on a dark sea.

Made it back about 10pm and pretty much just went to bed.

Mary went off for coffee with Dave and Joann while I stayed back here and sent some sorely past due email replies.

We didn’t do much except decided our efforts to fashion a forward dinghy seat cushion were doomed to fail without the use of a sewing machine.  I epoxied up the antenna holder for our other wifi booster and got a 5.0 ghz usb wfi adapter working on our spare ships computer. 

Then I biked to the store, got half way there and noticed I’d forgotten my wallet so had to back track a few miles..  Finally made it to Pubix where I ran into Phil and Maggie.  On the way back Mary was on the phone talking with Dave so I suggested we have cocktails on their deck.  I’m sly that way, suggesting parties at other peoples places.

I put all the groceries away and then had to fix up my epoxy master piece.  Some epoxy dribbled into the screw threads so I dug it out with a tiny screw driver and threaded the the thing on the antenna extension to be sure I had it all off. 

Then, after Mary was done talking to her brother and sister, we walked over to Dave and Joann's place.  On the way I stopped by and convinced Sue to stop vacuuming and agree to join us.  We six had a great little sunset cocktail part.

Came back, cooked burgers on the grill, watched a west wing, took a short walk and went to bed.  Adventuresome couple aren’t we?

Dinner dance

Tonight we went to the marina’s Italian dinner dance/ party with live music.  I forget the two guys playing but they were very good!  It was a dinner dance so yes I had to dance.  One slow one.  Some of these old cruiser couples can really cut a rug.  Limber doesn’t quite cover it.  The food was this really tender pork cooked by Judy and Dennis the marina managers. 

Before that though we joined Dave and Joanne in the morning and went to key colony days in, well, Key Colony.  That’s where Boat House marina is located.  We were there for a about a week or so before coming here to Marathon Marina.

The guitar player is under the canopy in the blue shirt

It was sort of a flea market with a band.  Nothing of interest for sale but the guitar player in the band was really, really good.  He played bass on some foot pedal apparatus and his guitar playing was reminiscent of Sonny Landreth, the Louisiana slide player of renown.  I talked with him for a while.  He’s been playing for many decades and now only does a few private partied and an occasional public event like Key Colony days.   Has a really old guitar I didn’t recognize, a hollow body 7 string instrument plugged into a unlabeled amp.  Sounded great!

The 3 verbose Trump Supporters  

The only thing of real interest here were the Donald Trump supporters wandering around in Donald Trump 2016 T-shirts.  I overheard them several times muttering, “yup, he's the only one”.  “Yup, no one else comes close”.   The temptation to engage in a political discourse was strong but I resisted realizing it wouldn’t be real enlightening or probably friendly.   I do regret not accepting one of their free t-shirts though.  Opportunity lost.

We left the event and drove to Tarpon Grill where we had stopped before with Curt and Marilyn.  Good food and always good conversation with Dave and JoAnne.

We cleaned and straightened the aft stateroom most of the day.   I removed the remaining de-laminated teak off the shelf under our rear windows so we’re ready to make a template and have the teak guy cut us a piece out of 1/8 teak laminate.

We also cleared the shelves, cleaned them and re-arranged somethings.  I’m taking all of our old TV series DVD’s and ripping them on to a 2 TB hard drive attached to our new router so we can stream them.  Donna Reed, Ozzie and Harriet, FuturerRama, and some musical things I have. 

The winds had picked up and were blowing 20 mph out of the east which was pushing on our stern.  The lines stretched a bit leaving our bow hanging over onto the main pier so we got out there and I pushed the boat out and Mary tightened up the aft spring line.  Later Dave came by and we repeated the effort leaving us with our bow barley over the dock.  Safer for the night time dock walkers. 

Our well found SUV at Win Dixie

Later, I peddled over to Winn Dixie first stopping at Publix for wine.   After Dave helped us move the boat we had a drink on board and then ate dinner.  I took my usual nightly walk and Mary watched her murder and mayhem TV programs.

Before I took a shower I measured the laundry center (stacked washer and dryer) to see how tough it was going to be when we removed it to gain access to the broken AC unit.  The door width is 21 inches.  The laundry center unit is 24inches.   And so now the puzzle solving begins …

The next evening Dave and Joanne came over for dinner.  This spurred me to clean the grill before they arrived.  We were having steaks which meant grilling.  Another wonderful evening

We drove to Key West this morning with Dave and Joanne.  Well, they actually drove, we just rode.   Dave once again exhibited his skill at finding parking spaces.  He's uncanny!

 Key West, hadn't changed much so we wandered around the crowded streets.  Thankfully there wasn't a cruise ship in port.  When they arrive and disgorge there hundred of vacationers, its unbearably crowded.  

Dave, wandering near the beach while the rest of us were in the Butterfly Conservatory, spotted a guy sporting a thong and wearing little wings on his shoulders.   I had to walk out and see for myself.  Yup.  Little green wings.  Dont ask.  I haven't  clue.

Mary and Joann in the foyer before entering the garde 

The Butterfly Conservatory is sort of an indoor garden with all these butterflies swooping around.  Yes, some are quite colorful and even mildly interesting.  Your required to walk a meandering path through the place oooing and ahhhing at the bugs and the plants.

Joann, Dave and Mary at Blue Heaven

After, we ate lunch at Blue Heaven.  Joann knows one of the waitresses, a daughter of  friend of theirs.  She's a marina biology student and very interesting.  Blue Heaven has this tree canopy open area which is just delightful.  Neat place.  Good food too.

We of course stopped at several bars along the way.  It is Key West after all.

Thai Life.  Doesn't look like much, but it's very good!

On the way out we took advantage of Dave and Darlene's advice about a really good Thai restaurant, Thai Life.  It's situated on  barge and floats near the yacht basin.  Good food!

I spent the morning, researching places to order batteries.  I had confirmed earlier that they are pretty weak by running the batteries for only a few hours and watching the voltage sink under a weak load.  Quite a variety of pricing and delivery charges.

Later we went to the store and Mary did laundry.  We opted to stay in tonight and didn’t go party.  Just a quite evening.

Finally completed the battery order which turned out to be about $1,000 less than other places.  They’ll be arriving here early next week.  720 pounds of new batteries.  Now where did I put that truss?

We received our mail today.  A pile of a months worth of mail which included our new debit cards complete with a chip.  How exciting?

Fought and finally got my Acer laptop to recognize the large disk connected to the router.  A bug in Windows 7 with  a work around.  I know, interesting stuff, right?   But this lets me upload ripped movies and manipulate the video files on the big disk.  Baby steps towards ridding ourselves of all the DVD's we have been carting around.

We reverted to task mode today and cleaned the galley shelves, drawers and stripped and sanded the new flagstaff we bought for $13 at the nautical flea market.  Mary went to yoga and Sue and Rob are taking us to the fish festival Saturday at City park.

As for me, I started copying (ripping) movies to our big hard drive and stream them to our TV.

Rob and sue took us to the fish festival at city park.  Jeff and Mary drove along too.  We met Rhonda and Bruce, Randy and Sherry there as well.  Also ran into Mark who we met at Brunswick Landing.  He left a week before we did on a boat bound for the Outer islands (south Bahamas and beyond).  Mary, his wife still works,  but from their boat.   So he's sailing the tropical seas while his wife works.  hmmm ....

The blind Pelican that's always here at the Festival.  Very Tame

Bought a few shirts today at the Festival but had to search around for a ATM.  I was out of cash.  I found one and donated $3.49 for the privilege of withdrawing my own money.

Tried a Conchwurst sandwich here.  It's basically a bratwurst made out of conch.  It was not exceptional.

Now who would be consuming lobster at 10AM?

Drank beer and noted the plastic mugs are gold this year which will compliment our collection from previous years (Blue and yellow).  However my mug collection is being watched and I'm sure sits prominently on the disposal list of certain people.

Since Rhonda and Bruce had volunteered to help with the festival, they snuck us back into the volunteer section where we had some free beer even though we were not wearing the peach colored T-shirts worn by all the volunteers.  Criminals?

Missed seeing the band RAK, which has a great guitar player.  They were playing at night and, well we can't stay up that late decided not t try and hang around. 

I eventually walked back to Marathon Marina and drove the dinghy over to City Marina to pick up Mary.  We returned and I rode the bike down to the store and we had a little dinner and went to  bed.  Mary had called Sue earlier to thank them for taking us but she woke her up.  Guess shopping can be a hardship, strolling up all those aisles of flea market type retailers.

While we were strolling around gawking at all the stuff, I stumbled on a lamp place where this couple makes lamps out of dug up coral from construction projects.  They are pretty.  We are going to buy one.  

Maybe.  Mary's enthusiasm plummeted when the $350 price tag some how was pulled up into plain sight from its previous spot under the lamp.   Best laid plans ....

We attacked the engine room this morning.  I removed all the spare parts, jugs and battery boxes and took out the generator start battery.  Confirmed that the main DC battery switch position (2) is really the port side battery bank.  This is all in preparation for replacing the batteries in a few days.

Continued on ripping all the Donna Reed TV series DVD's.

Later I helped Dave and Joann with their wifi issues (lent them a usb wifi adapter which is duel band and can read 5 ghz).  5 ghz here is much better than the 2.4 band we’re usually seeing.

Ok, its not easy to tell the difference, but I did varnish the trim

Rode to Winn Dixie for some things that are markedly cheaper than Publix.   I was anticipating battery deliveries today.  No truck.  Thus no batteries though.

Our new, "yachtie looking" bow flagstaff

Mary, taking advantage of the lull in activity, washed the boat and then went kayaking.

I varnished the trim pieces from the stove and a few other pieces including the flag staff.  And continued on my DVD conversions by ripping Ozzie & Harriet.  I'm using two laptops to do this, so its going pretty quickly.  Thanks to Dave Hagen who showed me a nifty piece of software to do this with.  

Today we took the small boats out to the reef with Dave and Joann.  I cleaned the dinghy bottom while I had it out there on a mooring.  Water was rather cloudy so not so good for seeing anything.  We got the last mooring ball furthest from the best area of the reef. 

We weren't moored at the reef until 3pm and only stayed an hour or so.  Wish we had gotten an earlier start.  It was a calm day, warmer water and sunny.  The only down side was the turbidity of the water which made seeing things on the reef cloudy, and not as clear as it can be on good days.

Mary and Jeff catching the sunset

Came back early and made snack stuff and then met at Rob & Sues little Grady White for a sunset cocktail cruise with Dave, Joann, Jeff and Mary.  Went out on the Bay side and just drifted for while the sun set..  Beautiful sunset.  

The sunset

"Rob, take a group picture".  This was the result.  A can of nuts.

We asked Rob to take a group picture of us.  I gave him my phone.  After several minutes of what appeared to be picture taking we ended up with this one picture. 

By then the sun was down (no green flash) so Rob fired up the engines and we cruised to Sparkys at Vacca Cut for dinner.  

Captain Rob and Admiral Sue leaving Sparkys

After eating we went out the ocean side for the ride back.  Magical night.  It was dark and loaded with stars!  We just drifted awhile out there.  Rob and Sue even mentioned they were able to see the Southern Cross, an constellation normally only visible in the southern hemisphere.  In late winter it can be seen up here in the Keys.

The reef beckons every sunny day.  And so we took the dinghy out there again today in the late afternoon.  This time there were perfect conditions.  Mary swam over a 6 foot nurse shark while all I saw were barracuda and a big old grouper hanging by a rock.  Oh well.   I forgot the underwater camera again so no pictures.

A few of the many dolphins swimming around us

Dave and Joann at Castaways

The best though was on the way back in when Rob pointed out a pod of dolphins which we went to investigate.  The pictures dont do it justice.  They were jumping and swimming around right next to us.  Very cool.

Oh, yeah.  We went to Castaways and ate (ready Kathy?), Pompano.  Mary had the sushi version, barley cooked (not to her liking).  I had the cooked blackened version, very good.

Bahamas next year, absolutely.  But ... recent rumors are flying around indicating the ability for us lowly boat bums to take our boats over there very soon.  And without undue restrictions.  Stay tuned.  I hear they even have a golf course or two.

In other news our batteries are arriving tomorrow.  720 lbs. of new batteries.  And 720 lbs. of old batteries.  Me and two, near-70 year old guys (Rob and Dave) remain poised to heft all 16.  If I can still move I'll let you know how it went, or didn't.  Getting old is a pain.

Mary and I at Castaways

February 22 - March 1, 2016 Key Colony and Marthon Marina

A few weeks earlier I discovered our starboard battery charger wasn't charging.  I called Pronautic and they shipped me a new one (not free since ours was way out of warranty).  In the meantime I wired the one battery charger we had to both banks of batteries.  Not so good for the batteries which I'm sure contributed to their accelerating demise.

So today, I biked to city Marina to fetch the new battery charger, a Pronautic 1260P.   And it wasn't there yet.  Well, ok.  It was a nice day for bike ride.  I had to make a stop at Publix anyway.

Pat and Chip had arrived yesterday for a week in a condo rental here at Boat House Marina.  Chip stopped by briefly for a visit.  We made plans to see them later in the week while they entertained children and grandchildren.  Pat and Chip were among the 4 other boats we journeyed with down the rivers on the Great Loop.  Great fun that trip was, and Chip remembers all the stories and is a superb story teller.  Cant wait! 

Later we took the dinghy over to see Bruce and Rhonda at White Marlin Marina.

It's just under the small bridge and across the little bay from Sparkys Landing.  Great time with them on their boat.  We took a little stroll around the marina and ended up in the rec area where there is  a fire pit.   Some other folks started to congregate and we met an interesting couple crewing a 84 foot Hatteress.  The owner is wheel chair bound but he still manages to get around the boat.  It has some sort of elevator lift.

Next day I, once again, pedaled the bike to City Marina.    And this time the charger was there.  

So I raced back to the boat, got the charger unwrapped and tested the wire runs.  They all fit just fine.  Except one.  The AC power cord.  The original was too short, and I didn't have anything of sufficient gauge on board.

Yup.  Back on the bike heading for Home Depot which is, conveniently I might add,  located 1/2 from City Marina.   I think I managed a 20 miles today on Mary's poor overused bike.

I should mention I do like riding, but since my bike was stolen in Brunswick Georgia a few months ago, I'm tied to riding May's bike around.  Its small which necessitates me riding sort of hunched over with bent knees.   At least I have gears now though, it's tolerable.

I ultimately  bought a 14 gauge appliance replacement cord.    By the time I returned,  it was getting late, and who wants to contort one's body in an engine room at 5PM?

I did take a walk over Vacca Cut bridge tonight and watched a group of pelicans floating down with the current.  Suddenly, they get airborne and fly under bridge and land in the water on the other side. Then they just sit in the water and let the current carry them under the bridge again where they'd repeat the whole process.  Must have been a dozen or so of these guys just joy riding in the current.

The next morning, all of it as a matter of fact, I installed the new battery charger.  It's smaller and has the AC connections on the bottom which meant some additional wiring design.  Also had to run a new temp sensor to the starboard batteries.  The original had a barbed fitting.  This new one has a plug type fitting on the end.  So like I said, it took the whole morning but is working great.

Old on the left, new on the right

Also took the opportunity to charge up the generator start battery since I had to remove it to install the temp sensor anyway.  Its getting weak and I did buy a spare but since this one can still start the gen set I'll use it until it absolutely wont any longer.

We went to Chip and Pats for dinner.  Wonderful time!   We reminisced about the months we spent on the rivers and many other topics.  It really was wonderful!

Before we went over to see them though, I finally got the TCPLink router working with the 2HP Bullet wifi booster.  If your wondering, I had to enable NAT on the Bullet which, I thought, I had already done.  Evidently it toggled itself off because I never forget such things.  Sheez ...

So now we have both 5ghz and 2ghz wifi boosters configured with the same IP and setting since I can only use on at a time.  Just have to switch a CAT 5 cable on the POE injector.  

Today was a dock party.  Chip and Pat stopped over for cocktails and, after we discovered how cold it was out on the dock we all came back aboard.   The wind was keeping the boat off the dock so it was a challenge getting on and off, especially because the finger piers were very short and the tide was out so we couldn't use the swim platform.  

We did go to the dock party for a short time.  Jay cooked a bunch of great meat, Mary made some mac and cheese thing.  We only lingered for about an hour because the wind was so cold and strong.  We again adjourned to our boat for more cocktails before heading to bed.

Pat, Chip, George, Mary, Marilyn and Curt

This morning we all, Curt and Marilyn (who returned late last night from Orlando), Chip and Pat and Mary and I went to breakfast at Island Fish Company a few blocks away.  Very good.  

We had made arrangement with Dave and Darlene to picked us up for lunch.  Our little impromptu breakfast engagement left us with about 30 minutes they arrived.  Impeccable timing one might say.   Luckily I was still hungry!  

Wonderful visit with them!  We went to the Marathon grill and Ale house just down th road from where we are.   We need to make time to stop ind see them in Wausau next time we are visiting LeAnn and Brant in Minnesota.  And they golf too!

They dropped us off at the marina just as Curt called me asking to bring his truck and keys to the nautical flea market near city marina.  They had ridden their bikes there and locked them up before realizing Curt didn't have the keys to their bike locks.  And to the truck as it turned out.  

Curt's Keys

We found the keys on the tonneau cover and then drove down to meet them at the flea market which by then had pretty much broken up.  

They rode their bike back while we drove his honkin big truck to the marina.  

We did beat them back too.

Mary went with them to church the next day while I finally took care of getting our router to use Mac Filtering hence my effort to collect all the various mac address from our swelling collection of devices.  Works great. 

Manatee in the marina this morning and Mary was uncharacteristically up like a flash.  Later we piled into Curt and Marilyn's Truck an drove to the Big Pine Key Flea market.  We bought sunglasses, a 5 inch brass hook, hats, shorts, clasps, and a pair of knockoff Crocs. 

After all the shopping, we went to NoName pub with Curt and Marilyn, who drive us there. We met Phil and Maggie there.  We had met them last year just prior to going over to the Bahamas.  

Maggie feeding the small Deer Key deer with pizza crust from NoName pub

And Jay who’s a resident at the marina.  Nice time.  The little Key Deer, deer, made an appearance and much of the crowd at the bar went tout to ooo and ahh over them.   And of course feed them.  Tame little critters.  Dave, they still miss you and your "fresh" apples.



We mad a stop at a nearby Blue Hole and watched a gator slowly swim towards us.  He never got all that close, but it was still neat to see.

I'm guessing this one was the runt of the litter.  Kinda small

We headed back late afternoon, stopped at Sweet Savannahs for ice cream.  Then, Curt, Marilyn and I, let Mary off and then took an evening stroll at Coco Plum beach.  It was littered with all kinds of stuff including (Kathy?) sponges!

Coco Plum Beach at high tide with Curt and Marilyn.

We were leaving the next day and we needed to take our dinghy somehwere to either hoist it aboard, or just drive it down to Marathon Marina.  I called them to see if I could leave the dinghy in their  basin overnight and Judy said sure.  

So off I went in the ocean, the 6 miles to Boot Key.  Along the way I had a dolphin for company.  He was quite happily riding in the dinghy bow wave for several miles before getting bored I guess.

Dinghy home for a night after a nice ocean run

I first stopped at the City Marina where I turned in our bathroom and laundry cards and then headed back through the crowded anchorage (43 boats waiting for a mooring ball) to Marathon Marina where I tied to the sea wall.  I started walking back towards West Marine but was intercepted by Curt,  Marilyn and Mary in Curt's truck.  

Curt needed an impeller for his outboard but thought the Marathon Marina was the Marathon boat yard.  So we returned to where I left the dinghy and after discovering it was the other place, Marathon Boat Yard.

We left but not before Judy, knowing we were coming in tomorrow, talked us into attending their Italian night pot luck.  Judy is the energetic dock master at Marathon Marina.

We finally did make it to Marathon Boat yard, where we pet the three dogs we remembered from our stay here last year, and then made a stop at West Marine for some reason I cant remember. 

Soon after, it was back to City Marina for some book exchanges.  Next was a stop at Publix and then to the boat.  We had a drink on board before all four of us went to Tarpon Creek Bar and Grill for dinner.  Then after we made yet another quick stop at Sweet Savannah’s for ice cream before heading back to the boat.

I put in a short route to Marathon Marina which took us a few miles off shore to make water, got the bike on board and moved the kayak up to the bow.  We’re ready to go tomorrow morning.  I was  planning on arriving there around high tide, 1:53 PM  to fuel up and pump out before getting into the slip

Heading into Boot Key Harbor

We took our time this morning waiting for the tide to come up.  Left around 10:30 and ran out into the ocean several miles before I started the generator and we commenced making water.  The tank indicators have 4 colors, Green for really full, Yellow for full to about ¼ full, Orange is quarter full and red is empty.  When the tank is in the orange it usually takes between 1.5 to 2 hours to make enough water to fill it it.

But water temperature makes a difference too, the warmer the water the less efficient the water making. 

This is an odd year.  The gulf stream with its warm water, was running only a mile or so east of Sambrero reef.  

We were about 7 miles off shore and making only 6 miles an hour.  Yes  We were in the gulf stream and the water temperatures confirmed it.  74.5 degrees.  That in turn effected the water maker so we were only making 50 gallons an hour instead of near 70 gallons per hour when the water temps are in the 60’s.

Anyway it took almost 2 hours to make enough to fill the tanks which meant we had to run a few miles south of Marathon before turning in towards shore. 

We had planned on going to the fuel dock first but a boat beat us in there, a fun couple from Pensacola  on "Thanks Dad", a Mainship 39.  They are Gold Loopers too with a big bull dog and a Boston Terrier.  I wandered over after we had tied up and swapped Looper stories with them for a while.

I had passed on the idea of waiting around for the fuel dock to clear because the winds were picking up.   SO we didn't refuel which was not a high priority.  And pumpouts are schedule once weekly at the dock so we're fine.  We'll fuel up the day we leave for the Bahamas.

Our docking experience was not pleasant.   

There was a stiff NE wind blowing us off the dock and the dock hand didn’t quite get the idea of a spring line.  He took a bow line and cleated it very loosely which meant I had to jockey the boat in the slip until we got a stern line on.  That was tied too loosely too.  It took a good  ten minutes to finally get secured.  And then we spent another hour tweaking lines before I went to get the dinghy and Mary paid for the slip.

Our new home for March.  Slip #53

I ran into Dave briefly and stopped to say hi to Joanne.  Rob and Sue were off somewhere.

We got back to the boat and Mary made some Italian sausage dish for the impending Italian Pot Luck the marina was throwing.  Much fun.  We sat together, (Rob Sue, Dave, Joanne Mary and I) an then after went over to Papillon to poke around Rob’s stabilizers and other cool techie things while the girls talked and drank wine.

We spent an hour or so there before retiring back to our boat.  Sue dragged out an old picture of them when they were 18, many eons ago..    What an eye opener.!  He had a 60’s Vett then.  That was really an eye opener.  Sweet car which he no longer owns.  Probably because he's too old to drive something that cool? 

And so begins another month in Marathon. 

    

February 14-21 2016 Marathon and Key Colony with Dave and Kathy

We brought the anchor aboard relatively early this morning and went out Channel 5 inlet to the ocean.  We had a mild roll with the swells, but easily managed.  We were off shore about 4 miles and dumped the holding tank, and after, made water.  So was we approached Boot Key harbor entrance we had an empty holding tank and full water tanks.

Anchored in Boot Key Harbor

Our close sailboat anchor neighbor

The harbor was packed.  I wasn’t sure where we were going to be able to nestle ourselves.  But we did find a small place near one of the channel markers, R18.  It was going to be tight but we snuck in and dropped the hook.  And it held.  This area has deep mud and sand and the holding is very good.  Lucky too because when the boat swings with the current and wind I’m guessing we will miss a small sailboat near us by maybe 10-20 feet.

The forecast is for strong northerly winds again thus assuring an eventful next few days.

City Marina dinghy dock

We got the dinghy down and Mary and Dave went into the Municipal Marina office to get on the mooring ball list and pay for a dinghy access sticker..  I stayed aboard to be sure we weren't dragging the anchor.  Kathy stayed aboard as well.

Later we all went back to the City Marina.  We started three loads of laundry while Mary, Dave and I walked to Home Depot, Walgreens and then Publix.   We we came back I took Mary and Kathy back to the boat  but as we were approaching our boat, some guy in a sailboat nearer to shore was frantically waving us over.  I quickly dropped Kathy and Mary off at our boat with the stuff we bought and went over to his boat.  Turns out he cut his hand petty badly and couldn’t paddle his kayak in to shore for medical help.

So I took him (speeding through the anchorage) over to the commercial shrimpers dock near the bridge and got him off.  The hospital was only a block away from there.  I had also towed his kayak so he could get back to his boat later.  We were doing 20 mph and the kayak was surfing along like a water skier.

Once I returned we all went back ashore to get the laundry, meet Dave and then UpperCrust Pizza place, reputed to be Marathons best.  It’s not, but it was close bye and no really felt like walking too far.

Pretty nasty looking weather blowing in

Valentines day, we all went to the popular breakfast, at the VFW club.  Its pretty cheap, pretty good and kind of fun.  Probably better to say it’s just, different.

It was looking pretty stormy for awhile.  The foreeast for a descending cold front appeared to be accurate.

Monday, Dave rented a car from Enterprise.  It was  a one way rental.  He was driving to Stuart to get his car and drive back here to Marathon.  We brought the bike in to the marina and Kathy used that for some touring around town while I walked over to a few stores.

This morning, since Dave had his car now, they all took off for Bahia Honda State Park while I stayed aboard and did some battery research and a few maintenance items.  Went into the marina again and had some battery discussion, most notably with Alex who was pushing for installing Lithium Ion batteries.  They are great batteries, last for a long time and are far less bulky than AGM or standard lead acid.  They do however require some expensive equipment capable of executing a complex charging regime.   All our old stuff would have to be replaced.

So I’m sticking with ordering Lifeline AGM 6 volt batteries.  8 of them. 

After all the talking I took the dinghy over to Burdines and filled it up, then took it out around the island for a little joy ride.  It wasn’t too rough out there, just chilly. 

Later I went in to pick up everyone and brought them back along with their beach treasures.

This morning we had battery voltages of less than 12.   Not good.  With the bad weather forecast for the next few days, and no marina’s here that can take us, we expanded our search up to Key Colony Beach, about 7 miles north.  I’m reluctant to move the boat anywhere else to anchor since we are pretty well buried now and unlikely to drag.  But our water tanks are getting low and the battery situation is becoming desperate.

Friends of ours, Curt and Marilyn suggested we try the marina where they are staying, Boathouse Marina in Key Colony.  So we called and Larry the dock master said he had two open but wasn’t sure we could fit in.  Thankfully we had Dave's car available.  We had to wait util around 11 to leave though because I had the generator running to keep the batteries up with a meaningful voltage.

We all drove up there and took a look at the slips.  #46 was doable.  Tight, and requiring we back in, but doable.

Did I mention tight?

So we raced back to the boat and left the anchorage about 2PM.

Just as I thought, the anchor was really dug in deep which was good for us had we been forced to stay there. But it took some extra coaxing to get it out. 

On the way to Key Colony Beach

Sombrero Beach

We went out  Sisters Creek for the first time.  It saved shaved several  miles off the trip, but it was our first time going through there.  It is shallow between the green and red first marker seaward.  5 feet is the lowest I saw. 

As we cleared Sisters Creek, Marathon City Marina called my cell phone and told us we had a mooring ball!   Oh if we only had good batteries.  But at least if we couldn’t get the boat in the slip we had a fall back. We had two hours decide to take the mooring ball or not.   And we’d be at Boat House marina in less time so we have options.

Heading into Boat House Marina

Squeezed in between our boat on the right and our neighbor 

As we came into the channel past Vaca Cut I slowed and put the boat in neutral so David could get in the dinghy (we were towing it) and drive it separately to the marina.  We rounded the corner, slowly came into the tiny basin.  Yikes, it was tight.  But  I managed to spin the boat around and back it into a slip only 16.5 feet wide., a foot larger than we are wide. 

Thankfully there was no real current but some wind which was not to strong.  After some stumbling around with lines (and Jay's sometimes annoying suggestions) we were secured.  We then got David off the dinghy and we sort of squeezed it between our boat and the one in the next slip.

Curt and Marilyn ghosted in soon after.  They had been out  sailing with Donnie, another resident boater here who also happens to be a musician.

Dave and Kathy went out for seafood dinner and Mary and I were left alone to enjoy the last dregs of our Cline, 2014 Pinot Noir in the gathering dusk.

The smallish turning basin in front of our slip.  That's us in the middle

Today is Dave’s birthday.  He’s old enough now that going to Chuckie Cheese doesn’t quite do it for him.  But golfing does.  So he and I went to the driving range at Sombrero Country Club.  It was pretty windy but felt good to swing a club.  And Dave got the chance to tweak his swing using his new wood shaft clubs.  Yes, he’s going retro.  Guess he's at that age ...

Later we ran some errands, and when we returned talked with Curt & Marilyn.  And Jay, the guy that helped us tie up.  He  seems to be a battery wholesaler among other things so we talked about batteries for awhile. 

Birthday golfer

Our slip 

The marina pool

We had  takeout ribs for dinner and then took the dinghy out for a little ride before it got too dark. 

Dave and went to the driving range again this morning.  The golf course itself was very expensive and looked to be in rough shape.  So we didn’t play a round.  

I had ordered our mail to be spent to City Marina so Dave dropped me off there and went back to Boat House marina.  I picked the mail and then rode our bike back to the Boat House Marina.  Kathy took advantage of the pool.

Talking to Larry the Boat House Marina dock master

Later,  Curt and Marilyn dropped over for drinks.   They are planing on leaving in a few days to go north up the gulf coast and into the Okeechobee Waterway and then cruising back down to Marathon on the east coast.

 Earlier we watched the Customs Border patrol boat leave.  One of their boats is based here.  Guys with big guns, and us armed with cocktails makes an interesting scene.

Leigh Ann's 

Border Patrol off on a call

We went to Leigh Ann's for breakfast.  Its a quirky little place, supposedly very good.  It was ok, but really pricey!  It's right next to Sparky's

Happy sponge collector

Kathy, worked feverishly on de-detoxifying her sponge collection.  Well, maybe de-stinking is a more appropriate description.

Being plugged in to dock side power is wonderful.  No power worries.  But our batteries are definitely on the way out.  They dont seem to be holding much of a charge for any length of time.  Makes anchoring out kinda tough.

Taking a break from flea market shopping

Today is flea market day.  There is an annual Nautical Flea Market held on Islamorada  Its on the grounds of Founders Park, a community center of sorts with this large swimming pool used my several universities as a training site.  And across the way is a Marina, Plantation Yacht Harbor Marina for dock walking when the Flea Market gets too much,

Bought the flagstaff.  Not the light though

We were here last year and it was great.  There were many booths with all manner of nautical bits and pieces.  This year though, there were far fewer booths selling old or discounted boat paraphernalia.  The place had become rife with clothes sellers, jeweler hawkers and just generally new boat items.  Oh well.

The Flea Market

Breakfast on the beach

We did indulge in breakfast on the beach again but didn't stay too long.  I only purchased a flag staff for our burgee on the bow.  I had been using a piece of 1/2 PVC pipe when our original teak flagstaff snapped off coming into Milwaukee Harbor a few years ago.  

This flagstaff was a  It was a bargain.  Using my deeply held  negotiating talents I offered the guy $12 when we was asking $15.  This is why Mary does all the negotiating. 

Our friends, Dave and Darlene rent a place on the beach across the way.    Last year we stopped in to see them, but we simply ran out of time this year.  So we ended up leaving before the crowds really began showing up.  Its a 30 mile drive from Key Colony  And only a two lane road.  Think traffic.  Slow traffic.

It was Dave and Kathy's last day so we drove down to Lazy Days for a farewell dinner.  Wasn't as pleasant as I was hoping. But we couldn't think of a better place.   Earlier we all walked to Sweet Savannah's for ice cream about 3/4 of a mile.

Kathy and I took the dinghy out for one last run but it was really too rough so it was a short ride.

Curt and Marilyn's boat acting as a Shepard for dinghies 

 When we returned I asked Curt and Marilyn if we could keep it next to their boat and they said fine.   We had been squeezing it in between our boat and our neighbors.  It required, literally, pushing the two boats apart to squish the poor dinghy in between them.

Dave and Kathy left this morning.  Sad time but they have to get back north.  Already looking forward to next year.
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The rest of the day we just puttered around the boat and did laundry.  The highlight of the day was watching the marina's black cat keep several pelicans away from the fish cleaning station as a few guys were cleaning fish 

February 10-12 Boca Chita to Marathon

We made a leisurely exit from Sunset Lake in the morning.  I was going to go through the East Venetian Bridge to avoid having to wait for the West Venetian Causeway bridge opening which is on a 30 minute schedule and can be crowded with boats waiting to go through.  It's a busy waterway.  By using the East Venetian Bridge, which opens on demand,  we could avoid that wait.

Well, surprise, surprise.  The  East Venetian Bridge bridge was closed for repairs and the when we came up to the West  East Venetian Bridge, it was being held in the open position for repairs.  So we sailed right through.

Dave, relaxed, nonchalant navigation

We meandered down Biscayne Bay towards Boca Chita Key.   Boca Chita is very near Miami.  On nice clear days the Miami skyline is a marvel.   Of course I don't have any pictures.. ugh

It was an easy journey even though the Bay is shallow.  But there was very little boat traffic.

Boca Chita entrance channel

The entrance to Boca Chita was well marked and easy.  Its a little harbor actually and is immensely popular on weekends as hordes of boats descend to the place and party hearty all weekend.  Last time we came through Biscayne Bay it was a weekend and we could hear the music from a few miles away.  But its a weekday today so no worries.  We pulled in, and there were a few sailboats and one or two power boats.  Plenty of room on the almost circular dock which is actually a sea wall with cleats!  

And no dock hands which means the deck crew will have to snag a cleat without help.  And they did without a problem!

Deck gang getting ready for Boca Chita where there are no dock hands

We chose to tie up on the east side near a tree for shade, forgetting that Boca Chita has a reputation for harboring a population of voracious bugs.  They reside in tree's and brush.  We later pulled the boat up away from the tree to gain a little bit of wind to help stem the bug hordes.

We used either Dave's or my National Park pass to discount the docking fee.  Sometimes it pays to be old(er).  

Tied up on the eastern sea wall

I wandered around and talked with a few of the boaters.  Talked with a nice couple on Tucan, a 30 foot  Hatteras fore runner from the early 1970's.  Nice boat!   Also met a couple from Wisconsin on a small sailboat.  He runs a excursion boats on Lake Baraboo (I think, or maybe it was the Dells).  

We peeked at the impressive light house and walked around the shore.  There are a few beaches too.

Never have there been better collectors of beach "stuff" than these two.

Meanwhile Kathy and Mary discovered dead things.  Beach dead things.  Sponges to be specific.  Lots of sponges.  Kathy accumulated an impressive collection in record time.  Mary was not far behind.  I began repeating my, "no dead things in the boat", mantra.   Sponges can be, ah noticeably odoriferous if you know what I mean.   Very noticeably.  

We ended resembling an odd commercial sponging boat with sponges up on the deck drying in the sun.

Looking out Boca Chita entrance and the lighthouse

We had a relaxing evening.  The sponges, up on the bow and leaving an impressive aromatic cloud, help dissuade some of bug hordes heading our way.  Well, that's my guess anyway.  It wasn't too bad bug-wise, but bug spray is a necessity.

Heading through Jewfish Creek into Blackwater Sound

Next morning we left on a rising tide and went through a little channel in the shallow water, the East Featherbed Bank channel.  We were headed down the Bay towards Tarpon Basin where we were going to try and anchor for the night.

It was a blustery day though and Tarpon Basin, which is at Key Largo, is not known for its holding.  Basically anchors drag here, especially in the north end which is where one finds wind protection from northerlies. 

We entered the Basin and anchored but dragged almost right away.  I was reluctant to try the north end where there were several sailboats because of the potential for dragging.  So went to the next alternative outside of Tarpon basin near Grouper Creek,  Grouper Creek is the exit channel from Tarpon and on the east side of it there is 8 feet of water over what appears to be hard sand.  The anchor caught right away.  

So that's where we stayed.  It was out of the heavy wind but alas, I was hoping to have some of these huge, 10 feet or more, Tarpon swim by for everyone to see.  

Next morning we timed our departure with the tides so we would traverse some of the very shallow trouble spots at or near high tide.  These troublesome areas are further down in Florida Bay, maybe a hour or two away. 

And we did pretty good since we didn't go aground.  But the water depths through here can be less than 5 feet in some spots.

We couldn't make it all the way to Marathon in one day and arrive in daylight, so we chose to anchor near Lower Matecumbe Key, which is adjacent to the Channel 5 inlet.  

Channel 5 is the main navigable inlet between from Florida Bay and the ocean.  And we were going to take the ocean into Marathon.  It was forecast to be relatively calm and the ocean route is 5 miles shorter than going down Florida Bay.  And its deeper!  

We rocked a bit here at anchor since the winds were still blustery from the north.  But not too bad.

Near dusk a couple of kids in a rented boat stopped by and wanted to know about gas for their outboard.  I did have any on board so directed them to a marina near Channel 5 bridge.  It was getting dark so I hope they made it.  

The batteries seem to be worsening.  I hope they can last at least a few more weeks so I can get new ones ordered.  

Tomorrow we head into Marathon and Boot Key Harbor.  We'll have to anchor since there are no vacancies at the marina's there.  And the north winds are not letting up.  Boot Key can get very crowded with many anchored boats so I hope we can find a little spot to settle into for a while.  From notes I've been getting from a few friends already there, prospects aren't looking to good.  But it wouldn't be an adventure if everything always worked out smoothly.