Jan 22- Feb 21 Still hanging out in Marathon

1/22-2/22
Yes, we are still hanging out in Marathon.  Boot Key Harbor is such a unique and friendly place! Its a bit like being at summer camp- lots of activities going on everyday.  For example,
In the park- yoga, tennis, softball, bocci, all scheduled for you
In the big lobby- jewelry making, rug making, basket making, card games and dominoes
In the tiki hut- DVD exchanges, sing alongs, pot lucks, educational talks for boating
And lots of happy hours on boats!

One day a fellow cruiser came in and made jewelry glass blowing.
Louie, "the pirate", actually an ex-cop, made an octopus necklace for Carol while we watched.

 

We learned to play Mexican Train Dominoes on bad weather days.

   

Kathy and Gary McCoy, friends from out homeport, were down on vacation. They drove us to the infamous No Name Pub, a former brothel, on Big Pine Key. Great pizza!
 

Pam Kazaba, Chad's mom, came down for a visit and even stayed onboard with us!

Girls Day Out in Key West

Made a trip to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon. This little guy had a chunk of his side taken out by a shark.  He had surgery and was recovering well.

Pam relaxing on the boat.

We sailed down to Newfound Harbor, off Ramrod Key of a few days with Mike and Tammy on Aria. We got to snorkel and dinghies into shore for lunch at The Looe Key Reef Resort. Best fish sandwiches we have had! The stars were unbelievable there! Coming home was a bit rough out in Hawk Channel.
We found some local color at our anchorage off Picnic Island with locals hanging out on the sandy island with palm trees. They had furnished it with picnic table, grill, and chairs and hammocks. As we were hanging out there, Jerry pulled up. He had a pontoon boat that he had built a wooden structure on, sort of like a Huck Finn raft.  He had made a steering wheel from a bicycle metal wheel with keg taps all around as handholds! Jerry looked like a ZZ Top band member. He travelled around the near shore islands and lived on his raft.  Quite a character! Even had a Yeti cooler! Wish I had gotten a picture, but left the camera onboard!

Entrance to channel to Looe Key Resort

Rough seas

Tammy and Michael from Aria

Also took a bus up to Miami and attended the Miami International Boat Show and Coconut Grove Arts Festival. Got to visit with friends, Bill and David and Cheri, our traveling companions on the ICW.
Boat Show pix

 

Arts Festival

We are now starting to plan our next leg of the trip. Mother Nature is in charge and we have had a lot of wind and some rainy days this winter. Looking for a good weather window to travel!
Stay tuned!

 

Dec 21- Jan 21, 2016 Marathon

Dec 22- Jan 21, 2016
Its been a whole month since our last blog!  We flew home at Christmas to spend a week with our family. Got back to Marathon and have spent a relaxing month in the harbor on a secure mooring ball.
We have gotten to know our boat neighbors and also had some out of town visitors!

Here are some pix from the month!

New Year's Day- My kind of Polar Bear Plunge!

                                                                  

Tried free yoga in the park with fellow cruisers.

Carol's friend , Jeri, visiting Key West from Ohio.

Burgers with fellow cruisers from Rock Hall.

Ann and Henry (previous dock neighbors in Rock Hall) met us in Key West for lunch.  They took the fast ferry from Marco Island to Key West for the day.

Spent some time at the local Sombrero Beach.

Tried fishing in the mangroves- Unsuccessful!

Entered the Chili Cook-Off. Here are the competitors in the poultry division.  Carol did not win, but had a lot of fun!

Did some never ending teak work

Dana, Chad, and Charlie came to visit. Unfortunately we had a cold spell, but we still had a wonderful time.

Cool dude!

Charlie on his first dinghy ride.  He wasn't too sure about this.

Liz and Ray, from North Carolina, were down at the same time as our daughter's family.  They even let us do our laundry at their rental place!

Liz and Ray daysailing with us to Sombrero Reef.

The guys went fishing one day and we cooked the catch at Liz and Ray's house!

Porgies, yellow tails and snappers.

Great meal!!!

11/30-12/20 Life on the hook in Marathon

Nov 30- Dec 20

We have been in Marathon for 3 weeks now.
Marathon is about 2/3 of the way south in the Florida Keys island chain.
We are on a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor, along with about 300 other boats. Sitting on our boat we have watched dolphins fish, and seen manatees, eagle rays, and turtles swim by.

Pepromenon at mooring

Lots of friendly cruisers here and lots to do. This is a municipal marina and the facilities are a lot like camping!

Lobby area has computer tables, lending library and TV lounge

Laundry room always busy.  We head in at 7am on laundry days

Luxurious bathrooms-haha!

Dinghy parking lot for going ashore

The pump out boat comes by weekly to pump out the holding tank- very convenient!

We have taken the bus down to Key West.

Trying a sampler at the new brewery in Key West

Selfie at Mile Marker 0

We have tried lobstering. Need some bigger ones to be legal and keep!

We have taken the boat out to Sombrero Lighthouse and snorkeled on the reef and cleaned the bottom of the boat. The reef was surprisingly alive. Bob even scared up a nurse shark.

Our bikes are handy transportation to the grocery store and exploring the island. Fresh fish is abundant down here and we have tried several local restaurants. There are even a few we can take the dinghy to.

Christmas tree made from lobster pots

 We watched the annual Christmas boat parade.

And Santa visited the local bar at Happy Hour!

Fellow cruisers organized a potluck brunch and it was delicious. Carol even made a coffee cake in our oven.

Brunch at the marina tiki hut.

11/28-11/29 Miami to Marathon, Florida Keys

Nov 28-
We said goodbye to Miami!

With wind from the northeast, we put up the jib and flew down Biscayne Bay, through Card Sound, Barnes Sounds, Tarpon Basin, Buttonwood Bay and anchored in Cowpen Cut for the night.  This was just off Tavernier.
We trolled a fishing line with a lure behind us- but nothing… as usual!
We were all alone at anchor and watched a spectacular sun set into the water.

Once again, we missed the "green flash" people claim they see down here. We attributed this to not having another cocktail! Maybe tomorrow!

Nov 29-
Still windy and wavy from the north, so we pushed to make it to Marathon in 2 days. Used the jib again.  Out in Florida Bay, we were alone except for an occasional fishing boat.  It was shallow- 6-9 feet is the norm.  We draw 4 foot, and saw as low as 4'6".
We picked up a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor in Marathon on Vaca Key and plan to stay here about 6 weeks.  This was a favorite spot last year. There are about 300 live aboard boats in this natural protected harbor and lots going on.
Views of Boot Key Harbor mooring field