From Vero to Incognita's Summer Home

Saturday 16th May
Had a day cleaning up the boat and drove back up the coast to Sebastian to buy some fresh fish and do some supermarket shopping. Had Bilbo’s crew over for supper.

Sunday 17th May
Sunday morning breakfast at the legion with John and Rejeanne followed by visits to Best Buy and West Marine (guy shopping). In the afternoon we had Randy and Lori of Soulmate 3 over for happy hour to discuss the joys of RVing. They drive their RV down from Winnipeg every fall to the boat that they too keep down in Florida. Lots of useful advice for us newbies in the motorhome world.

Monday 18th May
We start the day by driving Randy from Soulmate over to Napa for some oil filters before they leave to be hauled out at Fort Pierce.

We then get a call that the motorhome is ready ahead of schedule so we start getting our ducks in a row for the export/import process.

Tuesday 19th May
A trip up to Cocoa in the pouring rain (the weather has changed) to do the RV systems checkout – everything seems to work just fine.

Wednesday 20th May
Got the money from the bank to pay for the RV and after calling in at Hertz to add Carol as a driver on the rental car, we head up to Cocoa to pick up the RV.
As I drive the RV away from the dealer I find a bit if a problem with the RV. The front window leaks like a sieve (it’s a common problem) and water had accumulated above the driver/passenger area, so I got a shower when I pulled away. No use whining to the dealer about it, we bought it ‘as is’ and we should have checked it more thoroughly.

Undaunted I head off for Indiantown with Carol following in the rental car. This is where the boat is to be stored for the summer so we want the RV there to live in when we get there in the boat.

We get there without further mishap and head off to the hardware store to buy tape and plastic sheeting.

When we get back, John and Rejeanne are there in the car they bought in Vero Beach which they are also going to leave in Indiantown until we arrive with our boats. John gave me a welcome hand in applying the plastic sheeting over the errant front window then we head back to Vero Beach for supper at the Chinese Buffet.

Thursday 21st May
It’s the last whole day we have a car so we spent it shopping like crazy for a new radio for the RV and a mattress topper for the bed.

Friday 22nd May
The weather has changed. Every day there are thunderstorms and very heavy rain so we are waiting for a bit of a window before we make the two-day trek to Indiantown. After returning the rental car, John and I fill in the time making fan driven ventilation systems for our companionway hatches as per the recommendations of Ira, the veteran of summer storage in Indiantown.

Saturday 23rd May
The weather is still not that good so we finished our ventilation projects, pay our bills at the marina and did a last shopping via the free bus, ready to leave the next day.

Sunday 24th May
As the thunderstorms don’t usually hit until the afternoon we made an early start (7 am) with Bilbo and head back down the coast to the St. Lucie inlet then up the St. Lucie River .

The weather to the south of us looks really bad but by the afternoon we are in the St. Lucie River and the skies are still clear around us.

As we travel past the inlet and up the river I notice the depth has dropped to less than six feet and when we swing around to warn Bilbo they are already aground. As if by magic Tow Boat US suddenly appears and tows them to safety. The rest of the journey to Stuart is uneventful and we end the day on moorings at the beautiful new Stuart Marina.

The skies still appear gloriously threatening


but nothing bad happens.

Monday 25th May
Just one more day of travel to Incognita’s summer resting place. We can’t leave too early as we have a lock to pass through that only opens at 1 pm. But since the weather has become very unpredictable we leave early enough to have to anchor and wait for the lock opening. Although we have had lots of experience with locks, this one was quite different. First, everyone must lock on the south side of the lock no matter which direction you are going. Secondly, although they supply ropes to hang on to, when you enter, there aren’t any already there. The lockmaster drops ropes to each boat one by one. Thirdly, instead of the water coming up through the bottom of the lock, they just start to open the high-side gate and let the water in.

Just a few more miles, during which we get a thunderstorm passing over with torrential rain. We tie up to a dock at Indiantown Marina and the voyage is over for a while.

Our first job after docking is to go check the RV. We are relieved to find that our ‘temporary’ fix for the leaky front window is still intact and no further rain seems to have made its way in. Indiantown has an RV park with full hookups, so we head right there and after finding a spot, we have electricity, water and sewer – total luxury. We had supper on the boat but that night we got to sleep in blessed air-conditioning.

Tuesday 26th May
We started moving stuff from off the boat and into the RV. I also have to prepare the boat for haulout and that’s when I discover the genoa sail will not drop down. The halyard that holds it up is jammed. I discussed various options with people and finally decide the mast has to come down. As the marina does not have that capability a crane must be arranged from a local operator. This cannot be done until the Thursday so our haulout is now delayed until at least then.
We take pity on John and Rejeanne and offer them a bed in the RV away from the very hot at-the-dock boat interior. That night, all four of us head off in their car to Dee Stefanos, a well-known restaurant in Indiantown. We all had a great meal.

Wednesday 27th May
Bilbo got hauled out and then John helped me haul our dinghy on the deck and have a good go at cleaning off the barnacles.
After moving Incognita out of its slip and over to the face dock ready for the crane we all go for another great meal at Dee Stefanos.

Thursday 28th May
The crane arrived not long after the appointed time of 8 am and we proceeded to get the mast down.

Boy, are we spoiled in Canada when it comes to stepping and unstepping the mast. We remember paying around a $100 Canadian and that’s when you merely act as a spectator or just a helper. $275.00US is the cost here (apparently that’s cheap) and they don’t do anything except operate the crane. Incognita’s problem is that the mast balance point is somewhere between the lower and upper spreaders which means the lifting line has to be carried up the mast a bit until it’s past the first spreader. Fortunately for us, John doesn’t mind going up the mast so after putting on his harness up he went and the rest of the process continued on smoothly.

Once our mast was down we were ready for haulout and before noon we were being lifted.

Barnacles abound on the underwater bit.

So we approve a good washdown even though it removed huge parts of the anti-fouling.

I’m a happy camper to see the boat finally ‘on the hard’

even though the readying for storage has only just begun.
Ira and Ann drove over from West Palm Beach to see how we’re all doing and we all end up at Dee Stefanos for yet another excellent meal.

Friday 29th May
First order of the day was a boat survey as we have to switch insurance companies – our current one refused to insure us for leaving the boat in Florida. It didn’t exactly pass with flying colours – lots of things to work on when we get back down south in November/December.

The rest of the day was spent moving stuff from the boat to the RV and lashing the dinghy to the foredeck of Incognita.

Supper with John and Rejeanne in the RV.

Saturday 30th May
More boat stuff moving the batteries from their ‘temporary’ location under the helmsman’s seat to down below.

Supper again in the RV

Sunday 31st May
The weather in summer in this part of Florida in what is referred to as the rainy season is characterized by one word – thunderstorms. Each day starts sunny and then by early afternoon the clouds are moving in and lightning and thunder starts. Every day is virtually the same.
Re-wired the moved batteries and wired the automatic bilge pump and the companionway ventilation fan

via fuses directly to the batteries.

Supper in the air-conditioned luxury of the RV.

Monday 1st June
Got a ride to the hardware/lumber store with Rejeanne and ordered lumber for a frame for the solar panels.

Installed a tarp over the foredeck.

Tuesday 2nd June
After saying goodbye to John and Rejeanne, we took the RV for a spin, dropping Carol off at the Laundromat and getting four new tires installed ready for the big drive.

Wednesday 3rd June
Made a frame for the solar panels to give them a better chance of surviving any potential hurricanes.

Thursday 4th June
Moved the solar panels and re-connected them and used a bug ‘bomb’ inside the boat to kill the ants that seemed to have taken over plus the occasional flying cockroach that somehow got in.

Friday 5th June
Lashed a tarp over the cockpit to minimize the rainfall effects.
Ira and Ann drop in for a visit and we invite them to stay the night. We have a great supper with grilled Mahi Mahi that was given to us by someone who caught it on the way back from the Bahamas. First though we had to figure out the new BBQ we bought for the RV.

Ira and I took a walk down to the dock later to talk to someone who had sailed from Guatemala and got invited aboard a sunset cruise down the canal. Ira even got to steer the huge deisel powered old wooden boat with about a dozen passengers.


Saturday 6th June
We started the day with breakfast at Crackers, a local watering hole that has great omelets.

Ira gave me a very welcoming hand with various RV projects while Carol and Ann amused themselves with cards and Scrabble.

Sunday 7th June
Completed the boat projects by wrapping the mast lines in tarps and generally tidying things up.

Monday 8th June
Finally sorted out the boat insurance with Boat US and readied everything for the big trip back to Canada. Took final pics of the boat all strapped down and ready for whatever happens – or as ready as can be.

An RV too Far?

Friday 8th May
A day on the boat searching for RV's on the Internet and updating the blog, culminating with watching one of the worst movies ever with John and Rejeanne - the made-for-TV "Journey to The Centre of the Earth", not to be confused with last year's version with Brendan Fraser. Instead we had Peter Fonda who seemed to be barely conscious.

Saturday 9th May
A day shopping including picking up a wind scoop from West Marine to try and alleviate the ever increasing elevated temperatures aboard the boat.


Ended the day with "Rat Race" - one of our favourite very funny movies.

Sunday 10th May
Took a drive up the coast to Titusville to look at RVs and gave Doug and Cindy a ride back so they could drop off their car ready for when they store the boat at a Titusville marina.

Monday 11th May
"Never Say Maybe" left early in the day with Doug and Cindy heading for summer storage.

We head off to the West Coast again (180m), Tampa and Lazy Days, the biggest RV single location dealership in the world. 150 acres of RVs complete with complimentary restaurant. Surely they'll have what we want. And they do. So we put a deposit down on one. Only problem is high, high mileage (110,000 miles).

By the time we get back it's late so we eat out at our favourite Chinese buffet.

Tuesday 12th May
Another long drive (140 m), this time to Leesburg, north of Orlando near the Ocala Forest. A very different kind of Florida than we've ever seen before. Rolling meadows and very green. We find one we like a lot that's a private sale but they want top dollar. We tell them we have to check into the importation process and we'll get back to them as soon as possible.

Again we get back late, this time to a thunderstorm. First rain since we got to Vero. We head out for supper to celebrate the fact we now have two hot prospects.

Wednesday 13th May
There's another possibilty in St. Augustine, so we head a (long - 178m) up the coast to find the RV is not in good shape and costs too much anyway.

On the way back we drive through Cocoa and call in at an RV place we somehow have missed up until now.

And we find a very hot prospect. It's relatively new (2000), very low milage (32K) and the price is low because there's some damage on one side where the previous owner gouged the fibreglas. But compared to fixing a curved boat, this would be easy.

They're just about to close so we promise to return the folowing day to check it out and take it for a spin.

Thursday 14th May
We drove back to Cocoa, did all those things and made a deal.


The interior is very clean.


It has a little more counter space than the other prospects.


A bed that you can (sort of) walk around - luxury after almost a year aboard Incognita.

Finally the quest is over after 4 weeks. On the way back to the boat we called in on Bilbo and have supper and a late night with John and Rejeanne who are celbrating their purchase of a new Camry. Cars a a lot cheaper in the USA.

Friday 15th May
Time to rturn the car and re-rent it except that they won't give us the same one, instead we get a full size Mercury Sable with electric leather seats, climate control, staellite radio. Seems they had no others. Don't think we'll miss the tiny Aveo.

Did some shopping for crockery and utensils for the RV. We'll still need some pots and pans though.

Back to the beach

Friday 27th March
Finished the wiring job – finally. Had Steve and Cathy from ‘Kit’ over for supper.

Saturday 28th March
A day spent in the marina doing laundry and updating the blog.

Sunday 29th March
The winds finally drop but thunderstorms are forecast. Cleaned the waterline of barnacles and green weedy stuff. The thunderstorms thankfully miss Marathon.

Monday 30th March
In preparation for leaving the next day we motor to a marina for fuel and water fillup and then on the way back our Garmin GPS Chartplotter dies – perfect! After all that wiring. Took the dinghy to the beach and flipped it over to get all the crud off that.

Tuesday 31st March
After just over six weeks we finally unglue ourselves from Boot Key Harbour and head out towards the Moser channel with `Never Say Maybe` and back up the gulf side of the keys. However, about 10 minutes out `Never Say Maybe` has engine trouble and has to turn back. We plough on.

We’re heading into Islamorada not far from where we picked up the crab pot on the way down and run over this in the water which proceeded to wrap itself around our propeller.

After going ashore to buy a new facemask and a few minutes underwater, it came unravelled quite easily actually.

Wednesday 1st April
Before setting out again we get in touch with Doug and Cindy on `Never Say Maybe` and find their problem is resolved and they`re on the way, so we decide to wait for them.

After a day lounging around on the boat at anchor, `Never Say Maybe` turned up and we celebrated with happy hour aboard Incognita.

Thursday 2nd April
The wind is right for sailing, so after running the engine long enough to replenish the batteries we are actually `sailing` with no engine noise. "Never Say Maybe" took this rare (we have never actually been photographed underway before) shot.


Due to the wind strength and direction we end the day at anchor in Thursday Cove exactly where we anchored on the way down and have happy hour aboard `Never Say Maybe` with Doug, Cindy and Abby.


Friday 3rd April
After a fairly windy and sleepless night, although Carol is reluctant, three of us want to make good use of the 25knot south wind so we have a wonderful day of sailing to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne just with our genoas up.

Here`s `Never Say Maybe` chasing our tail.

The strong wind keeps us relatively cool in spite of the fact it`s in the 90`s and really warm and humid.

The intention was to stay on a mooring ball there for a few days but Doug doesn't have his boat registration papers with him, something they insist on. When we try to leave the fuel dock there is no one there and we can`t get both boats off the dock, the wind is too strong. So we end up spending a bumpy night on the fuel dock.

Saturday 4th April
After an early before dawn start we leave Crandon Park and motor past Miami. Here`s looking back across one of the biggest anchorages there – note that `building` on the right with all the windows is a cruise ship.


We head for one of our favourite anchorages, Sunset Lake, in the `Venice` of Miami, passing buy some beautifully situated real estate.

By bus, metro mover and train I made my way to West Marine with our broken GPS where it was replaced for $30 which I think is a hell of a deal compared to sending it back to Garmin for repair. They also sold me a three year warranty for 100 bucks which seemed a prudent move.

This is the metro mover - it's a little disconcerting to note that every one of the 'carriages' (which have no driver) has a big gouging scrape down each side - ?


Here's a thing you don't see in too many places, buses have bike racks on the front.


We ended the day aboard Never Say Maybe for a movie (Anchorman).

Sunday 5th April
Jobs around the boat and provisioning at Publix.
Into our small anchorage this monster arrives and proceeds to leave for a few hours each day.
Apparently it's owned by a Spanish celebrity.

Monday 6th April
Jobs around the boat as we wait for a strong cold front to come through which it does in the late afternoon. Doug and Cindy come over for a re-run of Little Miss Sunshine.

Tuesday 7th April
Laundry Day in South Beach plus a little provisioning. We decide to buy a TV for the boat instead of watching stuff on our laptop. We also buy a little tiny notebook computer which will consume less juice and also is truly 'portable'.

We end the day with our favourite movie - Idiocracy.

Wednesday 8th April
Took a trip into the more scenic parts of Miami South Beach down Lincoln Street past this old church which is oddly protestant.

We also visited the holocaust memorial which was a very sobering experience. This is what it looks like from the street.


Closer to the arm is rather more chilling.


Thursday 9th April
Time to move on further north. So on a cooler day we up anchor and motor on up the ICW past Hollywood where we stayed on the way down , Fort Lauderdale and on to Lake Santa Barbara where we anchored for the night.

Friday 10th April
It's the Easter holiday time and the traffic on the ICW is building but we intend to go to Lake Worth in the West Palm Beach area.

On the way we passed through this bridge - pity these Americans can't spell (:-)).

We anchor for the night next to the Phil Foster Park where I pickup Ira and Ann (our Floridian friends) in the dinghy and they join us first for happy hour with Doug and Cindy and then for supper.

Saturday 11th April
Between the waves caused by the relatively high winds, the wake from boats going to and from the park and the wake from boats passing on the ICW we decide this is not the place to stay so we and "Never Say Maybe" up our anchors and head for the relatively quieter waters of North Lake Worth.

We were supposed to visit Ira and Ann's place and catch a show in their complex but the weather forecast is not good so we settle for supper aboard Incognita.

Sunday 12th April
The bad weather never really materialized so we head over to Ira and Ann's for much needed showers, Internet and supper.

Monday 13th April
It's on we go, strong south east winds pushing us up the ICW to our anchoring spot at Jensen Beach. It's a little rough in the anchorage even though we have a little shelter from the bridge.

Tuesday 14th April
We left as soon as possible in the morning for the relatively short hop to Vero Beach. It's a good job that we did as the weather started to deteriorate as we got there as yet another front blew through with rain and high winds.

Wednesday 15th April
We're back on a mooring in Vero Beach where we plan to stay a while and search for an RV to take back to Canada.

Thursday 16th April
Connect to the Internet (actually pay) and search for RVs

Friday 17th April
Rent a car on our Aeroplan points. Carol gets a much needed hairdo.

Saturday 18th April
Drove around locally looking at RV places without finding anything and came back for a meet and greet at the marina with special guest Jimmy Buffet. As we expected, he didn't turn up.

Sunday 19th April
Headed over to the Vero Beach American Legion for one of their great value breakfasts. Did a little shopping and ran some wire on the boat. We had supper at a great Chinese Buffet with Doug and Cindy and ended the day on Incognita watching a movie with them.

Monday 20th April
Carol was having problems with a painful hip so we took a trip over to the local hospital to get it checked out. The high spot was watching this little fellow trying to get in through the window.


Tuesday 21st April
Drove up the coast to Melbourne to visit RV places - no luck.

Wednesday 22nd April
We had a birthday to celebrate so we make an afternoon of it at the local AMC complex and see The Class and Love You Man and finish off the day with supper at the the New Century Chinese Buffet with Doug and Cindy.

Thursday 23rd April
Drove up the coast to Titusville looking for RVs - no luck.

Friday 24th April
Drove a ways down the coast as far as Jensen Beach in the big search - no luck.

Saturday 25th April
First stop on our trip to West Palm Beach is up the coast a little to drop Buddy off at the boarding kennels and then after a quick McDonald's breakfast we head off down I95 to the Century Village retirement complex.

The complex is huge with its own theatre and activities centre. You can do everything from woodworking to dinghy sailing. That night Ira and Ann take us to the theatre to watch The Motowners - a singing group with an self-explanatory repertoire. It was a lot of fun and the old folks (even older than us) really got into it - standing and clapping their hands above their heads.

Sunday 26th April
Ira and Ann thought it would be a good idea for us to go visit nearby Indiantown where we are intending to leave Incognita over the summer. The intent was also to go look at RV dealers too.

Indiantown is a small place but the marina and storage area is pretty big.


We took a walk around and it looks not a bad place to spend some time which we will inevitably do come this November/December as we get the boat ready for launch.


There's a lot of land for boat storage.


However, there was a lot of space not used which Ira and Ann found a little odd.

Our attempt at finding RVs was pretty abortive as we found all the dealers are closed on Sunday - doesn't that not make sense.

Monday 27th April
We spent the entire day indoors making use of Ira and Ann's phone and Internet, seeking out and calling RV dealers with not a whole lot of success. Although we do find a couple of prospects close to Vero Beach.

Tuesday 28th April
It's back we go to Vero Beach and while I go to pick Buddy up from the kennels, Carol gets some physio for her hip.

Wednesday 29th April
Spent the day phoning around for potential RVs.

We made contact with someone in Vero selling an RV and go to check it out. It's a class A which is not what we're looking for but we are getting less fussy. It's 15 years old but in good condition. However, it doesn't have a separate grey water tank which is a huge negative.

Thursday 30th April
Drove up the coast again to Sebastian and checkout an RV. It's relatively new but quite beat up with high miles.

Friday 1st May
Had to go to the airport to extend the car rental.

To cheer us up we headed to the beach and I got to use my body surf board for the first time. Once I got the timing right it was quite a hoot.

Saturday 2nd May
Drove across Florida to the West Coast to look at an RV in Fort Myers. We were about to make an offer only to be told someone had bought it over the phone - we were not happy.

When we got back we found our 'old' friends John and Rejeanne had arrived on "Bilbo". We had not seen them since we left them in Vero in January before they went to the Bahamas.

We had a prior engagement to watch White Squall aboard "Never Say Maybe".

Sunday 3rd May
Breakfast was at the trusty Legion folowed by an afternoon on the beach.

Supper at the Chinese Buffet and "Wind" aboard Incognita.

Monday 4th May
A day for shopping and heading over to the dock for water. We ended the day over on Bilbo catching up on all their Bahamian news.

Tuesday 5th May
Laundry day and searching the Internet for RVs.

Wednesday 6th May
Back over to the west coast (Port Charlotte, Sarasota and the outskirts of Tampa) to look at more RVs including this one.

But we returned home empty handed.

Thursday 7th May
A day organizing our RV search and making phone calls.

We did something different at night when the crew of "Never Say Maybe", "Bilbo" and "Incognita" drove down to Fort Pierce for their 'bike' night.

We had supper on the sidewalk and then took a walk down a street full of bikes of all kinds - I don't think we have ever seen this many motorcycles in one place.

Some of them were really 'tricked out' like this one with concealed lighting that changed colours.

This one had a special spot for Fido.


The noise was deafening.

Wasting Away in Margaritaville, or six weeks in Marathon

Actually we haven’t had a single margarita but you get the drift.

For those who’ve been wondering what happened to the blog in the last while, well let’s just say other things took priority, or something like that. It’s been a blur of activity even though the boat has barely moved from mooring ball R9, except to fill the water tanks. As we are intending to leave shortly we thought it was time to set the record straight.

Wednesday 25th February
A laundry day and time to turn in the rental car. There was a bit of a glitch with the latter when an iguana ate the fan belt on Doug’s car when he was supposed to give me a ride back from the airport. Hitched a ride with a fellow boater anyway.

Thursday 26th February
Just hanging out on the boat doing odd jobs.

Friday 27th February
Walked up the highway to Publix for supplies and indulged in the three t-shirts for $10 thing.

Saturday 28th February
Took the bus to Key West with Doug and Cindy from` Never Say Maybe` to visit a nautical flea market that was just OK, lunch at B.O.’s again and took a walk through the beautiful Truman Annex.


Sunday 1st March
Decided to finally run the wires properly from our chart plotter and various other things at the wheel so we don’t trip over them in the cockpit. Thanks to Addison on Threepenny Opera for having all the right tools to allow me to drill a big enough hole to get the connectors through.
We end the working day on `Never Say Maybe` for happy hour with Doug and Cindy.

Monday 2nd March
More boat wiring – beastly job.

Tuesday 3rd March
On goes the wiring project.

Wednesday 4th March
Moved the boat for the first time in a while as we motored over to the marina to fill up with water.

Thursday 5th March
Big tidy up day and space making to get ready for arriving guests.
Our very good friends from Canada, Richard and Sarah, have finally taken the plunge and left a Canadian winter to come down south for the first time in their lives. They are not initially impressed with the ‘seedy’ Keys.

Friday 6th March
Over the road to the Stuffed Pig for breakfast al fresco. Disappointing food to say the least. However, we have friends and a car so it’s off to visit Key West again. Lunch at B.O.’s and a walk down Duval Street, a photo of a well known Key West lady.


And it’s off back down the highway to home on the water but not without another visit to Big Pine Key and the deer.


Saturday 7th March
In search of things to photograph, we dinghy on down to Sister Creek and up into Whisky Creek through the mangroves of Boot Key.


We see this fellow taking a rest

and another shy bird looking for supper.

Richard and I went for a swim but it was a little rough on Sombrero Beach, due to the endless high NE winds.

Sunday 8th March
The local legion serves a great Sunday morning breakfast which we tried for the first time with our guests and it beat the hell out of the Stuffed Pig breakfast at half the cost.
It’s the last day of Richard and Sarah’s too short visit and we spend it tootling around Marathon in their rental car and then finishing up the day with shrimps on Incognita’s barbie.

(Picture courtesy R, Hayward)

Monday 9th March
Dropped Richard and Sarah off on the dock in the morning and off they go to visit friends in Sarasota on the West Coast of Florida.

Tuesday 10th March
Just hanging about in Boot Key Harbour – we’re getting good at that.

Wednesday 11th March
Big event of the day is definitely having Doug and Cindy over for supper.

Thursday 12th March
Start pulling the wire for the latest project (no I didn’t finish it) in earnest. The boat is in chaos with the aft cabin completely stripped so it’s a relief to leave it and head over to have supper with Steve and Cathy aboard `Kit`.

Friday 13th March
A few years ago now on our annual visit to Waupoos Marina (before we actually stored the boat and docked there) we met Jim and Laurie O’Shea aboard their Island Packet `Kismet`. Last summer we intended to leave Lake Ontario at the same time but they managed to do it a month sooner and they constantly stayed ahead of us for the entire season until they came back to Marathon for a short stay while we were still here.
Here we are having ‘happy hour’ aboard Kismet.

(Picture courtesy of Kismet blog)

Saturday 14th March
Jim and Laurie know Dick on Grey Hound from Sackett’s Harbour who also owned the trimaran `Three Cheers` now owned by Chris from Rochdale, Lancashire. We all intended to go snorkelling (except for Carol) off Sombrero Reef and set out on `Three Cheers` to sail there. It was a great sail but way to rough out at the reef which is several miles off-shore.

Here’s the cockpit crowd (from left to right – Laurie, Carol, Chris and Dick):


And here’s Jim contemplating the ocean.

It was an exciting and quite ‘wet’ sail, trimarans are light and fast and the sea was the most incredible blue.

We topped off the sail eating our sandwiches anchored off the beach.

Sunday 15th March
Over to the legion for another great breakfast and then we meet Jim and Laurie, Chris and Dick to visit the seafood festival that’s being held next to the marina. We sample some of the food including conch fritters, clams, lobster, fish and then take a wander round the flea market part of the festival while quite good live music plays from the bandstand.

Carol and I spend a lot of time at a bird rescue stall where we meet this tiny little raptor


And this beautiful specimen who lost a wing on a power line


And then this rescued pelican.

Somewhere in the melee we lose Jim and Laurie so after watching the next band play some Cuban music we head back to the boat and I continue my epic wiring job.

Monday 16th March
Finally finish the wiring and after figuring out my deliberate mistake, all is working. We head over to the marina to get some water and make sure the engine still runs and the prop still turns.

Tuesday 17th March
I finally get to go snorkelling when I crew for Chris on `Three Cheers` and Jim and another guest crew on Dick’s `Grey Hound'

Free mooring balls are provided out at the reef which is about twenty feet down in the clearest blue water. But even near the surface are many fish.


Here’s my skipper Chris with `Grey Hound` in the background while we take a lunch break from the snorkelling.
Geoff and Bunkey are probably the ones responsible for us being on this trip in that, back in 2001, we helped them through The Erie Canal system down to New York and then a couple of years later we stayed on their then boat `The Everden` down in Georgetown, Exumas.
When I return from snorkelling I find they have arrived in their new beautiful 41’ catamaran `Party of Two`, fresh from Cuba via Key West with Taff and Dilys aboard.
Tonight though we’ve invited `Kismet` over for supper along with Chris from `Three Cheers`.

Wednesday 18th March
After the morning cruiser’s net on VHF 68 in the morning, we head over to Party of Two for a gam (Gam\, n. [Orig. uncert.] (Naut.) A visit between whalers at sea; a holding of social intercourse between those on different vessels at sea, or (Local U. S.) between persons ashore.) about experiences on the water.

We then proceed to show them the sights of Marathon, i.e. where Publix and Home Depot are. We then finish the morning off with lunch at The Legion which turns out to be as good a deal as Sunday breakfast.

Thursday 19th March
Kismet left the moorings and headed north back to Hollywood to see Laurie’s mom – hopefully we’ll see them again before we are back in Canada. A rainy day for once, so it was no big imposition for doing some laundry. Well I should say it was no big imposition for Carol to do some laundry while I dinghied over to West Marine.

Out for supper again on Threepenny Opera – these guys really like to entertain and they have the boat for it – where we’re joined by Chris and Divia from `Maggy M` and Paul and Jane who are here on vacation from the great white north.

Friday 20th March
More work on the binnacle, wiring- installing, a handy dandy 12V plug there.

Saturday 21st March
Finally ran the wi-fi wire so it wasn’t always in the way of the companion way doors – should have done that a long time ago.

Between rain storms we visited Wes and Jeannie on Miss Ruby for happy hour with guests Tom and Bev on board. Wes and his son built Miss Ruby over seven years and was done with breathtaking craftsmanship from the inlays (35 pieces) of the woodwork



to the precision of the engine room.


Sunday 22nd March
Off to The Legion with the crew of `Party of Two` and `Never Say Maybe`.
Strong winds all day, so did some provisioning and rounded out the day with supper aboard `Party of Two` with (from left to right) Taff, Dilys, Bunkey & Geoff).


Monday 23rd March
We both used to work with Nick at RCA in Montreal in the distant past. He and Eve have been promising to come and visit us on the boat since last summer. Finally they are arriving today so it’s time to clean up and make space again.

After they arrive in the afternoon and I’ve transported them to the boat, it’s time for happy hour and supper as we swing around the mooring in the strong winds that never seem to quit.

Tuesday 24th March
Poor old Buddy is suffering from the heat so we drop him off at the groomers and make the familiar trek to Key West with Nick and Eve.
We don’t have a lot of time before we have to get back and pick Buddy up but we manage to fit in another lunch at B.O.’s

And a walk down Duval Street and a visit to Mallory Square. Then it’s back up the highway to Marathon and supper onboard.

Wednesday 25th March
Nick and Eve have a friend in Naples to visit so after a late lunch at Keys Fishery we say goodbye to them and then head over to `Party of Two` for Taff’s birthday happy hour party where we meet Newfoundlanders Vic and Marilyn from Irish Whisper.

Thursday 26th March
`Party of Two` left this morning but we may meet up with them when we finally head north, now scheduled for next week.
A fairly uneventful (no socializing) day with a quiet evening at home.

Friday 26th March