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