Our Last Days at Marathon

Bob and Trish from PogoPelli took us out to locate some geocaches. This is new to us, people hide small containers with a log book and several trinkets inside and then list the lat-lon on a web site and others try to locate the cache and sign the log book and if they like one of the trinkets the will exchange for something they have. It was fun to search for them using a hand held GPS to get close. Both beaches were worth the visit just for the beach. The first one in near the end of Cocoa Plum Road. It is a nice beach where local people gather to let their dogs run on the beach and in the water. We have been there twice now and many of the same people were there both times. The second beach is in a residential neighborhood at Key Colony. It overlooks the water to the west so it would have beautiful sunsets. We may have to try it one evening.
Over the past few days we have spent some time each day working and cleaning on the boat. It is amazing how much cleaning a boat requires. Last night Robert and Kay from C-Life had just returned to their boat after driving to NC and back to attend a funeral. They brought back a bag of oysters from NC. Which they shared with many of us on the dock. It was a good time.
Today is Valentines Day. We will probably go out for dinner somewhere near the marina….We ended up going to No Name Pub over on Big Pine Key. It is a place similar to Cabbage Key “Hamburger In Paradise.” We saw two of the Key Deer, one was an eight point buck but not much larger than a large dog. They were not at all afraid of people because they have been protected for many years. During the afternoon we took the dingy and toured the harbor here at Boot Key and stuck our nose out into the gulf waters.
On Sunday we worked on cleaning the boat some more. The bimini was beginning to get some mold on the under side so we selected a mold and mildew treatment and set about to wash it. When I started to wash the seam split wide open so now we have to get the top restitched. On Monday morning I contacted a woman who had a card posted on the board at the marina. She will come by on Tuesday to look at it and give an estimate.
The woman looked over our bimini and agreed that the sunbrella is in good condition so she will restitch the entire top for us.
On Tuesday evening Muriel prepared jumbulia and we had Dave and Poly from the boat next to us and Bob and Trish from CocoPelli for dinner. It was fun.
Wednesday we worked around the boat some more. Muriel made some bread from a starter dough she had gotten from Margie on Wandern L&M. The bread is very good. I used some compound and the buffer on the front of the flybridge cowling and I intend to wax and buff it on Thursday. Wednesday was Muriel’s birthday so we went out for dinner to a nice restaurant at Key Colony where they have an early bird special. Muriel got a good laugh about going out for the early bird special on her birthday. We went with Blue Max and Greg and Barbara from Goncruzin. They arrived here about a week ago from Maryland. They will head north about the middle of March to do the loop.
The woman called late yesterday to say she would not have time to restitch the entire top but she did agree to restitch the part which split out.
I have gotten sorry just hanging around here. I have lost track of blogging. One day last week we went out with Greg and Barbara on GonCruzin to the Sombrero Reef to snorkel. When we got out to the reef we decided the water was so rough that is would be too difficult to get back on the boat after we were in the water so we returned to the dock and took the car down to Bahia Honda State Park and played around the beach there and snorkeling there a little.
booth at a boat equipment flea market for a friend who makes all sorts of tote bags from old sails. We went to the market on Saturday morning with Blue Max and Wander’n L&M. We enjoyed the show and make several purchases.
On Saturday evening we went over to the City Marina where several boaters gathered to share their music. This group picks and sings just about every week. We had a good time listening and visiting with the hand full of folks there. Sunday was the monthly pig roast at the grill here at the marina. We went with a group of loopers. The entertainer was one of the guys from Saturday day night.
On Monday the woman picked up our bimini at 9:00 to restitch it. She said she would have it back by lunch but it was late afternoon by the time she got it back. I was a little concerned about how difficult it would be to get it back on. I had market the pieces and their location on the bows. It was no problem to get it back on.
Our month of slip rent will expire on Wednesday so we will be on the move again if the winds let up enough to allow it. We are ready to move again, however, we have not done everything we intended while here. Muriel and Shelly may get back to Key West today. I will have to stay here because we have a diver coming to replace zincs on the bottom of the boat and clean the bottom. We have collected a lot of bottom growth by sitting here a month after setting in Everglades City for a month.
Bennie came and cleaned the bottom and replaced our zincs and I got some more waxing done. Then I rode the bicycle into town and found a man to come to the boat and check our house batteries. He reports that both batteries have lost about 40% of their capacity. He does not have replacements on hand and cannot get them before we leave. We can get by for a while.
There was a large pot-luck dinner on the dock last night. Quite a crowd showed up and it was fun visiting with everyone. Les and Judy from Voyager II came walking down the dock yesterday afternoon. I certainly did not expect to see them here. They completed their loop at Hudson, Fl. way up on the west coast of Florida. They said they hauled Voyager II and cleaned her bottom and got all the work done and then sat at home for about two months and said, “Why sit here, let’s go.” So they took off and intend to do the “down east loop” this summer. They are at a different marina but we invited them and they came over for the dinner. They had done quite a bit of work varnishing exterior wood while we were together up in the rivers but they say Voyager II looks still better now.
We took the dingy down to Burdine’s hoping to meet Les and Judy from Voyager II and eat lunch. They were gone but we ate lunch there. We did enjoy the dingy ride through the harbor and back. Yesterday was a busy day. We were in preparation mode, getting ready to leave Marathon after a month’s stay. I decided at the last minute to go ahead and put in two new batteries for the house batteries. I had not even completely finished that when Muriel found that the galley sink was leaking. It had a small hole in the bottom of the sink. I was able to seal it up with some J-B Weld. The last of the grocery shopping is done and we think we are ready to get underway, at last. It looks like the weather will co-operate for at least a couple of days. Double Trouble X 2 arrived yesterday. We first met them at the rendezvous in Charleston last spring and again in Chicago and at Joe Wheeler last fall. They started the loop from Demopolis, Al in December. We got to visit with them last night and we hope to see more of them along the way. We plan to get underway about 9:00 this morning.
Well, we got away from the dock at about 8:30 after farewells to new friends and old ones. It was a bit on the windy side but the direction of the wind made our travel up the inside of the keys OK. We arrived at Lignumvitae Key about 2:15 pm and picked up a mooring ball. This is the first time we have done this and Muriel did an excellent job of hooking the line and getting us secured.
I have tryed three times to get pictures loaded onto this blog and I have lost them each time. So.....no pictures this time.