Marathon 2014

Marathon

Monday, March 24, 2014.  Marathon (officially Boot Key Harbor) is a unique place.  Our son Jeff calls it adult day-camp.  There is always something going on.  There are 300+ moorings here and at least that many slips, and people on almost every boat, so there are a lot of people here.  There are always people coming and going, but there are also people who stay a while.  Many cruisers spend the winter months here, and many more spend a week or two.  We also have met people who have been here for years!  They came for a while and then just stayed! Every morning at 9am, the Marathon Cruisers Net comes on the vhf channel 68.  Here you can hear new arrivals, boats departing and destinations, there’s a on-the-air flea market, there is a time for folks needing help with anything, trivia, announcements of upcoming activities, etc.

We get the dingy in the water and go ashore to check in at the marina office.  We use the trip to shower and then back to the boat to prepare dinner.  Benny makes Chicken Lillian for Dean and Sue and Nelson and Ondra on “Last Boat”.  We first met Dean and Sue (“Autumn Borne”) at Hop-O-Nose Marina on the Hudson (Catskill Creek) last fall after completing the trip from Penetanguishene and then through the Erie Canal.  We met Nelson and Ondra last year in Vero Beach.  The wind is howling 25+ and Nelson and Ondra elect to pass on dinner as they are on a mooring at the far end of the harbor.  We had not seen Dean and Sue since this past summer when we visited our boat in Oxford and then drove up to Kingston to visit Lisa’s relatives – and then on to Catskill to have brunch with Dean and Susan.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014. Lisa went kayaking today and I worked on this blog.  If I ever get it caught up, I am not going to get this far behind again! (Famous last words!) We met George and Susan Barlow, our friends from NH who are now down here in a motor home.  You may remember them from our trip across the Erie Canal when they were crew the week before they got married.  Great folks.  We have known George for many years and always manage to find each other in our travels.  Tonight, they take us to the Sunset Grill, here in Marathon for dinner.  The food was good and the sunset was terrific!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014. Today, Lisa and I walked to Publix, Home Depot and then tried to find a shop where Lisa could get a manicure.  Although we went to two shops, neither had a “technician” – sounds like a job opportunity here.  We went to Hurricane’s for their $5 lunch, which was a good selection.  However, the beer we had cost more than the food.  I guess you have to make a profit somewhere.

Thursday, March 27, 2014. Today is pump out day, which can sometimes be an event, but thankfully not today.  Again, today we have showers and then go to Tony and Tess Mart’s boat Endurance for cocktails at 4:30.  At 6, we all trek across the street to Upper Crust Pizza for dinner (great pizza) and then more trekking up Route 1 to the Marathon Community Theatre to see “9 to 5”, an adaptation from the movie.  Music by Dolly Parton.  It was well done by a cast of locals and a good time was had by all.  It was a late night tho’, and we were not in bed until midnight.

Friday, March 28, 2014.  George and Susan Barlow pick us up at 11am for a day trip to Key West – one of our favorite places.  We arrived a bit after noon and agreed to meet George and Susan at the Hog’s Breath Saloon at 2pm.  We also called Jon and Marguerite Edwards (Quicksilver) and asked if they would like to join us and they agreed!  They are here on their boat.  Lisa and I went looking for a hammock like the one Jeff bought here, but the guy at the hammock shop said they have been out of those for the past six months!  We had a very nice lunch at the “Old Town Mexican Café” on Duval St, did some shopping and arrived at the Hog’s Breath at 2pm.  George and Susan and Jon and Marguerite are already there, as is Bary Cuda, The Piano Man, who is who we came to hear, not to mention an all afternoon happy hour. We all then went to Alonzo’s Oyster House for more happy hour at 4pm, then dinner and ice cream at The Conch Tour Train Depot.  We stopped at the 7 mile bridge to take a look at the sunset and were back on the boat by 9pm.  All this relaxation and recreation is beginning to take its toll!

Saturday, March 29, 2014. George and Susan pick us up at 9am this morning.  The destination is the flee and farmer’s market on Big Pine Key.  You have to get there early or there is nowhere to park and the traffic gets very heavy.  We are out of there by 10:30 and take a ride to see the Key deer.  They are plentiful and protected on Big Pine so it is not difficult to find them.  I don’t know how people who live on this island have any shrubs or gardens!  We have lunch at the world famous No Name Pub, then stop at the Blue Hole.  This is a fresh water pond in the middle of the island with several resident alligators (who prefer fresh water – which is why they are found in golf course ponds and swimming pools).  There are a couple of the gators willing to show themselves, but we stayed out of the water!  We are back at the boat about 2pm. http://www.the-floridakeys.com/bluehole.php

While dozing in the cockpit, the phone rings, and it is Richard (Gari), who has been hired to bring a couple of new boat owners and their sailboat from Islamorada to Marathon.  He is here in the harbor and looking for cold beer.  They are only 2 moorings over!  We dingy over and meet the new owners (Dan and Lupi), as well as Richard’s friend Diana.  They have a ride back to Islamorada picking them up, but it is great to see him again and meet the other folks!  Oh, by the way, the boat is an O’Day 35, which is the same type of boat George Barlow once owned.

Tonight is a pot luck dinner and music at the Tiki Hut at the marina and we meet some new people and enjoy the music until about 8pm, when a thunderstorm rolls in.  We made it back on the boat just as the wind hit 30 knots and the rain started.  A full and fun day was had by all!

Sunday, March 30, 2014. This morning we meet Dean and Susan, Nelson and Ondra (Last Boat) at the dingy dock at 9am and walk to the American Legion for breakfast.  The Legion does this every Sunday and for $7 you can get a huge breakfast, coffee, juice etc.  Needless to say, it is a very popular place and no leave who isn’t stuffed!  Later in the day, we meet these same folks (and others) at Sombrero Beach for an afternoon of relaxation, swimming and sun. 

The Pelican.  As we are leaving the beach to head back to our boat in the dingy, 2 guys in an offshore fishing boat hail us and ask if we can help a pelican who is tangled up in a fishing line.  We find the bird close to shore.  Lisa and Nelson manage to surround it and then wrap it in beach towels to keep it from struggling.  The bird had a large fishing lure with treble hooks in its beak and another three in its chest.  Additionally, it had the monofilament line wrapped around itself.  Lisa held the bird, Nelson removed hooks, Benny went out to Dean and Susan’s dingy (who supplied some tools) for Nelson and Ondra called the bird rescue hot line.  Finally, someone showed up from the rescue group and Lisa and Nelson walked the pelican to shore.  The rescuer took the bird to the Marathon Wild Bird Center www.marathonwildbirdcenter.org  I made Lisa and I dinner on board.  I think the adrenaline rush has wiped her out!

Monday, March 31, 2014. Today is laundry day and we have a lot because we have not done any since leaving Fort Lauderdale.  I walked down to West Marine (about a mile each way) to get some swivels and other hardware for the dingy davits.  Hopefully, this will keep the ropes from twisting and getting fouled when we raise and lower the dingy.  Because the water is so warm, things grow in boat bottoms quickly, so being able to raise and lower the dingy easily is important.   This evening, we have our final dinner with George and Susan in Marathon as they are leaving in their motor home tomorrow morning for the trip to Massachusetts.  Hopefully, we will see them up north this summer.  Dinner was at the Florida Keys Steak and Seafood House, which used to be Anita’s.  It is right across the street from the marina, so it is convenient.  Dean and Susan join us for cocktails and then everyone remembers that Dean and Susan met George and Susan at Hop-O-Nose Marina in Catskill, NY when George and Susan crewed for us bringing the boat on the last leg of the Erie Canal.  Sometimes, the world is indeed a small place.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014. So I am working on the davits and Lisa is getting her kayak ready to go into the water and along comes a Boston Whaler with folks yelling “Hey Rhiannon!”.  It is Al and Teri Jensen and their dog Hooper (Golden Retriever).  Hooper recognizes us too and is all excited!  We met Teri and Al (and Hooper) last spring on the trip north.  They were traveling in their Mainship 40 “TeriAnn”.  They live on Long Island in that area devastated by Hurricane Sandy – although their house survived. They are staying in Palm Beach in a condo this winter and brought the Whaler down with them to “poke around” some of the areas.  We spent a couple of hours catching up and then they took Hooper to the beach.  Maybe we will see them again in Palm Beach on the way north.

More Pelican News. Lisa called the Wild Bird Center today and was told that they were able to remove the last of the hooks in the pelican, who by the way is a male, and that other than a mild bacterial infection where the hooks were in his beak, he is doing fine.  They are giving him antibiotics and should be released back into the wild in a couple of days.  Nice.  Kudos to Lisa and Nelson and all who helped.  I guess this is not uncommon, as the sea birds can’t tell the difference between a lure and a real fish.  Thankfully, he did not ingest the lure!

Tonight was a pot luck dinner at the Tiki Hut sponsored by the Seven seas Cruising Association.  Met some nice cruising folks and had a nice time.

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