Marathon Marina and Boatyard, Marathon, FL

Hello everyone - I can't believe it has been so long since I entered a report!! And I apologize ahead of time for the super long journal you are about to read. You may want to consider doing it in segments. We have been at the Marathon Marina and Boatyard since Wednesday, February 17th, and we have been wonderfully busy with friends and family coming to visit and getting together with other Loopers that we had met coming down the rivers. Tonight, after two days of high winds, it stilled and we were treated to this spectacular sunset!

We stayed at Key West for two nights. What a difference a day made. We had such an enjoyable trip across the gulf from Marco Island, and woke up to wind gusts up to 35 mph pinning Grateful against the port side dock finger. We were set up to debark on the starboard side so we had no fenders on port side. Mark used every ounce of "push" he had in him to get fenders between Grateful and the dock.

The Key West Bight area looks spacious from aerial photos, but it is tight. Not only are boats placed on the ends of docks, but the turn space behind the docks is not 1.5 times the longest boat as we have it in MN.

I see that I have repeated myself and that I had left the last blog entry without knowing if we were going to move on to Marathon or not......

Well, we were able to get a spot in Marathon because other boats also moved on. Our start was delayed as we were waiting to hear if there was an opening. When I returned from taking Port for a walk, around 10:00, Mark had the engines running. It was a good day to travel. We took the Hawk Channel on the Atlantic side and arrived at Marathon at 3:00. We picked up 316 gallons of fuel and because we were staying got a dime off the cost - so only paid $3.30 per gallon. YIKES!!!! As we were fueling up, we heard someone calling our names and were delighted to see Steve and Liz (boat - Shingebiss) behind us in their dinghy! These guys are from MN and we first met them at Grand Harbor at the start on the Tenn-Tom.

Once settled in the slip, Mark rinsed the salt off Grateful - amazing how it accumulates.

Tom and Lyn, our MN friends who are wintering in Venice, FL, and crewed with us in December, came down to visit Thursday afternoon. Lyn's brother, Doug, lives in Marathon and they stayed with him for this visit. Right away they offered to cart us around for re-provisioning and we took advantage of their car and good will. While we were in the grocery store, we heard that there had been a fatal accident on the 7-mile bridge just south(west) of the marina. Doug told us that when this happens, traffic is stopped both ways for hours while the police reconstruct the accident. So we all met Doug at a restaurant on Key Colony looking out at the ocean. Seating outside would have been wonderful if it hadn't been so windy and chilly ( I don't use the word "cold" out of respect for those of you "up north"). We thought that we had waited long enough for the traffic to be flowing again. WRONG. About two miles from the marina we came to a standstill. After a half hour of not moving, Tom pulled out into the on-coming lane, kept his left turn signal blinking (so no one would shoot us) and drove the two miles so he could turn into the marina. We all needed a drink after that!

Friday was a "Loopers" potluck at Banana Bay resort so we attended with our crew mates, Tom and Lyn. We enjoyed visiting with "loopers" that we had met before our stay on Ft Myers Beach. I wish I had taken pictures, but I was too busy visiting. There was Steve & Liz (Shingebiss), Fred & Linda (Young America), Jerry & Marty (Monarch), Tom & Diane (Noah Genda) and others that were new to us. There is a bond that forms between those that travel the Great Loop.

We had heard that the band at Banana Bay was "very interesting" that night. So Lyn, Doug and I stayed to listen and dance. Mark and Tom left us because they really don't enjoy that stuff. The band indeed was interesting, and we had a good time. Years ago Doug had visited MN and Tom & Lyn had a party where he taught us line dancing. Well wouldn't you know, he was instructive with the "two-step", and I couldn't keep my left and right feet in order.

On Saturday, our niece and nephew, Teresa and Adam, came to visit. Teresa had been in Orlando for the week for work and Adam came to join her for the weekend. We were honored that they would take 6 hours to drive down to see us. Fortunately, they were here on one of our best weather days. We took a dinghy tour through the Boot Key harbor up to the Dockside restaurant where we met Tom, Lyn & Doug. On the way, we saw a mama and baby manatee and a spotted ray. WOW! Marathon is filled with waterside restaurants and we had a great time at the Dockside. It was a dark trip back to the boat, but it is well marked. The next morning Adam & Teresa went exploring in the dinghy and later that day we all piled into their rental Mustang convertible and went to the "dog beach". Porter had a great time running and playing with other dogs. However, we didn't consider that we had to get the wet, sand-coated dog and us back to the boat. We had enough towels that we wrapped him up like a cocoon to return to Grateful. Adam and Teresa left us around 2:00 to get back to Orlando. It was so good to see them.

That evening, Tom, Lyn, Mark and I went to No Name Pub on No Name Key (go figure). Mark and I had been here years ago and we remembered having great pizza - it was every bit as good as we remembered!! You may have noticed the wallpaper - Mark said he read that there was over $70,000.00 lining those walls and we added one more.

Our company left on Monday and we were on our own. We had another warm and beautiful day so Mark, Porter and I headed out exploring in the dinghy. We went through Boot Key Harbor, along Sister Creek and then out into the Atlantic for 5-6 miles to the dog beach. A nice day.

In between times we have had wind and rain. A couple of days ago two big yachts found shelter in the marina during a storm. It is fascinating watching them maneuver in challenging situations. We have since found out that the yacht, Summer Love, is a 105' Feadship built in 1955 - beautifully preserved.

We have also enjoyed dinner with Fred and Linda from boat, Young America. They were the ones who traveled with us when we parked Grateful in the woods.

We also had dinner with Steve and Liz from boat, Shingebiss, a 34 foot Mainship. We said farewells to them on Friday. They had been in Marathon for a month and now are going to Cudjoe Key where they have a house rented for friends and family to visit for March.

We wish our new friends safe travels till we meet again along the way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOLLY!

It's all about you today.
CELEBRATE!!

February 14-16, 2010 Marco Island and Key West

February 14 -16, 2010

FMB to Marco Island then Key West

It is approximately 30 nautical miles to Marco Island. We left FMB at 11:30 and arrived at Marco Island, Marina at Factory Bay, at 3:15. We had a few nervous moments as Capri Pass met the Marco River. The markers are confusing and just outside the channel the water was only 1 foot deep. The community at Factory Bay is beautiful and we have been told that Marco Island is another great place to stay.

Because the weather window for heading straight to Key West was only open on Monday, we were not able to explore.

Monday morning we were up before sunrise to prepare for our daylong cruise. I am writing this as we are on the move. It is noon and we left the sight of land a couple of hours ago. The gulf is relatively calm with 1-3 foot waves and gentle rolling waves. The remarkable thing is that we have not run out of crab pots!! Mark does an excellent job of spotting and missing them. No rest for him – although I think I will try to relieve him for awhile so he can get a small nap in – he calls it reading……

More once we land….

Back again. We made it to Galleon Marina in Key West at 5:15. We had a 10 hour trip today, and Mark drove all but 2.5 hours. I was able to relieve him so he got in a little bit of “reading”. While I was driving, a free-loader hitched a ride (and left a deposit). We saw crab pot boats and shrimp boats.

Already we have been entertained by life in Key West. I feel bad for Porter – the patch of land that he is supposed to go on is a 3 ft by 6 ft section off the boardwalk. It must smell pretty bad because Porter avoids the whole area. I’ll see if I can find more tomorrow.

What a difference a day makes. As beautiful as it was for cruising the gulf yesterday, it was windy and rough today. Tuesday morning we awoke to showers and very brisk north wind. We needed to add extra fenders to keep the bumping to a minimum. Even so, tourist cruises went out as well as fishing boats and ferryboats. Porter and I were out early and found a few more patches of ground. The town of Key West was waking up and I noticed homeless in doorways and young people walking to the public restrooms with a tent and cardboard. Mark and I were out a couple of times to do some shopping and sight seeing. I overheard someone say that they thought Key West “was a ghost town”. The streets were not terribly crowded.

We have run into another hitch in our plans. Seldom have we run into “no vacancy” as we have moved on. This happened when we were moving downriver with tropical storm, Ida. Now it seems to be happening with the unusual weather again. When we called for a place in Marathon for tomorrow, we could not find an opening. There might be a spot, but it is dependent on other boats moving on. Tomorrow looked like a day we could move, but so far no where to go….

Farewell Fish-Tale

February 15, 2010

Last few days at Fish-Tale Marina, FMB

Well, with mixed emotions we left Fish-Tale Marina at FMB on Valentines Day with our destination being Marco Island and Key West the day after. The wind and waves look favorable. We’ve stayed long enough that birds are beginning to roost on Grateful.

We so enjoyed our two months in Ft Myers Beach. We had a joyous Christmas with the Earle family and had friends and family visit. I found a couple more pictures of Dea’s visit so added them here. We got a few rounds of golf in and got a few duties done on Grateful. Some duties we learned such as doing our own pumpout – (Mark really liked that one). We also had our bottom cleaned – Whoohoo – Grateful’s bottom that is. A diver came in and scraped the underside of the boat to clear barnacles and other growing things from taking hold. We finally got the air conditioner/heater fixed in the main salon – we needed to replace the coil and then added a thermostat. For my 60^th birthday, Mark also bought me a new 40 hp Yamaha outboard motor for his dinghy. Now he can really go!!!

Mark and I used his dinghy for fishing and day cruises. Geff captured a perfect picture of “man and his dog” as Port enjoyed the last drop of Mark’s beer. We also connected with some friends we hadn’t seen in years, Jan and LeRoy, and had dinner with them.

We would highly recommend Fish-Tale Marina to any mariner. The folks were friendly and accommodating and service was performed well. There are pontoons and power boats to rent as well as fishing charters to be purchased. Thanks, Fish-Tale!

Dea's Visit

January 30 - February 6, 2010 Dea’s Visit

Since we were staying at Ft. Myers Beach for an extra month, my sister, Dea, came to visit. The weather did not cooperate and we had clouds and rain for much of the time. That didn’t dampen our spirits, however. We were able to get in two rounds of golf, a dinghy tour that encompassed exploring the back bay and a daring excursion into the gulf, lots of cards, fresh fish, good breakfasts and ice cream!!

Dea came in late Saturday night around 11:30 pm – good grief! But it made it easy to borrow Geff and Mary Sue’s car as there was no conflict for car usage.

On Sunday clouds were moving in and it was cool so Mark, Dea and I decided to play golf. Mark straightened out his drives and Dea and I enjoyed the dayJ Monday it rained so Mark slept in and Dea and I played cards. Tuesday was more of the same. We managed to get walks in – some on the beach – in between raindrops.

Wednesday was another cool day with sunshine. We played golf with Geff and Mary Sue – the ladies in a threesome and the guys were paired up with two other guys. This was a glorious day and the golf course was a wildlife preserve after all the rain. The ponds were filled with ibis and pelicans feasting. A huge bald eagle ran along the course grazing in the puddles. Later he took up residence on a lone tree along a pond while an alligator soaked up the sun on the opposite side.

On Thursday, Mark went to a golfing outing with Geff, so Dea and I took the dinghy (with my new Yamaha motor that I got for my birthday from Mark) out to explore and enjoy the perfect day. As we were looking around the islands in the back bay area, we saw dolphins. Later we ventured out into the gulf. The waves were manageable so we hurried down to the “dog beach” where Porter could play off leash. Well most dog owners had the same idea and it was a busy place. Porter tried to engage the goldens and labs in play, but they were too busy retrieving their tennis balls. It didn’t put him off and he ran back and forth in the surf along the beach. Suddenly, he was sniffing and circling in the water – I didn’t know dogs would do their duty in water up to their necks. I was trying to figure how to pick it up when I started to notice lots of underwater dog “doots” rolling along the sand with the tide. Maybe that’s why there weren’t many people in the water with me. We followed the channels back to the marina and were pretty proud of ourselves for accomplishing this little trip on our own.

Friday was another rainout so we played lots of pinochle, then used G & MS’s car to run errands and get fresh lobsters for our meal. Fabulous! Mark cooked on the grill and we ate until we could no more.

It was great to have Dea come to visit – we love to have company. She saw the rare dolphin come into the marina channels and manatee as well, and she loved seeing green palms trees and sandy beaches. She left to go back to the white and chill of MN this morning.

Dea's leaving has signaled to Mark and me that we need to begin planning the next leg of our trip. There will be more on that once we have figured it out. As much as we have loved it here in Ft. Myers Beach, we are feeling it is time to move on.