Marathon, Fl. Feb. 8-15, 2015: Week 4

 

The stars shine bright in the night sky.  It is amazing how many stars appear in the sky here in the keys.  The Big Dipper is not always as visible as it is up north but we can always see Orion’s belt and thousands of other stars.  Some are bright, some twinkle and others are just really bright.  Soon we will be looking for the Southern Cross which will appear here for about 10 days.  Star gazing in Marathon – a wonderful pastime.

This week we did some new things.  We attended an Art fair which is a fund raiser for Pigeon Key which is a state park.  It used to be one of Flaglers work camps for the railroad.  Tom got a haircut at a local place called Easy Does It barber shop.  It was windy that day and the barber was busy because the men could not fish and did not want to complete their “Honey Do List” so instead they got a haircut.  Colletta did yoga on the pool deck of the resort at Hawks Cay.  It was a peaceful setting with the water close by and very relaxing while staring up at the beautiful blue sky – Namaste. We also used the dingy often this week.  One day Tom and I went for a ride and went around Key Colony Beach – which is an island, which included a ride on the ocean.  We stayed close to shore and out of other boats paths and enjoyed looking at the island from another angle.  We also took the dingy out with John and Craig (another friend visiting from the frigid cold around Chicago).  That ride consisted of going up and down the canals and inspecting all the houses and boats – until our beer ran out.  We also enjoyed lunch at Burdines which is right on the water at Boot Key harbor.  We also drove to Pine Key and Springers. Once a week, on the deck at Springers about 10-12 musicians gather and have an informal “jam” session.  Songs are randomly chosen and everyone just plays, improvises, and sings along – and we get to listen.  This week there were 3 banjos, a mandolin, a keyboard, a bass, a harmonica, and 4-5 guitars.  It was wonderful listening to these people play.  It made Tom want to buy a guitar.

The group at Springer's on Big Pine Key

more of the Tuesday nite group

 

Tom continues to cook dinners with his assistant, Jim.  This week they prepared a steak dinner, a scallop, shrimp and pasta dinner and a fish dinner with rice, black beans and pineapple salsa.  Tom enjoys the cooking and sharing prep tips with Jim and Jim enjoys experimenting and trying something new. We all enjoy the eating!!

this is from Island Grill Restaurant

This is Chef James interpretation at Bistro 570

 

Boats also continue to be in the weeks adventures.  The transducer for the depth finder broke on Jim’s boat.  The boat was pulled out of the water and the guys worked on fixing the bracket and rewiring the transducer.  A new one was found on Ebay and should be delivered and installed in the next week.  On our boat, Tom changed salon light bulbs to LED bulbs to reduce heat and conserve electricity. 

The coldest weather in the Keys arrived on Saturday.  In the morning it was in the 50s and never got higher than mid-60s.  Socks on our feet and soup for dinner kept us warm and comfy.

Happy Valentine’s Day.  Hope you shared it with your loved ones.­­­

 

The end to another day in paradise from Sunset Beach, Key Colony Beach

 

This is the dinghy dock south of us in Boot Key harbor at the mooring field. There is another set of dinghy docks just as large as this for all 220 mooring balls.

February 1-7, 2015 – Week 3 in Marathon

 

As we begin our third week in Marathon, we started the week like many other football fans and watched the Super Bowl.  The Childs hosted an 11^th Street Super Bowl party and Thomas’ on Ridge catering assisted with food prep, organizing the food and chef Tom cooking the burgers.  The food was delicious and the conversation lively, however there was some tension and silence during the final quarter of play.  At the end, there were cheers in triumphant and moans of the agony of defeat – fun times for all!!

We often ride our bikes home from 11^th street on Key Colony Beach, often in the dark.  We are prepared in that we have reflectors, white head lights and flashing red rear lights also.  We often pass a parked police car and the officers remind us to be cautious and safe on our ride home.  The bikes are a great way to travel and in the evening we are often the only ones on the path.

Key West was on Colletta’s destination list this week.  The girls left middle of the day and enjoyed browsing the shops, lunch at Willie TEEEs, purchasing some artwork for the house or boat, and enjoying a cocktail while watching the boats, the people and the sunset.  They also went up in the Lighthouse and looked at the view of the water, town and cruise ships in port. 

Fishing was also on the agenda this week.  The boys  fished at a few close stops on Monday and Tuesday Jim took us fishing at the 7 mile bridge. Tom was fishing off the back right past the chum bag and had great luck catching mangrove snapper which we kept for dinner.  Colletta was off the port side up front.  Her line was in the water for about 30 seconds when she too had a bite.  She caught 2 large groupers, however they were not in season so she had to throw them back.   It was great and we had good luck until – Jim got stung by a scorpion fish.  It cut him in the index finger and within a short time period, his hand began to swell so we headed home to seek medical help.  Jim lived thru the experience, which we are thankful for, and also had to take an antibiotic, a steroid and another medication.  No fishing for him for a while – Doctor’s orders.

the out of season grouper that had to go back

Capt. Jim before the scorpion fish attack

Fish on at seven Mile Bridge in Marathon

Fishing by the pilings

 

Thursday was the first day, since we arrived, that it rained all day.  Since the weather was gloomy, Tom decided to do one of his gloomy jobs of rebuilding the aft head.  The motor rebuilt kit went together fairly easy, but the hoses didn’t ………………………….Finally after a little more tweaking on Friday, the head is in good working order and does not leak.  A necessary job completed. 

Tom and I also rode the bicycles a lot this week.  One day we rode to the 7 mile bridge and on the way home stopped at marinas and resale shops and of course a Wendy’s for a frosty.  (a 14 mile bike ride)  We also joined John for Happy hour at Porky’s. Beers were cheap and the local color was priceless. Met and chatted with people from the trailer court across the street.  Porky’s is their happy hour hangout.  Some walk over; some drive over and some arrive by golf cart – convenient.   Since we were on bikes, we thought we should stop a few additional places on the way home.  We stopped at Fara Blanco, which is a new, upscale marina, hotel, and bar.  Nice but too rich for us.  Stopped at Hurricanes, which had pool tables, and a late night band.  Stopped at Lulus which was an outdoor bar on the other side of the street.  It was a challenge for Colletta to cross the street with her bike, but Tom was there to lend a helping hand.  We also had to stop at Walgreens for some nourishment of Snaps candy and ice cream which were both devoured at the condo.  That bike ride was about 12 miles.  No more bike riding for this week.

February 2^nd was Groundhogs day.  Here in the keys, they use a palm tree.  Well, the palm tree saw its shadow which means 6 more weeks of sunshine.   We like it here!!

January 25- 31 Marathon, Florida Week 2

January 25-31 - Marathon Florida – Week 2

 

The week started out like it should with church attendance at Martin Luther Chapel church followed by a nice little breakfast.  Lutheran churches are the same in that they all try to feed you.  Upon returning to the boat, we had a lazy and relaxing day. 

We have been spending time with the Childs.  We often do grocery shopping together as we go to the grocery store at least twice a week depending what is on the dinner menu and what is on sale.  Sunday was windy and cool here so we made chili for dinner and enjoyed staying in the house and watching a double episode of Downton Abby, much to Jim’s dismay.   Or we have to stop at the Home Depot or the hardware stores, depending upon which projects need parts.  Tom’s projects this week included changing a valve on the water heater, changing the oil in the transmissions, caulking a window, installing rain gutters, and working on fishing rod storage.  We also continued our exploring by driving north of the airport and driving thru those neighborhoods.  Some very beautiful homes on the Gulf.

We continue to explore and experiment with culinary choices.  Besides making chili, we also made our own pizzas to enjoy after bocce ball.  Tom and I invited Jim and Pat over for dinner on Greeks Folly to experience cocktails on the back deck and eating in our small galley.  Tom made a new recipe of chicken picante and the evening was a complete success. Colletta also baked some banana bread and will experiment with our little oven on board.   We discovered that Wendy’s serves 49 cent cheeseburgers on Tuesdays and Sundays, so we ate lunch for $2.55 which included 2 senior drinks which are free.  I don’t know how they can make any money but we will probably take advantage of that again.  Found a new Happy hour at Nowhere bar.  It was OK – but not with the homey feeling of Nowhere bar in Indiana. Saturday night the new restaurant was Porky’s.  We missed Happy hour but enjoyed the pulled pork and fish tacos for dinner – and of course some beer and music.

New experiences for the week include getting into the Marathon Yacht club for cocktails to listen to Donnie (a musician from the marina) playing there with his band, and attending the sunset celebration at the park on Key Colony.  The celebration happens every night with music and song as the sun sets.  Tom also attended his first fishing seminar.  It is a popular event, over 100 men were there.  Tom’s favorite part was the free water and popcorn.    Saturday we attended a flea market on Pine Key.  Interesting but nothing out of the ordinary, expect for the heavy weekend traffic heading south to Key West. 

Tom and I also enjoyed catching up with another friend from Illinois.  John V. is down here in Marathon for a month and we enjoyed beers and conversation on his deck for an evening.  He also stocks chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, which is delicious after a long bike ride for him and a short walk across the street for us.  Being a fellow boater and water lover, we anticipate more fun times with him.      

 

January 19 – 24, Marathon, FL

 

Marathon is a great place to vacation.  We have adapted well to staying in one place, adjusting to island time, and the warm weather and sunshine.  We will be updating the blog and our activity about once a week while we are in one place.

This week we spent time cleaning and washing the boat, getting the dinghy set up, adjusting the lines for the tides and winds, and general maintenance.  We are sterned into the slip here cause the finger piers are so short that we are getting on and off the boat from the swim platform.  The step to the pier also changes with the tides – sometimes a level step and sometimes a huge 3 foot step up.  We had to lift the dinghy out of the water and then slide it back into the water from the pier because we could not get the dinghy between the boat and the dock.  Now that the problem is solved we have access to exploring Key Colony with all the canals and small harbors.    

The bikes have also been removed and put to good use.  The harbor is at mile marker (MM) 53.  As some of you know, things in the Keys are identified as to their location by mile markers.  The heart of Marathon is at MM 47-49, so Tom and I have been doing a lot of bike riding.  Two days this week we have ridden 9-10 miles depending if we go exploring at the other marinas or if we need a loaf of bread.  The marina has a nice pool which is a good place for a refreshing dip after those bike rides.  It is also 2 miles to Pat and Jim’s house so that has become a regular stop for us too.

The choice of activities for the island lifestyle is many.  Tom has enjoyed fishing in the Gulf with Jim.  In fact, he was the only one who did any “catching” that day of fishing.  Hopefully the weather will permit a few more fishing trips so we can eventually have a neighborhood fish fry. 

 

There are also bocce ball games which involve the neighborhood, cocktails and slowly rolling heavy wooden balls on the court.  This week there were 16 of us playing.  Fun.  Pat and I have done a little shopping, out of necessity of course.  The local movie theater is a popular place on Fridays when the new movie comes out.  It has 100 seats and swivel chairs.  They seem to be arranged somewhat randomly with round tables placed conveniently to hold your popcorn, soda and beer.  It is very busy on a cool, windy night in Marathon.   

Last night we experienced one of the best things of the keys – which was a very casual local dock party.  There were about 16 of us who gathered on the dock, enjoyed delicious fresh cooked lobster and then musical entertainment.  Sal, our neighbor, Donnie, guy in the next sailboat and a Louis, a “local” guy from Portugal played guitars and the harmonica and sang.  They played Buffet, country, sing-a-longs, and ballads as we sat on the dock, with a breeze blowing and cold beers.  I could do this every night.  We were told there are a lot of musicians here and many play at the bars for free, or at open mic night so we will definitely be searching for those places.

 

The other great things in the Keys are the food and the restaurants and the Happy Hours.  Many of the local places have Happy Hours which basically means that the beer is a reasonable price and the appetizers are discounted in price.  At Sparky’s, they serve 25 cent wings and shrimp.  Four of us ate 40 wings and 30 shrimp. Not bad but the table next to us had 80 wings.  We will return to Sparky’s again.  Tarpon Creek also had discounted appetizers so there we enjoyed shrimp, sliders, calamari and conch fritters.  It also seems that ice cream is a necessity so Sweet Savannahs is becoming a regular stop.  Many times when Tom and I ride the bikes we become parched and need our thirst quenched so we have also stopped at Brass Monkey and Herbies.  I think you could frequent a different restaurant every day and still not run out of eating options.   

As you can probably tell, we are enjoying our vacation spot in the Florida Keys.  We are still planning on cruising again in a month - - but you can never be sure.  

Jan.17-18, 2015 Everglade City to Little Shark River

Jan 17-18: Everglade City to Little Shark River

 

Departed at 0907 from Indian Key pass.  Ran just inside the Everglades National Park boundary to avoid the crab pots.  Water was nice, ride was smooth.  Had a problem with port engine alternator, but that seemed to sort itself out as the temperature returned to normal.  We continued to check it every thirty minutes for a couple of hours and so far so good.    We encountered more crab pots outside the park boundaries the farther south we traveled.  We arrived at Little Shark River and proceeded up past the lagoon and anchored at the 11 foot depth mark on the chart.  Anchor was down at 1443.  The rest of the afternoon was relaxing until 1505 when Colletta landed her first sea trout.  It was a keeper but she threw it back.  We were in the cabin before dusk to avoid the attack of the mosquitoes.  We were only partially successful, as Colletta spent most of the evening killing mosquitoes rather than watching the movie on the computer.

 

The Admiral trying to catch dinner.

After a scrumptious breakfast made by the captain, we launched the dinghy to go exploring.  We followed the channel all the way to Oyster Bay which was a large body of water within the Everglades.  It is everything you would expect a Florida swamp to be.  Mangroves on both sides of the river with swift flowing tides.  The wild life consisted of many different kinds of birds, manatee, sea turtles and dolphins.  The dolphins were amazing as they hunted dinner among the mangrove roots.  They were in very shallow water chasing their dinner at low tide.  Their feeding and splashing in shallow water also attracted herons looking to pick up an easy dinner from any wounded fish.  We watched two trawlers come into the channel.  They can up river on a dinghy ride when they saw our Looper flag.  They stopped to say Hi and then invited us back to their boat for cocktails.  They were Jim and Belinda on Rickshaw and Gabe and Gail on Sea Wolf.  After sharing and charting discussions, we will leave together in the morning all heading to Marathon.

Cocktail hour after heavy work fishing

 

Sunset on the Little Shark River taken from inside the boat because the mosquitoes would  carry you off if you were outside

 

Thursday Jan. 15, 2015 Rose Marina, Marco Island to Everglades City Anchorage

 

We got up at 0730 planning an early departure from the marina but sometimes things don’t work like we planned. The Key West Express parks right across the dock from us and today they don’t depart until 0830. Not wanting to get in his way as we went to the fuel dock we waited for him to depart. We then pulled over to the fuel dock for fuel and a pump out of the holding tank. I had not purchased fuel since back in Carrabelle, FL at Thanksgiving and although I still had 300 gallons or so of fuel the price here is $2.65 a gallon and I can’t believe it will be any cheaper in the Keys, which is where we are headed. We topped off the tanks with 160 gallons and were on our way. We had talked to our friends Chuck and Arlene who own a boat down here on Marco about exiting the Marco River. You save a lot of time because you don’t have to go so far out into the Gulf to get around the Cape Romano shoals. They said if we left at high tide we should not have any problems. They were right about the water depth but even with directions on the chart, we had to stop a couple of times and think about which markers we should be following. Their wisdom and info paid off and we made it through the Marco River and into the Gulf without mishap. You have to get used to skinny (shallow) water down along the west coast of Florida, 12 feet of water is living large. We had times where the depth finder was down to 1.9 feet under the keel, that’s about 6.5 feet of water total.

We pulled into Indian Key anchorage by Everglades City, Fl. We are up a river about 4.5 miles from downtown, very rustic and quiet. We hope the mosquitoes wouldn’t be too bad tonight.

These are all white pelicans by Indian Key near Everglades City

Marker 8.5 restaurant in Goodland where we lunched with Chuck and Arlene

 

January 12 – 14, 2015: Fort Myers to Marco Island

Up early today and out of slip by 0715.  Our goal was to get to Marco Island before the rain was to hit later in the afternoon. (It never did arrive) it is about 33 miles to Marco.  Upon leaving the channel, we encountered 4-5 dolphin just playing and even tossing a fish around between them.  We have seen dolphin everyday on the water, some in the distance, some up close and personal , some casually swimming along and others “flying” and even jumping completely out of the water.  They are amazing and very fun to watch.  This was our first day on the gulf and the water was great, calm to 1 foot chop.  We can only hope for this great of water again.  The ride was pleasant and we recognized many landmarks and areas along the shore.  We even called some friends, (Dan, Pat, Bill) and told them to wave at us as we cruise by.  We arrived at Rose Marina ($1.60/ft./day) on Marco Island and were pleased to be docked close to Jason and his family. 

The visit at Marco was wonderful.  We spent time with the family.  Jason, April, Colton, Wyatt and Wyatt, (have to get all their names in the blog) were home on Monday and we spent time with them catching up, playing air hockey, inspecting the gardens, and enjoying listening to 3 brothers chatter.  We had visits also with many friends.  Bill Reynolds stopped by the boat, as did Bob and Fran Phinney (Lake Michigan cruising friends) and Chuck and Arlene Custer (fellow boaters and MTOA members).  We got a little taste of the island by doing some exploring on foot and by stopping at a few restaurants. (The Sandbar, Marker 8.5).  We are already looking forward to returning in March and seeing these friends again and spending even more time on the island.

Salty Sam's Marina in Fort Myers

You can rent your own pirate ship here.

If you are a Doc Ford fan this is his rum bar in Ft. Myers