03/09/2010, Marathon, Fl
Well we've been in Marathon for almost 3 weeks and we are really enjoying this harbor. As you can see we share that harbor with just a few other boats. Actually that pictures shows only a small portion of the baots that are anchored or moored here and it doesn't even consider the boats that are dockside.
Since we have arrived we have worked on a few boat projects and keep adding more to the list. That list never seems to get any shorter. Ben is moving along slowly with his school work. We keep hoping that we can motivate him to get things done quiter, but at least he is doing very well in his classes so far and that is more important in the long run. Of course the fact that he has found about ten other teenagers here in the mooring field doesn't help us keep him on task.
Tomorrow we are going in to Miami to pick Jordan up at the airport. She will be our first overnight visitor since we left Michigan. We're quite excited to see her and we hope the weather co-operates while she is in Marathon. We hope to spend one day while she is here in Key West. It is only $1.50 per person from here to Key West on the bus. This weekend we plan to take in the Original Marathon Seafood Festival. It is a festival where all of the local fisherman and their families get together to cook their catches for the community. It sounds yummy.
I'll try to be a little quicker about entering our next blog.
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03/09/2010, Marathon, FL
I took this picture last night from the deck of Ishmael. Around here the many of the people on the other boats blow conch shells just as the sun sets.
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02/26/2010, Martathon, FL
No we havn't just met somebody's wife for the first time. We did however pick up a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor. For those who are not nautical, a mooring ball is a floating ball attached to a weight on the harbor floor by a chain.
This particular mooring field is very impressive. There are almost 250 mooring balls, all of which are filled, and at least half that many boats are anchored in the harbor. The dinghy dock is bigger than some of the marinas we've stayed at on our journey. We choose a mooring field over anchoring because we find it less stressful. The chances of dragging are greatly reduced, especially when the mooring field is as well cared for as this one is cared for.
Since we've been here we have already had some very high winds. One night the winds reached 35mph. At least one of the boats in the anchorages decided to go for a little tour one night this week. The owner was away and apparently several boats were hit before they got it under control. We're expecting high winds again tomorrow, but a really hope that this time the weather guys do have it wrong.
The picture above is of the sunrise here in the harbor. George took the picture this morning, but I actually did see the sunrise. Of course that's only because in a north wind I can simply sit up in bed and look out the portlight. Now at sunset I'm quite happy to be in the cockpit with a little appitizer and a favourite beverage. Go figure.
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As I drove by your house last night with only one lane of road open do to snow drift, thought I'd check and see where your at. Sunrise looks beautiful, still gray skies here though occassional sighting of the yellow thing in the sky, (Springs close). Keep up the wonderful posts, unlike Rog I don't get to travel all the time so I enjoy the pictures lots
Terry
02/21/2010, Marathon, Fl
We arrived in Marathon yesterday afternoon and are staying at Burdines Waterfront Marina and Restaurant. We'll be here until George gets back from a trip for work. We are hoping to get into the mooring field here by the end of the week. Of course first I have to go down there and put our name on the waiting list. If there isn't going to be any room we'll have to decide our next move. We have a few choices. We can stay here longer although that is very expensive. We can anchor out and hope that a long south wind arrives and drives everybody out of the mooring field and off to the Bahamas, We may just head on down to Key West and stay there for a while. Finally we could just poke around at some of the less frequented keys. We'll just wait and see.
Ben has already met several teenagers in the area. I was fortunate enough to stumble across a family from Michigan traveling with three teenage girls. They are currently on a mooring and after I emailed their mother she was nice enough to let us know what was available for teens in the area. She also sent the girls down in the dinghy this afternoon to pick Ben up and take him to meet the other kids. Needless to say Ben is really hoping that we find a mooring ball.
George would have preferred to stay at Key Largo. We were only there over night but he really liked it a lot, and he didn't even go diving. Of course he may like Marathon as well once he gets to spend time here. The restaurant, Berdines is quite good. There french fries have a seasoning on them that is quite different. They also have burgers that are big enough for two. Finally, we tried the deep fried key lime pie when we ate there yesterday. It sounds different but it was delicious, although not particularly healthy.
Today while I took the dog for a walk I found a seafood store. It was closed today but I'll definately stop by before too long and check out some of the local catch. I also met a woman on the opposite side of the marina who has a Whitby 42 and she is here stayinig on her friends Whitby 42 while they are away. After speaking to her I went back to the boat and a guy in a dinghy came over to look at the boat. He was working on a Whitby at another nearby marina. Turns out that that Whitby was the one built right after ours. Hull #63 is just around the corner. Finallly I was told that yet another Whitby 42 is staying in the mooring field. Hard to believe that with roughly 300 boats ever made, and the last one made in 1987, that there would be 4 here in Marathon. Actually we have seen quite a few Whitbys since we started our trip, although none until we hit the ICW.
That's it for now. The picture above was taken when we passed through Stiltsville a couple of days ago on our way to Key Largo from Key Biscayne. There appeared to be only 7 buildings left at Stiltsville and none of them lookied like they had been occupied for the past little while. I know that the owners were supposed to lose their land leases in 1999 but I heard that the owners were going to try and have the building listed with the National Historic Society. I guess in the end the government finally won and they had to abandon their buildings. Whatever the case, it was a really intereesting place to pass through.
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