A Week And A Day In Marathon

It took us about four hours to travel from Lignumvitae Key to Marathon Marina and RV Resort. We had to travel about an hour out of our way to go through Moser's Cut and under the Seven Mile Bridge. There's another cut that would have been closer but our mast wouldn't clear the 19 foot bridge height. I had called earlier to get our slip assignment and Sharon showed me the marina map. That's always a big help to know where you're going way ahead of time! But the 'stress free' docking was not to be. Two slips down from where we were docking was a dinghy with a dive flag and divers in the water inspecting a boat. I normally like to dock stern-in but chose to go bow in to avoid any chance of getting blown into the divers.

Moser's Cut. First the old Flagler RR bridge/US1 then 7-Mile Bridge

Original Flagler RR bridge that was converted to US1

Next the dock master told me he needed to wheel down a 'box' to check our power before we plugged in. There's a new electrical standard that requires new marinas or significant renovations (as well as new boats) to have equipment leakage circuit interrupters (ELCI) installed. Basically this detects if the current leaving the shore power pedestal is same when it returns and nothing is leaking via ground. Here's an article to explain in MUCH greater detail about GFCI and ELCI. Since our boat is over 30 years old, I was pretty nervous our AC electrical system may not have passed the "ELCI" test and we wouldn't be able to plug in. Especially since we have an inverter which adds another layer of complexity. As luck would have it, we checked out fine on both 30-amp circuits! Then Sharon turned on the ice maker which tripped the breaker at the pedestal. A couple days later, I pulled out the ice maker, did some troubleshooting and called my tech, Mac, at Raritan. I have used him several times over the years and he's great! In this day and age, it's rare to have a dedicated tech to talk to. Long story short, we narrowed it down to the ice maker portion. We can use the Icerette as a freezer (making bowls of ice) but it won't make cubes without tripping the breaker. The ice maker is 24 years old and lived a good life. Time for another ice maker <sigh>.

We have zero TV antennae reception here. We had two on Islamorada (both Spanish channels) but none here. Strange since we had about 40 on the mooring ball at Lignumvitae. We don't watch a lot of TV but do have plenty of work arounds...

Friday, our friends from MD, Terri and Sheila, rode their Harley up from Stock Island to have lunch with us. They are staying in their RV at Boyd's Campground on Stock Island. It's so great seeing friends from back 'home'! We ate at Burdine's which is known for their burgers and fries. It did not disappoint! They are so popular that you even need to be seated at the bar! (Their bar is not for drinking but for eating). After lunch, they headed south and Sharon and I stopped at Castaways to check that place out. Go figure! Their happy hour starts at 2:00. Just in time for us to roll in. We aren't much of day drinkers but seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Us with Terri & Sheila!

Burger did NOT disappoint! And four of us
did not finish one order of fries.

Harley getting underway.

"Wilson" at Castaways.

Sunday was a comedy trying to watch the football playoffs! We started the first game at Lazy Days -- the tiki bar at our marina. The game was on but no sound -- only music. Even though everyone at the bar was watching the game, they wouldn't turn off the music and put the game on. I tried using my Tunity app for sound but that didn't work for whatever reason. We left at half time. We went back to the boat for the second half. I tried "Smart View" of Hulu from my tablet to our TV. It worked but the resolution decreased to a point where it was horrible and it kept cutting out. So we walked over to the marina lounge for the second game. Nice couches and a big screen TV. Go figure! Apparently Dish doesn't have an agreement with Fox so we couldn't watch the game!!! !@$ Back to the boat. I watched it on my tablet (didn't bother trying to screen shot to our TV). Ahhh, first world problems.

Other than that, we did a LOT of walking and reading. We have seen fish, birds, iguanas and a manatee. Tuesday, the temp dropped and wind picked up. To the point of wearing hoodies and turning on the heat! Wednesday was even colder.

Manatees love fresh water and this
one found some dripping out a pipe.

Iguanas are so destructive that the governor
is enjoying citizens to humanely kill them.

Happy hour at Porky's

We were going to leave Thursday for Boca Chica but decided to play it safe and wait one more day for the weather (and seas) to calm down. We learned about an "Early bird" special at the Lighthouse at Faro Blanco. $20 for any entree on the menu! (except for catch-of-the-day). We both got their filet mignon. Yum! We had reservations but had great seats at the bar so decided to eat there.

On our final day we walked about two miles to Home Depot, K-Mart and Winn Dixie. We needed a week's worth of food (and beer) for our upcoming stay at Boca Chica. We took a cab back to the boat, chilled for a while and Sharon made a delicious sword fish dinner right after the sun set. (Thanks Rebecca for the fish!!!) We really enjoyed Marathon! It's really laid back with plenty of restaurants and happy hours within walking distance. We met several boaters but didn't really connect with anyone -- kind of a first for us in our travels. 

A Week in Islamorada

We pulled up the anchor 8 January and headed to Islamorada. "Islamorada" in Spanish means "Purple Island". Actually, it consists of several islands (keys): Upper Matecumba, Lignumvitae, Windley, Indian, Teatable, Wilson and Plantation keys. Eighteen miles in all. Pulling up the anchor was a little more challenging than normal because the last 30 feet of chain was covered in sea grass and the anchor ⚓ had a huge clump of sand and mud on it. Once the anchor was secured we left Tarpon Basin and went through the very narrow Grouper Creek which was lined with mangrove trees on either side.  The trip was only about 20 NM but took us through some very shallow water. The shallowest being 2' 3" below our keel. We draw four feet. The trip was beautiful (I think) but most of the time my eyes were glued to the depth gauge and navigation apps. Naturally, that was also the time when Sharon decided to start reading to me comments about a post from someone who likes bacon but doesn't like bacon grease on his [boat] stove.

Did we bring a rake?

One of the last legs was Cowpens Cut. Cowpens was named for the pens used to hold manatees, which were once used as food. For whatever reason, the ICW appears to end at marker 78 (miles 1153.7). The 'Magenta line' is still there and beyond (on the charts) but the yellow squares and triangles no longer appear on aids to navigation. From 78 to 84 we didn't have a track/route to follow -- first time since we left Maryland, but simply followed navigation aids although they were spaced VERY far apart at times. Sharon was a huge help in our final leg. 

Sharon called the marina, Coral Bay, for our slip assignment. The Netflix show "Bloodline" was filmed here. She does everything possible to help us figure out where we're going to dock. That means Google Maps, marina website, etc. Here were the directions she received: "Go through PVC poles, go past big Hatteras (Kwiki), past basin, pass motor yacht, make a left, 1st slip, bow in, port side." Naturally, we went right past that "first left" because it wasn't a slip but a canal and the motor yacht was about two feet beyond the canal entrance. So, I had to turn around in a channel about the width of our boat 🚤-- 36 feet. Somehow we did it and got docked. The slip was really nice! Lots of mangrove trees to shade us and well protected from wind and wakes.

The marina was ok. It's a working marina but we got a nice (for the Keys) weekly rate and a fantastic slip! We were instantly greeted by a couple 👫, Tom and Debbie, from Edgewater, MD who came here last February and never left. We got settled in and headed over to Lorelei's for happy hour 🍸. Lorelei's is a favorite stop of ours' when driving from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West. 

Our 'slip'

Thursday we met friends of ours from back 'home' at Lorelei's. Brandon and Karen and Mike and Anne were on their way to Key West and stopped to see us for a late lunch. Turns out, another friend of ours', Mark, lives on his houseboat  in the marina right next to ours! Small world!!! We spent the afternoon with them before they continued their journey south. 

Mark, Mike, Anne, Karen, Brandon, us at Lorelei's

Friday, we did some sightseeing and had dinner at Islamorada Fish 🐟 Company with our friend Rebecca who lives on Islamorada. She's in the process of moving to Marathon. It's always fun seeing Rebecca!

Shops, coffee cafe and Badboys Burritos

This store had some really cool stuff!

Dinner at the Fish Company with Rebecca

Saturday morning we received a text from a couple, Bill and Molly, that had pulled into Coral Bay the same day we did. They are fellow "Loopers" and invited us to have 'docktails' and join them for dinner at Badboys Burritos (right behind our marina). Badboys was good! After dinner Sharon and I headed back to the boat to watch a devastating play-off loss by the Baltimore Ravens 🏈.

Sunday, we walked about a mile to the farmer's 🚜 market -- an event Sharon can never pass up. We stopped at the Hurricane Monument along the way. The farmer's market didn't have much but we bought some cheese, fresh bread 🍞, fruit/vegetables 🍑🍅, chips, salsa and tamales. We met Rebecca there who drove us back to our boat 🚤 to drop off our food. She went grocery shopping with us at Publix. After that, the three of us stopped by her parents' house (absolutely beautiful!) and then went to the Islander Resort for lunch and some pool 🏊 time! Rebecca left around 4 and Sharon and I left around 5. 

Hurricane Monument

Farmer's Market

These iguanas were going at it in the street and
froze when Rebecca's car stopped in front of them.

Lunch and drinks at Tides Beachside Bar and Grill
at the Islander Resort

Sharon and Rebecca

We decided to swing by Lorelei's in case Mike, Anne and Mark were there.  Go figure! There they were. They were just getting ready to leave for a sunset 🌅 cruise on one of Mark's boats. Mark invited us to go along and took us past our marina/boat, another basin and through Bird Island. Bird Island was a trip! We saw hundreds of pelicans, cormorants and frigates (I'm sure there were other species) all jockeying for tree branch space. After the sun set, Mark dropped us off right at our boat. It just doesn't get any better! 

Bird Island

More Bird Island

Mark, Mike and Anne pulling away after dropping us off at our boat.

Monday was another pool day at the Islander Resort. Mark, Mike and Anne joined us for a couple of hours. We headed back to the boat to shower around 4 then headed to Lorelei's for happy hour. It turned out to be quite the happy hour with Mark, Mike, Anne, a couple Anne knew from Key Largo, Rebecca and her parents.

Beautiful beach at the Islander Resort.

Tuesday was like Monday except it was just us and fresh 'Mut' fish from Rebecca for dinner.

Wednesday morning we hit West Marine, said our good-byes to our 'live aboard' friends and went a short one hour to Lignumvitate Key. I did notice the ICW yellow squares and triangles did appear on markers around 91A. There are five mooring balls on the leeward side of the island which is a state park (naturally it was closed Wed). We grabbed a mooring ball and enjoyed beautiful turquoise water, a sunset and even had a sea turtle sighting!

Ft. Lauderdale to the Keys

The alarm [clock] went off at 0530 and we were underway in 30 minutes. Our goal was to be underway at 6 and we did it! That's probably one of five times in the last 8+ months that we have had to get up to an alarm clock. The draw bridges on New River are closed from 0730-0900 during rush hour so we wanted to get an early start. We also wanted to take advantage of a good weather day and make our way to the Keys. We were getting ready to cast off when I saw a boat passing behind us. That boat needed the first of three draw bridges opened on New River. I asked Sharon, "Can we do this!?!" We did! Untied five lines in record time and managed to piggy-back off "Ursala Minor's" bridge openings. It was dark but we left early hoping boat traffic would be to a minimum. Well.... it wasn't. There were TWO seven-figure mega-yachts being towed in the opposite direction. We (Ursala Minor and us) sat as far to the side of the river that we could as the yachts went by. But wait, there was a third yacht getting towed as well. We were headed for Port Everglades channel when all boat traffic stopped for a cruise ship - Independence of the Seas - to enter port. This was our first time leaving the ICW. We headed 'outside' and ran parallel along the coast. Boy was that nice! Two and a half hours bypassing draw bridges and boat traffic! It was just us. It dawned on me that in the last 33 days, today was only the 4th day we've been underway. As the sun was rising, I thought about this time last year, sitting in an office. Yuck

Cruising down New River

Waiting for Independence of the Sea to enter port.

We entered Government Cut on our way back to the ICW and turned south into Biscayne Bay. Once in Biscayne Bay, it was a straight shot and Sharon and I both enjoyed some sun on the bow and beautiful tortoise water thanks to our auto pilot. We went through Card, Barnes and Blackwater Sound and Jewfish Creek and anchored in Tarpon Basin at MM 1139. We're in a nice protected anchorage with mangrove trees lining the shore. We never got off the boat but there are supposed to be mangrove tunnels that you can explore from the comfort of your dinghy. The wind will be picking up tomorrow and getting worse for the next few days. Luckily, we were able to take advantage of a nice weather window and make it to the Keys!

Ships in Government Cut

Miami

Miami

Chilling on the bow in Biscayne Bay

Our anchorage in Tarpon Basin