The batteries are getting down a bit so it’s a day for staying aboard, running the generator and using ‘unlimited’ power.
Tuesday 30th March
A trip to the chiro and then after Steve and Kathy (Kit) have run us to Radio Shack to pickup our repaired camera. We have that super value $5 lunch at Hurricane.
In the afternoon it’s time to up stakes and move to the Marathon Boat Yard for our fuel polishing. Unfortunately, the boat yard insists we stay a night at $2/ft – ouch! Here we are tucked in for the night awaiting the process in the morning.
Wednesday 31st March
The fuel polishing went ahead without incident, don’t know whether it did any good or not, it doesn’t seem the fuel was that dirty or filled with water.
We headed back to our mooring to find that Kismet and Grey Hound had returned from the Dry Tortugas the night before.
Thursday 1st April
Joined Steve and Kathy for a trip to Publix and Winn Dixie and then in the afternoon dinghied to Lazy Days for Happy Hour with (clockwise round the table) Kendall (Try-Oomph), Anne & Dick (Grey Hound) Jim & Laurie (Kismet) and Judy (Try-Oomph). As might be guessed Try-Oomph is a tri-maran.
Grey Hound left for the west coast and we had Jim and Laurie over for Happy Hour aboard Incognita to say goodbye, as it’s likely to be a while before we see them again. They very kindly lent us a chartbook for the west coast of Florida.
Saturday 3rd April
Movie day in Marathon, so off we went with our movie going buddies Steve and Kathy to see "Clash of the Titans". Not exactly one of those movies we’ve been planning for but with one screen a week there’s not too much choice.
We finished the day with supper on board Kit, a game of cards and "The Men Who Stare at Goats" on the computer – bizarre!
Sunday 4th April
A day planned for a sail on Kit, so after meeting up with Linda and Greg (who by the way sail their McGregor in the Chesapeake in summer) we head out of the harbor with Capt Steve (he really has a captain’s license because of their charter business) at the helm.
The intent was to sail out to Sombrero Reef, tie up to one of the mooring balls and maybe go snorkeling. However, although it doesn’t look like it from this pic
once we were out there it was clearly a little too rough for any of that. In fact after a couple of hours out on the water both Carol and I confessed to feeling a little woozy.
We returned for supper on Kit and another of those really great days on the water comes to an end.
Monday 5th April
A day onshore doing laundry and hanging round the marina. Oh yes, I seemed to be heading toward some kind of dental problem, so after a few phone calls I secured an appointment at a local dentist and Linda (who we’d met on Kit the night before) kindly gave me a ride there. $90 later I had a prescription for antibiotics and instructions to get one of my root canals re-rooted whenever I’m in one place for a while.
Tuesday 6th April
Carol has wanted to visit Crane Point in Marathon since last year. It’s a wild life rescue operation, some denizens of which we have seen at their booth at the seafood festival like this little one-winged hawk.
It turns out that Linda works there as a volunteer and she invited Carol to come visit which she did and got a full tour. Here are the pelicans with their paddling pool. Note the rubber floating rings which they love to play with.
There’s interesting flora as well as fauna like this shaving brush tree.
After the tour Linda and Carol came back to pick me up and we had lunch in the yard at their place.
They're on a canal in a bay off the ocean and they have this lovely deck on top of their house with cool breezes and a view.
They share the place with Greg's brother who owns this strange vehicle.
For those who remember it's a Volkswagen "Thing". Greg offered me a ride but I refused when I saw the seating arrangements.
Wednesday 7th April
Steve and Kathy have two daughters, one who lives in Oregon and the other is currently working in Hong Kong and the day before, mum and dad picked them up from the airport in Fort Lauderdale. We, along with Linda and Greg were invited over to Kit to meet them and have supper together. We had a great supper out on the back of Kit with another inventive meal from Kathy. We ended the night with a game of cards, since Bunkey taught Carol ‘Golf’ now she teaches it all we come across.
Thursday 8th April
It was getting time for us to leave so I thought it would be a good idea to clean the dinghy bottom. Rather than go over to Sombrero Beach and try and pull it ashore and then manhandle the motor on to the sand, I copied what I’d seen someone else do which is flip it upside down and then clamber on top. Flipping it wasn’t quite as easy as I thought but the with the help of a hoisting halyard over it went and spent a lovely couple of hours clambering around on it and scraping the amazing amount of green hairy growth off it. Very few barnacles though.
Friday 9th April
Some last minute shopping at Publix after lunch at Hurricane with Divia and Chris from Maggie M who we first spoke to on the Cape Fear River on the way down south so long ago.
Saturday 10th April
Last day before leaving so all the preparations for leaving like putting the speed sensor back in place. Failure to take it out while we were in Marathon last year gummed it up good with barnacles etc.
Dolphins put on quite a goodbye show for us circling round the anchorage.
Kit invited us over for the last supper and more cards with their daughters as they were driving them back to Fort Lauderdale the next day.
Sunday 11th April
The weather’s good so off we go after filling up with water and diesel on the way out of Marathon Harbour. Our plan is to sail directly north across Florida Bay to go up the west coast.
And sail we did, with enough wind to send us at a fair clip with no engine. It was also a first for us in that we've never sailed out of sight of land before. Of course the fact that the water’s not much more than 8’ deep kind of reduces the fear factor.
First landfall on the southern tip of Florida is Cape Sable which as the name suggests is sandy. We planned to anchor off the beach so Buddy could go ashore. As we were told and later confirmed ourselves, further north there is no land, it’s all mangroves.
As we reached almost the furthest point north of sandy beach we were hit with a thunderstorm and just had time to drop the hook before we got blasted with wind. Once the storm had passed though it was OK to take Buddy ashore. However, the east winds that we had waited for got overridden by the north wind kicked up by the storm and we spent a rolly night.
Monday 12th April
It was a beautiful wild and uninhabited spot but quite exposed so we moved on and although we had been told there was no land we decided to give Little Shark River anchorage a try.
It was not far up the coast before we could turn it into a beautiful mangrove lined inlet and we anchored. Apart from the bugs at sunset this was one beautiful idyllic spot, though not totally silent, as down below there was the constant snap crackle pop of snapping shrimp on the outside of the hull. (http://stilton.tnw.utwente.nl/shrimp/).
However, there really was no land but according to our charts there were camping areas a few miles away. So, after loading on the dinghy motor and taking Buddy aboard I zipped off in search of terra firma.
Well after consulting with some guys fishing in a boat I found the ‘campsite’ I was looking for and here it is.
Buddy was not impressed and even though I walked him round the quite substantial platform for 15 mins he refused to perform.
There are many of these camping platforms around the Everglades intended for canoeists and kayakers.
Tuesday 13 April
It’s now 24 hrs since poor old Buddy has had any relief so we must move on.
We motored sailed with just the genoa in strong north east winds up the coast to Indian Key which according the cruising guides promises an anchorage next to an island with a beach. When we get there we find it totally exposed to the north east wind which is howling down to the proposed anchorage with miles of fetch. We headed up away from the coast and tucked in behind a couple of islands not too far from the island with the beach.
The best part of the spot was that right behind us was a little sandy island that although submerged when we got there was exposed at low tide. And as luck would have it low tide, for the time we were there, coincided with Buddy’s needed trips ashore. Naturally we instantly named it Buddy’s Island as it didn’t seem to have a name on the chart.
What we weren’t so lucky with is that as we came to anchor our engine problem from way back at the start of the season came back to haunt us.
Wednesday 14th April
We decided to stay put for a couple of days, mostly because of the strong north east winds and also to take a look at the engine problem. I changed the primary filter restarted the engine and all seemed O.K.
Here’s a pic from Buddy’s Island.
Thursday 15th April
It’s another beautiful day in uninhabited southern Florida but the winds are still too strong to brave the gulf.
We have dolphins around us all the time and we know when they show up because Buddy barks at them.
This is a really pleasant spot and it’s a shame to leave but we must press on.
Friday 16th April
We set off sailing with a good wind that’s forecast for all day but of course it peters out and we must put on the engine which does its bad thing again. We do discover that if we just keep going at lower power, after about 10 mins. it ‘fixes’ itself.
Fortunately as we battle the outgoing tide and head winds into the Marco Island anchorage it performs perfectly.
Saturday 17th April
The weather forecast is again bad for several days so we decide to stay put. We took the short walk ashore to Publix and we got to see a manatee for the first time. Well we didn’t exactly see the whole thing, just its nose which looks like a big rubber flower on the surface as it swims around.
Sunday 18th April
Overcast with threatening rain and the batteries are getting down so we spend most of the day below on the computers (lots of free Internet here) and the generator running.
Monday 19 April
It’s another gloomy day, overcast with winds all over the place but I do get to see a burrowing owl.
Tuesday 20th April
The weather has turned good again so time to move on. The original plan had been to just go up the coast a little to Naples but once we were out there, the engine running well (not much wind) we decided to go all the way to Fort Myers Beach.
The engine misbehaved a couple of times and for the first time we got boarded by the US Coastguard. They came alongside with a big powerful inflatable and two guys jumped aboard us and while one took down our particulars the other guy checked around downstairs, for flare dates, fire extinguishers and other stuff. They were quite polite and after about 15 minutes the inflatable came back alongside and off they went leaving us with a copy of the form to simplify future boardings..
We got a mooring at Fort Myers Beach and went ashore to check in and take Buddy a walk. Fort Myers Beach is very different from Marco Island which is expensive and dead as a doornail. Fort Myers Beach is much tackier but swarming with people and much like the Florida one expects. We stopped for an ice-cream in the sun.
This kitchy display is a little reminiscent of Key West – and it’s a restaurant not a marine store.
Round the marina is there is a huge hotel complex that spans several streets that is nicely done
Wednesday 21st April
After we get back to the boat from taking Buddy ashore Buddy barks at something in the water and Carol calls out (I’m below making breakfast) “Manatee!”.
Finally we actually get to see the whole (well major parts anyway) of a manatee. There are actually two of them rolling around in the water.
I get the dinghy out and row across to them. At first when I get close to them they dive but being curious animals they surface for a look.
Now, imagine you were a sailor in the old days of sailing ships and you’d been at sea for months without sight of land or the fairer sex. Now wouldn’t you just fall in love with this mermaid in moment?
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