Friends Visit from Michigan

Our very good friends, Roy and Judi, spent a few days with us on our boat in Marathon.  They are snowbirds – summer in Michigan and winter in Florida – the best of both!  We tried to fit in as much as possible in the shortest time.  Judi brought the most wonderful seafood kabobs to grill on our boat for dinner the first evening!  We brought them to a happy hour before dinner and to Dockside for entertainment after dinner.  The next day we took a ferry ride to Pigeon Key and toured the island. This is where the workers lived when they built Seven Mile Bridge in 1909 to connect the Keys.  This is also the bridge that was destroyed in the Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film True Lies.  The evening was completed with dinner at a waterside grill viewing the sunset.  So good to see our friends and spend great times together!

Dinghy Cleaning in Salt Water

Since this is the first time our dinghy has been in salt water, things are happening that we have never before experienced.  After 6 weeks in the water, the dinghy has a long green beard on the bottom and a few barnacles as well!  If someone could produce and bottle the adhesive that the green stuff is attached to the dinghy, they would make a fortune.  We hauled out the dinghy and turned it over and started scraping and scrubbing.  This took several hours, four different sized scrapers, two large scrub brushes, lots of cleaner, and two very sore backs.  We then applied two coats of black bottom paint, waited for it to dry, and launched the dinghy back into the water - so we could get back to our boat for the evening.  Let’s hope this works for a while.

Trip to Mainland Florida

We rented a car to visit our friends in Florida and to spend time with our son, Bill, who was in Ft. Myers on an extended business trip.  We stayed with our friend, Cheryl, in Ft. Myers whom we hadn’t seen in over a year!  We had a great time eating at Cork Squekers, “Music Walk” in Ft. Myers, Edison and Ford Winter Estate, Pinchers for Seafood Happy Hour and great homemade food at Cheryl’s!  We were also able to make a short visit with our friends, John and Marilyn and celebrated Marilyn’s birthday and enjoyed a sail in Charlotte Harbor with Fleet 21 friends, Dave, Carolyn, and John.  What a great time with friends and family!

Marathon, Florida in January

Our refrigerator project is completed and we are very happy with the results!  After waiting nine days since our arrival in Marathon, we moved to mooring ball B17 in Boot Key Harbor.  We will be here for a month or two until we finish all the projects and then we set sail for The Bahamas!  There is a weekly meeting here for anyone interested in going to or have already been to The Bahamas.  This has proven to be a good source of information.  There were 15 boats that completed the ICW Sail Rally and although it was never planned, there are 11 of those same boats here in Marathon!  We feel like we have never left our friends.  We frequently go to Eric Stone’s Dockside Tropical Café (check out our group pictures below).  The sunrises and sunsets are just beautiful and we enjoy them as often as possible from the cockpit of our boat.  We continue to work on our project list as it grows daily!