Florida: Marathon - fast boats & dock party

Day 223

Fast Boats 'descend' on Faro Blanco

This morning the "dreaded" fast boats came into Faro Blanco as part of their "poker run" activity. The boats are very noisy, and the folks who operate them are a world apart from loopers on trawlers as far as boat culture is concerned. As usual Clark was at the ready with his camera to capture some pictures. The boats had interesting names like Yabba Dabba Doo, It's My Life, and Cat Gotcha Tongue to name a few.

In a Variety of Colors

each with numerous outboards for maximum speed

and lots of noise to disturb the peaceful tranquility of the marina!

I felt lazy today and spent quite a bit of time reading my latest novel while Clark did miscellaneous tasks about the boat and whatnot. My exercise for today was the walk we took to the West Marine boat store for some screws. The store is almost directly across the street from the marina complex. It was not a long walk!

At one point during the day when I walked past Morning Star, I learned that a Portuguese Man o'war was hanging out by their boat. When I saw something floating in the water, I actually thought it was a small blue balloon floating there. I was way wrong! Anne from Morning Star told Lila from Blue Haven and me what it was. Neither of us had ever seen one before. It looked so harmless, but the sting of a man o'war is very painful and can even cause death in humans.

Portuguese Man o'war
looks like a blue balloon

As I was studying the man o'war, Clark found himself a bit of nature to admire as well. Apparently a Green Heron decided to come fishing near our boat today.

Green Heron at Faro Blanco Marina

Being a Friday, today was a water aerobics day. I did not attend. At 9:30 when I had to decide if I would attend or not, the temperature was just on the 70 degrees mark with a 20 mph wind from the north. The sky came over gray like a storm was brewing. I was uncertain as to whether the class would be held or not. I felt too lazy to go find out. As it turned out, they held class! Part of me says I should be disappointed I missed the group get together for exercise, the other part of me says - "Naw!"

At 2:30 Clark had his own get together to attend with Susan Gunning from Nuclear Fishin' for a jam session (guitar and violin). It surprised me that she could play with four broken ribs, but she said she could manage it and manage it she did! The session was relatively short, however, and Clark came back at 3:15 or so to continue his work on the boat before our big marina dock party.

Shortly after we arrived at Faro Blanco, at the beginning of this month, we were told that the boaters, mostly loopers, planned to give a party for the marina staff at the end of February to thank them for all their hard work on our behalf. Each attendee was asked to pay a $10 fee and bring either an appetizer or a dessert to share. I understand that over 50 people paid to participate in the event.

Faro Blanco Dock Party for Marina Staff

Although the party had a shaky beginning, it ultimately turned out to be a very nice event. Some logistics problems arose regarding the setup and venue for the gathering causing some confusion and delay. The main source of the confusion was the 20+ mph winds. Both planned sites (plan A and plan B) proved unacceptable with such high winds.

The party was scheduled to begin at 4:00, so at 4:00 I went up on our upper helm where I had a reasonable view of most of the marina to see where folks were gathering. I kept looking and looking for a group of people large enough to be our party and could find no signs of activity anywhere. Finally I decided that I needed to go wandering to see what was happening. I found folks who told me that unfortunately, the demands of the fast boats were keeping the marina staff hopping, and they could not break away to setup the tables for the party. The worst part of that, other than the fact the party was to honor the staff, was that we needed the tables so we could lay out the feast for them.

As time went by, more and more boaters appeared wandering the docks with either an appetizer or a dessert in hand wondering where to put it. Finally at 4:45 members of the marina staff got a chance to setup tables in a corner of the parking lot somewhat protected from the winds. I had been wondering what happened to our main meal, but as soon as a couple of tables were assembled a man jumped out of a van and put out the spread. A catering company was hired to provide a pig roast and side dishes.

Pig in Mud
(Roasted Pig Stuffed with Rice and Beans)

I am not sure where the cake came from that was served - chocolate cake with icing that tasted like marshmallows!

Beautiful Chocolate Cake - Yum!
Almost too pretty to eat.

The staff seemed quite happy with the big event in their honor, and the boaters sure had a good time as well.

Faro Blanco Marina Staff

Party Attendees

More party goers

As an aside, during the event, a presentation of a gift was made to one of our fellow boaters. Anne from Morning Star does not own a dog; however, she keeps doggy treats on board for any dog who happens to walk by her boat.  Once they find out she has treats, the dogs make a point of bringing their owners by on a regular basis. Those owners bought Anne a thank you gift for all the doggy treats she gives out.

Anne Receiving a Thank You Dog
from the owners of her many doggy friends

With the event going on at the east side of the marina property, we could see the sunset in the distance but our view did not warrant any sunset picture taking tonight. Even with the strong winds it was a gorgeous night. Clark and I stayed talking and enjoying the pleasant weather with Kenny and Jeanne from Daybreak well after the party had broken up.