Iguanas, Cranes, Food, and Fun in Marathon, FL

2/27/2017

I decided to get the laundry action item off my list first thing this morning and gathered up our one last load of wash to be done before leaving the marina on the 1st of March. As I went to step off our boat, Jim from Hour Plan, our neighbor to starboard, saw me and said, "I just started two loads!" "Great", I replied sarcastically since there are only two washers at the marina. He laughed. I walked my laundry up to the marina building anyway, so I could put it in queue to be next when he took his out. Then, I came back to our boat to get breakfast.

As I sat down to eat, however, I noticed that a man and his no-more-than-three year old daughter came and stood on the dock behind our boat for quite some time pointing and talking. I thought they had found a fish to admire. It turned out they were looking at the back of our boat.

When I looked out and the man caught my eye, he said, "There's an iguana there." I went out to have a look and was quite shocked to see a rather long, perhaps 4' long, iguana spread out on our swim platform soaking up some rays from the morning sun!

Leaning over the stern of the boat, I captured a mirror image of the iguana.

As I looked down at him from inside the boat, he tipped his head and looked back up at me. He was not intimidated at all by my presence.

He watched me looking at him. 

Folks on our neighboring boat recommended I shoo him away any way possible as quickly as possible and told me how iguanas had gotten into their boat while in storage and clawed up all the covers over the teak on the boat and the teak as well. They offered me a broom, but I already had one handy.

Even when I threatened the iguana with the broom, it was hesitant to leave this prime real estate. It took two swipes of the broom to convince him the water would be safer. He struggled to hold his grip and pull himself back up onto the boat after the first swipe. The second swipe saw him splashing into the water.

Since they are amphibian, I figured it would be able to swim. It positioned its limbs parallel to its body and slithered through the water like a fat snake to a nearby rock under the fixed dock and climbed out of the water to sit there for a while. I wondered how on earth it even managed to get on there in the first place. My friend, Faith, showed me a picture she took of an even larger iguana walking across the grass floating around a boat. I guess they can basically "walk on water".

After the excitement of the iguana, I sat down to eat my now soggy breakfast cereal. As I finished my food, the timer on my phone rang to indicate 30 minutes had passed and the washers should be free soon. I stood up to take a walk back to the laundry room and saw Jim walking up to move his clothes to the dryer. I waited a while and then followed.

Normally a load takes 30 minutes to wash and 40 minutes to dry. Today's, however, took almost 90 minutes to dry since I forgot to push the start button after I pushed in the money. The green light lit up and my brain took that as a signal all was a go. Nope. I came back when my timer rang 40 minutes later to a wet load of wash sitting in the dryer. Fortunately, the timer did not start on the drying time until after the start button got pushed, so I did not have to offer up any additional money to dry the clothes. I have never made that mistake before that I can remember. I hope not to make it again!

When we said goodbye at the Sunset Celebration yesterday evening, Sandy and Kevin from Koastal Karma told us they would stop by this morning to see our new boat. Around 11:00 they came by to check it out, and we gave them a tour.

We had Kevin and Sandy pose for a picture.

And then Sandy took one of the two of us.

They knew we had a lunch date today, so they did not stay long. Shortly after they left, Jim and Faith from Third Degree came by to collect us for our lunch at Lazy Days South.

Jim and Faith from Third Degree

After a leisurely and very enjoyable lunch, we headed back to the boat. My only agenda item for the rest of the day was to collect the rental car at 4:00 for our road trip tomorrow. Clark, however, decided he wanted to go learn more about solar panels at S.A.L.T., and Kenny from Daybreak planned to join him to see what he could learn as well.

These two objectives conflicted with each other as, by the time Clark was ready to go to S.A.L.T., it was already well after 3:00. Clark decided we should all go, Kenny included, to pick up the rental car first. Then the two of them could go directly to S.A.L.T., and I could return to the boat. That's what we ended up doing, and it worked out well. I deviated from the plan after we went our separate ways, however, as I stopped at the produce stand and Home Depot on the way back to the boat - both spur-of-the-moment decisions.

For a day that I thought would be laid back and casual, it had more agenda items than a day at work. Earlier in the day, Jo Ann from Namaste texted Clark to ask if we could join folks at the marina for docktails at 5:00. Of course, we said yes, but with my shopping stops and Clark's visit to S.A.L.T., we barely made it back to the boat before it was time to go to the party.

Several boats are preparing to depart.  Tonight was a farewell docktails for those of us leaving the marina. Lone Star gets underway tomorrow. We and Shell Belle head out on Wednesday. It is bittersweet to be pulling out. On the one hand, I am ready to be moving again. On the other, I will miss these great people that I have become so dear to me.

Shell Belle at Faro Blanco Marina

While at docktails, Clark found a crane hunting for its own food.

Crane hunting for dinner

Stretching out for a better look

We had plenty of people and lots of good people food for our docktails party.

Just a very few of the docktails attendees:
Mandy from Shell Belle, Jo Ann and Jim from Namaste,
Kenny and Jeanne from Daybreak, and A.C. from Hour Plan

Although I have seen her boat here since we arrived on February 1st, I had not met Karen from Sixty Eighty until tonight. She and her husband Terry have lived aboard their boat for 12 years. Karen and I had a nice long chat which included an explanation of her boat's name. If the weather is below 60 or above 80 degrees, it is time to move on!

Docktails lasted until 7:00 or so and then it was time to come back to the boat and prepare dinner, eat, and wrap up a very busy day with the blog update. Tomorrow, we get to sit in cars, and hopefully not too much traffic, all day long as we pre-position our own car to a spot along our path back to New Jersey.

Banana Bay Sunset Celebration

2/26/2017

After we got back to our boat yesterday from the Islamorada Nautical Flea Market, Clark remembered that he had forgotten to get something there. We made plans to make a quick trip back to the flea market this morning. What did he forget? Well, for one thing, he said he forgot to take a picture of the banner at the entrance for the blog. With a couple of reminders from me once we arrived at the site, he got the coveted picture.

The women working the gate, collecting entrance fees, saw him
with the camera, and some even posed for the shot.

The real reason he wanted to return, however, was to purchase a solar-panel charger to charge a battery on the boat. He said they normally cost around $130, and he had seen one he meant to buy for $45. For that amount of savings, it made sense to drive to the flea market to get it. The only catch ... he thought he knew which booth, but when he called them, they said, "Not my booth". With that we both wondered if Clark would be able to even find this desired object.

When he asked me, "What would you do?" I said without hesitation, "I'd already be in the car driving east if it were me!" With that, we jumped in the car and went on our scavenger hunt for the solar panel. We had no idea which booth held the prize, but Clark remembered the booth sold electrical parts and had a U-shaped display. After combing the aisles, we found the item exactly where he described it would be in a booth two stalls down from where he thought he saw it. He even negotiated the price down by $3 to get an even better bargain.

With no interest in spending any additional time perusing the booths, we hightailed it out of the market and headed back to Marathon. Considering it is at least an hour's drive each way, the time certainly seemed to pass relatively quickly in both directions. Of course we hit heavy traffic a couple of miles out from the flea market, but this was to be expected.

We ate the sandwiches I had made for our trip in the car as we drove and finished our lunches just before arriving at Marathon. Since we had the car out and about, we decided to make a quick stop at Publix to stock up on a couple of items as we plan to leave here Wednesday to start our long trip back to New Jersey. Since we will be anchoring some, and we will not have a car when we do stop at marinas until we get to Vero Beach, I thought it prudent to have a little extra food on board.

After returning to the marina, I checked and found that Namaste had returned to the marina. Plenty of slip space is now available given the fast boats all departed around 9:30 this morning. I was not sad to see them go! I talked to Jim and Jo briefly as well as Kenny and Jeanne from Daybreak who were standing nearby. Then I walked over to talk to Faith on Third Degree. The afternoon flew by and I found myself rushing back to the boat to grab a shower before we headed out to the annual looper party held this evening at Banana Bay Marina and called the "Sunset Celebration".

Everyone brought an appetizer to share and their own drinks and chairs. Since we had a car, we carried chairs and food down to the venue for our friends who decided they wanted to walk for the exercise. They must have been walking at quite a clip because Clark and I barely got the chairs set up before they arrived.

Jeanne, Kenny, Clark, Ev, and Jim
(Jo Ann took the picture)

We had a great time at the party as we chatted with fellow loopers - some whom we had recently met, some we met during our great loop trip, and even one couple we met long before we set off on our great loop adventure.  I was approached by a man named Kevin. I did not recognize his name or the name of his boat. He told me that we met in Norfolk and asked if I remembered him. Since he did not look familiar, I apologetically said, "Sorry, no, I don't remember". 

Then he told me that when I met him, he had just bought his boat and it was then named Grey Goose. I instantly remembered who he was and that we had met in May of 2014 at the AGLCA Rendezvous. All the loopers I meet agree that it is a lot easier to remember boat names than people names. I wonder why that is the case. Truth be told, Grey Goose was particularly easy to remember since it is a 1999 Mainship 350 - the same year, make and model as Sea Moss!

Clark and Ev with Kevin and Sandy from Koastal Karma

We also saw several couples we met during our loop trip, but had not seen for a while, including Susan and John from Nuclear Fission, Tom and Jane from Elizabear, and Jann and Bill from Ivory Lady. They sold Ivory Lady recently, a Mainship very similar to ours but a 400 instead of a 350, and bought a motor home. They will be setting off on their new adventure in the near future but this time on roads not water.

Jann and Bill previously of Ivory Lady and
soon to travel in "One if by Land"
They still have a boat up north which they plan to call "Two if by Sea"

Others whom we have spent time with recently at Faro Blanco or met through other events also attended. The party officially started at 4:00 and ended at 7:00. I practically had to drag Clark away after 8:00! He sure can talk! When he ran out of loopers to talk to, I found him talking to the band! Still, I did my share of talking and was also hesitant to leave before the bitter end.

Besides spending time with like-minded boater people, we got to hear a presentation on selling boats done by Curtis Stokes,

Curtis Stokes presenting

heard music performed by "Four Sheets to the Wind".

Silhouetted Band at Banana Bay marina

and saw a great sunset - the perfect spot for a "Sunset Celebration"!

Sunset seen from Banana Bay marina in Marathon, FL

What a great day!

Islamorada Nautical Flea Market

2/25/2017

Although I slept well last night, Clark said that he could still hear the fast-boat boaters partying until sometime after 3:00 a.m. I guess he did not sleep through their partying like I did! Unfortunately for him, plans for today required that we rise early this morning. The alarm went off shortly after 7:00 a.m. - an unheard of hour for us to be rising for the day. 

A contingent of boaters, ourselves included, set off for the Islamorada annual Nautical Flea Market shortly after 8:00 a.m. Several cars loaded up with us trawler types in hopes of finding hidden treasures at the flea market. We planned to have a very full car ourselves with Kenny from Daybreak and Jim, Jo Ann, and Sammy the dog from Namaste traveling with us. When we loaded up cars, however, Kenny heard that A.C. and Jim had plenty of room in their car and decided to join them to give all of us a bit more elbow room for the hour and a half drive to the flea market.

Having Jim and Jo with us helped to pass the time spent in the car, so before long we arrived in Islamorada. We knew we would hit traffic at the flea market site and sure enough about three to four miles out, the cars came to an almost full stop on Route 1 and then inched along the highway up to and through the event area. Attendees parked their cars wherever they could find a spot starting a half mile from the park holding the event. 

Clark decided to head for the advertised school parking where buses would shuttle folks to and from the event. That spot, however, turned out to be another two miles east of the event. I balked at that and convinced him to backtrack down "old route 1" where we found a parking spot at the same place we parked last year. Parking cost $10 for the privilege of being so close, but we had a very short walk to the entrance of the event. 

Signs at a booth at the 22nd annual
Islamorada Nautical Flea Market
(note the comment about Jersey Girls)

We stayed together for a few booths, but when Clark decided to try on a pair of boating shoes, Jim and Jo Ann went on ahead to wander the vendor stalls. Separated for quite a while, we finally caught up to them at a booth where Jo Ann purchased some sunglasses.

Lovely, yes!?

We lost them again as Clark stopped to try on a "Kangaroo" hat to replace his now famous green hat that he used while boating on the Great Loop. He looks good in his new hat, but I warned him that people will no longer recognize him. Since he bought the green, Gortex hat in 1998 for a Boy Scout trip to Philmont, it has served him well and truly deserves retirement.

We reconnected with Jim and Jo Ann in the seating area for eating lunch. By then, we had seen most of the booths. While there, we saw cute pups in a stroller. They looked very hot.

Before leaving, however, Clark wanted to revisit one booth with electrical parts and supplies. After that, we stopped at one more booth to buy him a belt. Over all, he bought shoes, shorts, a hat and a belt. I told him all he needed was to buy a shirt and he'd have a whole new wardrobe! Finally, after having arrived at the flea market just before 10:00, we left just after 2:00 for the ride back to Marathon. 

Clark needed to mail a letter, so before dropping Jo and Jim off, we stopped at the shopping plaza housing the post office. As an incentive for our passengers to go with us, Clark pointed out that the Island Time ice cream shop is located in the same plaza just a few doors down from the post office. Since we are all loopers, it did not take much convincing to get us to agree to a cool treat on such a hot day.

As we left the Marathon City Marina, where we dropped off Jim and Jo, we passed the park with a tower. Last year when we visited the park, we were told the tower was being painted and not open yet. I said to Clark, "I wonder if they ever opened that tower up to visitors". Immediately, Clark pulled into a parking space to go check it out. Since the tower now has a locked iron gate, and the bottom space is being used for storage, it looks like it will not reopen. I guess the repair to the spiral staircase inside the tower provides more cost than value. Clark will probably never get to climb that tower.

Walking back to the car, we passed a man and a woman who stood out due to the bright green St. Patrick's Day hats they wore. The man noted Clark's "Rails-to-Trails" t-shirt and made a comment on "how cool" he thought the shirt. Clark explained the concept behind Rails-to-trails to which the man responded, "Cool man!" yet again. Afterwards, he told us that he was a professional hobo and had traveled on freight trains across America for 15 years before finally settling in Marathon. He even showed Clark the tattoo markings on his face corresponding to north-south-east-west freight train travel. As we drove away, Clark said, "There's a story for your blog! Professional Hobo!"

After a lovely day out, we came back to fast-boat chaos and a wedding here at the marina. Whether due to the day in the heat or  the sugar from the ice cream, I felt weary. I wanted nothing more than to stretch out on the sofa and read my novel to avoid all the marina activity. I did not last long before being lulled into taking a cozy nap. At 6:00 I woke up, wondered where the time had gone, and started making dinner. 

When it came time to serve up dinner, Clark was no where to be found. When she walked by our boat, I told Kevin from Lone Star I was looking for him. She knew he was on the docks talking to the folks on Miss Bailey. Thankfully, when she walked back to her boat, she told Clark I was looking for him, and he came home! I was just putting food on the table when he came back.

The wedding ceremony took place to loud whoops and hollers around 4:00. Now, as I sit here typing my blog seven hours later, the wedding reception is still in full swing with loud music - a mix of some nice, some tolerable, and some just plain awful noise! Earlier, while we ate a late dinner on board, Clark said he thought he heard two sets of music - boaters versus wedding party - contending with each other. Just lovely! I wonder what time it will all stop tonight! Rap music is not exactly a nighty-night lullaby. 

Fast Boats Poker Run

2/24/2017

The "High Performance Boats" boaters readied their vessels for their "Poker Run" today. Two clubs are gathered here at Faro Blanco. Clark said they set off in two different directions to collect their poker hands. One group went towards Key West and the other headed east. According to Wikipedia, participants in a Poker Run event "...must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run. The event has a time limit, however the participants are not timed—winning is purely a matter of chance."

Here are just a few examples of the "fast boats" going out on today's run.

Heading out of marina

Get Ready

Get Set

Go

One of the boaters has been using a drone to capture footage of the Fast-Boat event. I saw the owner with his drone standing on the bow of his blue fast boat, so I grabbed my camera. I waited with camera in hand, still once he decided to launch the drone, it took off and flew faster than me or my camera could respond, so I missed the shot. Then, suddenly, the drone stopped and hovered near to where I was standing. I got the distinct feeling that he was watching me take a picture of the drone. When he decided I had my shot, the drone took off. Whoosh! 

Drone posing for a picture!

Once the fast boats take off, the spray of water coming off their stern is the most visible part of them. From talking to folks here at the marina, we learned that top speeds on these boats range from 90 mph to over 200 mph. Most, however, travel around 70 mph. Clark asked one captain how he avoided crab traps at that speed, and he said, "I don't!" The props spin at an incredible speed, and the blades are extra sharp, so as they go over crab traps, they cut the lines. I am sure the crab trap owners just love to find their crab traps gone!

And they are off!

Meanwhile, back at the marina, those of us on trawlers left behind in a mostly empty marina soaked up the joy of blissful quiet. 

I decided to work on a sewing project while Clark did his boat repairs and chores. Because the sun bakes the wooden table on the flybridge, I decided it should have a cover. Unfortunately, the left over canvas piece I had from another project was just too small to do the job. I did have some other material on hand and decided using that was better than leaving the table constantly exposed to the elements. Because the table is on the flybridge, and I was designing the cover as I went, I decided to sit up there with my little Janome sewing machine. The arrangement worked quite well.

As Clark and I kept busy on Sunset Delight, A.C. and Jim worked hard on their own projects on Hour Plan next door to us. At 1:00 A.C. called over to me to ask if Clark and I wanted to go with them up to the marina grill to grab lunch. That sounded delightful, so we stopped work about 30 minutes later and headed up there to socialize with them. A.C. and I found so much to talk about that we stood on the dock between our two boats for ages to continue our discussion that started over lunch.

Afterwards, we went boarded our respective boats and resumed our tasks. I completed my table cover and am quite pleased with the result. I only wish I could have done the job properly with canvas. Next time! Besides not having enough canvas, I am not sure my poor, baby Janome could manage the job!

Sadly, late afternoon, all the fast boats came pouring back into the marina and the quiet disappeared. We could hear loud music and booming announcements coming from the two dinner venues (Hyatte hotel pool and Faro Blanco Marina pool areas) attended by the fast boat boaters. While they all enjoyed their banquets, I took a stroll around the docks add steps to my Fitbit and to look at their boats. Several of them had their engine compartments open for display with lighting to show them off. Boats glowed red, blue, and green depending on the owner's color preference for the lights. Surprisingly, although I saw six empty slips on my walk, I noticed that quite a few slips had two boats rafted together in them. 

Fast Boats Invade Faro Blanco

2/21/2017

It rained and blew pretty hard for a good part of the day. Two guys from other boats came over and helped Clark add extra lines to Sunset Delight to keep the boat from rubbing up against the dock. Apparently the nylon lines all stretched when they got wet, so we had a lot more "slop" in them after the rains started than before.

Given the weather and this infamous time of year, we spent the day and well into the night working on taxes.

Evening sky in Marathon, FL

2/22/2017

The nasty weather from yesterday cleared, so I started the day by doing laundry. I hoped, since a large number of trawlers were "kicked out" of the marina to make room for the "fast boats" coming in today, that I would find the washers empty, but alas no such luck. Someone  else had the same thinking I did, so I had to wait in queue for the washers to free up. Thankfully, I only had a fifteen minute wait.

After I completed my two loads of wash, Clark and I took the car and went shopping. I needed fruits and veggies from the food market. Clark needed an odd-sized washer to try and address the latest winch / windlass problem. Between Home Depot and the Specialty Hardware store, we must have spent over an hour looking for something that he could either use or modify to fit. At this point, I know Home Depot's store layout in Marathon far too well.  Ultimately, Clark came away with a few assorted washers.

On our way to the Specialty Hardware store, we saw a truck that just begged to be photographed!

Sign on top of this Marathon, Florida truck says "Free Snow Removal".
Some of my friends in NJ should give him a call next time it snows.

We got back to the marina at 2:00 and still had not eaten lunch. Since we had a relatively late breakfast, I did not feel like eating lunch at 11:00 before we left. In retrospect, lunch before we left would have been a great idea.

Shortly after returning from our shopping spree and climbing on-board Sunset Delight, the whole marina felt like it was shaking, or perhaps that was just my chest cavity. A fleet of "fast boats" all came pouring into the marina at the same time. What a ruckus!  Those "cigarette" boats, as they are called, are so very loud. Not as many boats arrived today as the marina anticipated, but more are expected tomorrow. Oh joy!

A number of boats arrived together
causing the dock hands to need to be everywhere at once to help them dock.

These are a few of the boats that came in on our side of the marina.

Docking the noisy beast!

"Where are we supposed to dock?"

I noticed that the folks on trawlers, including ourselves, either stood or took front-row seats to gawk at the flurry of activity as the boats poured in. A helicopter and a drone added to the noise and excitement. Also, an 18-wheeler, fuel truck came in early afternoon and parked in the parking lot ready to service the needs of these gas guzzling boats.

As the boats swarmed in, a helicopter and
a drone flying overhead surveyed the activities.

Going in the slip just a few down from us.

Docking these looks dangerous to me.
I notice they always have bare feet when they come in to dock.

These boats just need a "little" extra horsepower to move as fast as they do.
I wonder how much fuel they burn in an hour?

Note the guy busy cleaning the boat.
This ritual was shared by all of the boats that came in.
Hose it down / wipe it down / wrap it up for the night!

The Marriott next door ran shuttles to carry the fast-boat boaters over to the hotel for the night. I got the impression that the folks on the boats sent their luggage to the marina via trucks as I saw folks picking their bags out of piles of them. I cannot imagine they had their hard-sided bags on wheels on the boats with them.

Expecting a large crowd, the marina packed the fast boats into the slips like sardines.

If they fit, they got packed in two per slip!

Several tents were set up in the parking lot. I have yet to determine their purposes, but they are definitely event related. The spot where we have been parking our car is now blocked by cones, so we had to park around the corner. However, by late afternoon, the entry to the parking lot was completely blocked off with saw horses and a sign saying "Authorized Vehicles Only". To get out of the parking lot, we will need to move a portion of the barricade. 

* Some of the pictures included above were posted by Mel on Morning Star II to Facebook (Thanks Mel!).

After the excitement of the fast boat arrivals died down, Clark started work on his windlass project. He spent the rest of the day drilling and filing, nylon and metal washers to bring them to the right size to be usable for his windlass. With all the time and energy he has put into a solution, I sure hope this fixes the issue that reared its ugly head when we went out a few days ago. 

Dinner at Key's Fishery

2/20/2017

Today was a very important day as both my elder son's and my younger son's daughters were born on this day. Jeff's daughter, Sierra, turned 3 today, and Chris's daughter, Lily, celebrated her first birthday. I called both granddaughters to wish them happy birthday. Lily replied with goo and gaa (she was busy eating and could not talk too long). However, Sierra and I had a lovely conversation about skiing, her toys, and the TV show Paw Patrol. She has never said more than "Hi" to me in the past, so both Jeff and I were surprised by her willingness to talk so much.

Lily Celebrating her 1st Birthday in Connecticut

Sierra in her "Finding Dorry" shirt
with her "Snowman" Cake in Colorado

Since Clark and I have a car here in Marathon, I offered a ride to the food store to Jeanne from Daybreak and JoAnn from Namaste. We left late morning and made an additional stop at Walgreen's. Even though it was just a trip to get some supplies, it made a nice "just-the-girls" outing.

In the afternoon Clark continued to try to chip away at his "punch list". He found me mid-afternoon sitting by the pool and told me that "all the balls are currently in the air". Several of his items require getting parts or talking to service reps. He walked with me over to talk to Jim and JoAnn from Namaste. JoAnn and I stayed talking long after Jim and Clark left the pool area.

Apparently, on his way back to the boat, Clark found some birds just begging to be photographed.

Steve and Kevin from Lone Star offered to take Clark and me out for dinner to say thank you for a day's worth of electrical work Clark helped them with on their boat. We set out at 6:00 for the Sunset Grill restaurant. When we got there, we found the parking lot overflowing and the wait for a table of an hour and a half. We opted out and left that venue in search of an alternative. Kevin suggested Key's Fishery, where Clark and I have never eaten, so we decided to go there.

Obviously from the name, the menu consists mostly of seafood; however, I did see burgers on the menu for those landlubbers who do not want a fish dinner. I chose the Lobster Mac & Cheese and Clark got the grouper with mango salsa special. Although Clark found his grouper to be spicier than he would have preferred, we both enjoyed our meals very much.

Sunset as seen from Key's Fishery

Evelyn with  Kevin and Steve from Lone Star

Afterwards Clark took us all to the ice cream shop for dessert. Since they had one serving left of the "garbage can" flavor, which I enjoyed last time I visited the store, I grabbed that as my choice.

Once back on Sunset Delight, I decided that the blog could wait and instead watched an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles just to kick back and relax.

2/21/2017

Today, Clark and I started discussing our travel plans for the trip back to New Jersey. With the logistics of moving the boat and the car, it becomes complicated. I tell anyone who asks about having the car that it is "a blessing and a curse". It has been very handy to have a car for all the repair-related activities we have been doing; it is a pain to have to move the car regularly to future marinas. We have more trip-planning discussion that needs to take place, but at least we made a start on it.

The birthday girl, Mia, and her family left Faro Blanco today for a trip to Key West. Clark went over to say goodbye. When he came back to our boat, he found me talking to Anna May. Later, he managed to capture a picture of their boat as they pulled out from their dock.

La Cigale leaves Faro Blanco ...
Bon Voyage to the Wilson Family

A couple of the items on Clark's punch list could be tackled today. First, he spent an inordinately long time on the phone with a representative from Mastervolt batteries. The boat has a battery monitoring system that was configured incorrectly with the wrong total amp hours. When at anchor, we need to know how much "juice" we have left in the batteries. Resetting the total amp hours to get accurate readings required logging in as "installer" and resetting parameters. It took the bulk of the morning to complete the exercise. Check one off the list!

While Clark worked on the Mastervolt setup, the two Raycor gauges with drag pointers that he ordered a while ago got delivered to the boat. That gave him another project to be worked on - remove the existing Raycor's and replace them with the new and improved versions. Before he got to that job, however, Kevin from Lone Star walked by and said her new electrical parts had just arrived. Clark walked over and helped Steve replace the bad parts. Two nights ago, Kevin said her electric went on and off all night long. Not good! I saw Kevin a couple of hours later who said, "Woohoo! It's done!" Clearly, she was pleased!

While Clark did his miscellaneous afternoon jobs, I walked over and talked to Jeanne on Daybreak. There, I was reminded that a Looper group meeting was being held at 3:00 for anyone interested in discussing the Bahamas. I misunderstood the agenda and thought that someone would be presenting information on visiting the Bahamas. I thought this topic might be interesting even though I went last year.

Instead, the meeting turned out to be Loopers who plan to visit the Bahamas meeting to pick each other's brains about what to expect when they get there. The few of us that had been there in the past offered insight and information where we could. I recommended folks read my blog to get details on our trip last April.

As a result of attending the session, I did get a bonus. I found Tom and Jane there from Elizabear, whom we traveled with last year as we wove our way down the western rivers towards Mobile, Alabama. It was great to see them again as the last I saw them was just about a year ago here in Marathon, Florida.

My captain was doing his side job tonight and got some interesting sunset pictures. The weather has been on the cool side, overcast and windy all day.We are expecting rain for the next two days. Consequently, the sky at sunset appeared quite interesting. I believe the saying is "Red sky at night; sailor's delight". The predicted storms do not appear to jive with that old saying!

Dark clouds, breezy, and quite cool this evening

Thunder cloud forming

Anvil-shaped, thunder cloud close up

Orange-striped sky

Red sky at night!
Looking out over the Gulf of Mexico