Saturday, December 22, 2018

2018: Marathon FL to Rumson NJ

12/21/2018
No boat travel
Depart:  Faro Blanco marina Marathon FL 10: 20 a.m.
Arrive: Rumson NJ home 1:30 a.m.

From the time we left the marina until we reached home, we had spent over 13 hours using a variety of travel means to get there.  Here is how our day went ...

Around 9:30 I got a phone call on my cell phone from a number I did not recognize that originated from Miami Florida.  Thinking it was a robo call, I almost didn't answer the phone.  Luckily I did as it was our shuttle bus driver calling to say he would be 40 minutes early. He muttered something about some reef and how he had to allow extra time for the trip to the airports.  He said he'd arrive at 10:20 having just left Key West. Amazingly, we were climbing into the shuttle bus at 10:21!

We met interesting people on the  bus trip to the airport.  The first, of course, was the driver who told us he started driving the shuttle after he lost "everything" due to Hurricane Irma and had to earn extra money to rebuild his home.  After rebuilding his home, he decided he liked the shuttle job so much he would continue part time. 

We pulled into the Marathon City Marina to collect our next passenger who the driver referred to as "an old salt". Talking to "Mr. Salt" as we rode along,  we discovered that he too had lost his home and all his property due to Irma, with his home being a sailboat moored in Boot Key.  Almost 200 boats were wrecked in that storm. His was one of around 30 to 40 that were never found -- sunk or ashore!

To make matters worse for him, he was in a car wreck (not his fault) a week later that resulted in a broken wrist. Now he had no home, no car,  and a serious injury to deal with.  He had no insurance on his boat. The only shining star in his story was that the insurance settlement from the at- fault driver paid for a replacement car and a replacement boat better than his original. 

The next person to join our expedition to the airport made finding him somewhat difficult. He lives in a motor home in a trailer park. All we had was the lot number. Instead of standing out in the open where we could see him we finally found him standing by his front door completely out of sight -- clever man! 

This guy was a talker, and he knew it. A long-time Marathon resident he regaled us with stories for most of the trip. I got a crick in my neck turning around in my seat to converse with him. Throughout all of these interesting stories, and the whole trip for that matter, Clark was uncharacteristically quiet as he in said not a word. Instead, I did all the conversing! 

The trailer park passenger was heading home to Pennsylvania for his 91- year- old father-in-law's funeral, to collect his wife, and ride his Harley back to Marathon.  He explained all the features of his bike to me. It sounded like the Cadillac of all motorcycles.  On top of all the bike features, he and his wife have electric body suits that are each controlled with a thermostat to stay warm.  They also have headphones, so they can talk as they ride. I learned a lot about motorcycles and gear from that discussion. 

Our next pick up, this time in Islamorada, proved even harder to find, and worse yet, she wasn't answering her phone. The driver left several messages. He said, "The next one will be, See ya later! " Fortunate for her, she finally answered the phone. She said, in a highly-defensive tone of voice, as an explanation of her ignoring the phone, "My phone was in my purse upstairs! "  She then whined at the driver that he was early, so it wasn't her fault. 

She sat next to me, so that was pretty much the end of me talking to the biker behind me.  After she got settled in, we spoke a bit and it came out in conversation that she was heading home to Middletown, NJ, specifically, a senior community not 10 miles from our home in Rumson.  Small world! She, however, was flying home out of Miami. We selected Fort Lauderdale airport, so we would definitely not be on the same flight. 

When the driver called me to say he would arrive at 10:20 for our pickup, he said something about Ocean Reef, which meant absolutely nothing to me. He mentioned Ocean Reef to each passenger he picked up, so I figured it was a big deal. As we turned off route 1, and I saw unfamiliar scenery on either side of me, I pulled out Google Maps to see where we were going. 

Ocean Reef, as it turned out, is an exclusive, gated community in North Key Largo requiring about a 10 mile detour from the normal route to the airports.  Fortunately, this passenger stood waiting at the gate since the shuttle is not allowed on the property.  After collecting our last passenger, our driver made for the airports. He said he hoped his driving didn't scare anyone. Although he drove at the posted speed limits, the high-velocity winds shook our high-profile shuttle bus making it feel faster and, actually,  a bit unnerving. 

The driver knew his stuff. He promised we would be at Miami airport at 1:15, and we were darn close to it.  We made Fort Lauderdale airport less than 30 minutes later.  With our flight scheduled to depart at 4:45, we would have plenty of time before our flight.  I had checked as we approached the drop off spot, and the flight was shown as on time! No sooner did we get to our gate than that turned out to no longer be true. 

As we sat in the airport, the departure time for our flight kept shifting further and further into the future. First 5:00, then 5:30, then 6:00 and 6:30, and 7:30. Newark was limiting the number of planes in their airspace due to nasty weather -- fog and rain with windy conditions. They finally boarded our plane at 7:20 only to make us sit on the tarmac for another hour before we got cleared to take off. We were originally scheduled to land at 7:47. At that time,  we hadn't even left Florida yet. 

When our flight arrived at Newark airport just after 11:00, they let us land. However, here again, we sat on the plane on the tarmac because another plane still occupied our gate. Finally the other plane pulled away, and we were cleared to come in. Passengers with connecting flights were allowed to exit before anyone else could disembark. 

We planned to take the train home. The trains stopped running for the night around 1:00 a.m. The next train out was scheduled at 11:42. When the plane landed, we thought we had plenty of time to make the train. By the time we got off the plane, we were wondering if we would make it in time. Asking directions as we went,  we grabbed the air rail connection  to the train and hoped for the best!  Arriving at the station, we purchased our tickets and found our way to the correct platform with 10 minutes to spare. 

The movie "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" came to mind for today's travel as we considered using Uber or Lyft for the final leg of our epic journey. The train pulled into the train station nearest our home at 12:45 a.m. With temperatures in the 50s, we abandoned the call to Uber and decided to walk home. 

We've walked it before. Last time we did it, it was snowing. Neither of us remembered how far it was to walk home, but we thought it was less than two miles. I checked Google Maps after we got home and discovered it was actually 2.1 miles door- to- door. 

As we rounded the corner onto the street we live on, we saw lightening and heard thunder. When we got in the house, Clark looked at the radar for weather and said,  "I'm glad I didn't look at the radar before we started walking! " The walk took us 45 minutes. Ten minutes after we got in the house, it started to rain. That was close! 

With the thermostat in the house set at 50 degrees, we found it colder inside than it was outside. Clark went around adjusting heat and turning on the water. We cranked up the electric blanket to high hoping to take the chill out of the sheets. When I finally climbed into bed at 2:00 a.m., it still felt like I was snuggling up in a deep freeze.  It was 3:00 before I finally managed to fall asleep. 

 Here's the view I woke up to the next morning -- Canada geese swimming down our creek!  We don't usually have this view. Normally there is a big boat in the way. 


Thursday, December 20, 2018

2018: Faro Blanco daily chores

12/14/2018
No Boat Travel.

Sandy lives on the boat, "L'attitude Adjustment", to our starboard side, and Ann lives on the boat, "Morning Star II", on our port side in the marina. As I exited our boat this morning, Sandy told me that Ann needed to do some shopping (Sandy has a car) and asked if I would like to come along. It only took me a split second to say yes even though I had recently filled up on groceries when Yasmine took me shopping. A trip away from the boat, even to the supermarket, sounded wonderful.

Ann had a list of places to go, and Sandy had a few of her own stops to make. We left at 1:00 and were gone so long Mel, Ann's husband, was just about ready to start calling to see if we were alright. We started our outing with a stop at "Marooned in Marathon" - a gift shop at the far end of town. I saw lots of things I liked but having just blown my December budget on Christmas gifts, I decided to look and not buy today.

After "Marooned", we stopped at the "Dollar Store" where I spent a whole $1.08 on a mug! Sandy knows someone who works at a Thrift Shop in town, so we stopped there next. The only problem was that the store closed at 2:00, and we arrived at 1:58. They let us browse while they rang up the last customer because the worker knew Sandy. Afterwards they invited us to come back on another day and locked the door behind us as we left.

From there we stopped at Publix where I bought another swim noodle to chop up for windshield wiper covers. Clark and I bought one when we did our bike-trip shopping yesterday. Unfortunately, we found out when we cut it up that it only supplied enough material to cover two of the three wiper blades. After Publix, Ann went to the post office to mail off the gifts she bought at "Marooned in Marathon".

After an afternoon spent on a thoroughly enjoyable shopping spree, we got back with plenty of time to prepare for the evening's activity - dinner at Barnacle Barney's. Mel found out that Barnacle Barney's, just next door to our marina, offers and 'all you can eat' fish fry on Friday nights. He told Clark about it at docktails last night, and Clark told me.

While I spent the afternoon out with Sandy and Ann, Clark spent the afternoon washing the boat. As 5:00 approached, I mentioned that we would need to get ready to go to the fish fry. Uh oh! He says, "I thought we weren't going." I replied, "And I thought we were, and I am ready to head out soon." Sighing, he put away his boat cleaning materials and got cleaned up to go out for dinner.

When all was said and done, we had a group of 16 of us at Barnacle Barney's for dinner. Looking around the restaurant, Ann said, "If it weren't for our group, this place would be empty!" A few others occupied tables at the restaurant but not very many. As Mel promised, the restaurant offered an 'all you can eat' fried fish dinner and live music.

Clark wanted to capture pictures of the gathering. Sadly, when we pulled out our pocket camera, all it would do was show a flashing screen. Something has short circuited or failed internally. We need to buy a new one. Meanwhile, Clark grabbed his cell phone and started snapping shots of the group.


Bobby (visiting Dorothy and Clayton on "Flight"),
Ann and Mel ("Morning Star II"),
Ev ("Sunset Delight")

Amber and Cory (Dorothy and Clayton's grandson and his girlfriend)
Dorothy and Clayton ("Flight")
 Dorothy also took pictures at the dinner.


Ev and Clark ("Sunset Delight")


Ann and Mel ("Morning Star II")

At sunset every night, when we are enjoying docktails at Faro Blanco, we hear a canon boom. Tonight we got to see and hear the canon fired since Barnacle Barney's is the source of the booms we hear on a nightly basis. When it came time to fire the canon, the waitress told everyone to cover their ears and then did a count down to the loud boom.

I guess this picture of the canon will suffice as tonight's sunset picture of the day.






12/15/2018
No Boat Travel

Yesterday, I asked Sandy if she planned to visit the roadside, farmer's market today, and she said she would let me know. When I saw her first thing this morning, she said I had two options - she could take me to the produce stand before she went with her husband to The Home Depot, or she could take me there after. Since I had not yet had breakfast, I opted for the "after" choice.

We left around 10:00 or so to go to the produce stand. Since we drove right by the City Marina, I asked her if she would mind stopping there so I could pick up the free shopping bag they offer to visiting boaters. I have gotten one each year we have come to Marathon. Every year they are a different color. This year the color is pine green.

Perhaps we should not have taken the time to stop at the City Marina. We got to the produce stand just as dark clouds rolled in. Just as we got to the food but before we could make any selections, the skies opened up and the rain poured down. The stands were covered by tents to offer protection from the rain. Unfortunately, the canvas covers kept filling up with water and then dumping their contents between the adjoining covers. I made the mistake of getting caught in the wrong spot a couple of times and got drenched.

Sandy made her purchase and decided to bolt for the car. Folks there said they thought the storm would pass quickly, but since Sandy bolted, I bolted too. By the time we got back to our marina, the rain had subsided substantially. Given the rainy weather, I found things to do on the boat for the rest of the day like some much-needed boat cleaning.


12/16/2018
Boat Maintenance Run
Depart: Faro Blanco, Marathon, FL 11:25
Return: Faro Blanco 12:15

I forgot that Clark said he wanted to do a maintenance run of the boat today. First thing in the morning I grabbed up the laundry and headed up to the wash room to get the wash going. No sooner did I return than Clark reminded me he was taking the boat out. "Not until my wash is done!", I replied. "When is that?" he asked. I promised him I would be done by 11:00. I kept my word and returned to the boat with my folded clothes at 11:03!

Shortly afterwards, we dropped our lines and headed out or a short boat ride to wash the "growth" off the bottom of the boat. Clark likes to go out once a week to take advantage of the anti-fouling paint in conjunction with salt-water "bath" to wash off the bottom. Clark set our lines up before we left to make it easier for us to tie up upon our return and get the boat back in approximately the same position we had it in when we left.

With our broken pocket camera, Clark is taking fewer pictures than usual. I managed to capture a picture on my cell phone of an iguana visiting our slip today. He was on the dock and shot over the side when I appeared.


Iguana peaking over edge of dock

Iguana using the hose to hide from me

Mel and Ann passed the word today that they planned to use their new ice cream maker to make chocolate ice cream at docktails tonight. They said it would be held at the lighthouse because they expected a crowd to come. When we got to docktails, I could not believe the food. It was a veritable banquet! We had deep fried swordfish bites (made by Ann), roasted brussel sprouts (made by Sandy), chicken wings, cheese and crackers, a variety of other treats, and of course the promised chocolate ice cream complete with homemade whipped cream and raspberry sauce.

I had no need to eat dinner after docktails tonight! Unfortunately, I could not say the same for Clark. Fortunately, I had left overs in the fridge that I heated up for his dinner.

Clark noticed that his favorite local guitarist was playing tonight at the marina. As soon as he could scoff down his food, he was off to go listen to John. I sat with him for the first set but listened from the boat for the second and third sets.


12/17/2018
No Boat Travel.

I woke up with two projects in mind which meant that today turned into a sewing day for me. Starting with the simpler of the two ideas, I worked on making an adjustment to my favorite hat to allow me to pin up the sides. It gives it a more "jaunty" look and I am pleased with the result.

The next idea I woke up with was to make a canvas cover for our folding chairs and table that we use in the cockpit. We stored them in the salon as we traveled, but it makes it very cluttered. I wanted them out but did not want them exposed to the elements. I had Clark bring my very heavy Singer sewing machine out to the salon so I could sew my canvas cover. I am happy with the result. It felt good to feel accomplished!

The weather turned chilly today. Late in the afternoon, having been on the boat for most of the day, Clark suggested we go for a walk to the far side of the docks. As we walked by one boat, Jeff and his daughter Jasmine nabbed us and we stood talking for quite a while. I finally told Clark I was freezing and we needed to start walking again to warm up.

We made it about 3 boats down and found Faith and Jim on "Third Degree" who came out to talk. At least we found a bit of sun to stand in while we chatted there until the clouds rolled in to cover the little sun we had. Still, we talked until we were too cold and then we left to walk some more. I told Clark I would need a coat to walk any further, so we stopped by the boat to grab coats before continuing our stroll.

Clark managed to find a bit of lingering sun to get tonight's sunset picture.




12/18/2018
No Boat Travel

Gordon, who is on a sailboat here in Faro Blanco marina, knocked on our boat at 10:00.  He stopped by to ask Clark about the batteries on his boat. They talked for a few minutes and then Clark said he was heading over to Gordon's boat to take a look at it. I thought that Clark and I had a date to go to Kmart and Publix, but as soon as he said he was going to Gordon's boat, I knew I would not see him for hours.

On my way back to my boat from a trip to the "head", I came across Clayton. During the course of our conversation, I mentioned my desire to go to Kmart and no Clark to go with me. He offered up his wife's services to drive me. Shortly afterwards, Dorothy showed up at our boat ready to take me shopping. I locked up the boat and left.

When I talked to Clayton, he mentioned that he was looking for Clark to discuss his bow thruster problem. Following a quick lunch when done with Gordon's boat, Clark took off to visit Clayton on his boat and look at his intermittent bow thruster problem. Once again, he was gone for what felt like forever.

I finally got bored sitting on the boat by myself and went to see what was happening on Clayton's boat. I found Dorothy there reading, but when I said hello, she quickly put her book away and invited me on board. We sat up top on her boat and drank White Russians that she made for each of us. With the pleasant company and a drink in my hand, it no longer mattered to me that Clark was busy elsewhere.

By the time we left "Flight", Clark had managed to fix the bow thruster problem for Clayton. To get a bit of exercise, we walked around the docks with Erik and Jen while Clark grabbed some pictures.







12/19/2018
Boat Maintenance Run
Depart: Faro Blanco, Marathon, FL 10:35
Return: Faro Blanco 11:35


When we get a wind blowing in from the north, we get an influx of sea grass that crowds around the boat. Today we got an ugly present that blew in with it. I thought it was a big fish head. Others who walked by our boat stopped to look at the head and declared it to be a turtle head. Either way I wished it would blow back out to sea as I did not like it staring at me.


Turtle head or fish head?
Either way ... extremely unpleasant to look at!

Clark got a very big box delivered yesterday. Today he had me open it to see an early Christmas present - a new boat fender! So now I have a complete set of 4 for the boat. He did ask me what I wanted as a gift, and I said a fender, so I got what I asked for!

Once again I wanted to do laundry on a day when Clark planned a boat maintenance run. This time, however, I remembered he wanted to go out and made sure to wait until after our boat run to get started on it. I also planned to sew a cover for my new boat fender, but that goal got waylaid by Clark's plan to do an oil change on the boat.

With the engines warm from our outing, Clark got busy with the messiest oil change ever as soon as we got docked. Usually, with the oil transfer system, the oil changes are relatively easy. Today, however, when Clark removed an oil filter, a missing tube caused oil to flow down side of the engine and across the engine room floor.

Before we began the job (he needs my help), I told Clark I needed to change my clothes. He said I should not need to change my clothes, but I ignored him and it is a very good thing I did. It is a very, very good thing that he changed his clothes as well as his shoes because oil got everywhere and stained both his clothes and his shoes.

In the midst of all the oil change work, we took a lunch break. Just at that time, Faith and Jim stopped by with a Christmas goody bag containing homemade treats. Of course they caught me at my worst since I had on work clothes for the oil change.


Faith and Jim delivering homemade Christmas treats
Instead of a half day of oil change, it turned into an all day affair as a result of all the cleanup required. Clark said that the oil seeped all along the boat and under the engine with some of the places being impossible to get to. What an ordeal! I did manage to slip away during the proceedings to get my load of towels washed and dried.

After his clean up duty, Clark strolled the docks a bit and got a sunset picture. I did not go to docktails tonight because when Faith stopped by earlier, we made plans to go to the movies tonight for a girl's night out. I needed to be ready at 6:30, so I decided I better stay on the boat to make dinner instead of wandering off.






I went with Faith to see the movie "Beautiful Boy". It was very heavy drama. Jim acted as Chauffeur and drove us to the theater and picked us up after the show. Faith's friend. Barb, whom I met last year, made us a threesome. When I returned to the boat after the movie, I found Clark happily strumming his guitar. I decided I needed to do an update to the blog and listened to him play while I typed.


Thursday, December 13, 2018

2018: Marathon FL dinghy

12/10/2018 to 12/13/2018
@ Faro Blanco Marina

Since we arrived at our "winter home" of Faro Blanco on Sunday, we have been settling in and catching up with our boating friends (new and old) that are here with us at the marina. Of course we both arrived here with "to do" lists with Clark's being quite a bit longer than mine. After finding the dinghy unusable at Bahia Honda State Park, we both agreed that getting the dinghy fully operational was a high priority. After all, how can we go on pub crawl if we don't have a working dinghy?!

Fixing up the dinghy turned into a community project. I started things going by putting a lot of elbow grease to work with a spray bottle of "Totally Awesome" cleaner. That stuff is "totally awesome" as stains that I thought were potentially permanent dissolved to reveal white seats instead of grayish-black. The best part of the product is that I can buy it at the Dollar Store for a dollar!

Clark saw me busy with washing down the dinghy and came to help. Eventually he took over the job as there are parts of the dinghy I could not reach and was not willing to risk my life to work on cleaning it. Scrubbing the dinghy to remove the grime turned out to be the back-breaking, but easy, job.

Hoping for a quick fix, Clark began working on the engine issues by replacing the fuel filter. When he took it out for a test run, it stalled repeatedly. Our friend, Jim on "Third Degree", said it was probably the fuel gone bad and suggested that Clark put some in a plastic bag to see if it had water in it. We did not see any water so we suspected that we must have bad fuel. Jim loaned Clark a gas can so that he could pump all the fuel out of the boat tank into the gas can to start over with fresh gas.

When Clark took the boat out on Monday to check out the new fuel filter, he ended up using the paddles to get the boat back to dock. With no fuel in the tank, the boat had to be paddled once more to the fuel dock. He decided to enlist my help. With two of us paddling, he could keep the boat going straighter, and of course, two oars are better than one.

The dock hand saw us making our way to the fuel dock, so he waited for us and when we got close enough, he grabbed our line and pulled us down the dock to a spot where we could fill up the tank. Prior to this, Clark and I had taken a walk to West Marine to pick up some Sta-bil to put in the tank to help keep the fuel from going bad as quickly. Jim recommended that Clark put high-octane, marine fuel into the boat. It costs more but lasts longer. Hopefully it is worth the $4.50 a gallon we paid for it.

After filling our tank, we took the boat for a run in the bay. Clark figured that if he ran it fast on rough waters, it would mix the old fuel, the Sta-bil, and the new fuel. We definitely got shaken up on the ride as we bounced over some waves. While we were out there riding around in circles, Clark took some pictures of the cloudy sky.






Clark was still not satisfied with the running of the engine as it idled too rough. Talking to Mel, who is on the boat next door to ours, Clark got a recommendation to put some carburetor cleaner in the tank. Mel even gave him a bottle of the stuff to use for the job. Clark used it to clean the spark plugs and added it to the fuel filter. After letting the carb cleaner run through, he saw a definite improvement on idling. Eureka! I think we have a success story in hand!

During our short time here at the Faro Blanco marina, we have already seen some interesting wild life.


A brown jellyfish unlike any we have seen in NJ

A manatee next to our boat - eating lunch off the piling

Licked it clean - off to find the next one



When we rode our bicycles to the recycle point to dispose of the bad gas, we encountered some iguana.


 This iguana did not want to give way
on the sidewalk for our bikes.

This one spied on us as we rode by!

We incorporated the need to do some shopping into our bike ride to recycle. Clark wanted to purchase a replacement O-ring for the dinghy gas cap. Unfortunately, this item was not to be found at either West Marine or The Home Depot. In our search for the O-ring, our bike ride took us to the far end of Marathon to the NAPA store. Along the way we stopped at The Dollar Store to replenish our stock of Totally Awesome cleaner.

I found the bike ride to NAPA, 5 miles distance from the Faro Blanco marina, to be grueling as we had to bike into the wind the whole way. After the first two miles, my legs complained from the abuse they were receiving.

As a reward, on the way back to the boat from NAPA where we did find the O-ring, we stopped at Sweet Savannah's for ice cream and a rest. Afterwards, riding back to the boat on the shady side of the street with the wind helping to push us, we made good time getting back to the boat. We got back at 4:45 in plenty of time for docktails at 5:00.

On our trip to and from NAPA, we saw some Christmas decorations - "Keys" style.


At Marathon City Marina


Near Publix, Crab trap Christmas Tree


SANTA!! at a local hotel
Faro Blanco Lighthouse lit up for Christmas


Of course, Clark has been busy capturing those sunset pictures while here at Faro Blanco.


Wednesday Sunset


Thursday Sunset





Monday, December 10, 2018

2018: Bahia Honda State Park to Faro Blanco Marina

12/9/2018
Depart: Bahia Honda State Park 11:45
Arrive: Faro Blanco Marina, Marathon, FL 1:45
Distance: 14 NM

The park ranger at Bahia Honda State Park told us we could stay past the normal check out time, so we went exploring in the morning before departing for Marathon. My only regret was that I had neither my FitBit nor my cell phone with me to track the number of steps I took today. We walked for more than two hours and covered a whole lot of territory. I just don't know how far we walked.




Views from the boat docks ...

Mounds of Sea Grass - good for the environment

Artistic shot: "Tangled Wood"

Peaking through the branches



Ev on bridge
Leaving the dock area to do more exploring at the park

Around the campers campsite area ...








We crossed under the highway ...


6'8" Clearance to go under the highway
Clark wanted to be measured to be sure he could fit under!

Painted water pipe - very attractive compared to the alternative



Moray Eel



I liked the turtle the best

View from under the highway

We came out from under the highway and walked down a long road on a sunny and humid day. At one point I told Clark, "I'm melting!"


Long, hot walk to see the cabins
(Fishermen on side of road)


 When we got close enough to just see the roofs through the branches, Clark asked if I wanted to continue. I am not sure it was worth the walk the rest of the way, but we did it.


Here are the cabins.

The road we had just walked had a fence that ran the full length of it. Clark said that if we crossed the highway, we could walk on the ocean side. That sounded like a great idea, and I found us a gate to get through.  We crossed over the four lane highway and came to the main entrance for the park. Fortunately, we saw little to no traffic at the point when we wanted to cross the highway.


Bahia Honda State Park
main entrance

We walked past the guard station where admission fees are collected. The park ranger came out to greet us. I guess he wanted to collect his per-person admission fees. We told him we came by boat and kept walking.



Long road back but much cooler with the ocean breeze.

Interesting, but I have no clue what I am looking at.

Love this "Share the road sign"
Share with bikes, golf carts, pedestrians and turtles!

Natural landscaping on the Atlantic Ocean beach...







The next part of our self-guided tour brought us to the old Bahia Honda bridge trail.


Gnarly Tree At Bahia Honda State Park



Up we go ...

Lone shrub on an island
(seen on the walk up to the bridge)

We got great scenery once we reached the bridge.








View of the beach below

Clark could not believe the bridge was wide enough for two cars to pass. He paced off the bridge and came up with 20.5' wide.

Only a short section of the road is made available for viewing.
The rest is gated off.


Looking down on the Atlantic Ocean side

View towards the Gulf

After entering the main entrance and passing the guard station, we came upon a man replacing the green "safe" weather flag with a yellow "hazard" flag. Signs posted nearby said, "No kayak rentals today". As we stood on the bridge, the people around us commented on how windy it felt today compared to the day before. One man stood with his arms outstretched with the wind hitting him and said, "I feel like that guy, uh, Leonardo da Vinci, in the movie Titanic." He told his wife to climb up on the railing to recreate the scene. She declined.

I had hoped that we could walk a bit of a distance on the bridge, but since that would not be the case, we made our way back down to the Atlantic Ocean beach side. Here we got another perspective on the bridges.


Highway built on top of old railroad trestle 

65 feet in the air





The exploration of the old bridge trail was our last activity before heading back to the boat to get ready to leave for Marathon. Clark checked the radar and saw a storm headed our way, so we made haste to leave before the storm's arrival. The folks we met from the sailboat "Serena" were already preparing to leave when we arrived back at "Sunset Delight". Clark helped them throw off their last line and they were underway.


"Serena" making her way up the narrow channel exiting the
Bahia Honda State Park docking area

We enjoy meeting new people and chatting with them, but sometimes it can be extremely inconvenient to chat. As we hastily prepared to cast off, a gentleman meandered over to gawk and talk. Trying to be at least somewhat polite, we gave short answers to his myriad of questions. As I busily removed my fenders and chatted to Clark via my headset, the man decided to start talking about how nice it was we could talk to each other. "I don't have anyone to guide me", he said, "so I backed my truck into the fence over there and dented it."

He proceeded to explain how he had no boat now, but he wanted to get one just like ours and travel to the Virgin Islands. He asked where we got our boat. He also asked, "How do you get to the Virgin Islands?" I wondered if he has never owned a boat and, if he backs his pickup into fences, how he would do with a 50+' boat.

Glad to be leaving, I prepared to pull in my last line and said, "Sorry we couldn't chat, but we are trying to get out of the way of a rainstorm." He then asked where we were heading and how long we would be there. "I'll be at Faro Blanco on Tuesday", he replied to my answer. "I'll look for you then." Oh joy!

As we left the park, we passed a small sailboat.


Sailing class in progress

We decided to take the gulf-side route to get to Faro Blanco - it would be shorter and less windy. The down side of this choice is the bridge clearance of only 20'. We had to take our mast down. Unlike most bridges, this bridge had no clear indication as to where we should pass under it. Clark stationed me on the bow to spot for troubled waters in terms of depth. Only problem ... I could not see very far into the water to have any clue what might be under there. It might be shallow or deep, clear of obstructions, or full of hazards. I had no idea.

As we approached the bridge span Clark finally decided to target, he asked me repeatedly, "Will we make it?" "I have no idea", I replied. "I don't have a good perspective from down here on the bow." Finally, I gave him the affirmative answer he was looking for, and we passed under the bridge. From my less-than-ideal vantage point, it looked like we had plenty of room, but we agreed that we definitely needed to lower the mast.

A hardy tree grows on the bridge adjacent to Route 1. We have come to learn over time that at some point the tree acquired the name "Fred". I recently read a Facebook post by someone from Marathon.

The story went like this. ...

     "I was driving on Route 1 and saw some debris in the road that appeared ready to cause an accident. I called the police and told them, 'There's something dangerous on the road - right by Fred'. The police responded, 'Okay, we know exactly where you mean. We'll get someone out there right away.' Only in the Keys can you give Fred as a mile marker!"


"Fred" on bridge near Route 1

We hoped to find less traps on the Gulf side than we dealt with on the Atlantic Ocean side approaching Bahia Honda State Park - no such luck. One or the other of us had to be alert and steer manually to avoid hitting them. They were everywhere and in no particular pattern. We had no hope of putting the boat on autopilot, so we could put our mast back up. The trap markers came in all sorts of colors - white, yellow, red, and sometimes green. Some colors are harder to see than others.


Green trap marker on blue-green water ...
"The worst!" per Clark

Even in the channel, we had to weave around trap markers. Normally the channels are considered off limits. That certainly was not the case here. Finally, we left the traps behind us long enough to get the mast in the upright position. Shortly after, we found ourselves at the entrance to the Faro Blanco marina.


Entrance to Faro Blanco Marina on the Gulf side of the Keys
Marathon, FL

We got settled in and registered. Boaters we know from prior years stopped by to welcome us and tell us about docktails tonight. Instead of the place we met in past years, docktails would convene by Mel and Ann's boat which is one slip over from ours. When we got together later, we had a good turn out and a very long docktails. It started at 5:00 p.m. I got chilly and left around 7:00. Clark returned to "Sunset Delight" about 40 minutes later. The gathering continued on until almost 9:00 without us.

Somewhere in there Clark managed to get a gorgeous sunset picture!


Sunset in Marathon, FL