2026 April: On the move again

 

30 March 2026 - Monday

Regardless of the wind velocity predictions (under 20 kts sustained), Clark said we would be leaving Wednesday the 1st and that was no April Fool's joke! Given that, we had last minute preparations and activities to squeeze into our schedule before departure. 

I started the day with two loads of laundry. The first was whatever clothes we had worn since Wednesday. The second load was to clean the covers that sat on the boat in the open all winter protecting the wood trim from Florida weather. I wanted to pack them up for travel and did not want to put them away with four months of salt air / dirt embedded in them. 

I got back to the boat just before 11:00 and found Clark and our friend Celine ensconced in the salon with music in hand. 

Clark on guitar with
vocalist Celine (boat: Hatt 2BU)

I quickly got the laundry stowed and joined them to sing a few tunes. At noon, Celine hurried off to meet up with her husband Todd, and I set to making lunch as I had a 1:00 appointment to meet up with my friend Nancy who was taking me food shopping for one last run before departure. 

Our trip to Publix grew into a lot more stops as I explained to Nancy that Clark and I had intended to bike to the Dollar Tree and Beall's later in the afternoon wind and weather permitting. She said she had time, so the two of us went there first. I needed art supplies from Dollar Tree, and I wanted to check for some more tops from Beall's. I got what I needed from both places!

After that unplanned stop, we went to Walgreen's (also unplanned) and finally stopped at Publix. One thing about going to Publix by car, I could take advantage of all the buy-one-get-one deals and did so! Since I had loaded up on purchases, Clark met me at the gate to help me bring everything back to the boat. Unfortunately, one of my purchases (an important one from Dollar Tree) was hiding under Nancy's jacket in the car, and I left it behind! Lucky for me, she found it and called me to say she could bring it to me. Whew!

The day went by in a blur, and the next thing I knew it was time to get ready to go out to dinner with Tina and Dave (Our Turn). After we talked with them last night, they made a dinner reservation for the four of us at the Butterfly Cafe that Clark and I like so much. Our reservation was for 6:15. The restaurant is within walking distance of Marlin Bay, but we had the luxury of going there by car because Dave had a rental! We walked in just after 6:00, but at this restaurant, you are seated at your reservation time and not before even though most of the tables looked empty. The Butterfly Cafe is located at the Tranquility Bay resort.

Street Sign for the Resort

Entrance to the Restaurant

Dave and Tina

The resort has a lot of condos / rentals on the property with interesting names for the units.

When we left the restaurant, the sun was setting and turning the clouds orange.

It is almost time for a full moon!

Moon is almost full tonight

When we finished our dinners at the restaurant, we perused the dessert menu. I saw multiple items on the menu that looked appealing. However, Clark learned that Dave and Tina had never been to Sweet Savannah's. With that, we put away the menus, paid the check, and got in the car for the trip east for ice cream! 

The parking lot was full of cars at Sweet Savannah's, and the line to order ice cream wrapped through the store and out onto the deck outside. Of all the times coming here, this was the busiest I ever saw it. It was around 8:00 at night on a Monday! Thankfully, we were in no rush and the line moved quickly with three efficient servers dishing out the ice cream. For a change I tried "Coconut Joy" but found I still prefer my chocolate chip flavor best. 

I took some pictures of the mural at Sweet Savannah's.

We got back to Marlin Bay around 9:00, said our goodnights, and went our separate ways to our boats for the night. 

31 March 2026 - Tuesday

I expected to have some time on Monday to work on an art project due today. Last Friday, I spent the better part of the day (about 5.5 hours) working on an acrylic painting. 

Roughly based on a sunset picture I took here at the marina.

I proudly showed my creation to a few of the boaters here and got very positive feedback. The subject matter was the winner. Since a bunch of us gather at "Sunset Corner" and this is the view, the picture was very popular. My friend Roxanne said she wanted to paint the same picture. Since it took me almost six hours to produce my rendition, I wondered if it would be possible for her to replicate the picture. 

With Roxanne's prompting, I decided to float the idea of a painting class on our group chat that we have at Marlin Bay for our boating community. The interest was staggering. I really had to put my thinking cap on to figure out how to get it done because folks did not want to just paint, they wanted to paint the tower! Painting the tower and having it look like the Marlin Bay tower would not be an easy task for a beginner.

Before going to bed last night, I wrote down the steps / procedure for reproducing the tower picture. Getting the backdrop scenery and adding the palm trees was no problem. The last piece was the tower, and I drew it over and over trying to get it to look right while I pondered how to help someone paint it in less time than 3 hours. How could I help a novice get it right? 

Although Roxanne was the originator of the painting "class" request, she was concerned with actually doing the artistry. She asked, "Can you draw it for me and I'll color it in?" The way I was first taught to paint scenes with acrylic paint does not resemble paint-by-number in any way shape or form. The painting is done completely freehand, and thus, can be produced rather rapidly. I thought about and tossed out numerous ideas on how to add the tower to the painting. Just as I climbed into bed, I came up with an idea based on Roxanne's request. 

Fortunately, the painting session was scheduled for 3:30 so that the young girls on Still Waters could participate in the activity. This meant I had all morning to prepare and I needed every minute. Having gone to the Dollar Tree twice and Home Depot once for supplies, I realized as I wrote out the steps that I needed a second trip to Home Depot. 

My "class" was fully subscribed at 12 participants. I had 8 wide paint brushes. Sharing was not going to be an option! Clark wanted to go to a store that sells batteries and components that he recently learned about (just to check it out). I had to get to Home Depot for more brushes! 

Thus, first thing this morning we jumped on our bikes for a trip to Home Depot followed by a stop at the battery, etc. store. Fortunately, both stores were less than a mile away in either direction from  the marina. We were back on the boat by 9:00, and I could focus on preparation for 3:30!

Last night I sorted, resorted, and packaged up the supplies I would need to drag up to the Club House for the session. I had two bins, one bag, and a tool box full of necessities. With all that ready, I just needed that tower problem solved. I took the best one of all the tower drawings I made last night and photocopied it onto card stock paper. Then I cut out the shape to be used as a sort of stencil. 

Tower stencil - scissors and utility knife

I made 14 of these in case more people than the 12 expected showed up at the last minute. Although 13 people said they would attend, I figured on 12 but got supplies enough for 14. Ultimately, 11 people actually painted a version of the tower picture. For a last minute activity, this was pretty amazing interest. The manager at the marina said they normally get no more than 5 people show up for activities. I feel honored that so many folks were excited to work with me!

Although "class" started at 3:30, I wanted Clark's help to drag the supplies up to the Club House. Even though he wouldn't be available to play on Sunday at church, he still wanted to attend the practice session this afternoon. So, at 2:00, we loaded up a cart from the marina, and Clark dragged it up to the Club House for me. Then I set to work putting everything in place. 

The marina concierge, Amanda, helped me put up the art tables and move chairs into place. I then added table cloths and art supplies to get ready for the crowd. Twelve was a good number of attendees. We had two tables of six comfortably. 

A couple of times it was suggested that I get the resort to send out a general notification to everyone at Marlin Bay - all boaters and condo units included. Each time, I shut that idea down in a hurry. I had enough interest with a friendly audience, I did not need or want to expand the group to unknowns.

My supplies table

I hung photocopies of my original art up a few places and left copies on the tables for folks to have nearby.

Promptly at 3:30, folks arrived and took their seats. 

Clockwise: Bryan (Still Waters)
Nan (Dragon the Line)
Tessa (8) (Still Waters)
Melissa (Destiny)
Lynn (Our Magic)
Francine (Crazy Horse)

Clockwise: Hannah (Still Waters) preteen
Chris (Outdoor Time)
Tina (Our Turn)
Barbara (Moon Glade)
Roxanne (Someday Came)
Sienna (Still Waters)

Besides the painters, I had two helpers. Lisa from Still Waters came to work with her daughter Tessa as needed. Jean from Jean Marie came just to give me assistance in any way necessary. This was not planned, she just showed up and provided support unsolicited. So very nice of her!

We had talked about this being a "Paint and Sip" session. Since outside beverages are prohibited at the Club House, no one brought alcohol, but several people brought goodies and set up a table with chips, brownies, and various other treats. I was too busy to get a picture or a snack! 

The fun crowd got quite unruly at times. I wished that I had brought a whistle with me to get their attention a few times. Between Jean and myself we mostly kept folks on track. Until ... Robin showed up with her new, 3-month old puppy! That was the end of attention being paid to paint!

Robin with puppy Mia

Puppy is more interesting than the paint!

Eventually, I got folks moving again. Several folks needed assistance. As we went along I made a demo version of the picture, but with the need to help folks, I eventually abandoned my picture.

Ev's work in progress with the 
tower template in place 

The end results were interesting. Many participants may not have been elated with their end result but certainly seemed to have had a good time. One person told me she could not go so far as to say she "enjoyed" it because she was frustrated with her work. 

Nan

Sienna

Roxanne

Chris

Tina

Francine

Lisa - 
what? she didn't paint a picture!
That's her daughter's work!

As we were packing up to leave at the end of the session, someone shouted out, "Wait! We need a group picture!" They lined the pictures up on the floor by their feet!

Tear down of the scene went quickly as everyone pitched in to help clean up. Fortunately, Clark returned from band practice in time to help me pull the cart back to the boat to unload. We started the project at 3:30 and finished around 6:00. Having spent all morning / day preparing, then teaching, then deconstructing the project area, I was "done in". 

However, I still had to throw some food on the table for dinner before I could relax. And after dinner, because we were leaving the next morning, I spent the rest of the night sorting out the supplies and repacking them into bins for storage while underway. What a day! What fun memories with a great group of people!

1 April 2026 - Wednesday

Depart: Marlin Bay Marina, Marathon, FL 9:00

Arrive: Boca Chita anchorage, Biscayne Bay, FL 7:00

Distance: 73 NM

Conditions: ~15 knot winds from the east

This winter season we have had more windy days than I can count. Over the past three months, we have only had a handful of days where we did not have wind and chilly temperatures. April, who works at the marina office, told me that about 20 boats were delaying departure for a week or so to leave on a less windy day than today was predicted to be. Clark, however, said "What wind?" and proceeded to plan our departure as scheduled.

Normally we lounge in bed for a while in the morning, but today we were up and out to start the day. Given that, I got to see the sun coming up to the east of us.

I predicted we would be ready to leave at 9:00 a.m. As we pulled out of the slip, Clark noted the time in his log as 8:58. A couple of folks came to the dock to see us off and help release our lines.

Del, Robin, and puppy Mia (Avalon)
Dave (Our Turn)

Several folks came out on their boats to wave goodbye!

Melissa
(Destiny)

Jean
(Jean Marie)

Jonathan and dog Maggie
 (Sea Breeze)

Tina and dog Maggie
 (Our Turn)

Several folks walked out to the end of the dock, but when I looked up from the boat, I was too far away to know who was there!

More folks waving goodbye to us!

There sure was a lot of love coming our way as we left the docks!

Bye bye Marlin Bay ... 
until next season

As we went on our way, the scenery changed to lots of water and mangroves.

Sign marking Everglades National Park 
waters - no fishing or fish pots!

Twisting through the mangroves

I could see something in the mangroves that did not look like it belonged there with no people around.

Interesting! Must have gotten away from someone

I managed to capture a reflection picture of the mangroves without trying!

I did take a picture when I noticed that I could see the growth on the floor of the waterway. Very clear view to the bottom!

Coming into Key Largo, I noticed a parasail up in the air.

Many scenes looked familiar from having boated through here so many times now. 

And across the waterway ...

Gilberts

When we left Marathon this morning, Clark said our destination would be Pumpkin Key and we would arrive mid-afternoon. However, as we neared Pumpkin Key, he informed me that he wanted to press on to Boca Chita to anchor for the night. When I learned this change of plans, it was approaching 4:30. The new destination would add about 2.5 hours to our travel time. 7:00 was not my idea of an ideal time to be ending our day because I would still need to make dinner after we finished anchoring. 

Our position when I learned
Pumpkin Key was no longer
our destination!

A large portion of our travels today consisted of dodging fish pots. Sometimes the pots were in identifiable rows, and at other times, they looked like a scatter plot with no distinguishable pattern making dodging them a chore. When I wasn't watching for pots, I was doing the NYT puzzles (Wordle, etc. ) or reading my latest novel. When I learned our journey would go on for another 2+ hours, I pulled out a crossword puzzle book and started doing word puzzles to pass the time.

The wind today drove me crazy. Depending on which way the boat pointed as we wove through the waterway, I was either chilly because of the wind blowing on me or too warm when the full enclosure blocked the wind. I finally grabbed a towel to use as a shawl that I could wrap and unwrap over and over as needed!

Finally, and earlier than predicted, we saw the Boca Chita lighthouse in the distance. 

Boca Chita lighthouse

The map below shows the location of our Boca Chita anchorage in Biscayne Bay near Miami.

We had the anchor down before the sun set.

I had dinner on the table by 8:00 and worked on this blog update as Clark worked on taxes for the evening entertainment.

Clark pushed us ahead today to position us to arrive in Pompano Beach to visit our friend Steve tomorrow. We normally travel on the ocean and bypass Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. However, seas on the ocean (outside) are predicted to be around 5' in height with 20 knot winds from the east. Clark said traveling in the Gulf Stream with winds from the northeast would be an unpleasant ride - wind against current. Given that, we will most likely be traveling on the "inside" through all the bridges of Miami and through Ft. Lauderdale. For Clark to choose bridges over the ocean, it has to be rough!