2022: Excitement at the Marina

 16 January 2022

We could see on the radar that we would be hit with a hefty storm today. The radar line looked thin but strong.

The sky gave us our first sign that the storm was getting closer.

The sky was a wall of black that made the cerulean blue of the water stand out that much more than usual.

As the storm approached the winds kicked up to be gusting at 40 knots. We heard thunder in the distance. The weatherbug app indicated that lightning strikes were just a half mile away.  Then came the rain. Poking my head out the door to check on the storm, I spied a brand new life jacket floating by the boat. It had probably just blown off the deck of a boat on the other side of the marina.

I had no hope of reaching it from our boat and no desire to venture out into the storm to try to retrieve it from the dock.

It passed under the dock and kept on going heading towards other marinas east of us. Perhaps someone at Banana Bay or Blackfin got a new life jacket for their boat.

The rains came quickly when they came and poured down on us. As the storm passed overhead the winds became scary in their sounds. I truly thought there was a distinct possibility of a tornado based on the noises the storm made. 

The question in my mind was where to go if a tornado did appear. We had nowhere we could get to quickly and trying to venture off the boat and navigate the twisty turny dock in a wind and rain storm would be treacherous. 

Thankfully we did not have to face that issue. Unfortunately we heard on the nightly news that folks in the Fort Meyers area and other parts of southwest Florida did sustain damage from tornadoes. We got lucky this far south.

18 January 2022

Sandy picked me up in her car and drove us to the farmer's market in Duck Key. Some of the vendors we expected to see were not on site. Perhaps the cool and cloudy day kept them away. As we left the venue, I snapped some pictures of the area. I would have no hope of visiting here if not for Sandy bringing me by car.

The vendors sell a nice variety of items. One booth is full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Others sell varieties of breads or pastries. Some sell clothes. Others specialize in dog treats. Another sells cheese. 

Clothes for young children. The bibs along the
top had creative sayings on them.

19 January 2022

Today, when we walked up to use the restrooms located by the pool, we found a congregation of people including dockhands standing at the end of our dock. The young boy named Morgan on the sailboat on our dock has trash duties for his boat. When he took the trash up this morning, he made a gruesome discovery. A sea turtle had washed up on the rocks by the dock.

One of the staff climbed down onto the rocks to examine the turtle and declared it dead. The shell had been severely damaged most likely by the propeller of a boat or jet ski. 

Someone called the turtle hospital located nearby to report the dead turtle. They said they would send someone right over to collect the turtle. Although the turtle was dead, people speculated that if the turtle carried eggs, they might survive if harvested quickly. 

A while later the turtle hospital crew showed up to remove the body.

Recovery Crew from Turtle Hospital

Large sea turtle in its carrier

Being loaded into turtle ambulance

8-year old Morgan who discovered the turtle
with his sister Brooklyn (5)
and the turtle hospital crew.

We have spent a lot of time on the boat this past week. Clark has been compounding and waxing to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. Being held prisoner on the boat because the leap to the dock was too much for me to handle, I have been doing a lot of reading and word puzzles to keep myself entertained.

2022: Windy Marathon

 11 January 2022

The prediction of high winds for the next few days proved to be accurate. With the high winds came some excitement / entertainment for those of us on the east side of Marlin Bay. We got quite a show.

Last month I posted a picture of the houseboat anchored near the marina that Clark uses as a wind vane.

Original position

Well, when he looked out this morning, the houseboat appeared to be out of position. The winds had caused some problems. We learned that the owner, who is normally onboard, was in the Bahamas and not available to tend his boat. 

As we watched throughout the day, the houseboat dragged its anchor across the water towards the rock wall bulkhead along the shoreline. We wondered how far it would get before it got stuck or hit the wall. 

As it moved along, the boat managed to travel between two small islands and get snagged on one of them. Clark said it looked like the boat was rubbing on the rough coral of the closer-to-us island. Amazingly, the boat eventually freed itself and continued its journey towards shore.

Heavy wave action moved the boat along.

We wondered where it would end up as it rocked across the water.

Ultimately, it caught on something near the rock wall and ceased its travels.

Stopped close to rocks

At one point Clark and I took a southerly walk along the docks to get a view of the dragging boat from a different angle. As we stopped to gawk, first one and then two more dockhands stopped by in the golf carts to offer their opinions on the fate of the boat.

Someone said that the boat was hitting the rocks and then bouncing away from the wall. Folks speculated that the running gear caught on the bottom. No one was quite sure of the true situation.

A little too close to those rocks!

The owner of the boat was contacted by folks who knew how to reach him, but with him being in the Bahamas, the boat was on its own until he returned.

Black line I drew roughly shows the path of the houseboat 
from north to south direction.

Meanwhile, throughout the day as the boat trauma was underway, Clark and I kept busy. While I went to the Farmer's Market in Duck Key and shopping with my friend Sandy, he played his guitar to keep in practice. Later in the day he pulled out his polisher and 3M compounding to work on sprucing up the boat.

Clark worked for hours on, what appeared to me to be the same spot on the boat, trying to get the compounding on the boat the way he wanted it. All afternoon the polisher was buzzing. He started with the shady side to keep cooler while he worked.

As the sun set, Clark managed to capture a great picture of the sky.

"Beam me up!"

12 January 2022

We had higher winds today than yesterday and more wave action. 

The houseboat remained under attack from the elements. It did not appear to shift from its last position from yesterday, but it was bouncing with the wind and waves. That could not have been good for the boat. Clark worried it would end up sinking out there.

Having compounded yesterday, Clark tried his hand at waxing today. He likes the weather we have been experiencing. The wind keeps him cool.

Lots of products, the white line across the 
cockpit is the hose, and the yellow is an 
extension cord for the polisher.

Clark had the polisher going all day long. Unfortunately, it sounded like the drill my dentist uses when filling cavities. Needless to say, I did not enjoy the noise.

As Clark was working, a young man came by and stopped to talk about the kayak we have currently sitting on our swim platform. He said that he had tried to rent a kayak at Marlin Bay Marina where we are staying, and they refused due to the high winds. He also tried to rent a kayak from a business down the street. Marlin Bay told him they would not let him bring the kayak into the marina. 

I was sure as they talked that the young man was in a not-so-direct manner asking Clark to let him use our kayak for his outing.  Clark suggested he go out another day when the weather was better. He said he was leaving town, and it was today or not at all. Clark did not bite on the guy's hints and wished the man luck as he went on his way.

Apparently, he found a kayak somewhere as Clark saw him out paddling later. Clark watched as the young man was pushed up against the rocks and had to struggle against the wind and waves to get himself out of that sticky situation.

Temporarily stuck up against the rocks.

13 - 14 January 2022

We had a couple of days of normalcy. I sat by the pool with a boating friend and talked. Clark compounded and waxed more of the boat. I did some baking, made cards to send to my grandchildren, and cleaned inside the boat. 

Walking around the marina, I saw a great boat name. Some folks get real creative, and it is often a fun way to start a conversation with "how did you come up with your boat's name?" Not sure I would ask that question on this one ...

"O Sea D" 

We walked past a boat that has its lines threaded through water bottles. Talking to this boat's neighbor one day, I inquired as to the purpose of this arrangement. The answer quite surprised me. Apparently, the water bottle on the line is to deter rats from climbing on board. I have not seen this to be a problem in any of my boating travel and I sincerely hope to never encounter such a problem or a need to deter the vermin! 

Friday evening, we had guests onboard. Our boat neighbors on "Bagus" came over to share a combo dinner. We each prepared a portion of the meal and it worked out very well. She surprised me by making brownies and serving them with whipped cream and raspberries! Nice!

Anette and Bill from "Bagus"
Ev and Clark "Sunset Delight"

15 January 2022

Maintenance Run on Sunset Delight 1:15 to 2:30; 7.7 nm

Today got interesting as the houseboat saga got underway again. The owner of the houseboat returned from the Bahamas, and today he took on the job of ungrounding the boat. At first he tried to move the boat himself using a method called kedging whereby an anchor is dropped away from the boat and used to pull a boat off. It did not work. 

Mid-morning Tow Boat U.S. showed up to help get him unstuck. I found it hard to take my eyes off the "show" which lasted for well over an hour. The tow would get the houseboat to move only to have it get stuck again. It went on for a very long time.

Tow Boat U.S. is on the job.

As we watched the tow boat struggling to get the houseboat moving, we saw a man in a kayak insert himself in the middle of the action. 

Not sure what the guy in the kayak planned to do.

They got it moved a short distance, and it planted
itself again.

After a few times of the boat getting stuck and then stuck again, they finally managed to have the boat drift and it moved backwards to land itself against one of the little islands out there. 

I guess the boat got too close to the island nearest us as the owner jumped off his boat into the water to push the houseboat away from the island.

Man in the water

Pushing the boat away from the island

They must have found deeper water once they got away from the island. The excitement ended with the houseboat being towed away into Florida Bay. We wondered where they were headed with the boat. We had wondered if they would just drop anchor back where they were originally, but no, they kept on going.

Finally on its way somewhere

Later in the day, we talked to some boaters at Marlin Bay who went out for a dinghy ride to check out the local area. They told us they saw the boat being towed into Boot Key. I wonder if / when it will return here.

Besides watching the houseboat saga, we kept busy with other activities. Clark went back to compounding / waxing the boat. I ended up doing quite a bit of socializing. That started when I decided to take the garbage off the boat. In my search for an empty trash can to drop it into, I came across a boating friend on "Rowe Boat", and we talked for a long while as we watched the tow boat struggle going on in the water near us. We have a number of mutual friends and had lots to talk about. 

Later in the day, as I was working on the Blog update, Anette from "Bagus" invited me to sit by the pool with her to chat. I abandoned the blog and walked up with her. She was dressed to go in the hot tub. I had on jeans. When she headed for the hot tub, I headed back to the boat. 

Just as Anette said she wanted to go in the hot tub, Clark texted me to say he was ready to take the dinghy out for a trip to Faro Blanco. He had the dinghy down as part of his "spruce up Sunset Delight" project. As long as it was down, he decided to take advantage and go visiting. I said farewell to Anette and scurried back to the boat as quickly as I could to jump in the dinghy for a ride to more socializing.

Pulling into Faro Blanco, we first saw Joe and his dog Taz and said hello. Taz was ready to jump in the dinghy and go with us anywhere we might want to go. Joe held him back. Next we stopped at the boat of new friends on "Sea Gypsy". They just moved from Marlin Bay (where we met them) to Faro Blanco today. After that we moved on the say hello to the crew on "La Cigale". Finally, we pulled up behind "Morning Star II" and climbed out to join a fairly busy docktails going on beside Anne and Mel's boat.

As we spoke to the folks there, we were told to "look up"!  A drone was flying overhead!

Clark and I are standing near the table and behind
Anne in a bright pink shirt. (Me blue hat and Clark green hat)
(Drone picture provided by Wendy Wilson Facebook post.)

Drone picture of sunset at Faro Blanco
(Also Posted by Wendy Wilson on Facebook)

I had to push Clark to get him moving. I wanted to get back to Marlin Bay before full dark to make it easier to look for fish traps along the way. As we left Faro Blanco and came into Marlin Bay, I managed to grab a couple of sunset pictures of my own making.

Sun shining on the tops of some dark clouds.

Near full moon shining brightly.

View of sky as we left Faro Blanco

View of sky after we returned to Marlin Bay

==================

As some of the readers of my blog entries know, I grew up in the small town of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. I lived in a house located on the road to Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon and have many fond memories of the town and the canyon. My mother always told me that the canyon was 1000 feet deep and 5 miles long. I know not where she got those numbers, but I did not question her data.

Clark hiked down into the canyon for something to do on our wedding day. His best man was not amused! We got married late afternoon, so Clark needed something to do to pass the time before the ceremony!

Someone recently posted a picture I fell in love with on Facebook of the canyon, and I decided to add it here for sentimental reasons.

Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon

2022: Exploring Marathon by Dinghy

 6 January 2022 - Thursday

Dinghy Exploration

A few days ago, "All Talk II" contacted us and asked us to join them to go exploring by dinghy. We had other plans that precluded us partaking of that particular outing. Having checked the weather, they asked us to join them for another outing today. Thursday is our scheduled holding tank pump-out day, so we said we could leave as soon as that was done. 

When we woke this morning, we had a strong wind generating waves in the bay. I wondered if that meant our dinghy trip would be cancelled. A quick check of the weather app indicated that the wind would drop off around noon. I had discussed an 11:00 departure time. Besides "All Talk II", another couple, Mike and Mary, planned to join us on our adventure. 

As 11:00 approached, there was no sign of the pump-out crew coming around. I started to worry about timing for our outing. While I waited, I used a boat hook to sweep away sea grass. After that I vacuumed the boat. Finally, the pump-out guys came by and we got that job done. 

Meanwhile, something had come up with "All Talk II" and they were not yet ready to depart, so we did some more waiting. The whole morning as I anxiously awaited our dinghy trip, Clark was in his work clothes polishing the starboard side of the boat - the same side he worked on all day yesterday. He's been trying to get it to look good and it has been tough going!

He stopped to do the pump-out, and then went back to it after. When the wind settled down, he took the dinghy down and topped it up with gas ready for our trip. We got word from "All Talk II" that we should eat lunch and go after, so at just after 1:00 we were finally ready to set off for the unkown.

The motors on our dinghies were not at all matched. "All Talk II" has a 70 hp, we have a 40 hp, and Mike and Mary had a 9.9 hp. I thought "this should be interesting". Before we got going on the exploration part of the trip, Mike said they needed to get gas at Faro Blanco. Clark decided we should take advantage and go visit our friends there. 

We met friends visiting Sandy and Bill, and we chatted with Mel on "Morning Star II".  What really caught our eye in the marina was a strange raft with a ladder on it. "What in the World?!" As we stared at the contraption, our old friend and staff member at Faro Blanco climbed aboard the raft. Someone yelled that we should give him a tow, so we through him a line and towed him away from the dock. We have towed a number of boats in our day, but this was indeed a first!

He asked that we drop him off at the first pole - one we used to be tied to when we stayed at Faro Blanco. His mission, should he be successful, was to put caps on the poles to keep the pelicans off.

Josh with black cap for the pole. 

No way on earth anyone would convince me to climb a ladder on a raft!

Josh ready to get to work.

Josh's last words to us as we pulled away to rejoin our dinghy caravan were, "I should have brought a paddle!" I am left wondering how he managed to get back to shore.

After some discussion, we decided to go look for the yellow submarine near Boot Key.  As we left Faro Blanco to start our dinghy voyage, we noted that we were not the only ones enjoying the now calm waters of the bay.

Kayak and SUP
Person on SUP was worried, but we made no wake for her.

Parasailing Trip further out in bay

Not surprising with our dissimilar engines, Mike and Mark came along in 3rd place.

Mike and Mary

Having just biked to the 7 Mile Bridge yesterday, I was interested to get the view from the water.

Park at entrance to 7 Mile Bridge

After passing under the 7 Mile Bridge, we saw the Sunset Grill restaurant. Lots of boats were zipping through this area and stirring things up on the water.

Sunset Grill in background

Susie and Steve on "All Talk II" Dinghy

Sadly, the wave action turned out to be too much for Mike and Mary. They told All Talk it was too rocky and turned around to return to Marlin Bay.  We continued on to find the entrance to the site of the yellow submarine.

We found a lot of boats, mostly sailboats, anchored near Boot Key. Clark traveled at no-wake speed and it took a while for us to get past all the boats at anchor. Finally, we got to the entrance to the mangroves where a number of sunken boats reside including the yellow submarine.

The entrance into the mangroves is shallow and marked with white sticks - some with red tape on them to show the way in.  As we got closer in, Clark lifted his outboard a bit for the shallower water.

White sticks show the channel into the mangroves

Bit of yellow ahead - must be the sub

Yep! There's the rusty, yellow sub

More sub pictures ...

Yellow sub with boat docked right around behind it

The bow is deep in the mangroves

All Talk wanted a closer inspection than we
were interested in!

With more than one path / off-shoots through the mangroves, we decided to keep going and explore some more.  We passed a place that is obviously set up for fish trap handling with long wooden ramps to move the traps in from any returning boat.

Fish trap landing

We saw many reflections of the mangroves as we
toured the area.

We found the end-of-the-line here at these boats.
"No Trespassing"!

The boats were wedged in at the end of the waterway with lines tied to both sides. Clark wondered aloud what was beyond the boats, and I worried that he would try to find out. I saw many ways to get into trouble here with lines tied across the waterway and very tight quarters. He wisely decided to turn around, but in the close quarters had difficulty getting the dinghy turned. I found it more than a bit nerve-wracking with things in the water and obstacles on the shore. We backed up to a wider point where All Talk had turned around and made an about face there!

Now "All Talk" is in the lead

As we left the area, we got another look at the area where the fish traps come in. 

After that we turned down another side channel to explore some more. I knew that, in the past, at the end of this part of the waterway, there was a boat graveyard. It was still there.

Most of this boat is underwater

The underwater hull can be hard to see.
I was worried when we got close that we might hit.

Other side of the channel - another "dead" boat.

Several sunken boats together.

Now we know where old boats go to die.

View of a different access point for the
fish trap processing setup.

After seeing the points of interest in the mangroves, it was time to exit and explore elsewhere.

Heading back towards the Atlantic Ocean.

A few days ago, Sandy drove us around and showed us Coconut Cay Resort, which is near the Marathon Airport, from a car point of view. I wanted to see it from the perspective of the water. We set out for this new destination. We had to pass back under the 7 Mile Bridge, past Faro Blanco, past Marlin Bay Marina, and further on until we approached the airport. We could see and hear planes coming and going. 

The waterway into Coconut Cay is all manmade canals. On practically every dock we saw a "no wake" sign warning us not to speed through the area. Before entering the canals we saw an amazing sight.

The Proverbial GLASS House!

People who should not throw stones!

What a difference to go from sunken and derelict boats to nice homes on the water.

Entrance to canals

"Idle speed no wake on almost every dock"

Some folks exhibit a lot of creativity / imagination. The house shown below has a fenced property. It looks like there is a hedge at one end. It is not a hedge. They took outdoor carpet / fake grass and hung it on the fence to make it look like a hedge. It is a little obvious up close, but from a distance looks quite nice and must be so much easier to maintain than a real hedge!

Nicely decorated home with fake hedge

They even have their very own Tiki Hut.

Other boats at dock on the canal

We came to a V in the waterway. From the chart Clark believed that Coconut Cay would be on the right fork. We took the left fork first and were surprised by what we found.

Hidden behind the brush, we could see an RV Park
with lots of large motorhomes.

They even had a dinghy dock area for the RV
owners.

We knew we found Coconut Cay because all
the white chairs said so.

After passing by the entrance to Coconut Cay Resort, we came into a wide and deep section of water.

Tree house - complete with child's easel and chair.

Nice docks for private home.

After exploring all the nooks and crannies of this end of the canal, we made our way back out to check out the other canal branch.  We turned at the colorful chairs to make our way down the other side of the V.

Lovely pastel chairs.

One never knows what one will see on the water. It can be very interesting and creative. 

Boat ramp with its own garage.

Boat named "Conchtail Hour"

Uh oh! If we wanted to explore we would have to pass through a section clogged with sea grass. Clark plowed ahead!

Sea grass ahead

Looks pretty thick

In the midst of sea grass, we can see a clearing ahead
and a kayak enjoying the sea grass-free waterway.

The path through the sea grass had a shallow 3-foot depth, but the far side was deeper and free of grass. When we got to the other side of the sea grass, Clark put the dinghy in reverse to clean out the sea grass from the props. I could not believe how much grass floated out in clumps.

As we passed along some docks, Clark said, "What IS that?" I looked at something that looked like an old rubber carpet moving up and down in the breeze / waves. Upon closer look, I realized it was the flapping tail of a manatee out of water. By the time I recovered from my shock and grabbed the camera, the picture had passed. The manatee is only slightly visible as it swam away underwater.

We continued until we found the end of the canal where we saw a prominent sign for Coconut Cay Resort.

"Coconut Cay Resort"

Rental Units

Kayak Rentals with nice launch area

We got a good look at the canal construction here. 

Canal carved out of the coral

Having reached the end of the line yet again, we turned around to head back out to the bay.  Clark liked a house there on stilts.

After that, we had to cut our way through the sea grass. We could see our path where we came in before, but we still had to plow a field to get through. As we progressed Clark said the dinghy became more and more sluggish. When he commented our situation to Steve on "All Talk", Steve replied, "It's not so bad back here!" Of course they were traveling through on our trail!  Clark replied, "I wonder why?"

One more trip through the sea grass then
on to cleaner water

My picture taking ended at that point. When we reached the bay, we had a decision to make - tour more or return to Marlin Bay. With a 3 for and 1 acquiesce, we decided to explore the other resorts / marinas between our current location and Marlin Bay. Clark was ready to head back. The rest of us were okay to continue exploration.

We found our way to Crystal Bay Resort where we could see nothing of interest due to the boom they had in place to keep out sea grass. Unfortunately, it kept us out too. Curious as to what we missed, I stole a picture from the internet.

Aerial view of Crystal Bay Resort 

 Leaving there somewhat disappointed, we moved on to poke our noses into Black Fin Marina. All the boats appeared to be stern in, so we could not read any names. With no "Koastal Karma" or "Nuclear Fishin" there to greet us, we departed and headed over to see Banana Bay Marina. There we saw the boat "Reflection" - we met the owners of that boat on the Great Loop. They too are from NJ. No one appeared to be on board.

My next stop was back to the boat. Clark and the folks on "All Talk" went into the inner harbor to see Mike and Mary before putting away the dinghies. I desperately needed a restroom break, and knowing how Clark likes to talk, I did not dare take the chance on going with him to meet folks.

All told we were gone on the dinghy tour for almost 3.5 hours and traveled about 15 nautical miles. Clark showed me the path we took as displayed on our charting software.

The yellow line shows our path for 
all of today's travel.

When Clark entered the inner basin, he did not find Mike and Mary, but he did find two folks he wanted to meet on a boat of the same manufacturer as ours. Ellen and Kevin bought Hull #16; we have hull #8. They bought the boat last year. Clark and I have met the previous owners when we first took possession of our boat. When they stopped around to introduce themselves, we practically dragged them into the boat and asked them to show us how to operate the stove - it was that new to us!

When he got back to our slip, Clark used the dinghy to facilitate washing the port side of our boat - the side we cannot reach from the dock. The hull had salt-spray residue all over it and desperately needed to be cleaned. He used Awlwash to give it a good cleaning.

As the sun set we returned the dinghy to its stowed position, and enjoyed a quiet evening of shows on CBS (the only television station we get).