28 - 29 November 2025
Well, the forecast for wind was right on the money! We have had wind all day for the past two days.
On Friday we did not even bother to get off the boat. Clark made some minor adjustments to the lines, and the guys that work here came by to provide us with a pumpout of the holding tank. In the afternoon, Clark got a package containing the replacement Autopilot pump. This better do the job! It's sitting in a box waiting for a non holiday to order hydraulic fittings. That about sums up his excitement for the day.
I had a project that I had been saving since we left home. I printed out a number of pictures of the grandchildren to update my boat refrigerator. I generally keep ones I really like from prior years and supplement with recent photos. The refrigerator is my "happy place" not because of what's in it because of what's on it!
We watched a great Shirley McClain movie Friday night called "Last Word". I rarely cry at movies, but this one had me choked up by the end even though it was obvious how the movie would end when it started. What a great actress she is.
Besides wind, rain was forecast on Saturday. We weren't sure how to dress. The thermometer showed around 68 or so with a 20 mph wind from a northerly direction. Without the wind, it is a no-brainer to decide to wear shorts instead of jeans. With the wind factor, we chose the long pants for the morning and changed into shorts later in the day. When we walked up to the marina, we found the long pants and a wind breaker to be the right combination. Passing by the pool on our walk, we noticed that no people were in the pool, and the birds were enjoying a luxurious bath with the pool all to themselves. They truly enjoy the walk in beach that's provided!
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| 5 Ibis bathing! |
Even with bad weather predicted, we decided that we should bike to a couple of stores to take care of some business. We lounged in bed too long and then had tasks to take care of before we set out. I was busy putting together our annual Christmas / Holiday newsletter. While I was going that Clark pulled out his guitar and some tools and changed his guitar strings.
Somewhere in there, we had lunch. We had hoped to include a stop at the post office in our list of tasks, but by the time we finally got around to leaving, it was after noon and the post office was closed.
When Clark finally did pulled the folding bikes, he found the tires desperately needing air. He started pumping up his tires and realized that he had a broken spoke in the front wheel that he had forgotten to repair. Of course that fix had to be taken care of before we left.
Fortunately, we have a supply of spokes on hand, as this is a recurring problem, and Clark knows how to replace them. He had to deflated the tire he just inflated, take off the broken spoke, and insert the new one. It sounded like he was playing a musical instrument as he strummed the spokes until he felt the replacement made the same tone as the existing ones. He figured it must be about the same tightness.
We looked at the sky and the weather radar, and hoped we could make it to complete our errands before the skies opened up.
For our first stop we went to Home Depot. Because we are here in Marathon early, we could actually cross Route 1 safely without running across the road with cars rapidly approaching - a true luxury here. Clark got the replacement hose part we needed, and we continued on to the UPS Store. I had bought a tablet cover for Clark that said it was for his tablet make / model. Unfortunately it was way too wide! We had to return it.
When we got to the UPS Store we were happy to see no crowd. When we tried the door and found it locked, we understood why the store was empty. It closed about 45 minutes before we got there. Closing at 2:30 on a Saturday seemed like a strange time.
The woman who runs the store came out to apologize for being closed. When she learned that we had an Amazon return, she said we could come in to take care of it! How kind! That was about the only thing she said she could do as all her machines had been shut down. So we were lucky! I was happy to cross that item off my list as it has been hanging over my head for a while since I needed to be somewhere where I could get to a drop-off to make the return.
Still worried about rain coming, we headed straight home after that. As we passed by the Black Fin Marina, however, Clark came to a halt, grabbed my camera, and took a picture for the blog. Since we were here last season, the Hurricane Restaurant reopened with new owners. I thought he was focused on the three flags flapping wildly in the heavy wind.
We did get back to the boat without getting rained on. The rain held off until the evening. We enjoyed a breeze blowing through the boat for a while, but eventually the temperatures dropped and we had to close up shop.
By 8:00 at night it was windier than ever and it was pouring down rain! The marina had moved the live music and bar to indoors due to the weather. Even so, we did not attend the event. With the rain pouring down about the time we would want to return to the boat, it would have been a pretty miserable walk.
Truly, I did not even look to see if there was a sunset Saturday night, but we did get some interesting views Friday night.
Clark took the picture below. The bright light of the sun is interesting on the horizon. Faro Blanco lighthouse in the distance is just visible hiding beside one of the pilings.
