2020: Year end in Marathon

 29 December 2020

No boat travel.

With weather in the 70s and a northeast wind, I asked Clark to walk with me to the 7-mile bridge for some exercise. To my never-ending shock, he said yes. Okay, so he never says yes without an angle. I just had to figure out what was up. 

Sure enough, it did not take long to know he had some ulterior motive. Normally, he walks too fast for me, and I either end up hanging on to his arm to slow him down or following behind him like a lackey. Today, he was going so slowly I told him it felt like I was "dragging an anchor behind me" as I walked. My normal 3.5 mph walk slowed to about 1.5 mph. 

"What's up?," I asked. "Every time I open Maps it crashes on me!" Since we do not need Maps to find the 7-mile bridge, I wondered just where he planned to go on this walk. I soon found out. Recently, our boating neighbors Sandy and Bill told him about an electronics store down a side street. His Maps activity related to searching for the street. I gave him my phone and told him to use my Maps app, so we could start moving faster.

Our walk to the bridge took us past all the usual sights. Unfortunately, as we neared the bridge, the stink of sun-dried sea grass greeted us along the path. Clark took some pictures on the return trip from the bridge.

7-Mile Bridge

Sailboats anchored near shore

Interesting "natural art"

Coconuts growing along path

Stacks of traps

Clark stopped to take a picture, and when he finished, I insisted he take a picture. I had spied a golf cart that I decided, after close inspection, looked to be a death trap should the owner ever have an accident. Though it did appear to have a seat belt of some sort, the passenger seat was a kid's wooden chair. I would hate to be the passenger. The driver's seat is supported by a 2x4 propping up the seat back. I shudder to think where that board would go in an accident - guaranteed it will not be pretty!

Unusual Golf Cart parked at local restaurant

I noticed some murals on our walk like the one below of a truck trailer painted with manatees,

Manatees Mural in Parking Lot

and this "Best Hookers in Town" tow truck with a beautiful water scene mural on the side.

Tow truck
(one of several) from a local business in Marathon

As we neared the marina, Clark looked for 20th street, and just before we got there, he took us across Route 1 to the opposite side of the highway to look for the electronics store Sandy had told him about. He did not plan to go into the business; he just wanted to scope it out. Just as well, since we arrived there at 12:45, and the store closed for the lunch hour from 12:00 to 1:00. 

While Clark looked at the store, my interest was captured by the tower next door. I could see what looked like a wire hanging down from the side of the tower and attached to the metal fence by the parking lot. I asked Clark why he thought the "wire" was there. 

As we stood there staring at the tower and talking, a man, who was eating his lunch out the back of his van, walked over to ask if we had an interest in the tower. He was there with his teammate to do repair work on the tower. The "wire" turned out to be a rope used to move tools up to his coworker way up at the top of the tower. The "generator" I thought the "wire" was attached to was actually their tool box! (We were standing a good distance away from it all.)

I quickly zoned out as Clark and the repairman talked about the equipment at the top of the tower. I heard some words I recognized like "Coast Guard" and "Phased Array". My primary take away from the discussion was that the Coast Guard related equipment sat at the top of the tower while cellphone technology equipment was located at a lower level on the tower.

Looking up at the tower, I asked the guy "How do you climb up there? Where are the stairs?" He pointed out the bars sticking out on one side of one of the supports. I stated that I thought they must have nerves of steel to climb up that way. He laughed and said, "This isn't even one of the tall ones!" After talking for several minutes, we thanked him for educating us and said our farewells as we went our separate ways.

There is a man at the tippy top of this tower
working on repairing Coast Guard equipment.

30 December 2020

No boat travel.

The weather today was bizarre! We had bright sun followed by sprinkles that blossomed into a downpour multiple times. When it looked like we might get a break, we got as far as the boat rail for an intended walk around the marina only to be hit by sprinkles yet again. When it, yet again, turned into a full-blown rain, we were glad we were still on the boat. Finally, we gave up on the walk idea. Clark pulled out his FSR to clean rust spots from the boat while I pulled out my acrylic paints to try my hand at painting an osprey and a pelican. 

Last year, some folks at the marina got together and made Christmas ornaments for the office tree. Clark popped in and took a couple of pictures. By searching this way and that on the pictures, I did eventually find the ornament for "Sunset Delight".

Handmade ornaments

Tree in the dockmaster's office

At 6:00 Clark came in from his cleaning work wanting to watch the local news on my laptop. I had been using it to display my art subject matter while I painted. Since it was high time I quit to begin dinner, I packed up my supplies and put them to one side to continue my pictures another day. The osprey needs work, and the pelican is only a pencil sketch so far.

31 December 2020 - New Year's Eve

No boat travel.

We have never been so happy to be rid of one year and welcome in the next as we are this year. Sadly, with all the end-of-year partying going on, it is unlikely that the beginning of 2021 will be any better than the end of 2020. Still we have hope things will improve in the new year!

In need of running some errands, I convinced Clark to pull out the bicycles this morning and go with me to the post office, drug store, and Winn Dixie to get some much-needed supplies. As we prepared to leave, our boat neighbor Sandy said she could take me to the store later in the day if I needed a ride. Since I wanted to go to the post office and Walgreens as well as the grocery store, I told Clark that I still wanted to take the bike ride. Besides needing supplies, I needed the exercise.

Sandy said she could take me to the store sometime after 2:00. When we got to the post office it had a sign saying it would close at 2:00 due to the holiday. That made me glad that I rode my bike instead of putting it off until later. 

At all three places we stopped, Clark waited outside with the bikes while I ran in to get what I needed. The post office was ultra fast given I just wanted to drop some cards in the mail slot. At Walgreens, I quickly found what I needed but had a line at the register to get through before I could get out of the store. At Winn Dixie, I found the store more crowded than usual. They had a DJ blasting music, and it appeared he was giving out prizes such as trips to the Deli though that was only a guess on my part based on what I heard in his announcements. I did not spend time trying to figure out how one entered to win a prize as I wanted out of there as quickly as possible.

When I went to pay, I used the self checkout to save time. The music and the words of the DJ were so loud that I could only hope that the voice on the self checkout was telling me I was doing great and to continue swiping my barcodes!

Later, Sandy did take me back to Winn Dixie to pick up some raw meat and canned goods that I did not feel like dragging back in a backpack even if Clark would be the one toting it home. When we returned somewhere close to 3:00, the DJ was packing up the last of his equipment and leaving the store. Yay! The crowd was gone and so was he.

When I got done with stowing groceries, I took out a boat hook and "raked the sea grass" caught between "L'Attitude Adjustment" and our boat. The north wind pushes it in and packs it down so tight that it cannot leave on its own. When a southerly wind appears, like today, I use a boat hook to give the grass a helping hand on making its departure. If allowed to remain, it rots over time, starts to stink, and makes my allergies go into overdrive.

I probably spent an hour out there raking. I did not notice I was getting a blister on my thumb until it popped open.  I am wounded, but it was definitely worth it. For the moment, I am exceedingly pleased with the lack of sea grass around our boats. Alas, as soon as the north wind returns so will the sea grass. 

While I was busy "raking the grass", Clark spent time visiting a boat in the marina where the owner had trouble with his autopilot. Clark took his bag of tricks with him to investigate. He did what he could do safely given the pandemic. When he returned, he said that more analysis would be needed.

Rocking in the New Year did not appeal to me. Even though Faro Blanco had a party going on, I did not feel comfortable roaming the marina in a crowd albeit smaller than any prior year. We turned on the Dick Clark New Year's Eve party and promptly turned it off again. A few days ago, I picked up a DVD that a fellow boater had contributed to the give-away table at the marina; Clark suggested we watch that. It has 3 movies on one DVD ... "The Librarian: ..." series. It was way more entertaining that I anticipated at the beginning of the movie. 

Part way through the movie Clark ran off to see who was around and found some folks to talk to for a while. He left me wondering if I should continue watching the movie without him. I waited and eventually he returned, but briefly, to grab something off the boat and take off again. When he came back the next time, he stayed and we got to see the end of the movie.  We agreed that one of the series was enough for tonight as we had one eye / ear open for the marina new year activities.

Instead, we watched a movie we have both seen in the past, "Miss Congeniality", just to pass time until 12:00 when the anchor would drop from the top of the lighthouse. One benefit of having the boat bow in to the dock is that we could stand in the cockpit and see the lighthouse and party goings on without leaving the boat. 

Shortly before 12:00, we saw flashes of light inside the lighthouse as someone, presumably with a flashlight, made their way to the top of the lighthouse in preparation of lowering the anchor! While waiting for the anchor to drop, Clark took some night photos and videos. 

Neighboring boat - "Morning Star II" 
decorated for the season

Clark decorated our boat for the holidays, but he has not taken any pictures to prove it. Being inside the boat at night, we don't usually get to enjoy the lights he has set up.

Just before midnight, we heard Auld Lang Syne and the anchor started its descent. 

There goes 2020; Welcome 2021

As the new year came in, we could see fireworks from both sides of our boat - one from our marina and one set from the hotel next door.

Even with all the activities today, Clark managed to capture the SPOD - Sunset Picture of the Day!

Goodbye 2020

2020 was not all bad!! The number one best part of 2020 ... getting another beautiful grandchild! Zoe was born in February 2020. She lives in Idaho. Hopefully, one of these days we will actually get to see her in person! So far, it has been photos and video chats only.

Zoe Woodworth

1 January 2021

No boat travel.

I finished the two bird paintings today. Clark went and helped the boater with the electrical problems on his boat.