2022: Exploring Marathon by car and bike

 4 January 2022 - Tuesday

My boating friend, Sandy, heard that the farmers market that used to be in Key Colony on Tuesdays was now in Duck Key, and she wanted to go check it out. She picked me up at 9:00 and said she had a surprise stop for me on the way. The surprise was the local farmers market that is normally only on location on Saturdays. I picked up some great looking tomatoes and delicious corn on the cob before we continued on our way. 

Duck Key is about 15 miles from where we are in Marathon. Not knowing it was that far away it felt like we were half way to Islamorada before we finally arrived. We saw the sign at the entrance to Duck Key saying Tuesday Farmers Market. As we drove through Duck Key, we thought we must have passed by it when, after crossing over a quaint (cement) bridge, we saw yet another sign. We were well into the heart of Duck Key before we actually found the market.

Duck Key appears to be the middle of nowhere, so we wonder why the Farmers Market left Key Colony.

Marathon to Duck Key Map

After loading up on succulent cherries and pineapple as well as a variety of homemade breads - all grain, cranberry / walnut, and chocolate chip / walnut, I climbed in Sandy's car, and we headed to Publix to supplement our finds at the farmers markets.

The distance from Publix to our marina is about a mile or so. I have learned that I have to contact Clark early on if I want him to meet me at the gate to help with the groceries. I contacted him just before I checked out so he could grab a boat cart to meet me. If I leave it until after I am done with Publix, Sandy is pulling up to the marina entrance almost before I finish texting!

Clark got to the meeting place with a cart about 5 minutes before we arrived. While he stood around waiting, he watched a butterfly in the local shrubbery. I am glad he found entertainment.

A cold front rolled in today and brought "freezing" temperatures in the 60s! I almost needed a sweater! Clark took some pictures of the cloud cover with the sun trying to sneak through!

We thought it might actually rain, so we decided to take a walk before any bad weather appeared. We walked the docks until we got to our friends on "All Talk II", and that was the end of the tour. We climbed on board, and as usual, chatted away for ages. While I talked with Susie inside, Clark and Steve discussed boat polishing on their cockpit. Steve had a polisher in hand as that was what we interrupted when we arrived unannounced.

A while after we arrived, as I sat talking with Susie, she said, "Looks like Clark is leaving." Sure enough I looked out just in time to see the tail end of him disappearing. I asked Steve, "Is he coming back or has he abandoned me?" Steve said he thought Clark was gone. I shrugged and kept talking.

It is a rather long walk from the tips of the U-shaped outer basin docks from one end to the other. "All Talk II" is towards the end of one side of the U, and we are on the other. 

Circled area shows U-shaped outer basin 
at Marlin Bay Marina

After however long it took Clark to walk that distance, collect up his polishing equipment, and march back, he reappeared to show Steve his equipment and discuss polishing techniques.

It never did rain. We returned to our boat just in time for the 6 o'clock news and to make dinner.  

5 January 2022 - Wednesday

Bike ride.

Clark woke up excited and ready to tackle boat polishing. I woke up deciding it was a perfect day, weather-wise, to take a bike ride out to check on the 7-Mile Bridge reconstruction project. I had heard the bike trail would open this month and wanted to check on progress. While Clark donned his work clothes, I put on my bike shorts.

My bike ride took me only 45 minutes. The bridge is not yet open to pedestrians and bike traffic. The construction trailer and equipment has all been removed. Soon I hope the fence will disappear as well.

Clearly they are working on finishing touches at this point. I see the "road" lines indicating slow and fast lane markings have appeared each way on the bike trail.

Cement chairs have been set up along the trail for folks to rest and enjoy the view.

One of them is located outside the gated area.

The view at the park is always glorious. I am anxious to be able to travel along the bike path for more great scenery!

When I was done enjoying the view from the top, I biked down the ramp to the park below before turning and heading back to our marina.

When I got back, Clark was still busy with his polisher. He kept at it all day long. Progress seemed to be particularly slow.

After my fun ride, I had chores to do. I told Clark to be prepared to refill the water tank later as I needed to do laundry onboard. I hoped it would be 2 loads, but it turned out to be 3. Darn that washer is small!

I walked out to see how Clark was progressing and noticed that a section of handrail had rust-colored spots all over it. Next thing I know I am pulling out my "Barkeepers Friend" cleanser and heading out to scrub the railing. Unfortunately, I could not get close enough to clean it as that was where Clark was running his electric polisher. 

While I waited from him to move along, I decided to work on the boat railing as it had spots as well. I cleaned the port railing, and he was still polishing that spot. I cleaned the starboard railing, and he was still in that same spot. I finally asked him to take a rest for 2 minutes while I cleaned the railing I set out to clean at the start of it all. 

For all I wanted to clean one small section of handrail, when I was done, I had covered the entire boat except for the flybridge where he still has up Christmas lights.

Nice and shiny handrail that started
my hard work!

While I was at it, I also polished the metal of the windlass, visible portions of the cleats, and various metal covers on the boat. When I was done, Clark was still busy polishing. 

Rolling my eyes, I decided that I needed a dip in the pool to cool down. With the cold front that rolled in yesterday, the air temperature was a little chilly but the pool felt wonderful as I stepped in. I had the pool to myself and I entertained myself doing water aerobics before I finally climbed out. 

I debated going into the hot tub after my "swim" but decided I did not want to get that hot. I dried off for a bit sitting by the pool with two towels draped around me. Eventually I pulled on my shorts and a cover up over my wet swimsuit and walked back to the boat. Now, that felt rather cold as the north wind whistled through my wet swimsuit. When I got back to the boat, I had to interrupt Clark's polishing to have him pull the boat over so I could climb on out of the cold air.

Clark did not stop polishing until the sun went down. I have to say the starboard side of the boat is now a bright white and feels smooth to the touch. When he finally stopped working, he took a sunset picture to add to our collection.

Sunset at Marlin Bay Marina