2023: Marathon Departure

 13 March 2023

With the end of March rapidly approaching, many boaters are preparing to leave Marathon and start the migration to more northerly waters. We are part of that crowd. Our reservation comes to an end on Wednesday, so we had plenty to do before we got underway. 

We have been under a boil-water advisory due to water main breaks north of us in the Keys. Thanks to my friend DeAnna, I got Clark to connect a hose directly to the boat to bypass our water tanks so I could do dishes and laundry on the boat without worry of our drinking water being contaminated.  I had wondered why we had not hooked up the hose but figured Clark had a reason not to. After talking to DeAnna, I asked him why we couldn't hook up. Turned out the reason he did not do it was that, since we never use that feature, he forgot we could. 

Because a number of people are departing, a few folks decided to plan a departure potluck dinner on the docks. We had a huge crowd and lots of great food from appetizers to dessert. 

After dinner, Clark ran back to the boat and grabbed his guitar. 

He was quite happy when Jean from "Jean Marie" came to sing while he played.

We got to watch the sun go down as they serenaded us.

14 March 2023

I started today with a provisioning trip with my friend Sandy. We first visited McDonald's for an iced tea each, then traveled to the farmer's market in Duck Key followed by a stop at the Dollar Store on our way to Publix. I let him know when I was done, and Clark met me at the entrance to Marlin Bay with a dock cart to carry my stash back to the boat where I used my Vac/Seal machine for packaging the meat for the freezer.

After a quick lunch, our friend Kevin stopped by for a visit and to introduce us to his friend Vicky. We spent a delightful afternoon catching up with Kevin and getting to know Vicky. Vicky is new to boating and plans to travel north with Kevin for part of his return trip to his home in Virginia. 

Kevin ("Koastal Karma") and Vicky

Our boating neighbors on "Patience", Guy and Barbara, invited us to their boat for dinner and conversation this evening. Katy and Tim on "Pangur Ban" made it six for dinner. We had only briefly spoken with Katy and Tim previously, so it gave us a chance to get to know them.

I let Adam and DeAnna know when we were back on our boat after dinner, and they brought Whatley by to woof goodbye. We gave him lots of love as it will be a long time until we get to pamper and spoil him again. 

15 March 202

Depart: Marlin Bay Marina, Marathon, FL 8:15 a.m.

Arrive: Port of the Isles Marina near the Everglades 6:30 p.m.

Distance: approx 80 nautical miles

Conditions: North wind with gusts to 25 knots, rain expected

In preparation for leaving early today, we were up before sunrise. About the only plus I can see to getting up before the sun is to see the sun rise. 

This morning's sun rise! I felt cheated!

Folks at Marlin Bay have decided that Clark should have a shirt that says "What Wind?!" Even though we had cloudy skies and strong winds, we would still be leaving today. 

We drew quite a crowd at our slip as we prepped to depart. Even Whatley came to give a final paw shake and beg a few last treats. We had plenty of help removing our lines and pulling in our electric. A special thanks to Guy and Adam for their efforts to help us get underway.

There's nothing quite like trying to make an elegant departure from a marina in strong winds with a crowd watching the show. Other than tapping the pole on our port side as we left the slip, Clark did an amazing job as always. We were a tad closer than he thought and the wind rapidly pushed us sideways into the pole.

Unfortunately I was too busy working the boat to get a picture of all the folks on the dock. As we exited the marina, I looked over and saw DeAnna on her boat, "Saltaire", waving madly, so I waved madly back as Clark blew his horn to worn any on-coming traffic that we were pulling out of the marina. We were on our way!

As soon as I stepped out the back of the boat this morning, I knew I needed a jacket due to the north wind. As we traveled northward, I realized that a light jacket would not suffice. I ended up bundled up with jeans instead of shorts and multiple layers of clothes up top.

Yesterday sweating! 
Today freezing!

We played the exciting game today where we try to decide if what we see ahead is a lobster trap or a white cap! Guess wrong and you lose big time! Clark suggested that it would make a good video game with various levels of challenge depending on wave heights, wind direction, and proximity of traps. Clark even tried adjusting our route to try to avoid traps. With minimal success and added time to our trip, he returned to his original route. Being groggy after lunch made it difficult to focus on watching the water for the elusive traps.

Our wave heights today ranged from 1 to 2 feet to 3 to 4 feet. On occasion we would get a strong gust of wind that would blow the spray way over the boat. More times than I could count the water sprayed through the front panel of the full enclosure to douse us with water. I spent hours standing behind the  upper helm seat to stay dry while watching for traps. I definitely got a workout today as I held onto the seat as I continuously swayed to the motion of the boat.

We did find the rain that was predicted. Fortunately, we only found the tail end of it. Clark's timing for departure and travel was impeccable as usual. We did see some amazing clouds. Clark remarked that the water looked very green today.

The portion of the trip over the bay finally came to a close around 5:15 after 9 grueling hours of waves and pot dodging. Then the real fun started as we turned onto the waterway leading to the Port of the Isles (Islands) Marina. Clark knew the water was "skinny" here, and we needed to come in at high tide to get to the marina. Anything less than high tide would make it unlikely we could make it through.

Instead of looking for traps, my job became watching the depth finders and giving readouts on numbers so Clark could focus 100% on the chart. When we got to a place where one depth finder showed 6 inches of water below the keel and the other depth finder refused to give any realistic readings whatsoever, we knew we were close to being in trouble. 

We knew we definitely did not have over 100 feet of water on the starboard side and 6 inches on the port. Clark put the starboard engine in neutral while we found our way to deeper water. Further along our way in, we found a spot where we had less than 6 inches under us! I mentioned to Clark, "This route is not for the faint of heart!" Although we saw lots of skinny water, we also saw areas with 10 or 12 feet of water. The numbers were erratic to say the least. 

Mangroves

We saw very little boat traffic today. On the open water we saw two other boats - both were trap boats with the owners checking their traps. As we made our way on the inland waterway to the marina, we passed two small boats coming towards us.

Boat traffic!

With the skinny water, boaters must follow the channel closely. I found the number of channel markers in some places to be pretty amazing.

Enough markers through here?

After 10 miles of "watch the depth" and "what does that marker mean", which equated to about 75 minutes of time, we finally saw Port of the Isles come into view. 

Four very friendly folks greeted us at the dock to help tie our lines. We arrived on the day of their monthly docktails gathering and were invited to join them for food and drinks. Although we appreciated the invite, we had too much to do. The boat was literally coated in salt; I could write my name in it! Besides that, we needed real food instead of chips and dip.

By the time we had at least some of the salt rinsed off the boat, it was already 7:30. I texted various folks to let them know we arrived at our destination safely. In response DeAnna sent me a picture of a "grumpy Whatley". I didn't know he could do grumpy. I guess he misses my doggy treats.

Whatley in a bad mood - he's 
still adorable even when grumpy

Thankfully I had a bunch of leftovers in the fridge so I could throw dinner on the table quickly. Tomorrow is Clark's birthday, so I suggested we eat at the restaurant here to celebrate. His hope is that we will be able to use the dinghy tomorrow to go exploring. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.