2023: Christmas Week Marathon FL

 27 December 2023

no boat travel

We had a lovely visit from our friend Allie who Clark got to know when she worked at Marlin Bay. She stopped at Irie Island Eats to buy their fish dip to bring us for lunch. She had a bit of a tussle getting the dip as they insisted she could not order lunch food at breakfast time. She persuaded them, eventually, to change their mind and allow her to buy the fish dip before lunchtime. 

Allie and Clark went for a dip in the pool while Ev stayed on the boat. When they returned, we enjoyed lunch. After which, Clark and Allie both left. Allie to visit other friends at the marina, and Clark to go to a guitar practice session for church on Sunday.

28 December 2023

no boat travel

Weather yesterday was great for Allie's visit. She works hard at multiple jobs and yesterday and today are the first days off from work she has had in a year's time! Unfortunately, today's weather was anything but great. 

We woke to the bed literally bouncing! We had 33 knot winds in our slip (I had Clark go check it out). To go with the winds, the day started with torrential downpours. What a difference from yesterday. Clark said that when Allie asked if she should come Wednesday or Thursday, Clark told her Wednesday due to the weather.

We received a couple of text messages from other boaters here at the marina. One of the funnier ones was "Isn't this great? We have our own bouncy houses!" Another complained that she had 3 foot waves in her slip (we believe she exaggerated). I had no place to go, so I found the bouncing rather entertaining. On occasion, I looked drunk as I stumbled from one end of the boat to the other.

Late morning I walked up to the marina office and saw waves in the pool as I walked by.

Clark took some amazing sunset pictures at the end of the day.

Sunset Reflections

Clark taking reflection photo

Faro Blanco lighthouse lit in background

29 December 2023

no boat travel

Clark and I had busy days today. I went my way and he went his. I spent my day at the library. They offered three different activity programs today that got my attention. 

While I was busy attending classes at the library, Clark spent a good part of the day on his bicycle. He took off first thing in the morning to bike to the far end of Marathon to get the results of the MRI he had done on his shoulder. He called yesterday and they told him he could get the results today, so he was anxious to get there for the information. The MRI shows no tears in the rotator cuff or disconnected tendons, which we feared may be the case. There were six abnormalities including tendinosis and tendinitis, and he will need to talk to his doctor about what to do next. With it being the holiday season, he has to wait for his doctor to be available to discuss next steps. 

After returning to the boat from the Urgent Care center, he loaded up his backpack with 3 gallons of used engine oil and biked over to the City Marina to dispose of the oil. He returned to the boat for another 3 gallons. Dumped that, and returned to the boat for the used oil filters and took them over to dispose of them. I don't know how many pounds of weight that entailed, but even 1 gallon of oil is not light!

All this was done before lunch. I was not on the boat when he was ready for lunch, but I gave him a suggestion on what he could make. After lunch, he took off on the bicycle once more. This time heading to a little-known marina near the Castaways restaurant. Folks that stayed here at Marlin Bay recently, on a boat named "Rock N Roll" asked Clark for help a ground fault issue on their boat. He found comingled shore power and inverter neutrals plus an old reverse polarity buzzer that would cause trips.  He did not get back to our boat until after dark - around 7:00 p.m. What a full day he had!

Meanwhile, I enjoyed time at the library. To start, I arrived there at 11:00 for photography class. Today's discussion involved taking a series of photos to tell a story.  The challenge was to take pictures that ultimately led to the viewer seeing the full object.  The below shows sample pictures.

Stool at the library

Tapestry on Library Wall

The photography class ended shortly after 1:00, and the cricut class started at 2:00. I decided I did not have enough time to walk back to the boat, eat lunch, and walk back again. I thought I would grab a bite to eat at Keys Fisheries just down the street from the library. 

"Shuckers & Shakers" at 
Keys Fisheries

I got quite a shock when I walked over to where orders are placed.  The line was across the parking lot, and as I watched, more people joined the queue. One would think they were giving away food, but when I checked the prices, a simple sandwich was $30. I neither had the time nor the inclination to drop that much money on a fish sandwich. 

I decided to see if the "Stuffed Pig" was still open. They only serve breakfast and lunch. I hoped lunch ended at 2:00. It did not. The Stuffed Pig closed at 1:00 as did the food truck parked out back. As I stood on Route 1 wondering what to do now, I saw the sign for the Overseas Pub and decided to check out their schedule. They were open, so I went in and ordered lunch.

After my Coconut Shrimp and fries, I returned to the library for the Cricut class. I got there at 2:05, but the teacher was just getting started. She offered us the choice of making masks for New Years 2024 or making key chains. She had a couple of masks there as samples. She was giving them away, so I took one back to the boat.

Some assembly required

No one was thrilled with the mask idea, so we made acrylic key chains today. One person picked a cat for her keychain, another chose a flower, and three of us chose a palm tree. 

First we picked our components.

Then the instructor used the cricut machine to etch the design, and we assembled the keychains.

When I got back to the boat, I used markers to color the palm tree to complete the project.

My third session at the library was a sewing class for beginners. Since I have been sewing for 50 years, I cannot call myself a beginner. I offered the instructor help in case a lot of people showed up. She asked me to bring my sewing machine, so she could see what a Jenome looks like. (The model I have does not appear to be on sale any longer.) It is extremely basic in its abilities and designed for the beginner sewer!

It is about 3 blocks to the library from our boat. The machine probably weighs no more than 5 pounds, but by the time I got to the library, it was feeling heavier and heavier. I was glad to set it down. As it turned out, the only folks at the sewing session were me and the instructor. She checked out my basic sewing machine, and I got sewing machine envy checking out the very sophisticated and smart machine she used. The library has a closet full of sewing supplies including four very nice sewing machines!

The instructor, the same person who leads our art and photography classes, wanted to do some sewing. She pulled out a couple of bins of scrap fabric - mostly canvas. She decided to make a cushion for herself. I found some non-canvas fabric and made a bandana for my Vermont Teddy Bear. The square of fabric I found was a bit too small to make a bandana for me.

All set for the 4th of July

The sewing session finished at 6:00, and I walked back to the boat in the dark. I was somewhat surprised to find that Clark had not yet returned from his day's activities. Then again, he went to work on someone's boat, so who knew when he might return. He finally came in the door around 7:00. Since I had a late and bigger-than-usual lunch, I had no problem waiting until he got back to start dinner.

30 December 2023

no boat travel

Last Saturday, we arrived at the farmers market shortly after 9:00 and came away with only tomatoes as everything had been picked over. Today I decided that I would pre-order. I set my alarm for 6:30, so I could check my email to see what today's specials would include. I was greeted with the image shown below.

Corn ... Available Today

I picked out what I wanted from the list and sent an email with my selections. That way we could arrive when ready and have the food waiting for us. I sent Clark back to the boat with the veggies and continued on to Publix. He later joined me there to help me carry my other purchases back to the boat. 

We are experiencing cool weather this week. It is interesting to walk by the pool area. We see folks in bikinis lying out to get a tan, and folks hanging out in the hot tub. Then, a short distance away at the pool bar, we see the bartender Kristin in a quilted parka and long pants complaining she is freezing. 

Clark went out with his camera again tonight to get pictures at the marina around sunset.

31 December 2023 - New Year's Eve

no boat travel

Clark left at 9:00 this morning to go to the church for band practice before the service at 11:00. Someone from the church came and picked him up so he didn't have to walk to the church a little less than a mile away. That guitar gets heavy in a hurry!

Midmorning, I heard the boat a couple down from us leaving their slip. It took me by surprise as I did not realize they would be leaving this soon in the season. Then I heard a bunch of bow-thruster noises and realized they were just changing slips. "Bagus" had to move to the west dock, so another boat could have their slip on the east dock. That's our second neighbor that has moved to the other side of the marina. I heard that 15 boats are coming into the marina tomorrow, so I doubt we will be lonely for very long.

I hung out at the boat until about 10:30 and then I walked to the church for the service. I decided that if I walked there, I could most likely get a ride back with Clark. I walked at a brisk pace and arrived at 10:59! Thank goodness it was cool today and a pleasant walk.

We have a new walkway at the marina. We have been watching its progress over the past couple of weeks. It gives us more direct access to leave the docks at the marina without having to walk through the marina building to exit the grounds. I got to use it today for the first time.

Steve, the dockhand who invited us to come to St Columba for church service, did all the labor involved in building the walkway. He had to dig through all sorts of roots and rocks. It was hard work, and he did a great job!

I enjoyed the church service, and Clark had a good time playing with the others in the "band". They had Clark on guitar, Nancy on keyboard, Steve on banjo, and "Johnny Live" singing. We hung out at the church after the service ended. Free lunch and coffee was offered to those interested in partaking of the fare. "Johnny Live" invited us to come to Dockside restaurant on Monday's to hear him play and sing there. We may go tomorrow.

We had no plans for the rest of the day. Clark filled the water tank and decided that the drier weather made it a good day to put more Bristol Finish on the bright work of the boat, i.e. the wood trim. I decided that my plan would be to read my novel. Clark only interrupted me a few times, so it worked out okay. I actually prefer reading on the boat to reading by the pool. 

Mid-day, Susie from "All Talk" walked by with a flyer advertising a shindig at the pool at 5:45 (sunset) to celebrate New Year's Eve. Had she not stopped by, we would never have known about this marina-sponsored event.

Guy with Marina Staff

The light snacks included subs, so as far as I was concerned I had had dinner. Clark was still looking for food when we got back to the boat, so I had to scrounge something up for us. I can't have him fading away from lack of food! I decided if he was eating, I might as well have some of my fresh corn for dinner.

Waiting for midnight, I decided to update the blog with this week's activities. As I typed, we could hear boom, boom outside. Clark rushed out to look at fireworks from the city park.

Eyeballs staring out of fireworks smoke!

Clark said he saw folks with kayaks sitting out in the water watching the fireworks show! That sounds a bit crazy. It's dark out there, and for Florida, it's cold outside!

Moonlit Kayaks watching fireworks in distance