2024 December: Marathon FL

 

29 - 30 November 2024

No travel

With a cold front arriving from the north, we decided to stay put at the Barley Basin anchorage in Islamorada. The mangroves off to our north side offered some protection whereas anchoring in Marathon until our marina reservation date would put us in water more open with "fetch" to produce higher waves.

The 29th was a lazy day where I took advantage of Black Friday and did the Christmas shopping for the grandkids. I find it amazingly easy to spend money while relaxing on a boat with my feet up. We did a video chat with our Idaho grandkids last night where I got ideas from the Christmas wish list as to what they might want for gifts. 

On the 30th  we had wind and waves from the cold front. "Horror of horrors" we had 1' waves in the anchorage! Just kidding! One foot waves aren't really a problem. 

Turbulent water at the anchorage

A while later Clark pointed out that he could see whitecaps on the waves, so it had picked up a bit since I took the picture off the boat.

We decided not to move as it was certainly better here than it would be in Marathon. Consequently, we enjoyed another lazy day at Islamorada on the boat. We listened to music from Clark's mp3 player. He has an amazing number of songs on there. Meanwhile, he made a todo list of all the things he wants / needs to do while here in Marathon. I spent my time reading and doing word puzzles. 

Clark grabbed my phone camera to capture tonight's sunset.

1 December 2024

Depart: Barley Basin anchorage Islamorada, FL 9:20

Arrive: Marlin Bay Resort, Marathon, FL 1:20

Distance: ~ 30 nm

Knowing we did not have far to travel today, we did not have to rush this morning. Even so we took a little longer getting on our way than originally planned. Clark received a call from someone at Marlin Bay yesterday to confirm our arrival. He had estimated we would arrive around noon. Our main concern for travel related to the forecasted weather. We are expecting another front from the north to come through today bringing colder temps and more wind. We wanted to get docked midday hoping to experience a little less wind than later in the day. 

Weather conditions were not an issue for today's travel. However, we did have to be on continuous fish pot duty for the duration of the trip. It was a mine field out there. Even in the Everglades Park, where no pots are allowed, we saw pots. Not too many, but it only takes one to ruin your day.  Clark had moved over into the Everglades Park zone to avoid pots.

Before arriving at the marina, Clark gave me some coaching on how we might approach getting bow lines on the poles at the slip given the wind issue. Meanwhile, I worked out in my mind how all the other lines should be set up as similar to last season as possible. Finally, we had the marina in view. 

Chart showing our boat moving 
towards Marathon

I prepped the lines before we came into the marina. Deploying the bow lines was definitely a challenge given the 17 knot wind from the north. I tried to get the starboard line on first via Clark's instructions, but  I could not make it happen before the wind had us on the other side of the slip. 

With the wind blowing us hard to port and up against the pole there, I had an easy time of it putting the port side bow line on the pole. Then Clark used the bow thruster to work us back over to try for the starboard pole. Eventually he decided to let the port stern rest on a pole and just use the bow thruster to get the bow over. That worked and I got the second line on. 

Meanwhile, we had people on the dock waiting to catch our remaining lines. Because the docks here are fixed docks, getting the lines set up correctly is very important. We spent an hour getting settled in. Even so, we expect to have to make some tweaks. Clark just reviewed the wind forecast with me. We are expecting winds up towards 30 knots. That can make it very challenging to get on and off the boat. 

Having not been off the boat for several days, I was anxious to get off and stretch my legs. We made a quick walk around the docks. There are some boats here but not as many as expected - probably due to the weather. We talked to our friend Steve who works here. He said that originally 16 boats were due to come in today. Then it dropped down to 8. Finally, only 2 of us decided to come in today. 

Of the boats here, two before us were ones we remembered from last year. The other boat that came in today also brought people we had met previously. The boat was new to them since last time they were here, so we did not recognize the boat name. However, the big ole bulldog standing in the cockpit sure looked familiar. Sure enough it was the one we met last season named "Bok Choy". He loves treats but he is a slobbery mess when he takes them. 

On our walk we saw something familiar - an iguana stopped to pose for us and give us a lookover.

We stopped by the pool to see who was in the "boater's corner" and found two friends - Brian and Ed. Ed said the water was about 88 degrees. That sounds fine until you have to get out of the water and freeze at 70 degrees.  Quite a few kids were also enjoying the water. 

I told Clark before we got here that we would be eating out tonight. Since it gets dark early, we decided to go to Overseas Pub which is only a short walk from the marina. I did not feel like riding the bike in the wind at night. Walking sounded so much better.

We left the boat just in time to see the sunset as we headed towards the restaurant.

Faro Blanco Lighthouse in background

Overseas Pub

This guy greeted us when we arrived at the restaurant

Mural in parking lot at Overseas Pub

Sunday Football at the Pub

Our waiter at the restaurant introduced himself as "Archer" because there are so many Michaels in the world. He is here from Hawaii trying to earn a living as his home town in Maui burned to the ground. When he left there, all he had one bag of clothes that included one pair of mismatched socks! His residence and all his other belongings were lost in the fire. He's a bit of a wanderer and has been here there and everywhere since he left Hawaii. He made a trip to Idaho as part of his travels because once upon a time he left a bag of warmer clothes there that he would not need in Hawaii. He went back to get them. His  friend invited him to come work on his sailboat and live on it here in Marathon, and he's working at the Overseas Pub to earn some extra money.