10 December 2025
Today started out as a somewhat typical Wednesday. I am signed up for a laundry timeslot on Wednesday mornings. Clark helped me roll it up to the washer and dryer to start the day. The door to the washer and dryer was locked when I got there, and it took a while for someone to get the key to let me in. It was a little frustrating because I was anxious to get the laundry done as we had plans for lunch today. All turned out well in the end as I finished with plenty of time to spare. Clark and I hung out in the Captain's Lounge and talked with other folks until the dryer finally buzzed its completion.
Our dear friends, Beverly and Dave as well as Dorothy and Clayton, came to the Keys for a visit this week and invited us to go out to lunch with them today. I expected we would go someplace here in Marathon and was pleasantly surprised when they said we would be going to the No Name Pub in the Big Pine Key area. We have been there a couple of times in the past and enjoyed it.
As we walked up to the street to meet them, we passed a bunch of boaters gathered around some tables near the pool. They had convened to do tie-dye t-shirts.
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| Tie dye with Concierge Grace at Marlin Bay Marina |
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| Boater Jeff |
Walking through the main building, I looked for Marley and Reef to see what mischief they were up to today.
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| Sign reads: Help! Don't swallow the Bubble Gum! |
It took both Clark and I a minute to get the joke.
Our friends arrived to pick us up in two cars because neither car could accommodate six people. Clark jumped in the car with Beverly and Dave while I got in the back seat of Clayton and Dorothy's car. (We traded cars on the way back to Marathon after lunch.)
The No Name Pub is off the beaten track. They seem to be proud of their location and congratulate people who actually show up there.
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| "No Name Pub" "You Found Us" |
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| Welcome sign |
While we waited for our lunches to arrive (which were delicious by the way), Clark grabbed some pictures.
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| Clayton and Dorothy |
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| Beverly & Dave |
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| Ev & Clark (no Clark did not take this picture) |
After we finished eating, we decided to take our conversation outside. I was lucky with my seating, but the folks on the far side of the table had been blasted throughout lunch by air blowing from the air conditioning vent. We found a picnic table in partial sun outside to warm up while we continued talking.
As we sat there a few Key Deer came poking around probably looking for a free lunch.
On the ride to and from the restaurant, we passed some familiar sites including the 7-mile bridge and Fred the Tree. I regretted not getting any pictures, but then Clark handed me his phone and Voila! pictures! Yay! (Remember he was in the other car, so it was a surprise that he had pictures.)
When the new bridge was built, a lot of the old bridge remained and can be seen from the highway. The condition of the old bridge is shocking, and signs are posted every few feet warning boaters of the danger of falling debris from the rotting bridge.
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| Old bridge running along side of Route 1 |
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| Danger sign (left side) warns of possible falling chunks of metal and cement |
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| It all looks bad with some sections worse than others |
As we got closer to Marathon, we passed the tree "Fred" and Fred's friends. Some call the second largest tree "Wilma"; others have assigned names I cannot remember. Fred is an Australian Pine.
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| "Fred the Tree" |
Every Christmas season, "elves" manage to climb onto the bridge to decorate Fred and friends. This year the lights are not hanging on Fred. Instead there is a tree-shaped light display standing in front of two of the trees.
Fred is famous, and even has a book written about him after he survived Hurricane Irma. With all the devastation from that hurricane that hit the middle Keys hard, Fred remained standing as a symbol of endurance and hope.
Later, when we were back on the boat, I happened to notice the sky changing colors and ran out to grab some pictures as the sun lowered itself towards the horizon. The rain we saw over the past couple of days seems to have moved on, but our boat continues to rock in the wind.
Towards the west ...
Being the Christmas season, we watched two rom-com Christmas movies tonight. Before calling it a night, we checked out the Stephen Colbert show where we saw an interesting interview with Taylor Swift.
11 December 2025
Like a house, boats come with chores. We get an extra one on a boat, however, today (Thursday) is "pump-out day" for our dock. Clark gets the hands-on, suck the poop out of the tank job. When the process is finished, I pour the "chemicals" in the toilet to prevent odors emanating from the tank. We use Odorlos which breaks down the contents in the tank without using formaldehyde. That leads me to clean the toilet and the bathroom and then move on to the rest of the boat to dust and vacuum, etc.
Since it is the Christmas season, I put up our tree (that I drew and painted) and
I went "all out" this year as I also have the "shattered paper" craft on display that I made at the library last week.
Getting low on food, I convinced Clark to go with me to Publix this morning to stock up on some things. We both bring backpacks, and I am careful not to buy more than I think we can carry on our backs or in bags attached to the bikes. Today, thankfully, I did not need to replenish much, and we finished our shopping relatively quickly.
For the trip to Publix, I got to do a test ride on my newly (one more time) repaired bike tire. I rode it around the parking lot after Clark did the repair work, but today was the real test of taking it out on Route 1 for a shopping trip. We made it there and back successfully. We are both hoping that the tire will continue to remain inflated now that the repair has been done with a brand new tube!
Clark continues to work on the autopilot repair. He is working on figuring out the connections for the hydraulic hoses. He has been emailing a supplier who can make the hoses for him once they decide what connections are needed. He has been in and out of the lazarette taking measurements and pictures to solve this puzzle. No wonder he hoped he could get the other one to work. This is a lot of research trying to get it right.
Related to the bike repair, Clark heard from one of the places he bought tubes that he should mark them "Return to Sender" and send them back. The owner of the shop has apparently had bad luck with that brand of tube failing and doesn't want Clark stuck with a potentially defective product. We took a walk up to the marina building to ask them to try to catch the package when it comes in to send it straight back.
When I stepped off the boat to walk up to the office, I saw that the birds had taken over the lower end of our dock - too many to count!
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| There they go! |
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| "What? How else did you think potato chips were made?" |
By the time I was heading back to the boat, the sun was lowering. I wandered the marina looking for pictures and found some pretty good ones (I think).
The crosshatch design in the sky was an interesting change.
