2026 February: Art Jewelry Photography & Cuba Talk

 22 February 2026 - Sunday

Today started as a nice sunny day. We went to church at St. Columba as per usual where Clark played his guitar in the church band. Colder weather with some rain was expected later in the day. The wind came in and brought a distinct chill to the air as predicted.

Clouds rolled in.

The feathers on the bird standing on the dock next to our boat were fluttering in the wind!

Once again the marina pool was devoid of swimmers due to the briskness of the air! The hot tub however had a regular crowd of occupants. 

23 February 2026 - Monday

The weather story in Marathon today was, once again, strong, north winds bringing a significant chill to the air. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, more snow was in the forecast. I'll take Florida's winds over New Jersey's chilly temps with snow any day!

Clark has been helping a fellow boater with a battery issue on his boat. It started out as a simple question: "Why can't I get my phone to connect with my solar panel MPPT controller?" The answer to that question was simple: the unit was defective and needed a replacement part. Once the part arrived, the phone to solar panel connection could be made. 

That should have been the end of the discussion; however, Clark noticed that the battery charge was over 14V when it should be in a 13.5 range. That led to inspecting batteries and refilling them with water. That required removing the front row of batteries to get access to the fill holes of the back set which were located under an exhaust hose. While doing this work, he noticed the shunt was not wired correctly and corrected that. While the batteries were disconnected, the 12V DC house system continued to operate. He found the windlass battery was also tied into the wire feeding the house loads. 

Further, this battery turned out to be AGM while the house bank was a bank of 8 flooded golf cart batteries. These two banks should be separated, so a rewiring seemed in order. This led to a parts order first to add a switch to the solar panel side of the controller to prevent any future issues if the battery bank is disconnected, and second, to address the rewiring. The rewiring would need a charge source for the windless from the alternator for extended cruising. While looking into this, Clark determined there was no charge source from the alternators for the bow thruster bank either. The boat had be rewired from the original setup with additional battery banks. The project is on-going. 

Meanwhile, I had invited the three young girls from "Still Waters" to come on our boat to do some jewelry making. I spent the morning pulling out my supplies and coming up with ideas for bracelets. The girls, Sienna, Hannah, and Tessa, arrived with their mother Lisa at precisely 1:00 as planned. They selected the beads they wanted to use and got to work. 

Sienna's creation

Hannah's bracelet

Tessa walked away with a number of items on her wrist. Two she made and one woven one made by her sister. Tessa made one with a "T" for Tessa and one with an "R" (for her middle name).

Tessa's bracelets

Sienna & Hannah

Sienna modeling her design

Tessa showing her bounty

We all had fun. Their visit was shorter than I expected as they all worked quite efficiently. Sienna and Hannah gave me some instruction on woven bracelets. When they were done, I played around with some materials and created a 4-strand, woven bracelet myself.

4-strand, braided bracelet

As Clark was gone all day on the battery issue, I decided to walk up to the Club House for bingo. It was held indoors today as it was too cold and windy to entice players to the pool bar. We got one card for the first couple of rounds and then two cards for the next two sets. Four women won; I came close once, but I was not one of the winners!

Hannah. who had been on our boat doing jewelry with me earlier in the day was the caller of the numbers for Bingo. She is quite extroverted and has been calling bingo the last few times it has been offered. She is very good at it and does not take any guff from the attendees. Right after the first number called, a boater (Lou) yelled out, "BINGO!" 

She told us all, "The next person to call out Bingo that doesn't have bingo will have to wear a basket on their head!" She was not kidding, as someone called Bingo when he shouldn't, and she had him wear the basket!

To make the game take longer (so they can sell more drinks) and be a bit more of a challenge, they have the contestants try to match various patterns like an "M" or an "X".  The "M" pattern does not have any "N #s" in it, so Hannah said she would not call any "Ns". However, she did call N's a couple of times, and, on the third time, her sister, Sienna, put the wire basket on Hannah's head! 

All in good fun - Now you wear it!!!

After Bingo, I made my way back to the boat circa 6:00 p.m. or so. Clark returned from the "battery" boat after I did. When he saw our boat, he noticed that the anemometer up on the fly bridge, that is supposed to be upright and reading wind speeds and directions, was hanging off the mast by a single wire. 

Dan, who walked back with him from the "battery boat", ended up helping Clark take down the anemometer so it could be repaired. They worked together to take down the mast, remove the anemometer, and put the mast back up. Clark would need to do some repair work before it could be reinstalled.

Our sunset picture tonight shows some wave action from the strong winds. 

I took a video to try to capture the sound effects of the wind.

24 February 2026 - Tuesday

The weather still has a distinct chill in the air. As I walked  out of the Club House this morning, I passed a baby iguana hanging out in the sun on the steps. I walked next to it, but it was too lethargic from the cold to consider running away or even moving over. It looked at me, and that was as much as it could muster up for energy.

Cold Iguana!

Today, Clark was back on the "battery boat" to continue their work. Several times on this project, parts were required before work could continue, so it has been going on for a while.  Meanwhile, I enjoyed myself playing Mahjongg with other boaters here at the marina. Today, we had enough folks for two tables - a table with 4 players and another with 3. The participants changed each time depending on what time and commitments folks have. 

Several women have Mahjongg sets. I am not one of those women, so I am dependent on someone with a set coming to join the activity. I am relatively new to the game having only learned last season here in Marathon. Then, I played a simpler version with only two players. The four-person variety has a lot more rules and procedures. 

Later in the day, Clark and I attended a presentation on Cuba given by a couple who took their boat there a few years ago (2017 if I remember correctly). They showed a video of highlights of their trip. The event was held at the Marathon Yacht Club. This was only the second time we have been invited here.

Some history of MYC

Guest speaker being introduced

Presenter 

Following the presentation, ten of us from the MTOA organization sat at a table together for dinner. 

Pam and CJ from MTOA

After dinner, I slipped outside to take a couple of pictures in the area as the  sun set.

The view looking out into the water did not excite me overly much. However, when I turned around, I caught a view of myself reflected in the window to the yacht club. 

Me taking a picture of the sunset reflected 
in the yacht club window

Clark had gone directly to the yacht club event from guitar practice. Consequently, he rode his bike there and had his guitar strapped to his back. I, on the other hand, walked to the yacht club as it is only about 3 blocks away from our marina. With the wind pushing our boat away from the dock, I did not feel like trying to get my bike off the boat. That is normally Clark's job or a joint venture. Walking was simpler. 

However, that meant that after dinner at the yacht club, he was on a bike and me walking "home" in the dark. Fortunately, a couple we know from the marina were also at the Cuba event. They are not part of MTOA but were there having been invited by an acquaintance at the Marathon Garden Club who is a member of the yacht club. Mike and Carol offered me a ride back to our marina, and I accepted. Clark biked back alone.

25 February 2026 - Wednesday

Today, being Wednesday, meant I started the day at the Captain's Lounge doing laundry. I had a couple of loads worth that I hauled up there using my "Dolly Trolly". I look like a bag lady dragging myself through the marina, but it sure beats having to drag it a mile down the road to a laundromat. 

Clark took a break at lunch from the "battery boat" to go visit another boater who needed help installing a replacement microwave on his boat before returning to the battery boat later. The old one gave out on him. His boat is just down the way from ours. When he was wheeling the new microwave to his boat in a cart, he saw me and said, "I heard a rumor Clark is good with electrical stuff." I asked him what he needed and, when he told me, I said that was something Clark could easily take care of for him. 

I was correct in my assessment. Clark took care of the "fix" rapidly. He gave the boat owner two choices: 1) install an outlet or 2) cut the wire from the microwave and use connectors to wire it in. He opted for the "cut the wire" choice. 

A couple of weeks ago, I had a jewelry session with Heidi here at Marlin Bay and made myself a pair of earrings. Today, she had a jewelry-making session where folks could decide what to make - an anklet or a necklace. I decided to make myself a necklace to match the earrings I made in the prior session. 

Heidi's sample bead arrangements

The necklace shown below are the ones I made to coordinate with the earrings I made in the prior session.

26 February 2026

Today, being Thursday, we had pump-out of the waste holding tank on the agenda. However, I left Clark to deal with that as they had not arrived by 10:15 when I had to leave to get to Mahjongg on time for today's session. 

Yesterday, I took some time to convert a beach towel into a table cover for the Mahjongg sessions. The tables we use have holes in the center for beach umbrellas. I thought the "mat" would help cover the hole. The last couple of times we met, someone taped a piece of paper over the hole. 

Mah Jongg Card for 2025

I have come a long way from last year when I had no idea what a "card" was.  Sometimes it seems hopeless and confusing, but I have even managed to get Mahjongg a few times! Today we had one table of four players. The first two rounds, no one won, i.e., "The Wall Won". Roni won the third round and Ronda won the fourth. I only needed one tile to win on the fourth round!

Yesterday, when I made the necklace in Heidi's jewelry session, I had spare time and made some additional jewelry as gifts for my grandchildren. I wanted to do another item and arranged with Heidi to meet her at the pool bar today to complete that one more piece. She brought the components I had selected and would need to complete the item.  She had minimal folks coming to the bar for beverages, so the two of us worked side-by-side as I  created the jewelry. 

Clark has three things he is currently juggling while I am off having fun. The main things taking his time are taxes, guitar practice, and the "battery boat". 

27 February 2026 - Friday

The library decided to have sewing sessions instead of photography for the better part of January and February. Today, finally, they held a photography session that I enjoyed participating in. 

The assignment:  9 angles, 1 subject: Take a photo of the same thing from 9 different points of views.

Only two of us attended this photography session. The two of us and Maria, the instructor,  left the library and walked to Keys Fisheries to see what we could find for subject matter. The answer? Birds, birds, and more birds!

Egret poses ...

I learned from the fellow photo workshop participant that a group of pelicans is called a "squadron"!

Pelican poses ...

After class, I was still into the theme of things and found a non-bird subject at the marina. Maria said the idea of the assignment is to make folks guess what the big picture is by building up to it. I could not do that with the pelicans or egrets. Below is my submission for my homework assignment!

A rack of Kayaks!

At 3:00 today, we got a real treat! Our AGLCA looper friends that we met in 2015 arrived from Michigan to spend some time in Marathon. Their rental would not be available until Saturday at 3:00, so they stayed overnight on our boat with us. 

We talked continuously to make up for not having seen them in far too long. They brought us lovely tulips!

Clark, Jim, JoAnn, and Ev
(Tulips in corner of picture!)

We decided to go to the "Island Fish Company" for dinner. This is a restaurant that is just a little too far over the Vaca Cut bridge for me to want to bike there for dinner. For this restaurant, however, the customer has a choice on transportation - one can drive a car, ride a bike, come by dinghy, or even fly in on a helicopter as they have a landing pad! 

The food was excellent. We had about a 30 minute wait for a table when we arrived at 5:30 or so.

I took a sunset picture from our table in the restaurant.

After dinner we stopped at Sweet Savannah's for ice cream. Sinfully delicious!

28 February 2026 - Saturday

To start the day, I wanted to get to the Farmer's Market, Publix, and Walgreens. JoAnn had their car and agreed to take me. We stopped at the Farmer's Market spot first and were disappointed to find no market. Today was the last Saturday of the month when St. Columba has their $5 bag sale. The space where the truck usually sits was full of cars parked for the folks filling their $5 bags! 

Next we went to the post office so JoAnn could mail a letter, then Walgreens for a prescription, and finally Publix for food. Afterwards, we had lunch on the boat, and mid-afternoon, Jim and JoAnn could check into their rental, so they left to get situated.

Marlin Bay has been advertising a big event at the marina for tonight - "Casino Night". The cost to attend was way out of my league especially as I am no gambler. We got to see them doing some of the preparation at the Club House, but the building was shut down to non-participants after 5:00, so I never saw the final result of the "remodeling".

Entrance to upstairs

Lounge area with all furniture removed to
make way for the casino tables

The table for prizes was set up. Buckets to collect ticket entries were located behind the signs.

I saw nothing that I would want to win. 

John Bartus: Life Performance for a
Private Party
(I don't plan to have a party on the boat)

Restaurant Certificate and
Pearl Necklace

Autographed Hockey Puck
Yay!

Rumor has it that the prizes in previous years were more valuable. I would not know. One boater staying at Marlin Bay marina  (that I know of) attended the event. He said it was well-attended. It was a fundraiser for high school graduate scholarship awards - a worthy cause indeed!

Later in the day, I took a peek out the window and was not super impressed by what I saw for a sunset, so I decided not to bother taking a picture. Then, later, I saw a picture posted on Facebook that Hannah from Still Waters had taken. Wow! What a shot! It's certainly not what I saw when I looked out!