2021: More Marlin Bay Resort

 December 10 to 16, 2021

We have kept busy this past week with a few chores mixed in with a lot of relaxing. Every day, it seems, another boat comes into the marina, and as a result, we have more people to meet and more names to remember. Clark and I are both good with boat names and terrible at remembering people names. I have made a cheat sheet and have a copy on my phone. Clark quizzes me on a regular basis simply because he is hopeless at remembering names until they have been drilled into his head.

Many of the boaters we are meeting have come from North Carolina. They keep their boats in the same marina in NC and know each other quite well. They have been kind to us northerners and invited us to join them for docktails on the point by the lookout tower. It's an ideal place for docktails as the sunset every night rarely fails to be beautiful.

11 December 2021 - Saturday

Saturday is "Farmers Market" day here in Marathon. As she did when our boat was positioned next to hers at Faro Blanco, Sandy took me with her to go shopping. When I got into her car at Marlin Bay, two others were in the car with her. I recognized Anne from "Morning Star II" instantly. The other person introduced herself as Jenny Lynn. I replied, "Melody in C"?. She beamed and said, "Oh, are you that Evelyn?! With Clark?!" 

"Melody in C" is the name of her boat. JoAnn McFall is our mutual friend. Jenny Lynn and I met briefly at a marina in Staten Island where the McFalls and "Melody in C" stopped on their way to complete their Great Loop in Michigan. Clark and I drove to Staten Island from New Jersey to meet up with them before they continued on their way home.

Later, Clark walked up to use the restrooms by the pool and never returned. I figured he had found people to talk to. We met folks here at Marlin Bay on a boat, "Black Swan", similar to, though a few years older than, our model boat. Finally, I got a text saying Clark was on "Black Swan". A few days earlier, they had visited us and toured our boat. With the news that Clark was on their boat, I put on my shoes and walked over to climb aboard to join them.

When I arrived, I found Clark had buried himself in the engine room with Oscar to trace wires through the boat - no surprise there. I joined Pam in the salon to chat. Every once in a while Oscar would poke his head out to say hello or get something. When he lingered too long, Pam would try to shoo him away to go rejoin Clark. Oscar told us Clark was busy reading manuals and tracing wires and did not even notice if Oscar was there or not! That sounds like Clark!

As the afternoon wore on, Pam announced that she was going to get her suit on and go to the pool. That sounded like a good idea and all the motivation I needed to do the same. We told the guys we were leaving and set off to have some fun while they labored on the boat. When we got to the pool, we found Anette from "Bagus" there before us, so we joined her and became a threesome. 

The pool here is quite magnificent. Currently, since it is still somewhat off season, we frequently find the pool empty or mostly empty. The Concierge here told us to enjoy the quiet while it lasts as the marina will fill up in January. The pool is longer than most pools and about 5-feet deep from one end to the other. Clark loves the long pool as he can swim laps. 

Pool at Marlin Bay Resort

Unlike most pools, it deepens from side-to-side, not end-to-end. Swimmers have a choice as their are steps and stairs into the pool. In addition, one can just walk into the pool from one side. The edge of the pool laps onto a brickwork "beach".

Shallow, Walk-in Pool - no stairs or steps involved!

The Hot Tub is indeed hot! Instead of feeling chilled when getting out on a windy day, it feels refreshing after a super hot dip in the Jacuzzi! Anette, her husband Bill, and I enjoyed lounging together in the bubbles of the hot tub!

Hot tub / Jacuzzi 

12 December 2021 - Sunday

Maintenance Run on Boat

High winds were predicted for the next week. They already seemed to be picking up a bit. Even so, Clark said he wanted to take the boat out for a maintenance run today. I told him that if he set up the lines, I was good to go, so he did just that. When he was done, we had two lines left on the boat - a breast line at midships and a stern line to hold us near the dock against the wind. When Clark had the engines running and ready, I threw off these two lines easy peasy and we were off!

Since it was just after 11:00 when we left, Clark suggested we drop anchor and eat lunch or eat lunch along the way. I am not keen on maintenance runs just for the sake of being a maintenance run. Dropping anchor and hanging out for a while before returning sounded like the better idea to me, so that is what we did. 

We mostly traveled the path we did when we stayed at Faro Blanco and headed for John Sawyer Bank Shoal. It is supposed to be a great fishing spot, but since we do not fish, we would not know. After reaching our destination, we turned and headed back towards the main channel where Clark could find a spot to drop anchor with good holding power. 

It was noon when we dropped anchor and perfect for our picnic. Clark and I joked that we could tell folks we "ate out" for lunch. Since we never seem to go to restaurants, this is as close to eating out as I get!! 

After lunch, while we were still at anchor, I did some cleaning of the upper helm. It gets really dirty up there. I hate sitting up there looking at the grime as we travel, so I decided that I would wash it down while I was thinking about it. Seems like I just did this job, but it does not last long before it has to be done again!

As I cleaned the upper helm, Clark rigged a bridle to the anchor line with a thin piece of rope as an experiment to see if a bridle would help reduce the swing of the boat at anchor.  The picture below that I took from the internet shows approximately what Clark rigged on our boat.

Example of a bridle on anchor line

Clark could not tell until he removed the line whether it helped or not, but once he removed the bridle, the boat turned to be at almost a 90 degree angle to the anchor line. This happens when the current and wind disagree with each other. The bridle must have been working well as it had kept us facing into the wind until removed! I guess we now have a new piece of anchoring equipment!

We pulled up anchor at 1:20 and headed back to the marina. Clark called the marina to tell them we were returning, and the dockmaster and one other dockhand came out to help with lines. We docked at 2:10. After pulling into the slip and getting the boat secure, Clark talked with the dockmaster for a while. 

When he was done talking, we adjusted and readjusted the lines to  prevent the boat rubbing on the dock while at the same time allowing the boat to be pulled over for easier off / on. We finally declared ourselves done with the lines at 3:00! It's no wonder I dislike maintenance runs - they are so much work for little (for me) payback!

Since we have not been in this marina before, we did not know what to expect for the predicted high winds later this week. Clark decided we should take a walk out and look at the surf protection at the end of our dock to see how much wave action we might expect. He decided that it looked well-protected.

Looks like we have a "Fred Junior"
growing on the rocks by the docks.

Since we were right there on their dock, the folks on the sailboat in the end slip came out to introduce themselves. The boat name is "Beach House". The owners are Brad and Tia with two children - a boy Morgan (8) and a girl Brooklyn (5). We stood there and talked for a very long time and heard about their move from Miami Beach to here as full-time cruisers.

13 December 2021 - Monday

On Monday, Clark got a surprise call from the dockmaster at Marlin Bay. We have been on the wait list for a slip in January and February since September. Some miracle occurred and the dockmaster called to say that they found a way for us to stay but it would require changing slips for January and then again for February. That seemed a small price to pay for staying in "paradise", so Clark readily agreed and cancelled our alternate plans for dockage in the Everglades for those two months. 

Over the past few days, Clark and I have been working on making Christmas cards. I put something together via PowerPoint then we took it to the UPS Store to be copied onto card stock. Unfortunately, we did not have enough envelopes to mail out all the cards, so we had to wait for Amazon to deliver. The envelopes arrived today. 

With the help of the internet, colored pencils, and colored ink pens, I made some special cards for my grandchildren. Below are two test cards that I made but did not send.

Cinderella

Toy Story - Woody and Buzz Lightyear
("to infinity and beyond!")

The kids enjoy receiving mail, and I get to do some artwork.

We did the addressing and stamping today and set the cards aside to mail out on Tuesday.

14 December 2021 - Tuesday

Before the day heated up, we rode our bikes to the post office to mail our cards. Afterwards, I ran into Publix to pick up a couple of items before heading back to the boat. We got back to the boat just after 11:00.  I told Clark that I wanted to go for a swim before lunch as I had not made it up to the pool on Tuesday even though I intended to go. I figured if I waited until after lunch, it just would not happen like it did not happen the day before. The pool felt wonderful after the hot bike ride.

Clark and I have taken numerous sunset pictures here. They are addicting. Anette, on "Bagus", said that by the end of the season we would have more sunset pictures than we would know what to do with! I think she might be right on that!

15 December 2021 - Wednesday

We invited our friends from Faro Blanco, Bill and Sandy on "L'Attitude Adjustment", to lunch today. I decided to get Lobster Rolls from Keys Fisheries to include in our meal. Their website says they are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. I wanted to get the sandwiches and then prepare the other dishes to go with it. We biked there at 10:30 and found the restaurant portion did not open until 11:00. Fortunately, the place is only .2 miles away - basically two blocks from the marina. We went back to the boat and then returned at 11:00 to be there when they opened. 

Keys Fisheries Menu

When a food order is placed at Keys Fisheries, they ask you not for your name but for some other piece of information. It might be a favorite song, for example. Today's choice was "Your favorite TV show". "MASH" came to my mind, so that was the "name" they called when our order was ready.

We quickly biked back to the boat as our company would arrive at 11:30, and Clark planned to meet them at the gate to the marina. Lunch was a success though Clark and Bill talked about repairing / replacing boat "heads" more than either Sandy or I appreciated. 

Bill and Sandy left mid-afternoon. At 4:30 Clark said we should walk over to the "tower" to see who was around for docktails. He met a bunch of folks there Tuesday when he went for a walk. They told him to come back and bring me along next time. 

Before heading to the tower, we walked down the other side of the outer harbor and met folks in a Nordic Tug, "Sea Gypsy". They are from the state of Washington. They bought the boat here in Florida and plan to do the Great Loop. They are wondering how they will get the boat back to Washington when they are done with the Loop. They have plenty of time to figure that out since they have not yet started their Loop trip. That will begin in April.

A few folks were over by the tower when we arrived. More came shortly after we sat down. We met more boaters - mostly from North Carolina. I quickly updated my phone-copy cheat sheet of boat and people names.

We also got to see "Gus" the snowman on the top of  "Endless Summer".

When the wind blows, Gus waves!

Unfortunately, more people was not the only thing coming our way. Clark pointed to the sky and said, "Look at those dark clouds!"

With the clouds rolling in and a relatively long walk back to our boat, we decided we better say our farewells and get going. The storm passed just north of the marina. We saw not a drop of water from the sky! Oh well, better safe than sorry. We had some windows open on the boat, so besides us getting wet if the rain did hit, we would have had some clean up.

The sky was magnificent as sunset and the storm approached.

Approaching sunset

Sky in the direction of the sun setting

Stormy Sky in the opposite direction! Just gorgeous!

We found a Christmas movie, or two, to watch for the evening.

2021: Keeping busy at Marlin Bay Yacht Club

 6 December 2021

No boat travel.

Overnight the wind blew in the sea grass so thick I saw a bird walking on it behind our boat. When the grass packs in, it becomes very thick and becomes a solid mass.

We left the dinghy down overnight and that helped to create a dam whereby the sea grass piled up behind it and Sunset Delight.

The sea grass would not be bad except that when it piles up, it sticks around, starts to rot, and gives off a truly awful aroma. 

I woke up this morning with the great idea that I should clean the dinghy. It is not normally accessible. With it in the water, I could climb in and scrub the tubes and seat cushions. When I told Clark, my plan, I was shocked when he told me the dinghy did not need to be cleaned. He had sprayed it off the day before. Apparently, Clark and I had very different definitions of clean. I pulled out my supplies and got to work.  

When we were on the great loop in 2015, we met a tow boat pilot on his sailboat docked near us in Demopolis, Alabama. I watched him cleaning his dinghy one day and could not believe how good he was making it look. I asked him how he got it so clean, and he told me about "Totally Awesome" cleaner.  It is sold at the dollar store and is the best cleaner ever for this type of work.

After over two hours of scrubbing the dinghy that Clark said was already clean, I declared myself done. 

Nice and shiny dinghy

As I cleaned the boat, one of the dockhands came around with a rake with an expandable handle to push the grass away. He did what he could reach and said he would come back later in the day with a paddleboard to try to move more. When I was done with cleaning the dinghy, I decided to use a boat hook and push the sea grass on the port side of the boat on its way.

While I worked on the boat and the sea grass, Clark spent the morning on the phone. He had issues with his Navionics charts as well as our stabilizers on the boat. After lunch I rested from my morning labors. Clark grabbed the hose and went out to wash the port side of the boat. Unfortunately, the sun was on that side of the boat as he worked. By the time he was done, he was a hot, sweaty mess. He decided to make us of the dinghy and go for a ride to cool off.

Just before Clark returned, I saw Pam and Oscar from "Black Swan" strolling the docks near our boat. I haled Pam and asked them to come aboard. We sat down for a chat and about ten minutes later Clark appeared. We settled in for the long run. Finally, dinner time and gnats drove our spontaneous guests off the boat. We saw them on their way with a promise to get together soon to see their boat. 

After they left, I managed to grab a couple of sunset pictures. I liked the pink glow of the clouds.

7 December 2021

No boat travel.

I guess I exhausted all my energy yesterday cleaning the dinghy and raking sea grass. Today I just wanted to read, read, and read. Being in the midst of book four of a engrossing 7-part historical novel, I  wanted to keep reading to the exciting conclusion. The book is about King Richard the Lion Heart, Prince John, Robin Hood, and many medieval knights. It is a bit blood thirsty but I find it a real page turner. 

Clark put up Christmas lights on the boat. The lights are solar powered and work well as long as we have sunny days to charge them.

In the afternoon, Clark decided to take advantage of the pool. I did not feel like jumping in, but I brought my book and sat up there to read while he swam laps.

8 December 2021

No boat travel.

Clark ruined my breakfast yesterday by telling me he wanted me to design our Christmas cards and write our annual Christmas letter. After grumbling, I managed to pull something together that met with his approval. I tried to look into making the cards on Shutterfly. An AWS outage made that impossible as nothing worked on Shutterfly. I put together a PowerPoint and left it until today.

Clark reminded me first thing this morning to try Shutterfly again. It worked, but Shutterfly did not offer what I was looking for. We decided to put the card on a  thumb drive and bike to the UPS store to get cards printed there. 

We got to the UPS store around 11:30 and placed our order for cards to be created. They told us they would be completed some time in the afternoon. Given that we decided to hang around and have lunch in the area in hopes that we could avoid a second trip to pick up the cards. After some debate on where to get lunch, Clark won and we got subs at Publix. With no place to sit outdoors, we stood by our bikes in the bike rack to have our impromptu picnic. 

The woman at UPS said we would get a phone call when our order was ready. As we finished our lunch, we still had not received a call. Clark suggested we go "window shopping" along the strip malls.

We walked west then east until we had seen all there was to see. Still no phone call. Given the round trip to go back to the boat and come back again, Clark decided to go in and check the status. He came back out with the cards. 

When we got back to the boat, we folded the papers into cards and stuffed them in envelopes. Afterwards, Clark announced that he wanted to go to The Home Depot for a couple of things. Since he was going out, he decided to go to the post office to mail the cards - so much for not making the trip twice in one day! I begged off and let him go alone.

9 December 2021

No boat travel.

I reminded Clark that today, being Thursday, was pump-out day. The guys came around 10:00, which left us the rest of the day to do as we pleased. The other day while Clark swam and I read, the water looked so inviting, I was sorry I had decided to just sit by the pool to read instead of jumping in. I told Clark that I wanted to go use the pool today after lunch. 

He showed me a picture of the current user of the pool area.

All I could think after I saw the picture was "I hope he didn't leave any presents behind in the water!"

Walking back from the restrooms this morning, our neighbors on "Bagus" called out to me and invited us to join them on their boat at 3:15 for "Fika". The boat owner is Swedish, and fika is a Swedish tradition, which is basically a coffee break. 

We walked up to the pool at 1:00 and enjoyed the refreshing water for a little more than an hour. Around 3:15, as planned, we visited "Bagus" to talk with our neighbors. "Bagus" is an Indonesian word that means "Good", and their boat is definitely "good"! They have a lovely Katey-Krogen. Clark and I got tours of this very spacious boat.

A "fika" is supposed to be a coffee break. This "fika" lasted over three hours. As sunset approached, we migrated from the cockpit of their boat to the bow to watch the view.  

Dinner time and darkness drove us off their boat and sent us "home" to Sunset Delight. 

2021: Christmas Lighting of Faro Blanco Lighthouse

 5 December 2021

Dinghy travel only.

Being a Sunday, this morning at Marlin Bay turned out to be exceptionally quiet. The bar was closed, and no one was in the pool. When Clark and I walked up to use the restrooms, I only saw two other living things anywhere around.

These guys climbed up on the railing. 
Perhaps to take advantage of the warm metal.

These creatures are so tiny but incredibly fast.
It is hard to get a good picture of them. They scoot!

We lounged on the boat during the morning. Since the weather was so perfect, I took my Kindle out with a chair to sit in the cockpit and read. I did not get much reading done. I think I read the same paragraph multiple times and finally gave up. Since I was sitting outside, one-by-one, the neighbors came to visit and introduce themselves. 

The two neighbors to our starboard side are both from the same marina in North Carolina. One boat is a big fishing boat named  'Cuda, and next to them is "Gator Girl". On our port side and over one slip is a couple on a Katey-Krogen "Bagus" from Tampa, Florida. Everyone is super friendly. 

After lunch, Clark decided he wanted to check out the pool. He tried to coax me into going, but I had no interest. I had things I wanted to do on the boat to get ready for our planned outing for the evening - a dinghy ride to visit Faro Blanco to see the annual lighting of the lighthouse for Christmas.

Since the event was open to the public, we decided we should attend. Also, since Anne on "Morning Star II" had told me to come multiple times, I figured we best not disappoint!

The activities started at 3:00, so we decided to leave here just a little before that since the two marinas are so close to each other. We debated on the best means of transportation, i.e. bicycles or dinghy. Knowing it would be dark for our return trip, we opted for the safer option and took the dinghy. We have lights for our bicycles, but the dinghy is a lot more convenient as we could tie up to the swim platform on "Morning Star II" and instantly be at the party. 

When we ride our bikes along Route 1, watching for crazy drivers, even in daylight, makes me quite tense. In the dark it is only worse. The dinghy ride took all of 5 minutes.  I was surprised by the minimal number of traps in our path between the two marinas. That definitely made it an easy way to go.

Every year the lighthouse is strung with Christmas lights and there is a lighting event. This year, however, it was a much grander affair than any we have seen here before. We arrived just at 3:00 in time to see the vendors awaiting customers at their stalls. 

To mark the beginning of the festivities, a husband and wife bagpipe team walked through the marina playing Silent Night. 

Bagpipers - to kickoff of the event

The vendors lined the walkway from the entrance of the marina towards the lighthouse. 

Cotton Candy or Sno-cones anyone?

Look for the guy in the green shirt and you
will find Clark deep in conversation with
Anna Mae on composing songs.

Anna Mae at the
"Fish Fin Jewelry" booth

Handmade signs; Celtic Kilts

Two vendors sold jerky. The one near the Celtic Kilts sold many exotic flavors such as tuna, wild boar, and alligator. I did not try any of the offerings.

Here are Ella and Wendy sampling the tuna jerky

"Gurucat fl"
sold clothing, jewelry, and textiles. 

Near the pool area, a children's orchestra played Christmas-related songs, and at intermission another group of children performed a dance routine. Since the proceeds of the event went to the Marathon High School, I can only assume all of the talent came from the local school system. They were talented indeed.

I thought that the vendor selections might include food, but other than jerky, cotton candy and sno-cones, that was not the case. Clark and I were invited by the Faro Blanco boaters to join them for hot hors d'oeuvres setup up beside "Morning Star II". The food tables were located there to keep the main walkway clear for visitors to the marina for the lighthouse lighting. 

We had a wide variety of food to choose from including shrimp & sausage skewers, barbecue chicken sliders, mini pizza slices, lentil soup, and coffee cake, rum balls, and brownies for dessert.

We saw a number of familiar faces as we enjoyed the event.

Lisa

Mia

Lynne

Camera-shy Anne

Ryan, Yasmine, and baby Beau Beckett (7 mos.)

Devon Beckett and daughter Cora Cay

"Morning Star II" had an abundance of holiday spirit as it was well decorated with lights and even a wreath on the stern.

MS II decorated for Christmas

No Christmas event can be complete without a visit from Santa, and sure enough he, or his Santa helper, was there to meet with the children. He even brought Mrs. Claus with him!

Devon posted pictures of her children with Mrs. Claus and Santa on Facebook, and I have included them here.

Just before 6:00, a bunch of us suddenly realized that the lights on the lighthouse had been lit. We had all been anticipating the grand finale of the evening and expected some sort of fanfare! Someone in the orchestra tooting a horn. Someone making an announcement. Anything, but no warning occurred. 

Once we realized the lighthouse was lit up, we went to get the obligatory pictures to mark the occasion. No surprise here, it looks the same as prior years.

With the lights on and the sun setting fast, Clark and I jumped into the dinghy for the trip back to Marlin Bay Marina. Clark brought a handheld spotlight, but when I turned it on, it reflected off the dinghy and blinded me. I had a much better view of the water without the aid of a light. I diligently looked for traps but saw none at all. Fortunately, the trip was totally uneventful and in short order we were back on the boat.

Totally out of character, Clark left the dinghy down overnight. That way, we did not have to deal with getting it up on the boat in the dark, and more importantly, the dinghy would be available the next day for other activities. 

The folks on "Bagus" told us that they watched the sunset from their boat tonight, a daily occurrence, and then got the bonus show of seeing the lighthouse suddenly display its Christmas lighting.