Looking south off our aft deck in the Marina
From our boat looking north into Gulf of Mexico
In our assigned slip looking north into Gulf of Mexico
At Little Shark River we listened to strange sounds coming from the anchor which we attributed to the fact that when the tide goes in and out it turns us around causing our anchor chain to be in a pile and rubbing. There was other sound we couldn’t identify which was a tapping on the boat which we thought must be bugs and I expected the boat to be covered in the morning but we didn’t see a one. Spooky evening in the everglades.
In the morning we made coffee, took a thermos to the bridge and headed out at 8:00 AM into calm seas for the 45 mile trip to Marathon. We had a smooth ride for, oh maybe an hour or two but then we hit the crab pots and rough seas. Crab pots by the hundreds everywhere you looked. The morning sun directly in our line of vision increased the difficulty to spot the crappots. It was impossible to use the auto- pilot because as soon as you set it there would be another crab pot right in your path. The 2-3 foot trailing sea waves would cause a difficult to control maneuver as the vessel would surf in which ever direction the wave was headed which would generally be toward a crab pot. We were very fortunate we did not snag a crab pot. Arriving about noon, we were very happy to see our destination of Harbour Cay Club in Marathon FL. Several people where on the dock to greet us and help secure the boat (always a plus in my book!). Fellow Loopers Andrew and Sallyann off "Freedom" and Linda and Dave from "Perfect Timing" are right next to us. It is great to see them again.
Everyone here is very friendly and helpful. These aren’t condos as we thought but rather (24) dockominiums and one common club house owned and operated by the (24) shareholders. A very clean well maintained facility. Marathon is a very busy nautical community with many marinas and nautical support facilities. It is going to be a fun educational extended stay. There are hundreds of travelling vessels in Marathon either looping, world sailors or live aboards. This community also represents a jumping off point for vessels leaving the U.S. and heading to Caribbean & South American ports of call.
We had a sandwich on the back deck and then decided to look around the area and take a bike ride across the highway to Marathon Marina where our friends from Adagio and Shingebiss are staying. We made tentative plans to have dinner with them on Friday night. After a very busy day of travel, cleaning the saltwater off of the boat, a little local exploring and cocktail hour sunset at the on grounds tiki hut we decided to have a spaghetti dinner on board.
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