Boot Key

Once we had our chores completed we left Marathon YC for a very nice sail over to the Atlantic Ocean side of Marathon Island.  The entrance to Boot Key Harbor is narrow and lined with shoals on each side with Boot Key on one side and Marathon Key on the other.  It is so well protected that marinas and other boat related businesses line the Marathon side.  The bridge over to Boot Key has had the center span removed so it is now an isolated mangrove island.  The tip of Marathon, Sombrero Point curves around to encase the harbor.  We picked up our assigned mooring ball, N1.  It was not an elegant attempt but we got 'er done!  We then moved on to blowing up the dingy and getting her in the water, around to the back of the boat and outboard installed.  I'm sure we provided a lot of comic relief for all the old hands in the mooring field.  It's not like we've never done any of this before but it has been a while and we had that odd mix of exhaustion and exhilaration. Again, it wasn't pretty but it is done.  We took the dink on into the main office and completed our registration.  We walked over to the yacht club to retrieve our bikes and rode down for some very minor reprovisioning.  We made it back closer to dark than we would have prefered but we were safe and sound.  I drove the dink back and again, entertained the locals.  I kept forgetting the engine was also my tiller as well as propulsion and went in circles.  I may not be smart but I am trainable and eventually figured it out before our heads were spinning.  Unfortunately, the outboard started acting up on the way back and that has been David's mission all morning.  He has figured out what isn't the problem but, sadly, not what is the problem and now needs to seek further advice.  He is working to improve our whisker pole to make running our jib out then retrieving it easier when we run wing and wing dead downwind.  We have a small list of other items to complete before we leave for the Bahamas, then we wait for a weather window.  We plan to explore the harbor more in the days ahead so keep checking back for updates.