Marathon

The sail to Marathon was another banner day. Again the wind direction and sea state were cooperative.   I think we may be a bit odd since the 20 kt winds (that is about 23 mph) really don't bother us.  The boat is well founded and sails well on a reach.  We reef down and let out sail as needed but that just keeps away boredom.  Maybe years of experience and sailing Hobie Cats have gotten us used to heeling.  I don't particularly care for heeling (leaning over) but as long as it's consistent and doesn't last for too many hours, I'm ok at 15 degrees.  I know David would be comfortable  sailing with a rail in the water but he wants to keep the chief cook and bottle washer on board so we stay around my threshold.
We arrived at the Marathon Yacht Club and were helped with lines and greeted by a friendly fellow named Jim.  The office staff got us all signed in and made us feel welcome.  It started raining so we thought we'd better wait it out in the bar.  We didn't want to risk melting on the way back to the boat.  The bartender was friendly as well and we heard her story about moving from New Jersey with her husband once the kids were grown to living aboard a short distance from here.  The boat is in a dockuminium, a popular type of community in south Florida.
So far, we have made the obligatory pilgrimage to West Marine, with side trips to K-Mart and Home Depot.  We both have a few projects we want to get finished before we try to jump over to the Bahamas. The sheets are once again clean as are the rest of our clothes.  Tomorrow we'll go to Mass at a parish that we have heard has a very lively liturgy.  We look forward to sharing in the experience.  After that, we clean the boat and head over to the ocean side of the island to the Marathon City Marina in Boot Key Harbor.  The place is huge and extremely well run and efficient.  I will be a very different lifestyle for us.  We'll have to  watch the weather to see when we can make the trip across the gulf stream to the Bahamas.
  I am paying for Internet service by the day so the updates may be spotty for a while.  It takes a lot to post pictures so I try for a good wifi connection to upload.  We hope you enjoy our picks of what parts of the trip are "Blog worthy".

Marathon-so far

Entrance to Marathon YC

Back patio facing the Florida Bay (Gulf side)

Dining patio at the Stuffed Pig-a local dining legend

Never saw happier pigs.  Not suprisingly, just about every item on the menu
involves some variation of pork.

Little Shark River

This area is a bit farther south near Ponce de Leon Bay and still in the Everglades.  I couldn't get the Tripline site to recognize either one so it's not showing up on the trip map.  The trip was about 36 miles and we had some of the best sailing of the entire trip so far.  The winds were strong but steady and out of the right direction, the northeast.  This meant that we had a beam reach, the most comfortable point of sail.  We reefed the main and jib and watched the water go by.  The waves were not that high but every once in a while, our wake would meet one of the waves rolling towards us and create a beautiful splash.  We were on a bit of a heel so that means I don't try to move around a lot.  I have never had a great sense of balance or any grace so I minimize bruising by staying put.  Mr. Agile on the other hand could probably perform brain surgery while underway.  Hopefully I never have to find out!  Anyway we both tried not to be in a hurry to arrive and enjoy the ride.
We had heard of Little Shark as a great anchorage but never put the time in the agenda to make the stop.  Are we glad we did.  Aside from too many mosquitoes, the place was a unique encounter with God and nature for us.  For starters, we had dolphins following us in the entire way and then hang out for a while along side of us.  Then, the shear number and variety of birds is something we'd never seen outside of a zoo.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  The mosquitoes were pesky but we come prepared with citronella and screens.
  We had paralleled another sailboat all day and we ended up anchoring close by.  We invited him over for drinks and dinner.  Very nice guy named Harvey who is taking the boat to Marathon for the winter.  His wife will join him in a week after the birth of their 24th grandchild!  We were impressed both with his sailing history and progeny.  We look forward to catching up with them Marathon.
The morning was overcast but still the area was beautiful.  We were the last ones out of the anchorage and taking our time.  We had a bit of a scare when the engine wouldn't start due to low batteries.  This was very perplexing to say the least since the wind had blown all night and should have charged the battery bank.  Fortunately we keep a genius on board and he quickly ran down the problem to a disconnected wire and we were off and running in less than half an hour.

Little Shark River Pictures

Entrance to Little Shark River.  If not for charts and marks, we would never have
found this wonderful spot.  Amazing to think of the explorers who did find it.

Just off the side of the boat at low tide.  In this area and with help from the full moon|
, the tidal variance is over four feet.  In the panhandle it is rarely more than two feet.

Roseate spoonbills along with gulls, herons and a pelican.  I wish my camera
did them justice.



Sunset at the anchorage



 A different view of the sunset



Mild waves on a great sailing day

Trip To Indian Key and Everglades City

We have been exploring new areas since we left the Fort Myers area.  We enjoy the familiar but part of the joy of cruising is seeing new spots.   We had the wind in a very uncooperative mood for the leg from Marco Island to Indian Key so we were once again a motor boat.  It was a long day covering almost 40 miles.  We arrived only an hour before dark which is something we prefer not to ever have happen.  Seeing where you are going and how close you are to solid objects is a definite benefit.  We had no problems anchoring but seeing very little water under the keel is still something we have to get used to for the next 2 months.  We settled in quickly and in time to see a tremendous sunset (sadly no green flash) and a spectacular full moon rising at the same time.  Yep, it's a rough life but someone has to see this stuff!  Anyway, the entire area is the northern edge of the everglades and so worth visiting.  The Barron River flows past Indian Key and has a strong tidal flow, especially with the full moon pulling hard in both directions.  Even though the winds were a steady 10-15 kts, we always lay to (pointed in the direction of) the current rather than the wind.  While we sat watching the beauty we watched the boat slowly turn as the tide shifted from high to low.  A new experience for us.  The area is known as the 1,000 Islands but they don't actually know how many actually exist because small ones disappear with storms and others appear as shell and mud build up enough for some intrepid plants to take hold and prevent erosion, at least until the next hurricane.  The wildlife is also ever present.  You can hear something every hour, mostly birds.

On the following morning we took the boat upriver on the incoming tide to visit Everglades City.  This is pretty much old Florida.  Not a condo in sight.  The folks were all extremely friendly and laid back is a pretty accurate description.  We tied the boat up behind the historic Rod and Gun Club.  Here is a link if you want to learn more. http://www.evergladesrodandgun.com/.  They were nice enough to let us leave the boat tied up while we took the bikes all over town.  We started mailing our Christmas cards from the local post office hoping it would have a unique postmark.  Apparently though, they take the mail to Fort Myers for processing.  Oh well, the intention was there.  We spent some time in the local historical museum which was surprising well appointed with very professional displays.  Obviously someone who really cares and has museum experienced helped put it together.  The nice lady at the desk was also a fountain of knowledge.  We ended the visit with lunch at the Rod and Gun club.  We returned to the same anchorage for another night of moonlight and quiet beauty.  We kept vacillating on our next destination but finally decided on making a stop at Shark River rather than pushing on to Marathon.

Marco Island to Indian Key and Everglades City

Approach to Marco Island YC



marina side of Marco Island YC



This modest yacht is named Sweet Mary and the hailing port is Fort Worth.  Since we

 both have wonderful sisters named Mary living in the Fort Worth area, we thought we

should include it.



Sweet mary



Nice grouping of pelicans on the fueling dock.  Their coloring is very different from

the brown pelicans we have in the panhandle.



This boat was on a private dock near the club.  The house wasn't a shack!



Full moon, so glad to see it.  That means the skies are clear.



Moonlight on Indian Key

Island in the river across from the Rod and Gun club in Everglades City

Donn't you wish this sign was more current?



A lazy day of sailing in a Drascombe Luger sailboat.



Outward bound camp along the river.



This is the original bank in Collier County but now a bed and breakfast

Residential street in Everglades City.  Notice they are on stilts to avoid flooding

during storms.

Rod and Gun club from the road.  Many presidents, movie stars and other famous folks

 have stayed here.

Cute advertising. My first car was a VW bug and our oldest daughter had one

 as well.  Not as cute but they at least ran.

Other side of bug.

Those are not waves but the strong current running in the Barron River.  We had

 3 kts. running.  We rode the current up on the flood tide than rode it back on the

 falling tide.

The chart of the area we anchored.  You can bet we studied the chart and watched

 the marks closely.  All that blue is water less than 3 feet deep.

The dininng porch at the Rod and Gun Club.  The screens are needed year round.

Threading the channel needle up to Everglades City.  Just two more of the

thousands of little islands.

Boating Pictures

wind screen

wind genrerator at work

gorgeous sunset at sea

mostly sand island

clean solar panels

running wing and wing-sail on either side of the mast when running before the wind.  the foresail is attached to a whisker pole and the main is secured on its side of the mast with a line tied to the toerail

private island for sale-it was for sale when we passed this way in March 2010

Marco Island YC

mangrove roots

David on deck

more condos-the staple of the Florida landscape