Marco Island, FL to Marathon, FL

Total Miles Traveled 1399

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Happy New Year from Marathon, Florida! Wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year!

We departed our anchorage at Marco Island on December 2^nd and traveled 65 miles on the Gulf to an anchorage at Little Shark River.

We weighed anchor on December 3^rd and traveled 51 miles to Marathon, Florida docking at Skipjack Marina on Boot Key Harbor.  Marathon is in the heart of the Florida Keys with easy access to the Gulf of America, the Atlantic Ocean, and world-class fishing, diving and snorkeling.  Sombrero Reef is only 4 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, which is an excellent snorkeling site. 

 Marathon is below the clouds.

Our friend Brad on s/v Take it Easy snapped this pic of us entering the harbor.

Docked at Skipjack Marina

The boating community here broadcasts a morning net on VHF channel 80 at 9 a.m. each day.  The topics are new arrivals, departures, community announcements, buy, sell, free, or trade, and jokes and trivia.

Bocce ball is one of the popular community events that takes place at the city park on Tuesday and Thursday.  A new court was supposed to be built last year, but for some unknown reason the construction was delayed, so we are still playing on the ball diamond. This is a lot different than playing on the sandy beach at Marsh Harbor, Bahamas last year.

Marathon also has a community theater, a non-profit organization that is operated by a fully volunteer board and small paid staff.  The cast and crew are a collection of boaters, postal workers, lawyers, office and retail workers, construction workers and even a few local dolphin trainers.  We attended the annual Christmas show this year and had a great evening with our boating friends.

The local watering hole here at Boot Key Harbor is Dockside bar and grill.  One of the local boaters has his birthday party here every year, this year he turned 89 and had a great time participating in all the activities planned for him.  Happy Birthday Roland!

We are only a few blocks from a Publix grocery, Walgreens, Home Depot,  the city park and marina, and several restaurants and bars, and normally take our scooters.  We took a cab one day and our driver was really into the Christmas spirit.

We used to watch birds, squirrels, and turkeys at home.

Sitting on the boat taking these pics.  We make sure we don't leave a door open.

We almost made it back to the boat before the downpour.  Luckily, we only had a few sprinkles before finding cover.  We’ll take this over snow any day.

Our friends Charlie and Robin (m/v Lower Place) volunteered to be the crew on a 60 ft Saline trawler with the owners they met last year.  They boarded the boat at Fort Pierce, Florida with a destination of Rio Dulce, Guatemala.  I was an emergency contact for the cruise and tracked them, plotting their route during their cruise.  They departed Ft Pierce on December 19 and traveled 277 miles, 31 hours to Key West, Florida.  On December 26^th they departed Key West and traveled 819 miles, 94 hours arriving at Livingston, Guatemala on December 30^th to check into customs and immigration, then an additional 22 miles, 4 hours, to a marina at Rio Dulce.  The marina is well known for very inexpensive and very high-quality boat work, and the owners have major cosmetic upgrades to their boat scheduled.  They will stay at Guatemala during the upgrades and return to Florida in May 2026.  We’re looking forward to hearing about their adventure.

The black line and dots is their planned route, the yellow dots are my position marks from their AIS, Garmin satellite transmitter, and navigation apps. The green dot at the bottom left is the marina.

Tensas River, Al to Marco Island, FL

Total Miles Traveled 1208

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Overall, we’ve had excellent weather traveling from Alabama to southwest Florida.  Hurricanes avoided Florida this year, and above normal temperatures with little rain were perfect for cruising.

We departed our anchorage at the Tensas River on November 3^rd and traveled 29 miles to an anchorage at Big Briar Creek.  This anchorage allows us to cruise through Mobile Bay to Gulf Shores, Alabama in about 7 hours. 

Serious fishing on the Tensas River

Held up at the RR Bridge 12 miles from Mobile, AL

Our marine insurance provider required us to have a condition and valuation survey by a certified marine surveyor, and a boat haul out to inspect the running gear and hull.  Although we made the reservation with the Saunders Yacht Works and a surveyor in August, when we arrived, Saunders informed us they didn’t have room for our boat.   Luckily another marina within a mile had room for us, and the surveyor agreed to do part of the in-water survey at this marina, then travel to Saunders with us for the haul out.

Entering Mobile ship channel and harbor.

Homeport Marina, Gulf Shores, AL.  Home of LuLu's restaurant, owned by Jimmy Buffets sister.

Our friends Kenneth and Susan on m/v CraSea Horse, also heading to Saunders Yacht Works.

Our survey went very well, we're always glad to be safely back in the water.

We departed Saunders Yacht Works after a successful survey on November 5^th and traveled 24 miles to an anchorage at Fort McRree.  This was a historic military site, with a fort built to defend Pensacola and its natural harbor, but today it provides a well-protected anchorage between the Gulf of America and the harbor.  The Blue Angels are stationed at Pensacola, and they fly directly over this anchorage during practice, an awesome experience.

We originally planned to anchor at Destin Harbor for a few days,  but an approaching cold front with high winds were a few days away so we decided to travel 71 miles to an anchorage near Niceville, Fl on November 6th, then 45 miles to an anchorage at Panama City Beach on the 7th.  We anchored there for 4 days protected from 25 mph wind gusts.

 Anchored near US 331 bridge near Niceville, FL

Anchored at Pearl Bayou

On November 11^th we traveled 51 miles to Saul Creek anchorage, then on the 12^th arrived at C-Quarters marina at Carrabelle, Fl.  We always stop here to top off our fuel tanks and reprovision before crossing the Gulf.  The local grocery store is less than a block away, so we decided to take our folding cart.  We purchased this cart in 2015, and it’s came in handy quite a few times, looks like the salt air and sun have taken its toll on the plastic wheel hubs.  We only made it about 100 feet from the boat when the front wheels collapsed. We were fortunate it happened going to the store, instead of on the return full of groceries.

Saul Creek

Nice size gator

On November 14^th we had a perfect weather forecast for crossing the Gulf of America and arriving at an anchorage at Clearwater Beach, Florida on the 15^th, we traveled 176 miles, a little over 21 hours.  We have a planned route and run on auto pilot, radar, and AIS (automatic identification systems) to see other boats in our area of cruising.  We alternate watching the instruments and taking a nap during our overnight cruises. 

 We always look for the infamous Green Flash at sunset,  not this time. 

Using 40 lb test line, I hooked something big in about 60 ft of water.  My drag was screaming even though it was at maximum tension, Moni slowed the boat down to idle and one engine, and I started cranking it in between drag releases.  It never broke the surface, and I couldn't crank it without the drag releasing.  We took the boat out of gear so I could crank it in and as soon as we did the line went slack and the fish was off.  I should have waited to wear it out, lessons learned.

Night watch, listening to Sirius XM Radio.

About 4 a.m. Moni asked what the orange dot was in the southeastern sky, I assumed it was a planet as the sun would be coming up in a couple of hours.  The orange dot became larger and larger then produced a long red tail.  It lasted about 15 seconds slowly turning white and disappearing.   We have never seen a shooting star so vivid, and last as long.  When we anchored, I searched the internet to see if anyone had reported any sightings.  I found the Leonid shower, peaking November 16-17^th observed in Florida, is known for producing larger, brighter explosions of light known as fireballs that persist longer than a typical meteor streak.  According to NASA these meteors earned their nickname because they have long and colorful tails that streak closer to the horizon.  Unfortunately by the time we realized what it was, there was no time to grab the camera.

Anchored in the concrete jungle, Clearwater Beach, FL

We weighed anchor on November 17^th and cruised 57 miles, anchoring at the causeway bridge at Sarasota, Fl then on the 18^th we traveled 53 miles and anchored at our favorite anchorage at Punta Blanca Island, part of the Cayo Costa State Park between the Gulf of America and Charlotte Harbor.  We anchored here for 7 days, fishing, exploring in the dinghy, and eating a cheeseburger in paradise at Cabbage Key.  We have been visiting Cabbage Key when anchored here for several years, but after paying over $27 for a hamburger, this may have been our last visit.

Ringling Causeway Bridge

Anchored at Punta Blanca Island

Anchor alarm, gray area indicates where our boat has moved within a 100 ft radius of our anchor.

Cabbage Key Restaurant

Moni caught a Pufferfish, known for their ability to inflate their bodies as a defense mechanism.   They are toxic if not prepared correctly.  They also have human like teeth.

Our friends Kevin and Jill (m/v Chasing 80) invited us to spend Thanksgiving at their house with family and friends at Ft Myers, so we traveled 31 miles on November 26^th to Snook Bight Marina at Ft Myers Beach, FL. 

The first time we've had smoked Turkey, very moist and delicious. 

We departed Snook Bight Marina November 30^th, and traveled 44 miles to an anchorage at Marco Island, FL.  We caught a couple of Spanish Mackerel along the way, but didn’t keep them.