Marathon, Florida February 26

Total Miles Traveled 1399

This has been a busy month in the Key’s, and it’s hard to believe that we have been here three months already.  We belong to three national boating organizations and between meeting fellow members, playing bocce ball twice a week, and taking a few road trips, it's went by fast.

There were 20 DeFever boats in the Marathon area this month.  It was nice seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

We visited Key West a couple of times with friends this month, a great time as usual.

One of our favorite places with live music was the Smokin Tuna, it is now the Alamo with the same venue.

We rented a car and drove to Cocoa Florida to attend the wedding of Moni’s sister Janis.  It was a great visit, meeting relatives we haven’t seen for a several years, and meeting new family members.

Moni's mom, sister and nieces.

Hmm, this boat is in a marina next to ours, I’ve haven’t seen this type of pest control anywhere we have traveled……. termites?  The bad news is that the houseboat next to it is for sale?

We took another day trip on our scooters with friends and rode out to Pigeon Key on the old 7 mile bridge, hit a few watering holes, ate the world famous Lobster Ruben at Key’s Fisheries, and finished the day at docktails hosted by Kenton & Roz on m/v Sunset Fever.  A great day with friends!

Stingray pic didn't turn out so well, but we saw several sharks and starfish.

We are departing Marathon today and slowly working our way back to Grand Rivers, Ky.  We've had an awesome time here, but are looking forward to being with our family and friends back home.

ard 

Marathon, Florida 2026

Total Miles Traveled 1399

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONICA!

Although it is Monica’s birthday in the Key’s, it doesn’t feel like Key’s weather today.  A cold front blasted through overnight with 30 mph sustained winds and 50 mph gusts.  We woke up this morning to a chilly 42 degrees and 23 mph winds……..not Key’s weather.  We can’t really complain after watching the weather reports up north though.

Other than a few cold fronts, we’ve had a great time with friends and the activities available here at Marathon. 

We were able to attend the annual Key’s Celtic Festival featuring traditional music, Irish & Scottish dancing, pipes and drums, and Highland Athletics.

Home made Key Lime Pie Ice Cream....yummy!

Women's competition throwing a straw bail over the goal bar.

We rode our scooters across town to the old 7 mile bridge with friends, and played a competitive game of miniature golf, girls against the guys.  I think they fudged the numbers.

The harbor has a full moon raft up, taking the dinghy’s up Sisters Creek to the Atlantic side of the Key, and floating back to Boot Key harbor under a full moon.  Pretty cool, and a record 62 dinghy’s participated.

The towers in the background are from the decommissioned Voice of America radio station at Marathon.  The four-tower array was the most powerful medium-wave station on US soil, blasting 100,000 watts of Radio Marti southward from Marathon to Cuba.  It was decommissioned last year.  Anyone who anchored in Sister Creek would  have issues with electronic equipment on their vessel.

This is one good reason not to be a sailor, he was trying to repair something?

This is the entrance to Boot Key harbor, not sure about the creature greeting arrivals?

We also have our weekly bocce ball event every Tuesday and Thursday, and our occasional dinghy ride around the harbor.  The last couple of months have passed pretty quickly.  We'll be leaving Marathon in early March......if it warms up. 

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.