Marathon, FL to Jacksonville, FL

Total Miles Traveled 2612 since departing Green Turtle Bay, KY

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Well, the wind has continued to blow through the winter season and into spring, so we decided to leave Marathon April 6^th and travel to Miami, Fl to wait for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas.  We traveled 54 miles on the Atlantic Ocean to an anchorage behind Rodriguez Key, then another 58 miles to an anchorage at Miami.  Arriving on Sunday was not smart, and it didn’t get much better the next few days, but the view of the city was awesome.

All of the extended weather forecasts indicated at least another week or so before conditions would change in our favor, so after 3 days on the hook, we decided to cancel our Bahamas trip this year.  We were already going to shorten our stay in the Bahamas due to boat insurance requirements and didn’t want to be on a tight schedule on the return trip.  As it turns out, a boating club we belong to in the Bahamas, posted an article indicating the locals saying it was the worst winter in 30 years.  We plan to spend this spring and summer on the east coast, exploring the Chesapeake Bay area. 

We departed Miami on April 10^th and traveled 51 miles to an anchorage near Delray Beach.  We had to wait for 9 bridge openings before arriving and anchored here for 5 days.  The first two days were because of high winds, we had 22 mph sustained winds with 40 mph gusts.  We found a great protected anchorage and it turned out we stayed in the same place when we were on the Great Loop in 2016.  Since our 3^rd day was Friday before a weekend, we opted to stay through the weekend to avoid the weekend boat traffic on the narrow 30 mile stretch of waterway ahead of us.

Fire Alarm!  The last thing you want to hear on a boat is a fire alarm.  While cruising up to Delray Beach from Miami a fire alarm sounded in the engine room.  It turned out to be a synchronizer cable had broken inside its housing and before breaking it heated up enough to set off the alarm.  No fire, just a melted rubber casing.

On  April 15^th we traveled 51 miles to an anchorage at Peck Lake, then on the 16^th traveled 83 miles to an anchorage behind the Pineda Causeway Bridge.  We had reservations at Cocoa Village Marina for a few days so we could visit Moni’s family and wanted to get into the marina early the following morning.  I also had two new synchronizer cables shipped to the marina so I could replace them before leaving.  I figured if one engine cable failed, the other cable wasn’t far behind.

When we arrived at Moni’s mothers house, we noticed a snake by the garage door, it slowly moved down the sidewalk toward the front door.  It was a colorful snake, and I knew there was a saying to determine if it was poisonous or not but couldn’t remember it.  Turns out it was a poisonous Coral Snake, “Yellow on Red, Fred is Dead”.  Moni’s brother, sister, or Mother have never seen one in their neighborhood.  It moved off into the grass and disappeared. 

We had a great visit with family and were able to see two rocket launches.

We departed Cocoa on April 19^th traveling 51 miles and anchored near New Smyrna Beach.  We passed through the NASA Railroad Bridge, used to deliver large or bulk materials, solid rocket boosters, and chemicals such as helium and oxygen for rocket fuel to support the Kennedy Space Center.

On April 20^th, we traveled 56 miles to an anchorage at Matanzas Fort, built in 1740 by the Spanish to guard the inlet to St Augustine.   I thought I took a picture of it but can’t seem to find it.  On April 21^st we traveled 86 miles to an anchorage on the Saint Johns River near Jacksonville, Florida.  We stayed at this anchorage at Doctors Lake for two days allowing a storm to pass through. 

We departed our anchorage and traveled 13 miles on April 23^rd to the city dock at Green Cove Springs, Florida.  We met up with a couple that used to live in Indiana, next door to my parents.  They too live on their boat, what a small world.  We had a great visit and went to diner that evening.   

We traveled 31 miles on April 24 to Crystal Cove Marina near Palatka, Florida.  We have good friends that moved here from Indiana, and we had a great time visiting with them.

During our travels to Jacksonville, we developed a high-pressure fuel leak on one of the engine injectors.  After a few emails and phone calls, turns out a John Deere parts store at Palatka, FL had one on the shelf, 2 blocks from where we are staying. 

All of the bends are factory made, I guess that’s why they were so proud of it $$$$.  I found a small crack inside the tube at the injector.

Always be aware of your surroundings, especially after the coral snake sighting. 

We took an afternoon trip with our friends Ralph and Judy to Daytona  Racing’s North Turn Restaurant and Racing Museum.  The restaurant sits on the exact location where racing history began in Daytona Beach.  The Races took place here starting in 1936 until World War II and then continued with the first Grand National Race in 1948.  The races continued here until 1958 when NASCAR relocated to the brand-new Super Speedway.

On  April 29^th, we traveled 45 miles to a different anchorage on Doctors Lake near a local restaurant, Whitey’s Fish Camp, a family-owned restaurant open since 1963.  We met our boating friends at the anchorage, Charlie and Robin on m/v The Lower Place.  We had a great visit anchoring with them. 

Signs posted at Whitey's

Nice artwork on the grain silo's

Downtown Jacksonville, FL

On April 30^th, we traveled 46 miles to an anchorage at Gunnison Crossing.  We had planned to stop at a public dock at Sisters Creek, but the dock appeared to be full, so we continued to an anchorage.  It was nice be away from the ship channel and the commercial activity of Jacksonville.

Marathon March 2024

Total Miles Traveled 1974 since departing Green Turtle Bay, KY

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Well, we are still at Marathon Florida waiting for a weather window to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Bimini in the Bahamas.  We have been stuck in a windy weather pattern for several weeks and crossing the Gulf Stream in windy conditions is not something we want to experience again. When we came back from the Abaco’s in 2017 the last three hours were not fun.   If the wind opposes the Gulf Stream current, it can be very volatile.  We always follow the number one rule on a boat, never have a schedule.

Our boat is the small red triangle in the lower left corner and Bimini is the red marker about center of the picture.  Our plan is the cruise to Key Largo the first day, then 90 miles across to Bimini....weather permitting.

February, and into March, was a very interesting time here at our dock.  When leaving our anchorage at Marco Island in December, our friends on m/v Forever Young had a major engine malfunction.  They are a single engine boat and the cooling water pump failed, as did the temperature alarm to indicate the engine was overheating.  By the time they realized they had a problem, damage to the engine had already occurred.  Having a spare water pump, Steve was able to replace it, add coolant, and continue to our anchorage at Little Shark River.  The next morning, he topped off the coolant level and they traveled with us to Marathon.

Since we are in the Key’s, and they must cross the Gulf of Mexico to return home to Kentucky, the decision was made to replace the engine.  Steve ordered a replacement engine, we traveled from our dock to a boat yard and they set the new engine in the back of his boat.  We returned to his slip, we removed the old engine from the boat, removed all of the external parts, cleaned and painted them, installed them on the new engine, and installed the new engine in their boat.  Steve's friend he met on the loop from Georgia drove down to help with the planning and replacement.  We returned to the boat yard, and they removed the damaged engine so it could be shipped back to the rebuild facility.

 Rigging the new motor to set in the boat that is sitting in the water.

Lowering the new engine into the engine room.

Cruised to the boat yard powered by the new engine and lifted the old engine from the boat.

We had a great reunion with our friends we hadn’t seen since last summer in Mississippi, Charlie and Robin on m/v The Lower Place, Dennis and Dori on m/v Current Dream, and Steve and Jan on m/v Forever Young (hmm, for some reason Jan didn’t make the pic?)

Our last dinghy ride with the Young's, the bimini top we installed on our dingy makes a huge difference avoiding the sun.

After several test runs, m/v Forever Young departed Marathon and started their journey back to Kentucky. 

Moni and I have continued to play bocce ball on Tuesday and Thursday and attend the jam sessions at the Tiki Hut.  There is really good talent here at Boot Key Harbor.

We attended the 48^th annual Marathon Seafood Festival, the second largest Florida Keys event with over 15,000 attendees.  This two-day event featured fresh-caught local keys seafood, over 220 vendors, a boat show, and live entertainment.  The event annually raises $75,000 that goes back into the community in charitable donations and scholarships for local Middle Keys students. 

We took the Island Trolley Tour, a guided trolley tour of the 13 islands that comprises Marathon and its rich history from wreckers, farmers, fisherman, Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railway, and its WWII connection.  

 And of course, we had to visit our favorite place Burdines, for deep fried key lime pie.

We boarded the Key’s Transit bus to Key West to celebrate St Patty’s Day with our friends Mike and Jan on m/v Trust Me.  We had a great time visiting with our friends and enjoying the many sights the event brings every year to Key West.

We had a unique experience by observing the vapor trail of the SpaceX’s Starship after it successfully launched from Texas and entered Earth’s orbit.  SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.  Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tons.  We watched the launch on SpaceX’s website, then rushed outside to try to get a glimpse of it as the flight path was over the Key’s.  My picture doesn’t show much but we could see a trail all the way across the horizon……awesome!   We tried to see its first launch last year while we were moored in Texas but too many delays kept us from that experience.

 Flight path from Texas across the Key's

The vapor trail extended all the way across the horizon at Marathon

Well, hopefully we can get a calm weather pattern in April so we can make our crossing to the Bahamas.  If not, our plans are written in the sand at low tide, and we don’t have a schedule.