Marathon, FL December 2023,v

Total Miles Traveled 1958 since departing Green Turtle Bay, KY

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous new year!

We’ve really enjoyed our first few weeks at Marathon and have a slip at Sombrero Marina through March. We’re here with our friends Steve and Jan on m/v Forever Young, and Steve and Libby on m/v San Souci.  We are looking forward to participating in several of the activities that the cruising community has to offer.  There are several marinas within the city limits of Marathon and the city administers a 216-ball mooring field that occupies most of Boot Key Harbor.  All of the marinas and moorings are full with many boaters anchored and on a waiting list. 

Each morning at 9 a.m. boaters can tune their VHF radio to channel 80 to listen to the cruisers net.  The cruisers net has a volunteer traffic controller each day to grant access to speak on the net.  Topics include new arrivals, departures, news on anything happening, lost, found, wanted or for sale items, help needed, trivia, and final business.

The annual Christmas boat parade route passed in front of our boat, so we had a ring side seat for the event.  It was hard to get quality pictures after dark, and with moving lighted boats. : ( 

Moni's art work on the back door of our boat.

m/v Forever Young strung a few lights.

We have a local Manatee but so far I haven’t been able to get a good picture….I have plenty of time though.

We have had high winds and heavy rains when cold fronts pass through, but no severe storms.  One of the all-day soakers produced close to eight inches of rain, so low lying areas get flooded.

One of the local activities we have learned to play is Bocce Ball.  It’s played with eight weighed balls aimed at a smaller target ball.  The objective of the game is to earn points by getting your balls closer to the target ball than your opponent does.  We play at the city park, about a mile scooter ride away.

This is a very friendly community, the entire harbor was invited to Roland’s 87^th birthday party at Dockside Bar and Grill, conveniently located at our marina.  I think he danced with most of the ladies at the party.

Roland is in the white shirt in the background. 

There was a nautical flea market on Big Pine Key which is several miles away across the 7-mile bridge.  We decided to take the Lower Key’s Shuttle for the event.  We found an app that shows a live location of the shuttle and a shuttle stop schedule.  Not all of the stops were shown on the schedule, but we could see the location of the shuttle from the app.  We walked to the closest shuttle stop for the 9:30 pick up.  We arrived about 30 minutes early and called up the live map, showing the shuttle heading for Key West?   We figured since it was close to the holiday, they only have one shuttle operating so we would have to wait for the return trip.  The girls went shopping and the guy’s hung out across the street from the stop.  The girls came out of the store, and we were walking toward them just in time to see the 9:30 shuttle pass by, we missed the shuttle!  We learned later that the app is not accurate…duh.  We now had to wait until the next shuttle at 11:45.  We walked to a Micky D’s for a snack and drink to wait.  We finally caught the shuttle and only spent an hour or so at the flea market before heading back to Marathon.  It wasn’t all bad though, we stopped at Berdines at Boot Key and treated ourselves to deep fried key lime pie.  Once we figure out the schedule, the shuttle is a great deal, seniors can ride the shuttle from Marathon to Key West for $1.

Christmas Party at the City Marina Tiki Hut.

Christmas was a rainy day at Marathon but we made the best of it with a dinner party on Steve and Jan's boat and exchanged a few gifts.  We also played a new game to us, Tripoley.  We had a great time with good friends.

We had a great day to explore the area by dinghy.  We weaved in and out of the mangroves, cruised through several canals, and stopped at an island on the Atlantic side of Marathon.

We have seen hundreds of No Wake signs during our travels but this is the first No Woke sign we have encountered.  I think we're in the right place for the winter. 

We found several live conch while wading around the island, they are protected in Florida.

And an engine block.....not sure where the boat is?

  

We closed out 2023 with another dinner party on m/v Forever Young.  Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year.

Jackson AL, to Marathon FL

Total Miles Traveled since departing Green Turtle Bay 1958

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After departing Jackson Alabama on November 1^st, we traveled 60 miles to an anchorage on the Tensas River cut, about 40 miles from Mobile, AL.  We cannot be south of this location until November 2^nd due to our marine insurance policy, which is also the end of hurricane season.

Frost on the deck!  We have to get farther south!

On November 2^nd we traveled 29 miles to another anchorage at Big Briar Creek, Mobile Bay was still a little choppy, so this is a good place to time the bay for good crossing conditions.  We traveled 65 miles on November 3^rd, passing through the ship channel at Mobile, crossing the bay, stopping at LuLu’s for a burger, then to one of our favorite anchorages at Pirates Cove.

After 3 days at Pirates Cove, we traveled 65 miles on the 7^th to an anchorage at Destin Florida, another one of our favorites.

Too late to get a pic before the cleaning started.

We have been watching the weather closely and a cold front is approaching our area in a few days with high winds and possible severe storms.  We traveled 70 miles on November 10^th to an anchorage at Pearl Bayou, near Panama City. 

This boat has been here for several years from a previous storm, looks like someone made it home.

On November 11^th we traveled 41 miles to a marina at Port St Joe.  This is a great little town with plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance from the marina.  We have stayed here twice before, but hurricane Michael destroyed the marina and all the boats docked here a few years ago.  The new marina opened last fall, with all new docks, a dry stack, and ships store.  This was a good stop as we had 25-30 mph winds when the cold front passed through.  We stayed here a week, timing a good weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico.

 

The lighthouse attendant is cleaning the lens.

I was due for oil changes in the engines and generator, we haven't used the folding cart since last year, looks like we had a stowaway.  Found an Advance Auto to take my used oil.

We departed Port St Joe on the 17^th, anchored at Carrabelle Beach for one night, then arrived at C-Quarters marina in Carrabelle for fuel and supplies before our Gulf crossing.

On November 19^th we departed the marina and anchored at Dog Island, a barrier island of the Gulf.  We anchor here to prepare the boat for the crossing and try to squeeze in a nap.  The crossing from Dog Island to Clearwater Florida takes us about 22 hours.  We leave the anchorage at 3 p.m. to arrive near clearwater around 10 a.m., as we approach the coast, there are several crab pot floats we must dodge.  When the sun is rising, the glare on the water makes it almost impossible to see them and running over a float, with a line connected to the pot on the sea floor, can wrap around the prop and drive shaft stalling the engine.  The sun is high enough around 10 o’clock making it easier to see the floats.  We departed the island at 2:30 p.m. and traveled 177 miles arriving at our anchorage at Clearwater Beach at 11:54 a.m...

 It's very rare to see the Gulf this flat, this was one of our best crossings.

We watched the sunset until it disappeared over the horizon but were unable to witness the notorious green flash.

Rut Roe, someone didn't plan the course very well.  We crossed a space capsule recovery zone, good thing is was a none event.

Navigating in total darkness.

We had a partial moon until after midnight.

And an awesome sunrise..

After a 2-day rest, we departed our anchorage November 23^rd traveling 57 miles to an anchorage at Sarasota, then continued another 40 miles on the 27^th to an anchorage at Cape Haze.  

As we approached the Sunshine Skyway Bridge crossing Tampa Bay, these fishermen give you an idea how shallow the water is throughout the west coast of Florida.  Drifting out of the channel is not an option. 

 The four lane bridge is over 4 miles long across Tampa Bay. 

 I don't miss the traffic at all.

This ship, traveling at 14 mph is approaching the bridge, I'm traveling 8 mph so I'm pretty sure we can cross the channel before he gets to us......okay, I picked up rpm's just to be on the safe side and we had a good quarter mile to spare.

While anchored at Cape Haze, we dropped the dinghy and visited Don Pedro Island State Park.  Although the park is closed due to hurricane Ian, we were able to access the beach and spend a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the mild weather.

There are still a few boats strung across the coast from hurricane Ian

Lots of shells.

We weighed anchor on the 27^th and traveled 14 miles to another favorite anchorage at Punta Blanca Island.  We dropped the dinghy and cruised a couple of miles to Cabbage Key for a burger in paradise. 

 

We've been cruising with our friends Steve and Jan on m/v Forever Young since Kentucky Lake.  They were also trying to find a slip somewhere and helped us get into Marathon.  

After the wind finally calmed down, we weighed anchor and arrived at Laishley Marina at Punta Gorda.  We have been anchored for 9 days and this is a good stop to resupply.  Our friends Larry and Linda on m/v Lila Blue bought a “new to them” boat this year and have moved it here from the east coast.

Our cruising plans are continually changing, we were on several waiting lists this summer for dockage in the Keys, but everything was reserved.  We decided to go to the Bahamas instead but received word of an available slip at Marathon through our friends Steve and Jan.  We departed Punta Gorda on December 1^st and cruised 51 miles to an anchorage at Glover Bight, near Cape Coral, FL.  From this anchorage to Marathon will be in Gulf open waters and we have a good weather window to make the jump.  On December 2^nd we weighed anchor and cruised 47 miles to an anchorage at Marco Island.  I thought I’d try out a new lure I purchased a Port St Joe.  I think it was a good choice.

 10 pound 35 inch Kingfish Mackerel

Our friends from Terre Haute, Indiana Steve and Libby on m/v San Souci have also anchored at Marco and have a slip reserved at Marathon, this should be a great winter!

We planned to leave Marco Island at daybreak but were fogged in until 9:30, we are 64 miles from our next anchorage and wanted to be there before dark.  When the fog lifted, we had about a half mile visibility when we left the harbor, but after a few miles on the Gulf, another fog bank rolled in

Here we go again.....

Another set of eyes in the fog never hurts...

We anchored at Little Shark River offshore just as the sun was setting.  Although we were a half mile offshore the Gulf was mostly flat all night.

We weighed anchor at daybreak with clear skies and calm seas but that didn’t last long, about an hour into our 51-mile cruise to Marathon, the fog rolled in again.  Hmmm, either we have wind and waves or calm seas and fog.  The fog finally cleared around 11 a.m. and we arrived at our slip in Marathon at 2:30 on December 4^th.

We caught a few Spanish Mackerel on the way to Marathon but we have plenty of fresh fish to last us awhile so we released them.