Marathon Key - February 26, 2000

I am remembering the night Tim left us at the dinghy in Key Largo. I felt a little part of my heart break off and go along with him. We had so much fun with Tim, Cheryl, Ilie, Kelsey, Jarot, and Georgie that life seems a little sedate and boring now.

We sailed down to Marathon Key. We have had a few problems that needed solving, and Marathon is the sailing mecca down here so it is good place to stop. We got a little rip in our main sail, a reefing eyelet ripped out when we reefed the main in a good blow. As it turns out, Mark had been tying the reefing lines too tight. We found a sailmaker who was willing to fix the sail but we had to get to his place my 1:00 pm. We had two miles to walk and it was 11:30 am. We are getting used to walking all over the place for all our needs and provisions. We got there at 12:30 pm. Christoph and his wife were really nice. They fixed our sail right away instead of saying that we could pick in up on Monday. Then he gave us a ride back to the dinghy, saying that he appreciated "walkers". They told us that they like the Bahamas better than the Caribbean Islands. He said that except for Nassau, the Bahamas are very safe, little crime and very friendly people. He said that with a 5 foot draft boat we could find lots of little private anchorages easily, where in the Caribbean Islands, they are much harder to find, and the areas are very crowded.

We plan on going next year to the Bahamas and not stay around Florida much at all. The year after, we will probably go to the Caribbean. In the summer, we will probably stay around Door County with a trip or two to Lake Charlevoix on the Michigan side. We might also go to Mackinaw Island and the North Channel.

Mark fixed the head's jocker valve so that will not cost us anything. Good another $120 we didn't have to spend.

We have been spending like drunken sailors since July. We hope now to settle into a budget so that we can save some money too. The boat always seems to need something fixed which costs more than we bargained for. We also enjoy eating out too much. Maybe if we could start catching fish, we could enjoy "seafood at home."

We did buy an entertainment book for Florida, and Key West has a lot of buy one get the other free coupons so at least we will cut down on expenses if we go out.

The gusts are going up to 25 mph as I write and I think it is time to make lunch. We plan on heading out for Key West tomorrow. We will probably stop at Big Pine Key and maybe even give Dr. Jack Cummings a call. He is always happy to hear from his former students. He might even like a sailboat ride. We'll see.

Sights at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon Key

Sunken treasures abound here.

A live-aboard next to our anchoring spot in Boot Key Harbor not far from the municipal marina. This boat never strayed from its anchoring spot, and it had no holding tank

Another live-aboard to the north of our anchoring spot.

A really pretty boat not far from our spot in Boot Key Harbor occupied by a couple from Chesapeake Bay.

A Mariner 36 from Philadelphia.