Goodness
Gracious how time flies! Well, as you
know from the last post, we are back in the USA and we have now been here for
more than a month!! We are easing back
into the daily life and growing roots.
It sure feels good to be home but there are things we miss about
cruising.
After some
rest and relaxation, we left Key West and headed up the island chain. We made it as far as Marathon and have still
not left. Boot Key Harbor is very boater
and cruiser friendly. The city runs a
top notch marina here with many amenities.
There are hundreds of mooring balls (many empty this time of the
year). The cost of these is reasonable
and includes: nice floating dinghy
docks, a weekly pump out of your holding tank, parking for cars and bicycles,
nice shower and laundry facilities, large indoor “project” areas, free wifi at
the dock, television viewing areas, mail receiving and friendly people working
every aspect of the facilities. The
anchorage is very well protected from weather, there are several restaurants on
the water and there are many shopping opportunities within walking
distance. There is a cruisers net every
morning at 9AM with offers of knowledge and assistance. It will be a difficult place to leave.
The “LIST”
of things we want to get done on the boat is a pretty long one. Of course, fixing the cracked boom is a high
priority. We also want to have the
standing rigging replaced. This is the
big heavy wires and fittings that help hold the mast in place – not a cheap or
easy task. We have found a rigging
specialist here in Marathon to do the work.
We could have gone on to Key Largo and he would have come up there to do
the work but his charges would have included travel time (1 hour each way) so
we opted to stay here and get it done.
We have purchased a boom that is in Stuart, FL and when this work is
done, will get up there to get it. We
have made several trips to the chandlery – West Marine for other small parts
and pieces and Home Depot.
A week ago,
we rented a car and made a trip to Ft. Lauderdale to get a boat gadget. Our dear friends, Scott and Kim on Bella
Blue, sailed back to the USA on Friday.
They had a Whisker pole that they wanted us to have since they are
selling their boat and moving to land.
We had a great visit with them and in the meantime got to stop in Key
Largo on the way there and back for visits with friends there. We had been considering making Marathon our new
home but after this visit, Key Largo is still “home” and we will probably go
there as soon as we can.
Since we
have been here in Marathon, I found a deal on a kayak and a bicycle. We are looking at a used pick-up that our
friend, Dan has located for us. Of
course, the pick-up is located in central Florida so we will have to go and get
it – and bring back the boom on the way.
We are looking for work and have had some informal interviews and some
potential opportunities but nothing has tied us down to that yet. There is such a long list of things we WANT
to do and have done on the boat that it is hard to find time to work but the
extra money to do these things is very beneficial.
Anyway,
stay tuned……we are not going to drop the blog just because we aren’t in foreign
ports anymore. We hope to keep up your
interests so that when we leave again – yes, there will be another voyage – you can keep reading about
our adventures. Cheers!
