Marathon

Very crowded Boot Key Harbor (Marathon, FL Keys)

This is a great way to get
beach sand off the feet.

We arrived in Marathon and called in to request a mooring ball as we approached the channel.  Which is a bit of a joke.  We knew there would be none.  Marathon City Marina is a very bustling, crowded place during the winter months.  We've been here several times and every time all two hundred and twenty-six mooring balls have been taken and we've been put on the waiting list, never to score one.  This time we were instructed to find a spot to anchor and then come on in to register.

We shopped around for a spot we liked.  The anchorage is chock full of derelict looking boats, many that appear to have been here for a very long time.  I'm pretty sure many of the boats in the anchorage are not even functional and many are piled high with stuff -- old engines, generators, storage boxes, and who knows what else -- just stuff.  And there is plenty of what I've heard called "local colour" here. "Local colour" are the characters who have settled in and live on these old boats full time.

Interspersed in all this local colour are plenty of regular folks like us, just waiting for a mooring ball.  

Docktails on the flybridge of Steve and Cookie's boat Valentine
Always fun!

We visited the Turtle Hospital which is a non profit facility.
Their entire revenue comes from entrance fees and donations.
Their mission is to save, treat and release injured or sick turtles.
We always love when we see one of these giants so we were
happy to contribute to their care.

So we paid our week's dues which allow us access to the facilities and the dinghy dock (which, ironically, is the same price those on a mooring ball pay, $85.00 per week) and settled in.  We spent our week hanging out with friends, celebrating happy hours, getting a few chores done and exploring.

Open mic night at Dockside, a local bar on the water
that many just dinghy up to.  Great night with an
awesome group of folks chiming in together.

Oh Oh.  While at Dockside Pierre and Renee (M/V Shoreline Traveller)
motored by.  That's them in the background.
Jeff decided some full moon action was in order and a random
guy from the next table jumped up and decided he should assist.  Too funny.
Stuff like this happens in the Keys.

Near the end of our week our good buddies Jim and Mimi, who we travelled with back in 2014/15, flew in visit.  They stayed in the V-berth guest room of other buddies, Randy and Sherry (M/V Priorities).  Looking way back in this blog to about February 2016 you'd see that the six of us enjoyed a week together in the Bahamas a few years ago.  A wonderful reunion was had by all.

Great friends:  L to R  Mimi, Sherry, Randy, Jim, Jeff

The last time we were here Jeff was so pumped by the fuel station that had the sign out front reading "Fifteen gallons of fuel gets you one hundred pounds of free ice".  Me thinks this is targeting fishing boats that have large holds of ice to keep fish fresh but all Jeff could think about was how cold his beer would get with all that ice.  He was so excited.  He purchased his fuel and filled up an entire eighty quart cooler with his free ice and was able to squeeze just one beer in at a time for awhile until it melted down.  But, damn, that beer was cold.

Remembering this, he was so pumped to see the sign out again as we motored past.  He ran the generator extra long to burn enough fuel to make sure he could have room for fifteen gallons.  Unfortunately, presently Jeff is presently suffering with a siatica issue and eventually had to admit that the big cooler on the fly bridge completely filled with ice was maybe a bit much to struggle with.  Not one to give up though, he gathered up a bunch of smaller coolers from boating neighbours and off he went.

The fuel dock is an older, drive up building with a big porch that is a little reminicent of an old saloon, complete with salty old characters sitting in rocking chairs.  He pulled up and they gladly sold him his fifteen gallons of fuel and filled up all his little coolers.  While there, an old guy sitting on the porch suddenly jumped up.  Woo-hoo!!  He had scratched off his lottery ticket and was a winner!  Beer for everyone!! (at ten in the morning).  All the staff got one, customers in the store got one, he looked at Jeff and asked if he'd like one?  Of course, Jeff said sure, and an ice cold beer was delivered.  Sitting in his dinghy surrounded by coolers of ice and sipping on his free beer, his day was shaping up pretty good.

As Jeff was enjoying the moment he looked over at the old guy and asked,  "How much did you win?"

"Ten bucks." he answered.

I just love Marathon.

There have been a few casualties during our week here in Marathon, namely our coffee maker and worse, our generator.  We got reasonable deals on replacements (Thanks Randy for the use of your Veteran discount card).  The new generator works great and is quieter than the old one.

It's been fun but we're ready to move on.  Tomorrow morning we point the bow North and begin our long journey home.