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Marathon

5/2/2013

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Please see Roger's latest post as well (about Sarasota to Ft. Myers), just below this one. 
We've been in Marathon a little over a week now and are enjoying it very much - most of it. We planned to leave last week after a day or two here, but weather and mechanical issues have kept us here. High winds out of the east delayed us to begin with. As the weather began to turn, we started planning our departure. We were on a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor run by the City of Marathon. They have great facilities and really cater to the cruising community. Saturday morning (April 27) we left the mooring ball to go get fuel and water at a marina close by, with the idea of coming back to the mooring ball for the rest of the day and depart Sunday for Rodriguez Key and then Miami. Marathon Marina was very friendly and filled us up. We thanked them and prepared to leave . . . but, the engine wouldn't start. We were sure it was just the battery again, but even after hooking to shore power and trying a few things, nothing worked. Ken has been a gold member of Boat US for many, many, many years, and has never had to use their towing services. There is a first time! We called on Boat US and they towed us about a hundred yards from the fuel dock in to a slip at the marina (for $2.50/ft/night - better than $600!). We spent the next three days enjoying their gorgeous pool and coordinating the purchase of a new starter (and batteries, just to be safe).
Picture
Marathon Marina pool
With all new power systems, we are ready to go! But the weather has turned a little rough again. The last couple days have been lines of thunder storms about every 12 hours or so. So we have stayed put and enjoyed meeting other couples and families around us. Sea Mist (a 40' Catalina), who we met at the marina and is also now in the mooring field has two young boys and they live on their boat full time. They have been great with advice and were gracious enough to let us borrow their bike which allowed me to make two runs to the grocery store today (a little over a mile away). The weather is looking better later this weekend in to early next week, but we just found out Kyle and Kate will be here in Marathon starting Monday with Kate's family for the week. So we think we will hang out here a little longer and visit with them.

We will keep everyone posted when we start moving again. Still hoping to get to the Bahamas in the next couple weeks. If anyone is interested in helping us make that overnight crossing from Miami to the Bahamas, give us a call to coordinate. I have read there is a high speed ferry that goes back to Ft. Lauderdale from Freeport and/or Nassau.
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Crew post - Sarasota to Ft. Myers - by Roger Anderson

5/1/2013

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The wind diminished over night and by sunrise on April 14th Aqua Vida was riding gently at its mooring in Sarasota Bay. The grey skies quickly brightened as the early morning sun burned through the haze. Danielle checked the latest weather reports and tides as we prepared to drop the mooring and get underway. The plan was to navigate the Sarasota Pass and sail offshore to Boca Grande where we would reenter the Intracoastal Waterway and continue south. If the wind increased, as it had done on the previous two mornings, we could duck into the Venice Pass and complete the trip to Charlotte Harbor on the Intracoastal Waterway. Conditions looked right and we were ready to get the boat under sail after having to motor for most of the passage down from St. Petersburg. We would be riding an outgoing tide through the Pass and Ken remained concern about the lack of definition on the charts and the warnings in the cruising guides about the continuously shifting shoals at the Gulf entrance to the Pass. We had only been underway for a few minutes when we passed the first channel marker and entered the Pass. Almost immediately the keel touched bottom and we bumped over a shallow sandbar in the channel. To port, smaller runabouts were navigating closer to shore and we began to feel our way in that direction, but the water depth remained shallow. So, Ken opted to be cautious and reluctantly aborted our plan to sail offshore. With disappointment and apologies he turned the boat around and headed for the Intracoastal Waterways. Once under the Siesta Key Bridge the commitment had been made and we would continue south for the next 55 miles in the Intracoastal Waterway.

The disappointment of not being able to sail offshore diminished as once again the south wind increased into the high teens and gusted into the 20’s. Danielle confessed that she likes wind in the 15 mph range and no higher. So we settled back and enjoyed the scenery as we motored slowly south along the waterway.  here were beautiful and amazing homes and resorts situated on the Waterway on Siesta Key all the Way down to Ft. Myers and we were periodically pointing out architecture or landscaping so that no one would miss the sites. We made the trip on Sunday and there was a kaleidoscope of boats on the Waterway. They were of all sizes, and shapes for a variety of purposes. Some were for fishing, but the majority of boats along the Sarasota County section were for day cruises. I should say luxury cruising, because there were literally billions of dollars of boats at docks and marinas and on the water. Just south of Stump Pass we encountered the states shortest car ferry. A tugboat and barge with a four cars on deck left Gasparilla Island and deposited them on the mainland a few hundred yards away. Alas, the Intracoastal Waterway is far too narrow at this point to allow for the construction of any bridge.  So the residents of the Island enjoy their exclusive homes on the island and, I’m sure, suffer through the inconvenience of waiting for the ferry to go buy groceries. Further south as we approached Boca Grande both the land uses on shore and the boats were oriented more towards serious fishing. Tarpon is king at Boca Grande and fishing is big business.     

We motored across the mouth of Boca Grande pass in the late afternoon and headed for an anchorage in the sheltered waters west of Useppa Island. We joined six other cruisers at this anchorage and settled down for a rum and coke to reflect on the day’s passage. To the west was Cabbage Key, made famous by Jimmy Buffet’s song, “Cheese Burger in Paradise.”  We hoped to partake of this renowned delicacy at lunch the next day. But that was tomorrow. This evening Danielle and Kaylee got into their bathing suits for a late afternoon swim when a small shark (maybe 3 feet long) broke the surface chasing a fish near the stern. It was exciting to see, but needless to say, there was no swimming that afternoon. We did catch a small sand trout, much to Kaylee’s delight, before turning in for the evening. The real hardship of the day was there was only one rum and coke that evening.  Cruising can be a bear sometimes.

One crew member, I won’t say who to protect the guilty, was up before sunrise the next morning stomping around on deck and waking everyone up. He also lost two yellow jigs to a fierce school of minnows that were swarming around the boat. To his credit, he later teamed up with Kaylee and caught the largest Lady Fish seem in Charlotte Harbor for the last few decades. Unfortunately, it fell off the hook while attempting to bring it aboard. So, you will just have to take the word of this author about the gargantuan size of the fish or ask Kaylee. She will tell you how big it was. At four years old her arm span is just long enough to show its size.  Just ask her about the, “Mommy Fish,” she will know what you mean.  (Note to Ken:  I owe you two yellow jigs.).

After the excitement of the Lady Fish things slowed down, Ken, Danielle and Kaylee took the dingy and explored a mangrove island, while I finished cleaning the blood off the deck from the fierce battle with the Lady Fish. All morning we had watched for activity at the restaurant on Cabbage key. Surely there would be a boat delivering grocery and another bringing staff to the key. But, there was almost no sign of activity, making us wonder if the restaurant was closed on Mondays. However, we did not want to miss the opportunity, so by 11:30 AM we all piled into the Dingy and headed for Cabbage key for our rendezvous with the legendary cheeseburger. Boats and people appeared magically from a nearly deserted waterway and filled up all of the dock space along the shoreline at the restaurant. Tour boats dropped off hundreds of people who all hurried up the steps and into the restaurant with great anticipation. Inside the restaurant, a staff of dozens also materialized to carry platters of cheeseburgers to the waiting masses. In the background Jimmy Buffet sang a ballet of songs that included “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” every 15 minutes.  It was all….just….magical.  The cheeseburger was sort of mediocre, but I’m not letting that spoil the magic of the day.   

After lunch we weighted anchor and motored south to an anchorage off of Cayo Costa then took the dingy ashore to walk the beach and look for seashells. The island is reported to be one of the best shelling beaches in the world and we were not disappointed. There were large drifts of shells along the shoreline.  The only problem was selecting the choice ones without loading the boat down with shells. Kaylee was very selective and only collected a small cup of shells. Danielle took some great pictures of driftwood and shells for the blog.

We took a short swim before returning to Aqua Vida while the boat next to us on the beach was catching small sharks. Why worry about sharks, the water was warm and inviting. Back on the boat we were under sails at last for a leisurely 12 mile passage to our overnight anchorage off of Chino Key. We were able to make 3 to 4 knots with just the genoa set and it was a leisurely trip.  We could have sailed faster if we had raised the mainsail, but why bother. Somewhere along this 12 mile passage we experienced the zen of cruising. That coveted frame of mind that cruisers speak of with reverence. It’s difficult to describe, but we were in the moment. There was no schedule, safe the setting sun. No need to rush, we had all the time were needed. We did not care about influences off the boat. They did not matter. More importantly, we did not care that we did not care. Land dwellers, the poor souls, would call it mellow, lazy, zoned out, or out of touch with reality. But we knew the truth, we were cruising.

Chino Key provided deep water sheltered from the forecast northwest winds by the mangrove forest along its banks. It looked ideal and we dropped the hook and settled in for the evening. But later in the evening a serious problem arose. Mosquitoes from the mangrove island managed to cross the 100 yards to the boat and invaded the cabin. We tried to cope with the buzzing and bites, but without success. Kaylee protested the loudest, but we were all annoyed by the invasion. So sometimes around midnight we lifted the anchor and motored further out into Pine Island Sound away from Chino Key. Problem solved, the boat was now out of range and we all slept soundly with dreams of Lady Fish and cheeseburgers on our mind. It was a great cruising day.

We weighted anchor early the next morning to cover the 10 miles to the moorings in Ft. Myers Beach. It was Tuesday morning and Charlotte Harbor was full of fishing boats, lying at anchor with poles in the water, others dashing about towards preferred fishing grounds. Ft. Myers Beach is one of those staging areas were cruisers congregate waiting for the ideal time and weather conditions to head out to points further south. As we neared the entrance to the channel, two cruising boats passed us heading south. They were beautiful with their sails up heading 200 degrees south out of the pass. In a day or two, Ken and Danielle would follow in their wakes with a fresh crew and high anticipation. 

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Key West to Marathon

5/1/2013

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We pulled anchor and left Key West the morning of Tuesday, April 23. The winds were out of the east and we were heading east, so it was a day of tacking north and south. With the added distance we would never make Marathon, so we picked Newfound Harbor as a place to anchor for the night. 

As an aside, we passed a little resort called Little Palm Island that we noticed had a marina and our gps showed as offering transient slips. I read that this was a pretty exclusive resort, so I didn't expect we would be able to afford a slip, but I called anyway. For $600 (a night!!!!) we could have a slip. Needless to say this was not in our budget, but the resort amenities were very nice. For comparison, we typically find $1-$3/foot/night, so for us at 38 feet that is not more than $120/night, and usually we only dock if it is under $2/foot. And, even for a month, we usually pay under $400 total - although it would be closer $800 down here in the Keys.

Around 5pm, we motored up a very narrow channel as the winds picked up to over 20 knots. We put the anchor down near a few other anchored boats and were just starting to settle in to make dinner when we realized the anchor was dragging. We promptly scrambled to start the motor and reset the anchor. The first problem . . . the motor wouldn't start. Another scramble to pull the jump starter out, connect to the battery and try again. Whew! That worked. We tried setting the anchor three or four more times, but we kept dragging and pulling up grass. It just wasn't going to work, so we decided we would have to motor through the night into 25 knot head winds to get to Marathon. We followed our gps track out the channel in the dark and once we turned the corner back to the north the waves hit us - a good 3-5 feet (maybe 4-6). I knew the only way I'd keep my stomach in check was to drive. Our heading was clear and we had lights in the distance to drive to, so Ken went below with Kaylee to get her a little dinner and get ready for bed. We pounded away in to the waves. Kaylee threw up her small dinner before finally crashing out. Ken joined me back up in the cockpit and we took turns at the helm for the next five to six hours until we finally reached the outskirts of Marathon around 3am and found an anchorage just outside the channel leading in to the harbor. No problem with the anchor this time, but we still decided to sleep in the cockpit with a close eye on the gps.

Sorry, no pics on this post. It was a long and hectic day, not a lot of camera moments.
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    Usually Danielle, with help from Ken and Kaylee or any other visitors we are lucky enough to have aboard.

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