Bahia Honda

The weather was nice yesterday so we left our mooring in Boot Key Harbor and sailed about 13 miles down the Hawk Channel to Bahia Honda Key. There is a State Park there and you can anchor between the new and old overseas highway bridges. The protection there is pretty minimal so you need to have a good forecast before deciding to stay overnight. We explored the park and walked the beach and took a dinghy ride into the mangroves where we spotted a pelican rookery. Enjoyed a quiet night on the hook with no generators! The sunset was pretty spectacular as well. The original railroad bridge was directly on the concrete pilings. The rickety looking superstructure was added to accommodate cars making the bridge both higher and wider. It sure looked flimsy as we passed through a section which had been removed to accommodate boat traffic.

We are now back "home" in Boot Key. We leave for Key West on Wednesday where we become dirt dwellers for a few days.

Cold Weather

I guess we shouldn't complain too much, but it has been uncharacteristically cold here in the Keys as well as everywhere else on the east coast. It's been in the 40's at night and low 60'during the day. The sea water temperature has taken a big hit with the northerly winds as well - so no swimming. The forecast is for gradually warming weather and we plan to head out to Bahia Honda State park tomorrow for a few days change of scenery. Hopefully we can post some nice beach pictures.

Seven Mile Bridge

Today was another full day in the keys. We start our days with a little routine - Coffee, a breakfast usually featuring lots of fresh fruit, one half hour of engine time to replenish the batteries and make hot water. By now it is 9:00 am and time for the Marathon Cruiser's net. This is a controlled conversation among the 260 or so boats in the harbor on CH 68 VHF. On the net, we learn who is new to the harbor, who is leaving, announcements which include activities for the next several days, problem solving, buy / sell / give away, and a nautical trivia game. It's amazing how many problems are solved and goods are exchanged each morning.

After the Net, Carol and I headed ashore for our day which started at West Marine to pick up a new inspection port. We then peddled east to the famous 7 mile bridge. Actually two bridges are standing, the old bridge which is a car conversion of the original RR bridge and a modern span featuring a 65 foot high span for us sailboats. We peddled our bikes across the old span for about 2.5 miles into a little history from the early 1900's. Our destination was Pigeon Key and home of a work encampment for folks building Henry Flaglers overseas railway to Key West. Henry Flagler, a partner of John D Rockefeller in Standard Oil of Ohio, is largely credited for modern development of the East Coast of Florida. He built railroads and luxury hotels eventually all the way from St Augustine to Key West. His impact is perhaps most dramatic right here in Marathon. The seven mile bridge which starts here and heads west is a true marvel. The original bridge was just wide enough for a train. After a major hurricane in 1935, the railroad was destroyed and eventually the overseas highway was built on the old rail bed. As we biked across this span the lane markings still exist for car traffic. Let me tell you there was just barely enough room for two cars to pass on this roadway - see picture above! After the 2&1/2 miles, we landed on Pigeon Key (in the background of the picture) and observed the buildings used to house the original work parties. There was a small museum and we enjoyed a video featuring Henry Flagler's amazing life story.

We continue to enjoy the social scene here in Boot Key Harbor. We have made a number of friends including a couple from Brockport, New York. We're looking forward to watching the inauguration and having brunch aboard a Lagoon 42 Catamaran which is about a luxurious and roomy as it gets for a sailing vessel.

Cat Overboard

While most readers are freezing at the moment, it is not all that warm here either. Maybe low 60's outside. We have had a brisk northeast breeze for a couple of days and it will continue through at least half of the weekend. So today was planned to be spent aboard doing some chores and reading. I was busy installing an electric raw water backup electric pump and Carol was in the cockpit where it was a toasty 85 and reading.

All of a sudden we heard quite a ruckus and actually thought a person was yelling at us. It turned out to be a good size cat swimming next to our boat and screaming for help. I got out our boat hook and the cat grabbed on for dear life. My dinghy was up on it's davits and we don't have a net so we were lost for what to do next. Fortunately Larry next door heard the noise and got in his dinghy with a small landing net. We managed to snag the cat and I jumped into his dinghy to help with the rescue. Neither Larry or I are cat people and we didn't want the frightened animal clawing at us in the inflatable. The woman on the next boat upwind is a veterinarian technician and she volunteered to take the distressed animal - Larry and I were happy to oblige.

We later discovered that the cat belonged to a neighbor, Risky Business a young couple from Ocracoke Island. Risky Business doesn't have an outboard for their dinghy, since it was very windy they were offered a ride into the marina by a neighbor, Tom who also has a cat. So the cat from RB was left with Tom's cat to hang out for the morning. Apparently she got bored and decided to swim over to her own boat which is equipped with a cat boarding ladder. (Large diameter rope hanging over the side). But she did not figure on the wind or current and ended up screaming for help along side our down wind & current boat.

Anyhow all is well that ends well.

Crane Point Nature Center

Yesterday we left our mooring and motored out to Sombrero Reef for a swim in crystal clear water. It was a light wind day, but the southerly breeze did generate a swell that Carol didn't exactly like. The nearest land mass is Cuba some 85 miles from Sombrero Reef. Anyhow I went swimming under the boat to check for growth on the metal parts and for the condition of the zinc's. Just a grassy substance on the prop and the zincs look just like they did at Cape Lookout last summer.



We have been in Marathon for a month today and just got around to visiting the Crane Point Nature Center. We spent the entire afternoon there. Started with a terrific tour by volunteer Naturalist Carol who acquinted us with the Flora and Fauna of Vaca Key. We learned of the dangers of the Poison Wood Tree and the healing powers of the Gumbo Limbo tree which is found growing nearby each Poison Wood Tree. The most spectacular creatures seen were the large and colorful spiders. Unfortunately these were nearly impossible to photograph with a camera with only automatic focus. No matter how close I got, I could not get the focus feature to lock onto the spiders. This nature center is the result of a trust which acquired the Vaca Key estate of the Crane Family in the 70's. We hart

Full Moon

Today was a full moon. We went to the beach at low tide and saw a lot of ground for first time. The birds were having a feast.

This is a shot of the moon taken just after sunset. We headed out for some music in the tiki hut at the marina and then for a play - Steel Magnolias by the Marathon Civic Theater. It was a terrific performance.

Life on the Ball

Today is a beautiful clear sunny day in the low 70's. It got a little exciting Wednesday night. It had been in the high 80's, humid and very still. All of a sudden a cold front swept in with 45 mile per hour gusts and some rain. We were on our boat and able to close things up, but many folks were ashore with boats open. There was some panicked dinghy traffic.

We have decided not to take our boat to Key West next month. We will leave the boat here in Boot Key and bus down for 4 days and three nights in a B&B. This gives us the opportunity to sample Key West night life, resturants, and a trip to the Dry Tortugas without the expense and hassle of having our boat there.

Boot Key Harbor

Last Saturday, having completed the boat projects, we moved off the dock to a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor. We love the new neighborhood!

Both the inverter/charger and new hi-amp alternator make living on the hook more practical. A half hour of engine time at idle restores the house bank and makes hot water for the day. Our solar panel maintains a full charge during the day. So life is good - electrically speaking.

We bought a basil plant for the cockpit and have been enjoying fresh basil in our cooking. We made an eggplant parm the other day which is about as complicated as anything we want to do in our small galley.

We went down to Key West by bus the other day and checked out the marina spot we had reserved there. We concluded that Key West was a nice place to visit, but we don't want to live there. So we will maintain Marathon as a base and take a few overnight trips to other anchorages by boat, and a few more bus trips to Key West. We will head up the West Coast of Florida sometime in February.

Happy New Year

We had a great New Years Eve celebration on the boat of friends from Vancouver Island. A memorable meal and great company. This morning Dennis, Barbara, and Abby stopped by to wish us a Happy New Year and show off Abby's new hat.

Carol and I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.