| |
|
March 31, 2012 7:29 AM
Posted By Robin & Jim
|
We have been hard at work these past weeks trying to accomplish as many to-do's as we can while we're tied to a dock, but today is the day to leave and start the next adventure. We're heading to the Bahamas and we'll be over there for about three months, exploring some farther-flung places and more remote areas.
Just getting ready to be on our own for three months is a big job, and since we can't count on finding grocery stores in many places (or finding what we might need in the few that we'll encounter) we have to bring everything with us. We have a second freezer and a vacuum packer, so we spent a day up out of the Keys shopping at Costco, Wal-Mart, etc. Here's a photo of just some of the mess - it took us seven loads in a dock cart to empty the car.
And it took many days to organize, repackage, inventory, and stow all these supplies and food!
We have had another really good season here on the dock, and we'll miss our many friends. One of the hardest things about being a cruiser is that we're always saying "good-bye" to people... though we prefer "we'll see you when we see you".
We've been getting together with various people who have arrived in the harbor or are leaving, and the terrific $5 lunch at the Hurricane has been a popular spot for these little reunions.... right next to the dive shop with the giant angelfish.
And no farewell to Marathon would be complete without one last stop at Jim's favorite new place: Sweet Savannah's - home of the killer cupcakes and ice cream treats.
And it wasn't hard to convince a few friends to meet us up there last night...
The weather is beautiful and the winds have finally calmed down. It looks like we'll have good conditions for our crossing, and for the two additional days needed to get over to the Exuma chain of islands. We'll relax there for a few days and then head south east to our farthest point... then slowly work our way back up the out-islands.
I will really miss certain people (and dogs) in Marathon though. You know who you are.
|
|
February 26, 2012 8:52 PM
Posted By Robin & Jim
|
Valentine's Day isn't a big deal for us, but one of the local real estate companies always gets into the spirit of it by decorating their manatee mailbox. Only in the Keys...
In the meantime our maintenance and projects continue - yet the list seems to get longer, not shorter. One highlight of every day is my little friend Mollie - she's still a puppy and has quite a fan club on the dock. She stops by my boat every morning for treats and sweetness, and if she sees me walk by her boat she woofs and comes charging out to see me. Nothing beats a wagging tail to put a smile on my face!
We do take little breaks now and then, and when I can I venture out with my friend Carol to kayak and look for birds. We've seen some nice roseate spoonbills lately - and they are always a treat to see.
We even saw a pair of young spoonbills near the marina in the mangroves on Boot Key - the first time I've seen them in this particular area! These two let us get pretty close.
On the same afternoon we saw a young bald eagle, a manatee next to my kayak, and we saw a small eagle ray jump out of the water between our two boats. Fabulous!
Shifting gears, we took a day trip up to the Miami Boat Show to see all the vendors in the Convention Center. We went up with Nancy and Ted McCarley, and we ran into a number of other friends walking the miles of aisles. It was a successful trip - we got a lot of good information, new sunglasses and Keen sandals, and for the first time Jim didn't stop in EVERY booth with LED lights. It's still an overwhelming sight - so many people, so many boats and huge engines, parts, bits, pieces, etc. A big group of us met for dinner afterwards, and we didn't get back to Marathon until well after midnight - real midnight, not "cruiser's midnight" (9 pm).
Jim celebrated his birthday in style, inviting a lot of friends from the marina for cake and ice cream. We couldn't fit all the people he wanted to invite - we had about 18 people and I had to get him two cakes (plus ice cream, of course). Here's the happy birthday guy wearing the turtle hat he received as a gift.
Next weekend is the DeFever Rendezvous, so we're frantically trying to wrap up this wave of projects before we escape for a long weekend. When we get back the time will fly before we leave for the Bahamas, and we still have a new SSB radio to install, motor mounts to replace, and a pile of other to-do's. The last thing will be shopping at Costco and Wally World for provisions and supplies for 3+ months in remote areas.
|
|
February 11, 2012 4:39 PM
Posted By Robin & Jim
|
We occasionally stop working on projects to do something fun and interesting, so a few days ago we headed down to Key West with friends to hear a lecture on the seven birds that are fairly unique to the Keys for one reason or another. We left Marathon early enough to stop at the Butterfly Conservatory since Jim and I have never been. WOW! It was really excellent, with tons of gorgeous plants, beautiful little birds, and tons of colorful butterflies. I brought my camera and spent a little time photographing there, and I definitely plan to go back again and spend even more time. It's a small place, but packed with amazing things.
I could spend a whole day photographing just the plants, and another day of the little birds, and yet another day or two on the butterflies themselves.
Yesterday my friend Carol and I took a guided hike on a shoreline trail down on Big Pine Key. We were looking for birds and small critters, but the highlights were the butterflies... in the wild this time. We saw several different kinds, including this Great Southern White that differs from the Florida version because of the vivid blue tips on his antenna.
He's perched on sea lavender which seems to be very salt-tolerant since it grows well along the shore. The photo below is another kind of butterfly - I don't know the type. The tiny flowers were blooming so that's why we saw so many butterflies on the trail.
This one was pretty - standing up on tip-toe...
We also saw some palm warblers (small birds) as well as ibis, pelicans, cormorants, and osprey. It was also neat to see how the gumbo limbo tree (aka the "tourist tree" because it's bark is always red and peeling) grows near the poisonwood tree. Poisonwood lives up to it's name and is quite potent, but the sap of the gumbo limbo tree can provide some relief. These are native trees, and the poisonwood is very important since it's the favorite food source for the white-crowned pigeon - an endangered bird.
The most interesting new find on our hike was a hummingbird moth. I thought I saw a very small hummingbird, but the naturalist guide said that it's a type of moth! Aside from it's smaller size and less vivid coloring, it behaved just like a hummingbird - very cool.
After our hike we headed up to No Name Pub for some pizza, and even though it was the middle of the day and hot we did see two of the diminutive Key Deer. Always a treat!
|
|
January 27, 2012 4:15 PM
Posted By Robin & Jim
|
We've settled into our winter routine here in Marathon, and are making some headway on the Endless To-Do List. We've had great weather - mid 70's and sunny most days, and this week has been up around 80.
More important than our usual talk about projects is the 100th Anniversary of the Florida Overseas Railway which was just last Sunday. Henry Flagler spent his own money to build bridges to connect the entire chain of islands that make up the Keys - known as "Flagler's Folly". Lucky for us Mr. Flagler had such amazing vision and resources, otherwise the Keys as we know them today might not exist!
The Overseas Railway was completed in 1912, and was sadly destroyed by an unnamed hurricane in 1935 that wiped out the train trying to carry people to safety from Key West. After that the train tracks were removed and a roadbed was installed on the concrete bridges. That roadway served until 1982 when a completely new set of bridges and roadway was completed. Most of the old bridges are gone now, though some were left as fishing piers. The old bridges were difficult to remove because the concrete was so tough! Even 100 years later, the old concrete is in better shape than the new bridges built in the early 80's.
Marathon, where we stay for the winter, is so named because of the effort required to build the longest stretch of bridge - the Seven Mile Bridge. The little island of Pigeon Key (pictured above) was where many of the workers lived in difficult conditions while building the Railway. On the far left of the photo is the new bridge and in the right foreground is the old hundred-year-old bridge, now closed to traffic except for bicycles and pedestrians. If you ever come down here you should definitely visit Pigeon Key.
We drove down to Big Pine Key recently to check on our house, rented out to a nice Coast Guard family. We noticed that the three travelers palms are really growing like crazy, and they have some kind of large seed pod that must have opened recently. The lining of the pod is the most unusual vivid blue! Nature never ceases to throw us a curve.
In between chores like cleaning bilges, cleaning out boxes of parts and supplies, waxing the entire boat, replacing injectors in the engines, etc., I still try to take time to get out and paddle my kayak most evenings (unless it's really windy). I love to see my birds and underwater critters. Pelicans, cormorants, blue herons, white herons, egrets, ibis, kingfishers, yellow-crowned night herons, osprey, and even red-winged black birds are common here. Underwater I've seen stingrays, baby eagle rays, manatee, baby nurse sharks, hermit crabs, and barracuda. For Christmas I got Jim an underwater light to hang off the boat - and that attracts all kinds of fish. We go out every 30 minutes in the evenings to see what's new, and there's almost always a little green heron sitting nearby, fishing. We've seen a tiny moray eel, baby lookdowns, tiny filefish... it's really neat.
Every night most people on the dock stop to watch the sunset - a great tradition. It never gets old.
|
|
|
