Noses to the Grindstone in Marathon

It is a busy time for us in Marathon as we take two months off from cruising to attend to some needed maintenance and repairs.  Exuberant happily bobs at a mooring in this harbor of 228 boats on moorings, probably another 150 at anchor, and several hundred more in marinas. Both Burt and I have our list of tasks, and it is not long until the entire boat is torn apart.  Marathon is a great place to take a time out.  We have an excellent diesel mechanic here who changes out the injectors in our engine.  Our engine now has 5000 hours on it, so its maintenance becomes a bigger concern.  The rest of our jobs are DIY.  Burt changes out the original steering cables, a challenging (and messy) job on a center cockpit boat. The cables and their accompanying conduit are awkward to remove and replace in the confines of the boat interior and the resulting mess sees me trying to remove 20-some year old grease and oil from our light colored bimini and interior upholstery.  Someone was not very pleased! One day our generator decides not to start.  Burt troubleshoots the problem and discovers there is too much resistance in the electrical runs. Corrosion is part of the problem, but he also reworks some of the wiring, adding in a new solenoid to make the system more efficient.   Burt is also a stickler for beautiful varnish, so the trim and screens from several hatches and the binnacle cup holder in the cockpit are sanded down to bare wood and coated with over ten coats of varnish – at some point we just lost count.  Finally, we had planned to have some water damaged gel coat on the deck repaired this coming spring in Annapolis, but with the advice of another cruiser in the harbor, Burt undertakes the job on his own, saving us several thousand dollars. Meanwhile I have promised to make chaps, a Sunbrella and vinyl cover, for our relatively new inflatable dinghy.  I have been warned it is a thankless job as dinghies are difficult to cover with all the curves and angles. The marina has a nice workroom and a wheeled dolly for the dinghy. We rent a storage unit in the workshop so I can move my sewing machine and all the supplies permanently to the work site.  

The literal sweat shop where the heat index approached 100 degrees.

Several weeks and numerous tweaks later, we have a set of chaps with matching underseat bag and fuel tank covers. 

The finished product ready for launch.

All I can say is that it better last a really long time!

We do make some time for fun, though.  First on the list is reconnecting with some of our favorite music groups during evenings at local restaurants.  There’s nothing better than live music under a Tiki hut. We attend a play at the local theater and are pleasantly surprised at the quality of the performance. Friends with a car plan a day trip to Key West to do a little sightseeing and take the evening Christmas Lights Trolley Tour.  

The Key West expedition crew minus Burt who is taking the picture.

Key West is extremely crowded with two cruise ships in port, 

View over Key West with two huge cruise ships in the background.

so we veer off the beaten path to climb the historic lighthouse 

The Key West Llighthouse that brought about the end of the wrecking industry that made Key West the richest city in the country for a while.

Winding our way to the top through the newly restored interior.

and stop at the beautiful gardens of a secluded boutique hotel. 

Looking at the pool from the gardens at the Garden Hotel, once the home of Key West's most respected gardener.  I love seeing all of the orchids handing in the trees.

That evening we board the trolley and drive up and down the many colorfully decorated streets. 

Fun on the trolley tour - no ice on the windshield, just a warm breeze drifting through the open air vehicle.

Two different groups of friends from our home sailing club in Ohio unexpected show up in Marathon, and we have a nice time catching up on old times in the Great Lakes.

Christmas is upon us, and I make the request that we drop all the work for a couple of days and get into the holiday spirit. The boat is decorated with two small artificial trees and several strings of solar powered LED lights. 

A little bit of Christmas inside Exuberant

We look nice; in comparison, a neighboring boat looks amazing with a six foot lit tree attached to the top of its mast.  We can’t compete at that level but appreciate the wonderful landmark it makes as we try to find our way back to the boat after dark. 

Our neighbor's over-the-top decorations.

One of the nearby shore residents has lavishly decorated their motor cruiser with a multitude of lights and a sleigh with Captain Santa on the flying bridge.  Several nights he weaves through the harbor spreading Christmas cheer. And speaking of cheer, Christmas morning, friends who we did not know were in the harbor came around dressed as Santas and sharing Christmas cheer of the liquid variety.  Christmas Eve day we join throngs of people to witness the release of a Loggerhead turtle that was treated at the local Turtle Hospital for ingestion of plastic and cigarette butts.  

Turtle Hospital staff transport this Loggerhead towards the beach

We thought it would be an intimate affair but instead most of Marathon comes out to celebrate the success. 

Somewhere beyond the crowd, the turtle takes off in a flash to the open water.

Days later we hear President Jimmy Carter and his family were part of the crowd. We attend Christmas Eve services at a nearby church, traveling by dinghy and bikes to get there, a new take on “Over the river and through the Woods”.  Christmas Day three couples join us for a little “bubbly” on Exuberant before we take a dinghy caravan down to a waterfront restaurant for dinner.  We are asked to join another group for New Year’s Eve at the local American Legion.  It’s a $25 a couple prime rib dinner.  We roll our eyes, accept, and dread what this will turn out to be.  Wrong reaction – the evening is wonderful, the outstanding dinner is worth four times as much, and the live band is one of our favorite local groups.  We almost make it to midnight! Christmas isn’t the same as when our family gathered together in Ohio, but we try to make it special in a different way.

With the New Year, life goes on. Decorations are stored away in the bilge, projects are completed and new ones discovered (it is a boat after all).  One day while doing laundry a manatee appears in the channel outside the laundry room. 

This not so shy manatee was probably ten feet long.

Locals know her and somewhere lurking nearby is her calf.  She is comfortable with all the onlookers and gazes back at us with big eyes before rolling over several times to show us her belly.  This is pretty unusual for a manatee. I begin final provisioning for the Bahamas, lugging large bags of non-perishables and frozen foods back to the boat by bike from the Publix Grocery store about a mile away.   Fruit, vegetables, and dairy products will be purchased the day before we leave. We attend the weekly Seven Seas Cruising Association lunches and reconnect with old friends and meet new ones.  I agree to put on two educational presentations for the entire harbor on Cruising the Bahamas.  As I explain, with five winters in the Bahamas under our belt, we are experienced but not experts.  The turnout is tremendous with over 60 people in attendance.   

Day one of my presentations to a very attentive audience.

SSCA has sponsored other gatherings here in recent weeks with topics as divergent as Circumnavigating Under Power and Cruising to Cuba, all presented by other volunteer speakers.  

Weather here seems changeable with some stifling hot and humid days along with the current cold front and high winds that are keeping most of the harbor hunkered away on their boats.  With the Gulf Stream so close we often get amazing sunsets reflecting on the cumulous clouds that develop over the warmer water of the Stream.  

Interesting cloud formations over the Gulf Stream - it's raining somewhere out there.

We are awaiting an opportunity to make our crossing over to the Bahamas – things will have to calm down a bit before we are willing to venture forth from this pleasant, protected harbor. 

Our best to you in the New Year!

Good night from Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, Florida