January 2018 – Marathon FL

The first week of January brought a cold front and high winds – not complaining since the FL  panhandle got measurable snow!  We visited with Steve and Emily McCoy at the Key’s Fisheries restaurant (we knew them from Buzzard Rock Marina in KY and kept in touch since).  I started walking regularly with Sandy Fitzgerald (2-3 miles per day and we worked up to 3 – 4 miles daily).  Greg and I rode our bikes and met Carolyn from the Boat Galley at Boot Key Harbor City Marina.  Gary and Carol Kramer (from Iowa) came down to Marathon to stay at the Blackfin for a month so we welcomed them.  They used to keep their boat on the same dock we as us back in the Quad Cities, so we’ve known them for years.  The movie theater in Marathon is just across the street a block away, so we watched the Last Jedi – Starwars movie in 3D.

When the winds subsided, we followed Denny Fitzgerald in our dinghies exploring the canals and areas he knew about (local knowledge is awesome!).  The rest of the boaters who regularly winter here arrived/returned and we got to know them over docktails.

Cory & Julie Gellerstedt also came to visit a couple days while they were vacationing in the Naples area.  Julie called us later to let us know that our friend Kim Normoyle had died unexpectedly at 51 while she was in Rochester MN at Mayo where they found a heart tumor.  Our friends Ed and Carol Mueller were also at Mayo for Ed’s stem cell transplant.  We called them to advise of Kim’s passing and to also let them know that our friend Jack Bleuer had also recently passed away.

We went to Key West via bus on the 23rd with Howard and Maria (S/V Ariel who we met on the Tenn-Tom) to meet Tim and Theresa (M/V Home Office who we also met on the Tenn-Tom).  We toured the Hemingway House together and took group pix at the Southernmost Point of course.  While we were in KW we ran into Mike and Jean (S/V No Worries) and James and Stacey (S/V Glass Slipper) who we met at Tarpon Springs FL!

Denny Fitzgerald turned 70 on the 29th, so we had another great excuse for a dock party!  Over 30 folks came to celebrate at the marina that evening – lots of good food and fun folks.

 

Christmas & New Years Week 2017 – Marathon FL

We are walking distance to Publix grocery store, Walgreens, Home Depot and a short bike ride to West Marine, not to mention there is a fresh produce market a block away and lots of restaurants in walking distance too.  We got signed up for the free FL Keys weekly pump-out service.  We attended the Christmas Eve potluck at the dock/marina with the folks who live there full-time and/or return each winter.  We enjoyed mimosas on Christmas morning with our neighbors.  We video chatted with our son Noah and said hello to our parents celebrating Christmas together back home.

John and Laurie Liljequist came to visit for a couple days between Christmas and New Years (drove down from their condo in Port Charlotte FL). We drove across 7 mile bridge with them to Big Pine Key where Hurricane Irma did the most damage.  We took them to the Blue Hole on Big Pine and then to Bahia Honda State park for the scenic overlook from the old railway.  Watched sunset from the Sunset Grille restaurant.

Sandy & Denny Fitzgerald are from the Baltimore MD area originally and have been living in the Keys aboard their beautiful Marine Trader for over 10 years now.  Sandy has a source from Key Largo who she gets live blue crabs from now and then.  She showed me how to steam them and gave a lesson on how to clean them (and get the most meat out of them).  We really enjoyed playing with our food!

Another potluck on New Years Eve…lots of great food and fun. We all met at the Hurricane bar next to our resort/marina at 10pm to listen to the band and to bring in the new year together.  Hurricane’s owners provided free champagne for toasting at midnight.  We danced and stayed up alot longer than we thought we would.  Love these fellow boaters at the Blackfin!

Day 185 – December 21st, 2017

We traveled 40 miles from Little Shark River to arrive at our winter marina, the Blackfin Resort and Marina, in Marathon FL.  We had traveled a total of 3,065 miles since we left Bettendorf in June; added 1,115 gallons of diesel fuel (and still have 1/2 tank).  We met our neighbors in the marina and got checked in.  We were invited to the dock parties they host on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.  We are going to love it her with this million dollar view!

Day 184 – December 20th, 2017

We slept in and finally pulled anchor at near low tide…it was near high tide when we arrived.  Good thing we didn’t anchor a few yards away where it was now high and dry!  There is a 4 and a half foot swing between low and high tides here (larger tide swings are at new moon and full moon).

We enjoyed yet another comfortable calm cruising day traveling 39 miles to the Little Shark River anchorage where we found the same sail catamaran and a sailboat already anchored in the small bay just inside the river entry.  We could still see the Gulf and with calm conditions we didn’t need to venture up into the river among the 60′ tall mangroves and hardwoods.  We were warned about the no-see-ums at dusk and dawn and we thought we were prepared for them…had to think again when they bit us and chased us off the flybridge we fondly refer to as the ‘sky-bar’ just as the sun was setting. We figured we’d be safe inside with the screens.  Oh no…those little buggers can easily come right through the screens and they did! We quickly closed all the windows and doors and remained comfortable without having to run the generator and turn on the A/C. We set up the Stanley fan at the top of the steps leading down to the bedroom and let it blow across us all night. We awoke the next morning to see all the windows swarming with little no-see-ums.   I had to take sunrise pictures from the inside of the boat because there was no way I was opening the doors to step outside until it was time to pull anchor.

Day 183 – December 19th, 2017

We left Naples anchorage and traveled 38 miles in bathtub calm conditions yet again (we’ve been so blessed with excellent traveling weather!) to our next anchorage between the Indian and Stop Keys near Everglades City.  We actually had cell/internet service still due to proximity to Everglades City we supposed.  Along the way Greg fished and I piloted the boat…I saw many dolphin, several tail walking fish (that’s what we call them since we don’t know what kind they are…they just fly out of the water and literally walk or dance on their tails across the top of the water like a stone skipping across the water), and I also was excited to see a small flounder at the surface of water that was startled as we approached it, and was surprised to see a large stingray leap out of the water not once, but twice!  Greg missed seeing all but a few dolphin since he was at the stern of the boat and all the cool stuff was being spotted at the bow of the boat!  Poor guy never caught a thing all day.

A sail catamaran was anchored closer to Indian Key across from us and we saw them dinghy to shore to walk their two dogs along the beach.  We were lazy and decided to remain on board and just relax and enjoy the unobscured view of the Gulf.  Sunset was absolutely amazing…calm waters, no clouds, no islands in the way of the perfect sunset (no we didn’t see the green flash…looked for it and tried not to blink).

More bathtub calm conditions today in the Gulf

This map shows the Ten Thousand Islands area of the Everglades and the yellow highlighted area shows the shallow depth between the Stop and Indian Keys where we entered and anchored.  The Indian Key Pass on the other side of Indian Key is the marked channel where boats go in/out from Everglades City.   In the evening and again early in the morning before sunrise we heard and saw the commercial fishing boats coming/going thru the pass.

 

Day 182 – December 18th, 2017

We knew we wanted to leave early so we could get back out into the main river channel of the Caloosahatchie before low tide (secondary channel into canals is very shallow even at high tide!).   We left by 8:30 am in Fog and the fog just got thicker as we got into the main channel.  We finally dropped anchor just outside a main channel marker to wait for the fog to lift because there were several boat out and about, all going slowly but we were the only one sounding our horn regularly as a fog horn alert to other mariners.  A short 45 minutes later the fog had lifted sufficiently to proceed safely on our way.

Foggy start

Anchored near channel marker – yep that’s a boat you can barely see!

Fog lifted 45 minutes after anchoring

As we passed under the Sanibel causeway between Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach the Gulf welcomed us with perfect traveling conditions in bathtub like calm!

We traveled 40 miles to Gordon Pass and anchored among multi-million dollar homes and a mega-yacht named “Top Dog”.  We did some research and discovered the mega-yacht was 129.9′ and owned by a man who created the Portillo’s Restaurants in the Chicago area and started out there as a hot dog vendor.  We also googled the address 4040 Rum Row, Naples and discovered the Owners were from New York and the assessed value a few years ago was $27M (taxes in 2014 were nearly $280,000!!!).    All of the homes were were anchored near were empty…no one currently living in them.  Apparently there are some very famous rich folks who own ‘second’ homes here because there were 3 tour boats that cruised thru the anchorage during the day and the largest one of them returned again that evening!  Not a single home had Christmas decorations displayed…only lighting was landscape lighting.

Top Dog 129.9′ Mega-Yacht

Same Tour Boat later that night

$27M: 4040 Rum Row, Naples

Tour Boat cruising the ‘hood’

Sunset with Top Dog in view

Day 181 – December 17th, 2017

The “Quad Cities South” in Cape Coral has a tradition of eating breakfast every Sunday morning at 8am at The Boat House.  Kevin shuttled several of us in his boat and we rode in style to breakfast on a cool calm beautiful morning.

Kevin took this pre-sunrise photo of our boat on his dock before we got up and ready to leave for breakfast

After breakfast,  Kevin and ‘crew’ went back to Amanda’s to paint etc.  Greg rinsed salt off the boat and filled our fresh water tank.  I cleaned our windows and isinglas enclosures on the flybridge.

We poured over charts and documented our ‘float plan’ route to Marathon.  We confirmed our slip is available early, so we will leave Cape Coral on Monday morning and will arrive in Marathon on Thursday.

Day 180 – December 16th, 2017

Tom Lanum dropped by to visit us at the Wittenauer Waterfront for a couple hours.  We enjoyed sharing “Looper” adventures and experiences from his 2010 Loop completion.  We loved vicariously thru Tom and Dianne’s blog posts that year.  He is now encouraging us to continue taking our time and stopping to visit friends and interesting locations along the way.

Tom returned to pick us up to see the Christmas lighted boat parade party at Rod and Jolene Teel’s new home.  There were over 150 boats of all sizes…it took over an hour for them all to pass back and forth directly in front of Teel’s home and boat docks…amazing participation and decorations were over the top!

Kevin and his family came separately and we rode back ‘home’ with them

Day 179 – December 15th, 2017

Today is Kevin’s 59th birthday and we are happy to be here to help him celebrate!  

His son Judd is here along with two friends, Brent Hamerlinck and Boomer to help drywall and paint daughter Amanda’s new house.   Kevin and Linda took us and the ‘crew’ out for a long boat ride/bar hop today while the drywall mud was drying out.  We loved fast boating!  

The birthday boy changed reservations to The Doc Ford Rum Bar and Restaurant on Fort Myers Beach because his friend Bubba Love was playing there tonight!  Dinner and entertainment was excellent!

Clayton loves to dance

Shrimp boat docks

Wittenauer family and friends

Day 178 – December 14th, 2017

We traveled 32 miles today following the GIWW to its end at MM 0 (zero) near Fort Myers, and then up the Caloosahatchee River to the canal homes near the midpoint bridge.  Kevin and Linda welcomed us to the Wittenauer Waterfront and made us feel right at home.

Linda was making a ham and all the fixing for dinner and asked us to join them and their family….yummy home cooking…it was like an early Christmas dinner!

Some stats:  2,908.5 nautical miles traveled so far; 96 days in a marina slip, 9 days on marina mooring ball, 59 days at anchor, and 14 free dock days.  About 60% in marinas; 40% at anchor/free dockage.