Marooned in Marathon

Days 138 – 143 Sunday through Friday

The weather that brought us into Boot Key Harbor in Marathon marooned us there for a week! We had at first hoped to leave on Wednesday, then Thursday; and now, finally, the winds and weather look good for leaving today. Our sail plan is to travel Hawk Channel to Rodriquez Key, where we’ll anchor overnight before continuing to a second anchorage in Biscayne Bay, and then offshore again to Boca Raton.

The Drying of the Mainsail
Since we arrived as a thunderstorm was coming through… we didn’t take the time to put the cover on our stack pack (the canvas that our sail drops into) before taking cover ourselves. That being said, our mainsail was very wet. Sunday morning the air was very hot and humid. Bob opened all of the hatches and port holes hoping for some circulation of air. An hour or so later, he decided to dry the mainsail.

Now this was a first for us. Prior to our trip from Boca Chica to Marathon, we had never sailed in heavy downpours before and put the sail away wet. It quickly became another learning experience for us! One would never think a mainsail could hold so many gallons of water in its folds! The water poured over the deck, into the hatches and port holes, into the main salon, into the book shelves, down the salon cushions, and into storage compartments underneath the seats. We hadn’t anticipated drying the main salon as well as the mainsail today! I captured the mess we had in the cabin with my camera - a picture is worth a thousand words!

Laundry, The Keys Fisheries Restaurant, and Man Overboard
Doing the laundry from a mooring ball added another level of inconvenience… transporting the laundry to shore via our dinghy. With the winds and chop we were experiencing in Boot Key Harbor, loading and unloading the already somewhat unstable dinghy required focus. The laundry facilities, located at the end of a warehouse building, left much to be desired. The washers and dryers were old and rusty. The marina had only four washers and dryers for 260 boats on mooring balls, and one of the washers is was out of order!

During the “Cruisers Net” (on VHF channel 68), we had arranged to meet Bob and Sandy from “Carpe Diem” at the laundry to talk about the possibility of traveling to the Chesapeake together. Upon our arrival, a “dirty laundry line” had formed for the machines - now this was another first for me. Sandy said, “It took me five hours to do my laundry last week!” Several of the women waiting had small feisty dogs on leashes. One overweight black bulldog had an attitude. He was particularly surly and confrontational and was the instigator for several ensuing loud dog altercations. With each confrontation, his owner dragged him away on his leash... while his paws were firmly planted on the concrete floor, and he barked loudly.

Sandy and Bob’s departure plan didn’t match ours. However, we enjoyed meeting one another and found we have a number of things in common. We’ve agreed to stay in touch and try to meet somewhere on the ICW as we travel north.

Having stowed the clean laundry back in the dinghy, we decided to go out for lunch. Sandy recommended the Keys Fisheries, Market, Restaurant, and Marina, about one mile walk away. When we arrived, we found yet another long line. When Bob finally reached the window to place our order, the first question the woman behind the counter asked was, “What’s one of your favorite songs?” He replied, “You Light Up My Life.” We soon discovered that songs are the method they use to call customers when their order is ready. We found a picnic table on the harbor side and were amused by the diversity of songs people had chosen -- everything from Mary Had a Little Lamb, Amazing Grace, and All My Ex’s Live in Texas, to the Star Spangled Banner. We were entertained while waiting for lunch by a resident Egret that walked up and down the picnic tables looking for handouts. Each time someone got too close he’d fly away and perch on an adjoining roof until he deemed it safe to return.

As we left the restaurant, we walked past hundreds of crab and lobster pots that had been refurbished. They are constructed a little differently than those we see in Maine.

We had our first experience with man overboard when we returned to the dinghy. As Bob stepped in, his foot was off center and over he went. Fortunately, the laundry stayed on board and Bob wasn’t hurt.

Fuel Prices
Diesel fuel prices for the boat have increased significantly since we left Maine. In Boca Chica and Marathon, they are charging $4.12 a gallon for diesel. Bob put 100 gallons in our tanks last week by carrying 20 five-gallon containers from the gas station when the price was $3.71. The last time we bought fuel, it was $3.39. Our friends, Luke and Jan, said when they reached Chub Key in the Bahamas, fuel was $5.25 – but the marina was out of fuel. In Georgetown, we are told it’s $6.25 a gallon. We’ll try to use our sails as much as possible on the way north.

Underway
We left Marathon at eight this morning with four other boats that are heading to the Chesapeake. We had a pleasant 50-mile motor sail in Hawk Channel with 10-15 knots of winds and 1-2 foot seas. We’re now anchored at Rodriquez Key.