We continue to enjoy our "waiting for a weather window" here in Marathon. This is what our neighborhood looks like as the sun sets. There are 230 mooring balls in Boot Key Harbor--this picture is just of the north end of the harbor. It's a pretty nice neighborhood.
The other day we were walking around town---er, ah, walking up and down Highway #1-- making our usual stops at Hurricanes for lunch, West Marine for boat supplies, Daffy Dougs Dollar Store for food when we discovered a beautiful little marina on the gulf side of Marathon. I think you are supposed to be renting one of their upscale beach cottages, but the tiki bar and beach seemed to need some customers. So, we helped them out and ordered some tropical drinks and shared a delicious dessert. This little gulf-side marina certainly is different from our crowded ocean-side marina.
And finally, here's a picture of John and our buddy Rob scarfing down something yummy. Life is good.
Life aboard Caribbean Soul here in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL is lovely. Although we thought we'd be in the Bahamas by now, we're having a good time in the Keys and continue to wait for a clear weather window for passage to the Bahamas. Maybe we'll just spend the winter in the Keys--life here is pretty nice. The marine weather forecasts have been very squirrelly lately: predictions will show nice weather coming up and then squalls start cropping up right where we want to be sailing. Yikes! So we're just "chillin'" and enjoying Marathon.
There is a large group of sailors here in the harbor and lots to do. Pot luck gatherings happen each Wednesday evening. Here are some pictures of this event.
One Sunday we walked down to the American Legion for a yummy brunch. While there we got to hang out with John's sailing buddy from 12 years ago--Allen Lavoie. These two met in Marsh Harbor, Abacos and decided to sail together to Cuba in 1999. John has told me lots of stories about the trip to Cuba and interestingly enough Allen's stories match John's! Here are those two adventuresome sailors together after so many years:
There is a lovely beach here--Sombrero Beach. We dinghied down Sister Creek and spent the day on the beach swimming, sunning, snacking, reading and knitting--aah, such a life. The folks in these pictures are friends Rob and Laurie aboard Moonshadow.
Last night we watched the superbowl from the Dockside Lounge here in the harbor. This is the pregame regae band--
Here's the rather elaborate large screen projection setup for the superbowl game.
I managed to get a little knitting in during the pregame.
Oh yes, and we wander around a lot looking for marine supply stores, cheap books, groceries and good bar & grill places. Along the way we saw this turtle hospital. Here's the picture for all you guys who love sea turtles.
So, for now, we are studying the weather and enjoying Marathon.
For now, the Kramers aboard Moonshadow are here in Boot Key Harbor so some of their adventures are ours as well. Laurie writes such great accounts, I thought maybe you'd like to read her stuff. On one of her posts, the Caribbean Soul is pictured at the end of a rainbow--honestly. If you have time, give her blog a read.
On Monday, January 23, 2012, we made our way from Ramrod Key to Marathon, FL. It should have been an easy 3 1/2 hour sail, but the wind moved right in front of us and the seas kicked up a bit. We turned on the motor and started dodging crab pot buoys. When one gets a crab pot line wrapped around the boat propeller, it's a serious matter; and, you will definitely get one unless you work at missing them every minute you are out there. I think everyone we know has caught at least one--most of us more than one! Once you snag one, you have to shut down the engine and somebody has to dive overboard and unwrap the rope or your propeller drive shaft will bind up--potentially distroying your engine. Needless to say, Capt. John does all our "going overboard to unwrap" stuff. When the water is warm and you can sail into a calm cove, catching a crab pot is a nuisance. When the water is not too warm and you are motoring without a good place to stop, it's way beyond just a nuisance. Nuf said! We watch for the bouys which aren't always easy to see when the water's rough. You get the picture.
Oh Mom, you might want to take a dramamine before you watch the video.
We've been anchored in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon for three days and just hooked up to the City Mooring pretty close to the marina. Last night we walked down to the local watering hole/sports bar, Hurricanes, and watched the NC State v. Carolina game. It was good beer, good pizza and a terrific game (sorry about that Finley).
We are studying the weather forecasts for a good time to cross the Gulf Stream/Florida Straights to Bimini. The goal is to hit the weather just right so the sail will be pleasant and safe. Here's hoping we can figure that out!
The Schooner America 2.0 is an impressive vessel. We spent the day aboard and enjoyed every minute of it. Also, it was nice to have someone else doing the sailing for a change.
Lovely head.
Under full sail. John helped one of the mates raise the main sail. He "tailed" the main halyard and we're mighty proud of the great job he did.
Here's a similar schooner sailing near KeyWest.
Another "down below deck" shot. This is the main saloon table. The mast is stepped at one end of the table. The shiny wooden wall is really a sliding wooden door for the head.
This is the companion way that takes you back up on deck.
This is the helm. You can see that it is a brand new boat--built in 2011.
The captain invited folks to come take a turn at the wheel. It was mostly to have your picture taken. We decided to pass on that photo op.
The mast and boom appear to be wooden, however, they are actually some kind of carbon fiber with a teak veneer. Notice also that the America 2.0 has lots of blankets for folks who didn't pack warm jackets--those guys thought of everything. They supplied a sandwich for lunch and soda/water. Beers and wine were $1 each and the deck hands delivered everything right to you. It would have been fun even without the race--but certainly having America take us right up to the offshore race and narrating everything that was happening out there was super special. What a day!
Thursday, January 19 was an all round fun day for us--not only did we get a great sail on the 105 ft. schooner and watch some world-class sailing races, but we also met some fun folks.
Doc and Jilly Lynn
This is Doc & Jilly's son who crewed on one of the racing boats--Dark & Stormy. I'm not quite sure what this conversation is--I must be giving racing advice?
The after-the-races party.
Doc and his son--Jared (?)--getting caught up on today's races.
Doc and John--you can tell which way the wind blows!
On Thursday, January 19, we climbed aboard the 105 ft. schooner America 2.0 to observe the sailboat races off shore. And what a wonderful day it was. Here's what we saw: This is one of the "tenders" for one of the three 72 foot racers--impressive huh?
Vesper--nice and colorful.
We definitely had a front row seat for the race!
You can see that the racers came pretty close to our observation boat. I think this one was tacking back and forth finding the right approach to the starting line.
The wind came up mid race and things started to get really excitng. You can see the red spinnaker getting dowsed. I don't think there's an actual crash in this picture, but I'm pretty sure there were some spirited discussions being had about race rules and right-of-way.
Heading for the starting line. Notice how grey all the sails are. I think that is because they are all carbon fiber sails--super light, super strong, super expensive, and a bit noisy too.
That's the committee boat just beyond this jumble of sails.
We are at the downwind marks of the oval course. It is just were these spinnakers have to be taken down super quickly and the marks are rounded for another upwind leg.
I'm sure this is world-class spinnaker dowsing. 72 ft. Numbers is in front and 64 ft. Shockwave is just behind it. These are both USA boats in a class called the mini maxies. Very impressive!
Another start.
More exciting moments.
Another start. These might be the Farr 400's--a one design boat that competes all over the world. Our narrator explained that the boat was built to fit into one of those shipping containers. It makes it much easier for the owners to get their boat to races in different parts of the world--who knew to even worry about such!
Another start.
Here are the big guys--mini maxies--this is Numbers on the left and Shockwave on the right. There were three of these and they were very impressive! The third one was a British boat named Ran. There is a picture of Ran coming up--they were the big time winners of this three-boat division.
This is RAN the British mini-maxie who has first place locked up--they were awesome.
Key West Quantum.
There also was a very competitive J Boat from Beaufort in this race. The boat is owned and sailed by Robin Team. The boat's name is TeamWork. The Teams have a house on Front Street, Beaufort--it's Paul Jones's old home right down from the now defunct Bft. Post Office and between the Fraizers and Claud Wheatley's. You may have seen TeamWork docked there in front of their house.
