Of course, the big (now very old, but still exciting) news is that Eli and the Giants won the Super Bowl! I was especially happy as my numbers (9 and 0) in my first ever football pool, were 1st quarter and half time winners! GO GIANTS!!!
The boat was ‘on the hard’ from Feb. 2-10. She was ‘splashed’ (not put on the ‘soft’—but back into the water at the Yard) on Friday morning, and from then until we left Marathon on Saturday, Feb. 25th, Marathon Boat Yard’s wall was our home.
We’d kept the car that took us to JAX, so getting around was not a problem. I continued to go to Yoga at the Community Park, and to walk twice a week with Sharon.
Joe from the Yard, and Fred accomplished a raft of tasks on the boat! Highlights include fiberglass repairs, the engine room door closes, the leaky hatch is re-caulked (and still leaks), the furnace is rewired so it can’t be accidentally shut off, and WE HAVE A STEP!!! Great excitement, as getting on and off the swim platform has been a gymnastic event since day one. No more! Another addition (as if we didn’t have enough storage space) is the bungee corded in place plastic file cabinets under the dinette (office) table. Happiness is getting a lot of the clutter out of sight!
Our microwave/convection oven went kaput just before the Holidays, and we finally found a new one. Baked cupcakes in it and the oven part seems to work just fine. It automatically adjusts recipe temperatures to convection status, and even though our oven thermometer doesn’t agree with the oven’s readout (you can check the temp. at any time), the cupcakes were done and even lightly browned. Not to mention gluten free and delicious!
Traffic at the yard is constant. LARK and CUTLASS were off our bow and stern at first. We had an evening of food and wine with Phyllis and Larry before LARK moved to the Boot Key Harbor Mooring Field, and with Tim, who is single-handing CUTLASS to Key West while waiting for his new motor to be delivered to Marathon. He sailed off the wall and headed south, counting on the wind to get him 50 miles south, and back.
Heather and Derek from PARALLAX (look it up---I had to) are a couple of very fun Astronomers. With son Grant (8th grade, I believe) they (when the repairs to their transmission were completed) sailed to Bimini. Heather and Grant are now in Nassau while Derek returns to his job--- has to do with the discovery of new planets.
An extra special treat was a visit from two other1958 grads of Central High School in Aberdeen, SD. Anita and Marilyn and I were classmates, and while Anita visited Marilyn in Ft. Lauderdale (from her home in Mass.) they decided to make a trip to the Keys. They stayed at the Motel at Banana Bay, so we enjoyed sunset there on Friday evening. On Saturday we drove to Key West, and toured the Truman White House and Hemingway’s home. Had dinners at (of course) the Hurricane, and also at Burdine’s in Marathon and breakfast at the Stuffed Pig. It was a fun visit.
Cruisers are a very interesting lot---all sorts of folks with all sort of lifestyles dictated by choices. Donna, the bookkeeper at the Marathon Yard, reminded us that retirement is not a pre-requisite. She and her husband convinced management that one does not have to sit in the office to keep books. Off they went and spent a year completing the Great Loop while balancing the debits and credits that took place in Marathon.
Cruisers can also be flexible in their planning. We, for instance, had planned to head up the west coast of Florida, mushing about in the Everglades and stopping at some of the places we missed in 2010. Instead, we chose to go to Fort Lauderdale and return to NY sooner rather than later to do taxes, etc. A bout of bursitis in Fred’s elbow precipitated that change. We’d rather not be cavorting around the Snake River with ‘gators and snakes and birds, oh my, should the healing not continue to progress as nicely as it is.
So on Saturday, the 21st we motored up the Florida Bay to Blackwater Sound and anchored for the night. Although the winds got up to 20 knots, Knute held us securely. Sunday was just as blustery, so we made a short run to the bottom of Biscayne Bay. Found Black Point Marina, operated by Miami-Dade County. Very nice and when the live music in the restaurant ended, we enjoyed the soft jazz being played on an unoccupied sailboat 2 slips away. You just never know.
Monday morning we were up and out at sunrise, and were treated to a smooth crossing over shallow Biscayne Bay. We’ve learned that early morning is the very best time for windy shallow water. Miami’s harbor was filled with cruise boats, none of which were moving, simply looming high above us.
We now are back in the Land of the Bridges. Have to laugh---the Julia M. Tuttle Bridge has a clearance of 56 feet, unlike every other new highway bridge whose standard height of 65 feet will allow most sailboat masts to clear. Fred thinks the engineer who wrote the stats for the construction had a moment of dyslexia. The consequence is that most sailboats have to go into the Ocean and pass Miami offshore. Crazy.
We spent Monday night docked along the banks of the New River in the heart of downtown Ft. Lauderdale. The Riverwalk is delightful, and the neighborhood elegant, but even more entertaining is the boat traffic!! 100-150 foot motor yachts are everywhere---both tied up and moving up and down the River. We discovered a boat yard two bridges up that apparently does lots of work on the big boats. Many of them hire a towing company to get them to and from the yard from the IntraCoastal Waterway. How surprising to meet such an apparition as we come around a blind corner in the river! And at the next bend, a mere 80 footer was making a U turn. In what appeared to be an 85foot space. We stopped, as did the 60 footer off (barely off) our stern, and all moved happily on.
On Tuesday we reluctantly left the River and motored to Ft. Royal Drive, where once again Marilyn Markus is hosting YA. The ride to Marilyn’s dock was blissfully uneventful, and YA is now quietly awaiting our return.
We left sunny, 75 degree Ft. Lauderdale and flew home on Wednesday morning. Our greeting? Snow and freezing rain, Well, it is, after all, still winter, but can Spring be far behind? We think not! So here we will remain, in condo-land, until we return to our cruising life later this month.
Until then, be well, and remember to breathe!
