“Still in Marathon” Saga continues but as stories go it’s not so bad. Mostly it’s sunny, warm and inexpensive. A very laid back place, the haves mixing quite comfortably with the have-nots. High end catamarans, romantic schooners, fully-rigged-for-cruising sail boats in the 30 to 60 foot range with some motor vessels interspersed quite nicely in and around the mooring suburbia and anchorage of Boot Key Harbor. There are also 2 or 3 derelicts that have the look of abandonment and several boats in not so good shape being lived aboard. Like the harbor, it’s an easy flowing community of permanent residents, winter residents, and transients. As with all sailing communities, no matter your status, you’re IN. You belong.
The weather has been changeable, the one week we might have gone, saw us having to attend once again to the electrical system, fortunately easily fixed this time, and installing solar panels. OMG! Have they been wonderful! We were having to run the engine every day for 4-5 hours to charge the house batteries so we can keep the ice box running. A luxury we really don’t want to live without. Our navigational aids are equally important. Being tethered to a slip in a marina just to be plugged in is not viable or desirable.
We hoped to get down to the Dry Tortugas, but once again the weather, she blew, then blew some more. We’ve had plenty experience in stormy seas and feel we have nothing more to prove, so fairweather sailing is the only sailing for us.
We are quietly planning to come north, work our way up the east coast, checking out places we might like to call home when we’re ready again. Try for the islands next autumn. We’ll see.
Leonard left us on the 17th. He just became the owner of a lovely Downeaster up in Washington, so he was headed back to get cracking on putting his stamp on her. I know his friends must have missed him. We will miss his pictures and helping hands.
Speaking of pictures, I’m going to inundate you with a bunch. The first is a series of attempts, some bad, some good, at dolphin shots. Dolphins come into the harbor from time to time, seemingly just cruising by. For a couple of days last week a pod of 6 or 7 dolphins had been coming into the harbor and with them, this active little guy who likes to play. The second time we saw them it was early morning and I had my camera out to take a sunrise photo. Following are the photos of that wonderful event.
The next series is all about a young Spotted Eagle Ray. She circled our boat in the late afternoon, and of course, we found her to be enchanting. She stayed with us for a good 20 minutes. There was always one swimming in front of our cottage on Harrington Sound in Bermuda and we always thrilled to see it breeching, sometimes as many as four times in a row.
This last photo is a girl, a boat and a rabbit
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