January 26: Banana Bay Marina - Home for Now :-)

Yesterday we were greeted to our home for the next month by Precious the manatee. She is clearly used to people petting her and seems to visit all of the boats in the marina include us! Yesterday's Dream isn't in a real 'slip' but rather on the 'sea wall' - which means in a NW wind we bounce around a lot but the view can't be beat. Second pic is looking out of our port door and the third picture is looking out of the starboard door (wind has picked up today!).

First things first: Steve is cleaning the plastic from the flybridge as it shouldn't be needed for a while. I didn't help. Instead I sat at chatted with Dick and Joy who are staying in the hotel part of the marina complex. (They are from Arkansas and are here for a week.) Hard to believe isn't it? Me - chat? Must be the boating life!

It's surprising the number of folks that just walk along the dock and enjoy the view and sunshine at the small beach area outside our door. And inevitably we (usually Steve mostly) ends up talking with them. Nice way to meet new people that's for sure. They are often curious as to how we got a boat from Cleveland to Florida! We headed out on bikes early today as it was to become quite windy with rain mixed in.

We rode about a mile to the main harbor here at Marathon. There must be hundreds of boats on mooring balls along with maybe 30 boats actually tied to docks. The dingy docks are usually pretty full and the town really caters to the boaters here. This lady was just taking her dogs for a ride - they were very cute!

The grounds here (at Banana Bay) are gorgeous. Large palms and other kinds of plants that just make you know you are in Florida and the Keys. We even found the horseshoe pits - watch out John and Daisy because we'll be practicing so we can take you on when you get here!

January 25: Marathon!!!

We have finally, after traveling 8 months and 4,200 miles have made it to Marathon, Florida :-) Yesterday's travel from Everglades City to Marathon was a long day with waves mostly broadside making for a very rolly (literally!) trip. The good thing about the gulf (and Florida Bay) is that it isn't very deep. Most of the trip was in 15' or less of water. There had to have been thousands of crab pot buoys (float on the water) that we zigged and zagged around so as to avoid fouling the prop with the line that is attached to the actual crab trap (sits on the bottom). Talk about getting bug eyed!! Anyway, we were very happy to be tied up at 5:45 pm. More about Marathon tomorrow! The last two days: I learned a lot. The first lesson came when we left the dock at Marco Island. The current was so strong that it pushed the boat sideways against the ends of the docks. We were stuck - pinned against the dock! Fortunately, the dock guy came out to give Steve a hand. As the two of them pushed the boat away (just barely able to do so as the current was crazy strong), I would move the boat forward to the end of the next dock and repeat the process until we were able to get away. Not the way to start a day. The second thing I learned: yes - the waterway markers are probably correct if they are stuck in the ground (as opposed to the floating buoys which sometimes aren't in the correct spot) so go on the correct side of them! For the second time in one day, we were stuck - this time in the mud! Could not move back even by gunning the engine. So, we were pondering what to do - call the towboat or wait 'til the tide came in more. The issue was as the tide would come in, it would actually push us more aground! Fortunately 2 small speed boats came zipping by - producing waves!! Steve quickly started the engine and I put it in reverse as the waves hit and lifted the back of the boat just enough for us to break free!! Ok - this was enough stress for one day :-) Good thing we at least started the day right with a ride to breakfast. The rest of the day went much better. The sun was out and winds mild for the short run run of 30 miles to Everglades City. Really fun looking islands and beaches - many of the 'islands' are really only mangroves. We stayed at the dock in front of the Rod and Gun Club - an icon in this area. It was really a fun place - the original 'men's club'! Here's a few pictures - there are more on the hotel's web site: http://www.evergladesrodandgun.com/ As you can see the decor is basically anything that can be had with a fishing rod or a gun. We departed early Monday morning intent on making full use of the 11 hours of daylight we now have in order to make it to Marathon - a distance of 85 miles. It was already pretty light by the time we left just before 7 am. The sunrise as we were heading out of the river was really nice!

Sunday Jan 23rd - Everglades City

We made it to Everglades City. It was a good day and a very interesting place. The blog and pictures will be updated tomorrow or Tuesday. The weather will turn windy Tuesday so we are leaving early tomorrow morning, Monday, and going straight to Marathon. It will be a long day but it will be nice to beat the weather and make it to our "February home".

January 22: Touring Marco Island

Tom called today to let us know that the odd duck yesterday was a Muscovy duck - indigenous to Central and South America. Apparently they have made their way to lots of places in the US though. How DOES he know all of this stuff?! (I know .... I know .... it's because you are so smart!)

We spent the morning riding around part of Marco Island (in yellow on the map). Also spotted (and visited) was a McDonald's - yummy :-)

Found a great place for chowder for lunch (well, first lunch at least - McD's was actually second lunch) - overlooking the boats at the Marina near it. Reminded us of San Diego :-) Steve did a great job spotting an eagle (two actually) sitting in a nest along one of the streets we were on.

Meanwhile I was being amazed by the variety of mailboxes seen as we biked around the neighborhoods. Seahorses, dolphins and manatees were all very popular. Somehow I just don't think these would make it up north or in a zoned neighborhood!

The beach we rode to (Tiger Tail Beach) is on the very northwestern end of the the island and was the largest beach we've ever seen (well, technically, that Steve ever saw as I waited by the main beach while he checked it out). The google picture shows it pretty well. Double click to see where Steve was.

The stop at McD's caused us to delay heading back to the boat and as we watched the dark clouds roll in, we knew it was trouble. Steve headed back ahead of me in an effort to get back before the rain started coming in the only open window - the one over my side of the bed - which of course I forgot to close before we left. Even though it was sunny and nice when we left the boat, the rule is always, always close all doors and windows. Oops ..... but he made it! The two of us will dry way quicker than my side of the bed :-)

January 21: Marco Island

We saw some very strange things before leaving Naples. First it was the weirdest duck we had ever seen. Then the unique seahorses hanging in the ship's store near our dock. And a sailboat sitting on the bottom due to the extra low tides we had last night (a range of 4 feet - not usual). The real interesting sighting was on the way to Marco Island: a pig swimming across the channel in front of us! I knew there were wild pigs in Florida but didn't expect to see one swimming. I thought maybe it was an alligator but the ears just weren't right :-) After waiting for the fog to lift and the water to rise, we headed the back way through the mangroves 15 miles to Marco Island. Too bad it wasn't sunny. Steve enjoyed the ride today instead of working the whole time. Lots of nests and birds along the way - the osprey really like the waterway markers for nesting places. And as always they just sit and watch us go by. It was really a nice ride (and only 2 hours). The arrival at Marco Island could not have been better timed. The downpour started just as we were finishing up tying up the boat and connecting the electric - we knew the rain was coming but were very happy it held off until we were in! It really IS raining in the second picture even though it's hard to see. What we now truly appreciate: floating docks instead of fixed docks. The floating docks move up and down with the tide so we can just tie the boat directly to the cleats on the dock as we have always done. A 4 foot change in tide means Steve (the main rope tying person - he's very good at it :-) ) has to run lines all over the place so the boat has room to move through the tidal range yet not be too loose at any given time to allow the boat to bump on any of the docks or poles we are tied to. It's an art for sure!

January 20: Naples

Fog again yesterday morning delayed us going anywhere - so we stayed another day in Ft. Myers Beach. Strange ships were sighted in the harbor including a pirate ship! Steve thought it would look more authentic if they didn't have the phone number hanging on a banner. Nice day, warm and breezy with a full moon again last night. We stayed on a mooring ball last night which worked out fine as we were able to get an early start this morning.

One of the really nice things about our boat is that it draws only 3 1/2 feet of water so the low, low tides due to the full moon don't affect when we come and go. All of the 'ground' in the first picture will be under water in a few hours! The forecast for our 35 miles down the Gulf (first open water since we crossed a couple of weeks ago) was low winds and sun - which is exactly what we had (go figure!). The boat coming out behind us (and quickly leaving us in the dust) was the Jet Express like boat that goes from Ft. Meyers Beach to Key West. Takes about 3 1/2 hours but to drive would take a lot longer than that. You can see how calm the water was for our trip to Naples!

Steve didn't enjoy much of the 4 hour trip though as he spent the time redoing the teak. Too many "oops - I may have brushed the dock" so he wanted to recoat everything - it looks really nice again :-) As we were in the channel going into Naples these trees were filled with so many birds they looked like leaves! Very noisy too.

The river into Naples is lined with gorgeous homes, boats and more homes. Just not sure how there can be so many people with so much money ....

Bikes came off the boat and we rode around the city. Nice place to ride bikes - streets weren't too busy. Many seafood restaurants, spas, jewelry stores and art galleries. All seemed to fit in with the homes and boats. The beach for once had lots of people on it - not too many in the water as it is still only about 63 degrees. Fun pier - the original place the ferry came to when Naples was just getting started. Overall, a nice stop!