Sunday January 4: Getting Settled at Banana Bay

The 40 mile trip from Treasure Harbor to Banana Bay in Marathon was pretty uneventful - but then that's really the kind of travel we prefer!

After starting out on the ocean side we quickly crossed under the Snake River bridge to the Bay of Florida side of the keys (so north of the Keys).

The waves were broadside so the less wind and waves the better. It was nice to have the choice! Definitely would not have been on the reefs today as it was just too wavy out there.

Yep - the entrance was just where we remembered it was! Seemed strange at first as we prepared to enter the harbor we last left mid-March last year.

So we are finally at what is beginning to feel like home for us!

Yesterday's Dream is on the right side of the picture - slip 11 - same as we've been for the last three years.

It was really great to see everyone we hadn't seen since we left - many of the same boats were back for another winter season but also quite a few that had moved on to other locations. They will be missed ...  We've meet many new to the marina - everyone seems very nice!

No more resting though. Saturday was a work day. Steve took to the outside - with particular attention to the snaps and screw heads that were starting to tarnish in the salt air. This means using a toothbrush with a metal polish. Not a fun job.


Meanwhile I decided I could clean the white covers that we normally keep on the windows to lessen the heat from the sun coming in.

These never clean up as much as I would like but still it's better than nothing. It was nice to have the shade from the boat :-)

Steve's job today was the even worse one of cleaning the bottom of the boat.

Even though we had the bottom paint redone at the end of September, the times the boat sat for a week at a time and then being at Hollywood for almost 4 weeks, allows algae to being growing.

Not a lot but enough that if it isn't removed, it just keeps getting worse. Our goal is to take the boat out at least once a week to prevent the buildup from happening! We use an ablative paint on the bottom so it's kind of like a bar of soap. If the boat is moving through the water, the top layer of paint sloughs off - just like soap does.

The weather's been great although a bit warmer than usual.

Football games have been entertaining.

Full moon rising through the trees has been picturesque.

Life is good .....