Well our time in Marathon came to a sad end last Wednesday Feb 27th when we started making our way North again. Of course we had the anticipation of visiting the Bahamas to ease the pain of leaving The Keys.
We have been on the dock here since Thursday Feb 28th & at this point have scratched our Bahamas plan & will spend the next month over on the Gulf side of Florida, most likely in Legacy Harbour Marina in Ft Myers.
There is no weather window in the next two weeks that would be safe for us to make the 70 mile crossing to Grand Bahama Island. The wind is blowing strongly from the North & this is forecast to continue till at least March 16/17th. It does not make sense for us to make the trip mid March, pay our entry fee, stay two weeks & then hope for a weather window to come back .We would then have to make the three/four day trip to Port Charlotte on the Gulf side & get the boat ready for bed for the summer months & be back in Canada by April 20th when our medical expires. Too tight !!
Yes, we are disappointed, but it has beeen such a wonderful winter that we will leave the Bahamas as our "new experience " for next fall.
The trip north from Marathon was as spectacular as the trip south in January. The water color & the variety & abundance of sea creatures make it an unforgettable experience, one that we surely hope to repeat in 2014.
We met wonderful people & were welcomed so warmly by the "Marathon Elders", the folks who have been spending their winters there for many years.
We were fortunate to have great dock neighbors & we surely hope we will cross paths with them again. Godspeed to Rik & Nancy who are also in Ft Lauderdale hoping for a weather window to the Bahamas. I am sure you folks will have a sucessful crossing on Tuesday. Wonderful to have the horsepower to get you there safely in the short window. Please keep in touch & we will draw on your experiences when our turn comes.
We all know the boating world is very small & this was very emphatically demonstrated to us last Wednesday as we were traveling along north of Marathon. Captain Frank heard a boat calling another one & the name called was the same name as our sailboat we sold in 2001. It was a very unusual name "Gust of Wind", so Frank called the boat & lo & behold it was our old boat & the original buyers from Oakville. What a small world we live in. The owners Ian & Marlene are retired school professionals, have beern sailing Florida & The Bahamas for the last 5-6 years & are now on their way to Cuba.
I took photos & we exchanged e-mail addresses so it will be interesting to touch base with them now in their travels.
So, here we sit, snug & warm on the dock in Ft lauderdale, waiting for this brr weather to pass, enjoying the company of our friends Dave & Annie. Also, as a bonus we are enjoying the compay of Frank & Lisa McGee who are visiting with Dave & Annie before they head back to Niagara Falls.
Our plan is to head out North to Stuart on Wednesday & then turn West on the Okeechobee Waterway, cross Lake Okeechobee & on to Ft Myers. This will be the reverse of the trip we made in February 2010 when we started home to Lake Ontario. What an adventure it has been since then....................
Will post some photos when my laptop recovers.