The weather is here....I wish you were beautiful. A popular play on words.
Slipping back into the Marathon Vortex is really easy.
After we arrived last Saturday we fell head over heels into the black hole of total relaxation this place is known for. It is full of friendly people, a beautiful beach with water near to bathtub temperatures, and the blessed sun to worship. Everyday even if it starts with some fluffy clouds on the horizon turns into the bluest of skies that this narrow strip of land is blessed with. If a rare shower passes through it comes and goes so quickly, it is hardly noticed. If a sprinkle happens, no one pays attention because it almost dries as soon as it hits your clothes.
We already knew our life style would be like this before coming here, because of our July and August weekends at home in Toronto around our sailing club. Every weekend we would go down to Lake Ontario on a Friday afternoon after work, and fall over the cliff of relaxation. It would be the kind of thing we would dream about all winter. Sometimes we would head out to another local yacht club, go on a club cruise, or just hang out in a small anchorage at the end of Leslie Street Spit where if you stood with your back to the city would think you were,.... well, someplace in the Florida Keys. Those long lazy Saturdays and Sundays (and some Mondays) of relaxation in the cockpit of Chances was only interrupted by the clock late Sunday afternoon, when we would slap ourselves with the reality stick and start packing up to go home. Just sitting on the patio at the club, or just walking the dock while fixing something was a treat. It wasn't just the boat and the water and the sun; it was the people. We were all sharing an experience, without having to say very often how great it was, because everyone in our pre-planned arrangement already knows. Yet always when packing up to go home as late as possible on Sunday, we were already looking forward to the next weekend.
The difference and the only difference now on this adventure, is that the weekends have stretched into months. The sun, the sand, the relaxation is the same but time left seems infinite. You talk about dates to be here and there but nothing is fixed and rarely gets accomplished along its initial time line. The sun rises warm, then hot, and it appears that every day is a clear blue sky and has to compete or be out done by the magnificent hues of the water. The people are much the same, all knowing they are part of a 'grand scheme' to be a happy-go-lucky kid again, when time stretched longer and the best part of every day is dedicated to play. We will still have to pack up and go home, but instead of dreaming about next weekend we will dream of next year. We have pledged to become responsible adults for part of the year though!
On our way back down to the Keys, we took a cab ride from Stuart to the Tri rail station in West Palm Beach and made it to the Miami Greyhound station with all of less than ten minutes to spare and spent last Saturday viewing the Upper, Middle and Lower Keys through the window of an air conditioned bus. It was a lot faster than a boat but in places we were trucking along to no more than boat speed. This particular weekend was the first time President Obama had been to the Keys and traffic along the only two lane highway was heavier than normal. I know this because I read it in the local paper so it must be true. The Keys News is a wonderful publication, mirroring the local laid back attitude of the area. It has important stories of where the fishing was best last week, who would make the best judge to vote for in the upcoming election, the art of paddleboard fishing, the condition of the local animal shelters, and who was arrested on which Key, and for what. In fact the finest story of all was a headliner on Page 3 "Man eats cash found in under-ware". The resulting narrative revealed that police were called to the home of this character's girlfriend who complained of missing cash. Apparently the police arrested him on a variety of other charges but could not find the missing booty until they brought him here to the holding facility (razor wire surrounded jail) next to our City Marina. When they went to get him out of the back seat of the cruiser he was chowing down 270 George Washington's that he had hidden in his under-ware. The accompanying photo of him was not all that endearing. And that is the news from here.
There is a "Sunday evening" in all of this though. We did remember we have a limited time in which we can spend in the USA. Because we want to come back down as early as possible in the fall, and are limited to 181 days per year, we set a target date to be home about the middle of April. That means we should leave the Keys on or about the middle of March to take the boat north to be put away for the summer. We agreed with Soulstice II that we would leave here together and start up the Middle and Upper Keys to arrive back in the St Lucie area by the end of March. Sunday, March 16th seemed like the perfect day. Everything is packed up; Trusty-Rusty bicycle is aboard, the dinghy is up on its davits, water and fuel containers are strapped to the fender boards, and all systems are ready to go.
Morning arrives like a golden bell, bright and clear with a light breeze. Soulstice II calls on the VHF and we confirm that we are ready to go. I go forward to untie the lines from the mooring ball and hear Mike calling on the radio that "Houston may have a problem". With Chances drifting free I go back to the wheel, rev up and little or nothing happens. I look to see where Soulstice is and he is frantically dropping an anchor and saddling up to another boat on a mooring ball. With no forward thrust, I know we have the same problem. WE ARE CAUGHT IN THE MARATHON VORTEX! We now understand part of the vortex includes barnacles that build up over time and keep you in the harbour. Not only do they attach to the bottom of your boat but they smother your prop so it starts to look like a balloon rather that a three bladed mechanical thingy. We realize in short order this day we are going nowhere, other than where the small breeze wants to take us. I consider putting out some sail to get us out of the mooring field but instead drifted through a couple of lanes using a barnacle covered rudder to the mooring ball which Soulstice II had just left. Although Mike and I had each cleaned the garden that runs along the waterline, similar to all boats and dinghies in the harbour, neither of us knew about the prolific growth exclusive to Boot Key Harbour. Once settled, I dove under the boat a couple of times to see what I could do but came out of the water cut and bloody on the arms and back as the result of cuts from razor sharp barnacles . Shark bait I am not meant to be. A call to Barnacle Bill and by lunch time he had the bottoms of both boats scraped and ready to go. But what the heck, we might as well stay another day and talk about our experience. However the next day, Monday is St Paddies Day and that alone is a reason not to travel. Let's wait until Tuesday. A short front might be coming through on Tuesday (from Canada!) so let's wait until Wednesday. Already, tomorrow is Wednesday so we will see what happens then.
A very short distance away at the end of our mooring field is the Dockside Bar. Any of you who are familiar with the magazine, Latitudes & Attitudes or which is now Bob Bitchins' new Cruising Life, will know of Eric Stone who is the band that entertains at all the Cruisin' parties Bob and his magazines put together in different parts of the world. Eric Stone and his wife own the Dockside Bar and restaurant here in Marathon; styled attitude-wise on Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and what better place to grace with our presence, on St Patrick's Day? A late lunch and suds for the four of us and Murphy the sailing dog, made the barnacle episode and delay well worthwhile. Just another one of those laid back kind of places with the same kind of laidback populace. Both Eric and his wife were at the bar, but again I made a point of not sticking a camera in his face just to prove we did see them. (I did take a picture of his band stand area though.)
Ok we are hoping to amble our way up the coast to Miami - Ft Lauderdale - West Palm Beach and north to Stuart to prepare for our trip back home to St Catharines.
Thanks to everyone who kept us up to date on winter. Spring is on its way and we are coming back home!!