Delilah's Meanderings

Hello. We are currently anchored in Boot Key Harbor at the Marathon City Marina. Waiting for a mooring ball. When we arrived on Thursday, January 14, we were #10 on the wait list. Today we are #6. We hope to be on a mooring ball in about a week (or less!).

We had a three-day trek to Marathon from Ft. Myers Beach. The first day we motor sailed most of the way (trip was nine hours) to anchor near Panther Key in the Ten Thousand Islands. Pretty quiet day. Rarely saw any other boats on the water. Big news that day was the discovery of a tiny lizard that was our stowaway in the cockpit, Mark spotted a loggerhead turtle near the channel into Marco Island, and we saw so many vultures in the Goodland area. I have never, ever seen anything like this. Straight out of the movie The Birds. They were everywhere...rooftops and trees covered. Bizarre.

On our second day we again motor sailed going from Panther Key to anchor in Little Shark River on the western end of Everglades National Park. This trip was about seven hours which gave us time to settle in after anchoring and enjoy the scenery. The day was absolutely beautiful with very calm waters the whole way. We spotted the lizard again before he did his disappearing act! Mark prepared his delicious pancakes with quinoa for dinner as I was complaining of an uneasy stomach. (works every time!) The weather continued to be slightly cool...but much warmer than at home! We had a good bit of rain during the night with some wind. Little affect on our anchorage as we were pretty tucked in.

Our last leg of this journey was eight hours to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Years ago I thought Marathon was the name of the island. Once we began coastal cruising, I found out that the city of Marathon is spread out over several little islands in the middle of the Florida Keys. This day we managed to turn off the motor and sail for a little while. Really enjoyed the quiet with only the noise of the water lapping. At one point while motor sailing, we had to slow down and go into neutral while a large catamaran crossed right in front of us. What are the chances in this vast Florida Bay that two boats are on a course to run into each other?! Pretty unlikely considering how few boats we have seen out here. The crab pots were thick though. At first, we didn't see too many. We fantasized that this trend would continue. Ha! No such luck. It was a crab pot obstacle course for hours.

We dropped anchor about 3 pm in a nice spot on the northeast side of the mooring field, City Marina, Boot Key Harbor. Some friends on another Gemini are here on a mooring ball and had let us know ahead of time about this good spot. We went into the office expecting to pay for a week's stay to begin with. Found out that weekly packages are no longer offered, so we paid for a month. We don't typically stay in one place for a month, but this is a great area to do just that! Our first night here we took the dinghy in and ran across the street to Upper Crust Pizza. The food is delicious there and very convenient to the marina (we've been three times in the last five days.) We had dessert!! The owner makes a dessert of the week and also key lime pie. We had the oreo cheesecake because she recommended it. Wow. Yummy. It was more like the cream inside of a cannoli and less like a typical cheesecake flavor. It had been one week and one day since our last dessert. We loved every last bite.

On our first full day here Friday, January 15, Mark did our normal boat maintenance routine. I did laundry which is always such a great feeling for me. Pretty sure Mark feels the same way about his maintenance tasks. You have to enjoy the little things in life! We took the dinghy to Burdine's and ate way too much. It's a ritual there to start with a basket of french fries. It's big enough for four people to share. We only had two people. haha In the afternoon we rode our bikes to Publix and restocked a few items. Rounded out our day by taking advantage of the marina showers. aaaah warm water.

That evening got a little crazy to say the least. We awoke at midnight to our anchor watch alarm beeping. Sounded like blaring to me. A rain storm was going through with strong winds from the west. Delilah started dragging anchor. We are anchored fairly close to the edge of the mooring field and have several neighboring boats anchored all around us. I know we aren't actually as close as it appears when onboard. However, it was an extremely stressful night. I was at the helm keeping us in position best I could. Mark was on the bow pulling up the anchor to reset it. The wind, the dark night, the noise of the engine, and the rain all contributed to a near nervous breakdown for me. Any hand signals Mark and I usually have to communicate were not effective in the dark. Yelling to communicate was in order. The crying happened later. It took Mark two attempts and he got the anchor reset. We were up most all of the night monitoring the anchor. We were able to get some rest after Mark dropped a second anchor. Our main anchor is a Delta plow and he set our Danforth fluke anchor for the second one. They each hold in a different way. We finally relaxed a little and got a couple hours of sleep.

Saturday was difficult. We were both exhausted. Still very windy day so we didn't feel comfortable leaving the boat. I called Marathon Marina to see if we could get a slip for a couple of nights. They were full. I cried. A lot. My dad's oldest brother used to call it the Houchin waterfalls. Apparently this is a hereditary condition. ;) Mark spoke to our friends on Links (the other Gemini) and they discussed anchoring in the Keys. Speculation is that the anchor got clogged in the grassy bottom and with the violent shift of wind from the west, the anchor then began to drag. It was a drag all right. Much later that afternoon, the wind settled down and we were able to leave the boat to eat at Upper Crust Pizza. We both had pasta instead of pizza. We weren't disappointed. That evening while playing Rummy, we discussed my level of stress while cruising. It helps me to talk it out. Mark is very patient with me - he's heard it all before. We were feeling pretty comfortable with the two anchors. Especially since Mark and our friend moved the second anchor to a better location. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to calm down enough to sleep without taking taking something.

It's now Sunday. A good night's sleep really makes a difference! We filled out day with lots of activities. We went to Marathon Community Park next door and played Bocce ball (Mark was victorious). They have two courts there, along with lots of other amenities. We rode our bikes to the 7 Mile Bridge which I think is about five miles from the marina. Lunch was at Keys Fisheries where we saw a manatee. We stopped in at the Turtle Hospital. It was pretty crowded so we plan to book a tour another day. We went to bed early and both rested well.

On Monday, January 18, Mark got up early and put in three hours on his computer job. I lazed around waiting for our lunch break! We went to Stuffed Pig and had breakfast for lunch. When we returned to the boat, we prepped for another big blow coming our way. Our friend came over in his dinghy with another Danforth anchor. Yes, we decided to put down a third anchor. We haven't used more than one anchor before this trip. Quite a new experience for us. This wind is supposed to stick around for a few days. It will be such a relief to be on a mooring ball. That can't happen soon enough!

We will stay in touch. Probably next blog post will be after we're secured to a mooring ball. WooHoo!

Stay happy, friends!