Delilah's Meanderings

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone from Boot Key Harbor. We continue to enjoy our time in Marathon, especially life on a mooring ball. We've been here for one month and I just paid for another two weeks. This is highly unusual for us to stay in one place. We're not exactly the relaxed type of people!

Within a few days of pulling up our anchor and getting comfortable on the mooring ball, we had a strong, gusty wind blow through the harbor. Several boats were dragging anchor. One boat actually drifted back into another boat's anchor line and the propeller got tangled into the anchor line. We happened to be listening to the Boot Key Harbor morning net on VHF (this is a good way to find out all that's going on for that day) so we heard it all unfold. Several people jumped into dinghys and went to help. I believe eventually it took a hired diver to disentangle the mess. The anchor line had to be cut. The anchor was able to be retrieved and no injuries reported. It was a very hectic morning! We stayed on the boat pretty much all day. Played Scrabble, Farkle, Rummy, and 6-card Golf. Mark continued his winning streak. BooHoo. That evening I slept out in the salon on the settee. The thought being that I would feel a little more settled in the center of the boat. (honestly it had nothing to do with losing every game haha) We experienced wind gusting into the 40s. Again, I am so very thankful to be on the mooring ball. :)

We've settled into a routine here. Weather permitting, we play bocce ball on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and pickle ball on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Both are lots of fun. Pretty sure Mark prefers the faster-paced pickle ball. It is great exercise but really hard on our knees. We both wear a knee compression during play and also if we are walking any distance at all now. I usually do laundry once a week early in the morning before the laundry room gets crowded. That same day, we usually have groceries delivered to the parking lot via Instacart. We ride our bikes round trip about six miles to Sombrero Beach. We play cards and board games of an evening. We also manage to get to Upper Crust Pizza each week. We love the pizza, salad, and also a couple of the pasta dishes. But our favorite thing is her weekly homemade desserts. I've probably mentioned this before. Sorry. But the desserts are that good!

One Friday we took the Lower Keys Shuttle Bus to Bahia Honda State Park. Only cost fifty cents each person each way - even if we would have taken it all the way to Key West! Sometimes it pays to be a senior citizen! It was such a beautiful day. We really enjoyed walking along the beach. Browsed the gift shop and they had an ice cream freezer. Jackpot!!! We had packed our lunch so we sat at a picnic table bay side and devoured our peanut butter and jelly. All that walking worked up an appetite. (who am I kidding, I'm always hungry) While eating lunch, Mark saw a really large stingray jump up out of the water. I heard the splash, but missed the show.

The Saturday of Super Bowl weekend, we successfully had a Zoom family meeting. Mark's idea to play BINGO, everyone made their own cards, and he created little squares with the letters/numbers to call out. It was such fun! We played several games and made sure everyone had an opportunity to win. Even the mommys played. Ha! It was hilarious to hear our youngest grandchild, Sloane, (13 months old) randomly yell "BINGO!" I think we are going to try Family Feud next time (Brynn has the Disney version). Should be interesting. I know all the boats around us overheard our BINGO game.

On Super Bowl Sunday we spent the day preparing to take a short trip on the boat. Monday we dropped the mooring ball and took Delilah out to Sombrero Key Lighthouse. This is our fourth time visiting here and our first to go out to the reef. The evening prior was very calm and the morning had light wind so we were hopeful to have calm waters. On the way out, the water was pretty lumpy. Once we were near the reef, it was gorgeous and calm. Gorgeous. We picked up a mooring ball near the lighthouse. The water was about six feet deep around our boat. It was like being on top of an aquarium! I seriously considered not snorkeling since we could see the fish by leaning over the side of the boat. However, I was afraid that I would then regret missing this opportunity. Mark couldn't wait to get in. The water was cold. BRRRR. We bought wetsuits a few years back at a secondhand store in Port Charlotte. They aren't pretty and they aren't true snorkeling/diving wetsuits. But they certainly helped!! I managed to stay in the water for about 20 minutes. The first five was spent trying not to hyperventilate. Lol We saw so many colorful fish and lots of coral. Mark saw a barracuda. I got out right after he told me to hold still while a jellyfish swam right beside me! This was a wonderful experience. Mark snorkeled for almost an hour. Then we had lunch in the cockpit and headed back to the mooring field. We passed not one, but two, sea turtles. They didn't immediately dive under water so we got a nice, long look at them! Later that afternoon we went to happy hour at Castaways with Argies. And saw three manatees drinking water dripping from a hose. What a great day for viewing wildlife!

We've had a little bit of rain off and on. Not much to speak of really. Most days have been sunny and high 70s. The nights are definitely getting stickier. We have seen beautiful sunsets night after night. Who wouldn't want to stay here longer?!

Cheers,
Kim
ps Mark spends time posting our "best" photos to this blog. Please remember to look in the monthly photo gallery folders. I think you'll be glad you did!