MIDORI ADVENTURES

(PHOTO ABOVE IS COUSIN BOB NEWMAN PLAYING HIS TINY HARMONICA)

This is a good place to be and it gives us an opportunity to test all the boat systems. So far, the battery charger and the generator are working well. No problems with the head - which is pumped out weekly. The water pump is working fine. And the fridge. The only gremlin so far, is the thermostat in the dinghy outboard. Parts have been ordered and on their way. Also, Brian is attempting to clean up the routes and tracks on the chart plotter. We decided to save some tracks as routes, and it created huge files with a zillion waypoints!

The daily routine involves running the generator for an hour in the morning and an hour at night (to keep the boat batteries charged as well as charging all of our electronics like MiFi hotspot and laptops and IPAD and cell phone and VHF handhelds); catching up on email; listening to the morning Cruisers' Net on VHF; boat chores. Most days, we do lunch aboard and then go ashore and walk to West Marine or Home Depot or the grocery store, have our showers, watch a little T.V. in the marina office/clubhouse. Laundry day requires an earlier start - in order to get one of six washing machines and invariably, one of the dryers is down.

We have been enjoying the company of Steve and Mary Ann on LIVING WELL. It seems that most of our shore excursions involve food, but who can resist The Legion Sunday breakfast, Sparky's .25 cent shrimp and The Hurricane's .25 cent wings, or Burdine's burgers and fries - yum! or, how could I forget The Upper Crust Pizza. We welcomed Van and Lauren on GRATITUDE to the eating fold last Friday.

Marathon has a movie theatre which is quite uniquely set up with tables where you can enjoy wine or beer with your popcorn and hot dogs. The four of us saw the recent Hobbit Movie and the matinee price was a child's admission - even the grey haired ones!

Brian and I have also enjoyed a get together with my cousin Bob Newman and his wife, Fran. They picked us up in their vehicle from the dinghy dock and took us to LULU's which is a popular bar and food spot. David Scott, the entertainer, was a friend of theirs, and Fran did get up and amuse us with a couple little "ditties". Bob couldn't resist getting up and playing the tiniest harmonica I've ever seen (1"). Bob and Fran have retired, but they still do the occasional "gig". He also accompanies other entertainers on his keyboard. We really look forward to seeing them play.

We have been boat bound for a day here and and a day there due to either high winds or rain. This is not the usual, sunny blue skies and balmy weather of The Keys, but it is still warmer here than it is up North!

The mooring field is full (256 boats) with a waiting list. There are several boats who will depart when they get a weather window to the Bahamas. The boats on the waiting list will then move in from wherever they have anchored. Once we have serviced the dinghy outboard, we plan to move up to the Miami area to stage the 49 nautical mile crossing to Bimini. We have the advantage of being able to travel the ICW "inside"route from here to Biscayne Bay.

Stay tuned,

First Mate
Lynn