Day 30 - Saturday, 2-09-08- Sombrero Resort & Marina, Boot Key Harbor, Marathon

After a restful but somewhat warm and humid night at the Marathon Marina and Boatyard following the "fouled prop incident" the previous day, Gerry expertly steered us away from the pier, backing in very tight quarters, and then for fuel at the fuel dock at the entrance to the Marina. Our leg for the day was very short, actually less than two miles to the Sombrero Resort & Marina located at the extreme eastern end of the Harbor. The short move was necessitated to restock our food stores at a supermarket convenient to the Marina prior to the crossing to the Bahamas. The Dockmaster indicated that the slip was narrow (12'3") but should be adequate for our 11 �' beam boat. Well it took a giant "boat horn" but we squeezed into the slip which we later measured to be 11' 9" wide- whew, all of about 3" to spare! In the slip, the view to the stern (west) is a narrow waterway bordered by a thick stand of mangroves. It was a fairly relaxed day, with most of the crew getting naps, the gulls grocery shopping and the guys doing some chores on the boat - yes, there is always something to do on a boat! The gulls were fortunate to strike up a conversation with Ralph Milligan of Toronto, Canada, the skipper of Lady Maria, a 40' something trawler moored next to us who agreed to drive them to and from the supermarket. When they returned, the guys were in the middle of another "project", so once the food was loaded on board they went for a swim at the Resort pool. Ralph and his wife Maria (aka Lady Maria) joined us for drinks and snacks on board Last Dance and were introduced to "Jimcicles" and Sara's "famous chutney". We enjoyed swapping boating stories and life stories with them as well as sharing the sunset over the mangroves. Following "happy hour", the crew enjoyed a tasty meal of rotisserie chicken, fresh squash, noodles and fresh tomatoes sent over by Maria. Tomorrow, we anticipate about a 40 nm leg to Marina Del Ray on Key Largo. A front is moving through tonight bringing winds (predicted) of up to 20-25 knots out of the Northeast over the next several days. During the day tomorrow, the winds are expected to be up to 20 knots but the seas a relatively moderate 2-3 ft in the Hawke Channel which is a wide natural channel between the land masses and the outer reef that essentially parallels the Keys. In anticipation of the relatively high winds, we'll probably start out the day with the first reef in the mainsail. Based on NOAA weather predictions over the next several days, we anticipate that we will be able to make our crossing to Bimini in the Bahamas on Wednesday. Stay tuned! (RKS)