Marathon Magic

Here we are in Marathon Florida, among the great keys of Florida.  It has been sunny and warm since we arrived.  It is usually in the 60's at night and in the mid 70's during the day, just perfect.  We arrived after a couple of passes on the outside.  For those of you that are not familiar, that means instead of the waterway or the river system, we actually were in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

It was a beautiful trip and took us a couple of days.  We traveled from Ft. Meyers to Goodland and then to the Little Shark River.  At Goodland we anchored by the Coon Key and it was very peaceful.  The 2nd night we anchored at Little Shark River with half a dozen other boats, it was just outside the Everglades National Park and was very nice also.  We sure had great weather and were very thankful for that.

As we crossed under the famous 7 mile bridge the seas from the Gulf of Mexico were building and also there was quite a bit of current coming at us from the Atlantic,   however we made it under the bridge and turned into Boot Key Harbor.  This is an anchorage unlike any we have been in and it was quite a culture shock for the Captain.  There are mooring balls provided by the City of Marathon marina (226 in all) and there are probably another 100 boats that are anchored in the harbor.  We waited a few days to get a mooring ball as it was quite windy and the weather had to change in order for some of the boats to move on.  Here is a picture of sunset at the anchorage.

We were anchored just at the bridge on the farthest point from the marina.  This bridge was supposed to be a fixed bridge and we would have to travel under it.  We were quite surprised to see that a section of the bridge had been removed in October of 2010.  This is what the bridge looks like today.

We did dinghy up to the main office and were surprised to learn that we could pay a small  fee and use the dinghy dock which provided us with pump out service for the holding tank, water at 5cents a gallon, ability to use the shower facility, lounge, and laundry service.  All in all it was a great deal.  Now we were ready to learn more about the keys so here is some of the pictures of our adventures.

This is one of the dinghy docks.  The soft inflatable dinghies are on the right and the hard bottom dingies park on the left.  There is 2 more full docks like these.  I guess if there are 350 or so boats of your friends that does have a lot of potential for dinghies.

Here is a picture of the anchorage.

Here is another view of boats, there are so many that you can not really describe it.

This is a mural on one of the buildings in Marathon.

Here is the road sign along the famous highway 1, we are hiking to town.

Like I said a few days at anchor and then the weather and seas were better so several boats moved off the mooring balls and headed for Key West or to the Bahamas/Exuma or up to Miami to the boat show.  This is a view from the starboard side and the port side of our boat on the mooring ball.



After a couple of days we got a call from our friends Corky and Rhonda  (they were coming from our home town where it was very cold).  It happened to work out for them and us that they were able to spend a couple of days and an evening with us on the boat.  It was great to catch up with them.  We even were able to view the international space station crossing over the anchorage the evening they were here.  What fun!  The next day we all hopped on the public bus and traveled 50 miles to Key West to take in the sites.  Well both Erwin and I forgot the camera, I promise we will go back and post some pictures.  For now though you will have to sustain on this picture of the Mile marked 0 (off the coffee mug I purchased)  Interesting fact is the highway starts there in Key West, hence the mile marker 0.  Marathon is at marker 50.


ENJOY

More Gulf sites from the Western shore of Florida

Well, sorry that we have not been posting a lot.  Here is a couple of the nature shots.  One of the sky with a light filtering through the clouds, the other is of a beautiful sunset at Pelican Bay in Cayo Costa State Park.

We took a week to enjoy the company of our old cruising pals, Tom and Sheryl.  We met with them in Palmetto and cruised around the area for a week or so.  I guess we were on vacation along with them as we did not take any pictures.  Here is a picture of our buddies on one of the other trips we took with them.

It was fun going back to some of the places that we cruised with the two of them several years ago.  We were on their boat at that time.  It is a sailboat, but we don't hold that against them as we used to be sailors.  We cruised around Longboat Key, Anna Marie Island, St. Petersburg, and Palmetto.  It was great to catch up with them on family and all.

We dropped them back at Palmetto and then decided to cruise toward the southern part of the Gulf.  We will be making our way to the Florida Keys over the next week or so weather permitting as we will be traveling the Gulf part of the trip and will wait for good seas.

Here is a couple of pics of the Sunshine Bridge.  One is of a freighter quite a distance away from our boat, the other is of a full size semi on top of the Sunshine Bridge.  This is a view that not all of the tourists see.

We traveled to Ft. Meyers beach and Estero Island.  Here is a picture of the mooring field.  Basically it is an anchorage but has these mooring balls that you rent and hook the boat onto.  There are over 70 mooring balls and so it is a busy place.

Here is a picture of the mooring field, Solitude on the mooring ball, and an interesting pirate ship which takes the tourists on a cruise a couple of times a day.  It looks quite different than the boats we are used to seeing.

We took the dinghy over to shore and walked over to the times square at Ft. Meyers Beach.  It was cooler and there was not as many people there as usual.

Here is a shot of the pier at the beach, as you can see by the waves, it was quite a windy day at the beach.

Doesn't take much to amuse the two of us as we have been on the boat awhile.  Here is a one man band performing at the square.  Check out the apparatus hooked on his feet to work the drum and a washboard on his back.  If nothing else you got to be entertained by the sheer work going into this!

Back in Florida

Well we made it back to the Sunshine State.  We drove our truck down with a load of supplies and new batteries for the boat.  (4 golf cart size).  It was fun catching up with the two treasures we discovered in Florida - our friends Dorothy and Larry.  Here is a picture of our boat moored at their dock.  Their boat is the blue one facing our boat.


Here is a picture of Dorothy and Larry at their home.

We took a trip to Punta Gorda and these birds were just walking across the parking lot.

After we returned the first of the year, Larry took us out in smaller run about boat.  It was a lovely cool day and I had told Larry that I really wanted to see an alligator.  Well as you can see by these two pictures, he got us an up close and personal view of an alligator on the shore of the Peace River.  It was so cool to see him.

Seeing this alligator was really awesome and it was my birthday to boot!  He was so close that when he jumped toward the boat all three people in the front of the boat made it to the center of the boat in record time.  He was amazingly fast, sure glad that we were protected by the boat.

One of the side trips we took by car was to Gaspirilla State Park.  It was a beautiful sunny day and just a little cool.





Here is a picture of both of us, we had a request for more pics of us.

We left the Peace River and our friends after a week or so of some great hospitality. All of the neighbors there on the channel are so terrific. We had a great time getting to know many of them.

We traveled over to Cayo Costa State Park and anchored for a few days to get back into boat life and living on the water.  While we were there, we had a wonderful reunion with Woody and Judy Post (Osprey boat) as they were close to our location in the waterway and came into the anchorage.  It was just perfect to catch up with them.  They rafted their boat off of ours and we chatted and caught up with each other for over five hours.

The next day we took a dinghy ride over to the state park.  We took the tram ride over to the Gulf of Mexico.  Even though the weather had been very cold for a couple of days, it was finally starting to warm up.

Here is a picture of Erwin with his long pants rolled up wading in the Gulf of Mexico.  It was a far cry from warm like it was the last time, and you can see by the fist he is making that it feels like Lake Michigan.  We checked later and the water temperatures were in the middle 50's which is much too cold for wading.














This is an Osprey perched on a tree at our anchorage.

We took a dinghy ride to one of the lagoons in the park and I snapped this shot of pelican.  He was actually fishing for mullet I think.














Here is a shot of Erwin in the dinghy checking our crab pots at the anchorage.

More sites from the Sunshine State

Hi to all of our followers.  We have been enjoying all the sites and scenery if Florida.  We both thought that Michigan had a lot of lakes and water, but after you have really traveled in Florida in a boat can you appreciate the many waterways, canals, inland waterways, and the beautiful ocean.

This is one of the islands that formed when the tide changed.  We were at anchor just a few boats lengths away.  We were aware that this was shallow but it is always interesting to look out where there was open water when sunset the night before.












We were at anchor on the Manatee River at anchor and we heard this loud noise overhead.  There was this huge flock of birds and the air was black and thick with birds.  Here is a picture of the sky.  Erwin waved his hat and they did not land on our boat but the second picture is the dock on shore near our boat.  Of course, you know if it is up to me I see the unusual and share it.

This is one of the beautiful sunrises we enjoyed while at anchor.

This is one of the swing bridges that connects the main land to one of the barrier islands.  It is only 9 feet tall so we always have to call the bridge tender to open the bridge.  It is a pretty slick operation.

Oh by the way, did I mention that we have purchased a Florida fishing license?  So Erwin has been learning all about fishing in salt water and catching fish.  It takes quite a bit of practice and patience.  I must say though, he sure can make those crab traps work well.  Here is a picture of one of the blue crabs that he caught.

And then-------- we had a feast.  This is our seafood dinner that we took a picture of as we were starting to prepare it in the gally.

We sure did love that seafood.  It was delicious!

Here are some pictures of the great dolphins that swim with us.  They love the wake of the boat and try to swim along with us part of the time.  It is tricky to get the pictures of them.

Pretty cool, huh?













So on that note, I am sad to say that we will not be posting again for a while.  We will begin again in mid January when we return to Florida.  We are very happy to say that we are going home to Michigan to spend the holidays with our great family, extended family, and friends.  Thanks for following us and see you in January.

The Sunshine State

Sorry to all of our followers.  We have been enjoying fishing, the sun, and sightseeing in Florida so we have not spent much time at the computer or even sorting our pictures.

We had a very successful crossing of the Gulf of Mexico from Carabelle, Florida to the Clearwater area.  It took two very long days and the first day we left at 4:00 a.m.  It was scary in the dark looking for the lighted markers, but it was necessary for us to get to a safe place the first day prior to sundown. 

Here is the sunrise on the morning of the first day out on the Gulf.

So here are some of the pictures as we got into the more populated areas of Florida.  They are from the area around the town of Gulfport.  We spent several days in the area resting and relaxing after the Gulf crossing.



We then decided to go across Tampa Bay and go into the St. Petersburg area.  We anchored right in the North Yacht Basin in the heart of St. Petersburg.

Here is one of the LARGE yachts leaving as we entered the anchorage.  This boat was not at anchor but leaving the marina in the background.



















Nice place to sit and no charge when you anchor (except for a $5 fee to tie up the dinghy)

Here is a view from the pier at St. Petersburg.  We walked the pier and visited the aquarium which is at the end of the pier, it was small but a nice change of pace.  The view from the pier was outstanding!

This is the view looking back at St. Pete from the end of the pier.  There is a observation deck at the top which is where we took this shot.

Of course you know Marilyn has to have some pictures of the birds.  This pelican could have cared less that we were so close.  I think he was waiting to see if a fisherman would loose his catch.

Another beautiful bird!

This bird (even though very pretty) was an unwelcome guest in our dinghy.  Lucky for us he did not leave any traces of his being here.



This is the famous Sunshine Skyway that we passed on our way to the Manatee River.


Here is an Osprey perched on one of the green channel markers.

As I said, we were fishing, but this is a stingray that found its' way to our fishing line, not very tasty.