It's been almost three weeks since my last entry, but I have to say the time "evaporates" here where every day is a good day! I also want to have something interesting to write about. I guess I'm beginning to understand "Island Time!"
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| Dinner with friends |
Jonathon has kept us informed about Max the Cat and the house and property. Apparently the temps at home are in the single digits both above and below zero! I don't miss the upstate NY winter weather. For the most part our temps here range between 62 and 89 degrees. The night-time lows are great for sleeping, but even then it's not a drastic change from day to night-time temps compared to Averill Park.
We have been out sailing a couple of times. We had little wind one day and we used the time to fill up with diesel and raise the sails. In checking the sails and running rigging one batton pocket has a slight tear and I will need to stitch it closed. Another day we were out in 15-18 kt winds steady from the NNE. Even with those little creatures living on the hull, we moved right along at 6+ kts. We will have a local diver scrape the hull before we leave for the Dry Tortugas and the Gulf Coast! It's amazing how a few barnacles can create drag!
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| Yasmine and Roy |
We have a couple of weekly routines that help to keep us busy, have some fun and keep us in touch with our friends and buddy boats. One is the 25 cent wings and discounted drafts at Hurricanes just up US1 a short distance from the marina and park entrance. Another is "Guys Lunch Out" which is obviously a counter to the "Ladies Shopping, Lunch, Time Away and We might be home for Dinner Day Out!"
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| Yasmine |
The most difficult part of our time here in Marathon is crossing US1. Well, I can say that traffic will not stop for me! However, it has stopped for Yasmine on the catamaran "Yasmine Ann." While waiting for the bus to Key West and the "Lobster Fest," one has to cross US1 to get to the bus stop. There are four lanes of traffic to negotiate. I say negotiate but I really mean "good luck with that!" Well, Roy made it across but Yasmine was indecisive and waited. She soon walked to the center line with little or no gap in traffic. Immediately a pickup truck in the fast lane stopped and motioned her to cross. In a flash both lanes stopped and Yasmine safely completed the crossing!
A funny story regarding the cleaning of our dinghy a few days ago involved a potential "Life Insurance" claim. West Marine has a two-step process to clean the barnacles and algae off the bottom and protect it from future buildup. I'll just say that we followed the directions and cleaned and applied the protectorant to the bottom. Let me tell you it just shined! It was clear from the instructions we were to apply the protectorant to the entire dinghy bottom and top side. We had the cleanest and shiniest dinghy in the Marathon mooring field. As it turns out the protectorant has the same characteristics as Armour All (the very shiny and slippery coating for vinyl etc). We could barely maneuver sitting or standing and on the way back from Sombrero Beach, where we cleaned the dinghy. Bon slipped while sitting on the side tube and nearly went overboard! We had to crawl back onto Fiu. My next visit to West Marine will include a suggestion to not apply it to the topside to avoid the time consuming scrubbing to remove it!
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| Eric Stone |
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| Sunset from Fiu |
We spent one Saturday night at the "Salty Dog" listening to Eric Stone and his bass player, Steve, play at the Tiki bar. Steve is on a sailboat one row over from us. The music is island music and we enjoyed ourselves listening, dancing and talking with our friends.
Captain Sid
It's been almost three weeks since my last entry, but I have to say the time "evaporates" here where every day is a good day! I also want to have something interesting to write about. I guess I'm beginning to understand "Island Time!"
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