January 22 Through February 5 (Click on the images to see and scroll them in full size)
January 23 we had planned to leave for Marathon, but it turned out to be a rough day with small craft warnings posted, so we decided to stay another day and I did maintenance on Patriot. The next day, we left in light rain, and hit heavy rain on the bay. As we headed south, we had dolphins playing in our wake. From this point on, we started seeing lots of low bridges. We anchored out near South Palm Beach at Latana and took our dinghy to shore from the anchorage. We ate at Old Key Lime Restaurant for dinner.
As we headed out the next day, out around 9 am, I found out our planned marina was shut down, so it was on to plan B and I started calling around to find a place to stay the night. This is really the land of the giants. Huge boats, through the port of Fort Lauderdale, very busy, lots more bridges to pass, lots of manatee areas and it was slow going. We managed to find a marina with a slip and we stayed at Loggerhead Marina near Hollywood. The next morning, we left a very tight slip, and we headed down through Miami, crossing Biscayne Bay to No Name Harbor. We ate at the Boater's Café. It was a quiet anchorage, and the blowing of the conch horn at sunset was cool.
The next day, we had dolphins in our wake again and we stayed at Tarpon Basin, a huge anchorage, and spent a great night. As usual, Christine took care of me and made an awesome BLT for lunch and fajitas for dinner.
January 27th we left Tarpon Basin early and headed for Marathon a day early since tomorrow is forecast to be rough. It got really shallow as we headed out of Tarpon Basin. That night we ate at Lazy Days and had an, awesome Tuna Tartar for dinner.
On our first full day in Marathon, we ate at Burdines, and had their famous deep fried key lime pie. 6 years ago this is the place where it all started on a scout outing I heard about this thing called the Great Loop from one of the scout moms with us. Who would have guessed (Besides my lovely wife) that in 6 years we would be back on our own boat.
We have caught up with several other boats that we met first on the rivers, including, Pelican, Tortuga, Cie La Vie and Tug Bussle. It has been wonderful seeing old friends and making new ones at the traditional docktails parties.
Tuesday, January 31st, we visited Marathon Turtle Hospital. It started out as a motel, back in the 1980's and turned into a full on rehab hospital for injured turtles all along the East Coast. Learned a lot about the different sea turtles in the area and the incredible work they do in this facility.
We have finally been able to take our Paddle North kayak off of the roof of Patriot and have gone out several times, seeing a spotted eagle ray in the shallows and losing one end of Christine's paddle in a canal. But one call to Paddle North and they sent us not one, but 2 replacement paddles. I cannot praise the customer service of this company enough. If you are ever looking for an inflatable paddle board or kayak, these guys are the Cadillac of inflatables.
Grocery shopping is interesting because the nearest Publix is 3 miles away, so we walked over and took a cab home with a week's supplies. Another of our favorite restaurants is the Sunset Grill, and when I saw that they had an overpriced drink in a PIRATE cup you could take home, I just had to have it.
The next several days included reading books, eating, walking, sitting by the pool and working on the boat. Wash, rinse, repeat. Did I mention sunsets? Lots of amazing sunsets.
In the next episode, we visit Key West, I learn how long I can hold my breath and we continue our adventures on Marathon Key.
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