Diamond Lil's Adventures Back to the Islands

Marathon, our home away from home Apr 21, 2007

After anchoring for a night in Tarpon Bay near Key Largo and using our economical US cell phone to obtain quotes from various marinas and boatyards to store Diamond Lil for a month we realized that we were in the wrong place. Exit stage left and 50 miles further to Marathon.

We received the best quote so far for storage from Ponchos Marina. We know Marathon well and have access to shore at the Boot Key Harbour City Marina which wasn't as easy to find in Key Largo. We feel comfortable here, maybe too comfortable, like a home away from home.

Entering via Sister Creek into BKH we were shocked to see a large empty hole right in the middle of the harbour, the area around Dog Island where we always anchor. We had heard when we were here in December that mooring balls were to be installed in the area and the work was well underway. I imagine there will come a time when one cannot anchor at all here, a sad sign of progress.

Luckily we snagged the 2nd last open mooring ball, not free like anchoring but not bad at $66/week plus $28 for use of the dingy dock, marina facilities and garbage (trash down here) disposal. We paid for a week which should give us enough time to change the zinc on the boat, perform some preventative maintenance and book our flight home. I would love to describe exactly what the zinc is and does but since the technical half of the team is having a siesta you'll have to wait until the next update to find out.

We found ourselves where else but across the road at the Overseas Bar and Grill. The same amusing crowd of quirky characters was present and our favourite bar stools were empty, along with many others. After the Bahamas it was a pleasant change to have dinner and 2 beers each for under $10.

It's a toss up where we spend more time - at the Overseas or West Marine. We ended up back at the Overseas for breakfast which was actually lunch because they don't serve breakfast. The Captain has been to WM twice already today and I finally got my hands on a copy of the Mar/Apr issue of Living Aboard Magazine. It is always fun to read my articles, even though I wrote them. We recognize many boats and people here, some who never leave and others who we also ran into in the Bahamas. It really is a small world.

It is off season in Marathon and much quieter than the previous 3 times we have been here. The weather so far is very calm and HOT. I don't normally complain about heat and it's only April. I cannot imagine this place in August.

We lost one of our engines just as we were approaching the mooring ball yesterday so we had a few tense moments and this morning the Captain was hard at work and as usual, corrected the problem. The Stuffed Pig where we originally headed for breaky was full with a waiting line outside due to a huge crowd from the field of 1,500 runners who had earlier completed the annual foot race across the longest segmental bridge in the world, the 7 Mile Bridge which was closed from 6:45 to 9 a.m. There is no other way by road to travel between Marathon and Key West so I can imagine it was a traffic nightmare.

A couple we met last winter from Colorado returned there this winter and we heard from a mutual friend that they were regretting that decision and in the market for a new sailboat, since they sold theirs before leaving.

I have plenty of pics from our previous visits here but I don't want to cheat and use them so I'll add a few more in a couple of days.