Update Marathon 3 weeks later

Well, what can one say , living in 75 degree weather, blue skies and  73 degree water, swimming right out my back door ... literally I can just dive off the back of the boat, 10 feet from where I'm writing this update.
Weather has been pretty consistent and the hurricane season just about finished. Legend here has it, that once you see the turkey vultures circling the area, the bad season is finished. Boy did we luck out.
We are settling into a fairly regular routine, living in a boating community, which is starting to fill up with "snow birds" making the trek south to warmer weather. Marathon, not only being a great community to stay in, also is a stop over or marshaling area for boats heading to the Bahama's as well as further south to the Caribbean,
Our routine consists of getting up around 8am, having breakfast and listenening to the Cruiser's net a local VHF radio station, which daily welcomes new boaters to the harbor, gives local information on services and activities, buy , sell and trade, trivia questions. This is usually an entertaining way to get on with your day. We usually do some boat housekeeping, listen to weather stations, head into town for shopping and a coffee. We are starting to get involved in activities in the Park... softball 2-3 times per week, wine tasting , crafts... , most of these activities are run by the boaters, but the Marathon Recreation Department which operates out of the municipal park , not 200 yards from the marina , offers, tennis, basketball, bocce, shuffleboard, skateboard... ( they usually provide the equipment gratis).
Boat chores include daily cleaning due the salt water... It does a job on the stainless and all metal. The salt also encourages growth of barnacles and algae and if you don't attend to it will start growing on the hull.
In the afternoon we head up to the beach, swim or snorkel  or take a dingy ride or head out for a sail. Day light saving time affects us as well and by 6pm we are usually on the boat for the balance of the evening.
We have managed to get some snorkeling in off Sombrero Lt reef. Seen some rays, yellowtail, parrot fish, various coral...
Issues so far:
We think we have balanced our power /battery problems. Appears that our refrigeration system was over charged with refrigerant and the compressor would not shut off, which caused a huge battery demand that the solar panel could not keep up. Once we drained the refrigerant and lowered it to normal operating conditions the  refrigerator started cycling off and on... being off more than it is on  was a welcoming relief. We are now trying to reduce temperature so we can still freeze and maintain food and drink at a level that the solar panel can keep up. We are presently operating between 12.8 daytime , but once that sun goes down.. we are dropping to 12.2v. As long as we stay above 12v.. we are doing okay... providing we have a nice sunny day the next morning to charge the system back up.
Hey .... no sympathy yet!  If all else fails and I want to run a video... I start the boat and the alternator puts some volts in the batteries so my fridge doesn't stop. In your case if your car battery gets below 12 v and it gets cold outside (sorry I know what you are dealing with back home... again I don't expect any sympathy being in this warmth) In your case you call CAA and get a boost... in my case , I go to the store and buy a bag of ice. Oh the hardships we both face.
I'm waiting for some parts that I ordered , so I can give the boat a good oil change, change the drive belts, change some filters and coolant hoses that leaked during the trip down.
Some of you may have received an email from me earlier about  being in heaven. My reference was eating a steak dinner, nursing a drink and watching football on TV , almost every Saturday and Sunday on the trip down here. That is no longer the case. I still have the steak, the drink... but we get absolutely no TV here. I do manage to go ashore and watch about an hour of the game on Sunday. To stay true to my somewhat challenged lifestyle , I don't subscribe to streaming the games or TV shows. How I'm still only 3 games back from the leader of the City NFL pool, I don't know.
We celebrated Veterans Day (Nov 11 ) here, have participated in Sail Away Thursdays ( weekly 3-4 hour sails out on the Atlantic) , have been visited by Manatee's, rays , jelly fish, man-o-war, various fish... but no sharks or alligators. We have taken day trips to Key Largo and Key West by bus... being a senior (ha, ha) for $1.50 one way, I go 45 miles to Key West one way... wouldn't pay my gas if I had a car.

Well won't bore you anymore with our boring life in Paradise. Till next time here ae some pictures of our adventures.

Iguana friend keeps insects down

Key Largo Fishing Harbor

Key West

Key West Rooster

Key West Harbor

 

Jimmy Buffet's Margarettaville

 

 

90 miles to Cuba Southernmost point Continental US

 

 

Marathon. Florida... Mission accomplished

Sombrero Beach Marathon

Sombrero Beach

10 minute Dingy ride to Sombrero Beach

 

Indulgence at rest

Let me start with the end of this post first.. WE MADE IT!

2500 plus miles (not Km) 70 days, (20 in a  marina or mooring) we have accomplished phase 2 of our plan. Yes I still have my boat and wife and we are still talking to each other.

We arrived at Boot Key harbor (Marathon) on Monday afternoon after a 2 day sail down the Atlantic from Miami. Weather relatively good as we made the crossing. We anchored in Tavernier about 45 miles from Marathon the first night . we had trouble setting the anchor... it finally held after the 4rth time... winds were on our nose at about 15 knots and the bottom was sandy with a bit of grass.. not a lot of good anchoring where we were . If anchor didn't set and hold through dinner we were going to sail the next 8 hours to Boot Key.

As it was it did set and although a rocky night with wind and waves, we were okay and headed off next morning at 7:30am.  To my surprise, when weighing anchor, up came a crab pot, the anchor hooked and that's what gave me the little extra help in setting the anchor.

Remember earlier, I mentioned those lucky horseshoes in  my back pocket...

Arrived early afternoon in Marathon, assigned a mooring and just like that I felt like 100 pounds had been dropped off my shoulders,,,, we had made it, set out and accomplished what we said we would and not too much the worse for wear.

This is paradise (home) for the next 6 months. You can find the marina at the City of Marathon website and you will see what "hardships" we will be dealing with. The pictures above reflect my new working (retirement) home.75-85 daytime temps, water 75 degrees, sunny skies, flowers, trees with leaves... if I recall as  I am writing this it's Halloween night and you have rain, possible snow. We have a cold front coming in and temps tonight will drop to a cold 62 degrees (Damn, I'll have to put on a blanket tonight). We celebrated last night at a local establishment ...the Karaoke wasn't too bad neither was the food and drink, but being right on the water and driving the dingy to get there was what makes it neat.

 

As I mentioned last blog, we left Hollywood, FL after  a few bad days. We ended up going through Fort Lauderdale, Port Everglades harbor, Miami. Several more bridges and Port Everglades and Miami being home to the cruise ship industry, 2 very busy harbors.

Miami

Miami

Miami Stadium anchorage



 

As mentioned this is the completion of phase 2... getting here.

Now the challenge is living here and getting involved in the community. This is a boating community of over 200 boats for the winter season and we are an early arrival. Many of the boats won't be here until end of December, waiting out the hurricane season. It is about half-filled now with seasonal users, annual users, and day/overnight users , stopping in to refresh supplies and energy before they head off to Bahamas, BVI, gulfcoast....We have decided to use it as our base and do small excursions from here.

Now we need to change gears and as some of my friends have said " smell the roses"

We have been here 4 days and have enjoyed the ability to get to shore whenever we want and walk up for a coffee, we can grab a $4 bus and go to Key West (40 miles) or Miami for  $10. Tomorrow night "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is playing in the Park... BBQ, licensed lounge... should be a hoot

Just to let you know as well, Jo's ribs , although sore still when she moves in certain ways, are much better and it hasn't stopped her in participating to the fullest in what we do... swim, walk, shop, dingy rides

We are trying to balance our power needs now as we are not motoring everyday... The solar panel is doing its job in keeping batteries up, but that is only during daylight hours. We are having to shut off the refrigerator at dusk and turn it back on in the morning when sun is up... We have seldom had to run boat to put a quick charge in the batteries... power was never an issue when we were motoring as the alternator would charge everything up the next day... but being on a mooring ball is so different.. Many people down here are running solar and wind generators.. My solution so far is working but just minimally... we will look at many solutions such as re-insulted the  refrigerator, cut down the size of the refrigerator, not use the freezer component (which we already have done)  raise the operating temperature , add additional solar panels or wind, supplement with ice, go directly to ice...

TV is not  available here in the harbor, like it was in most places coming down, but we would like to watch video's etc. Our led lights use little energy so that isn't a factor.

I still have to resolve issues like only being allowed in the US for 183 days before I may have to pay. US residency tax, how we can arrange to get home for a couple  of weeks as the harbor only allows 7 days at a time, unless someone is tending to the boat.

I'm sure more things will arise as we continue on day by day.

 

That's it for now...

I probably won't be blogging as frequently over the next while, but I will send out updates.

If you wish to get in touch with me email me at tewles@rogers.com or text 705-500-2997 (we don't use our Gmail account.)

 

Our mobile cell/data plan with Wind/T-Mobile seems to be working out quite well so far . I have unlimited data and cell for $40/month which includes no roaming charges . Kudos (mind the pun) to Wind mobile

 

Ciao

 

Tom & Jo



 

Hollywood , Florida

Busy week... 350 miles since last post.
Talk about money down here. The houses ... make that mansions on the ICW, as we have approached Miami are ridiculously unreal... As we ventured down the ICW from Fernandina Beach we saw a change in attitude as to how different States treat this waterway. Florida has freshly painted bridges , manicured lawns and painted houses ...
Here are some of the areas we traveled or anchored in... Daytona, Cocoa, Cape Canaveral, Vero Beach, Lake Worth,Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood. The ICW has little tidal effect , except at inlets to the Atlantic, so anchoring has been relatively easy.
We spent a day in Vero Beach... swam in the ocean... access to free transit... may be worth spending a few weeks here on return. We have been visited by dolphins almost very day and we saw our first manatee ... no gators yet.
We had our first real grounding, unable to get off the sand bar. We were looking for an anchorage , one recommended by Skipper Bob. We grounded in 4 ' of water ... factually having to be pushed off by zodiac... a fellow Canadian from the east coast just happened to be coming down the river , saw our predicament and shoved us off the shoal. .
The "no-see-umps" little fly like bugs have been bad . The little "buggers" are small enough to get through some of our screenings.  Nights have been humid and hot... no I don't expect any sympathy.
The last 2 days we have been fighting with rain and some winds, been in rain gear most of the day.
We have also been following a tropical depression off Mexico which may change if conditions are right.  This would impact us over the next week and we may need to hole up somewhere. As it is we are in Hollywood, just south of Fort Lauderdale , for a few days to let the rain and wind blow through. We are looking to make a run down the Keys on Sunday ... and hit Boot Key (Marathon ) early in the week... need 2- 3 day good stretch of weather. We are 150 miles to our destination.
Ciao for now

Chillin in the sun

Cape Canaveral

Vero Beach

Vero Beach

Unbelievable

about the 6th sailboat we've seen

Hollywood Boardwalk

Hollywood Screensaver

Charlston - Fernandino Beach, FLORIDA

Fernandino Beach Harbor

Check out the house, tree and gardens

Well this week finds us in the northernmost part of Florida ... 450 miles or so to go..
We seem to be averaging about 250 miles per week with 4-5 days out on the hook and 2 days at a harbor, so we can stretch, provision and recharge the boat and "our" batteries.
Highlights this week:
- issues with low water, several soft groundings but able to get unstuck...   One grounding was particularly bad and I ended up hitting the wheel but Joanne ended up halfway down the companionway, lost her wind and has a sore rib cage. No bruising but tender.. Tides are high here about 8'  with 2 -  3 knot currents. We are averaging about 8 knots when running with the current and try to not drop below 5 knots  when going against it. Currents change direction whenever we cross an opening to the Atlantic. The ICW runs anywhere from 0- 5 mile s from the Atlantic. We try to stay in the 1600- 2000 RPM range to get about 8 miles /gallon of fuel.
We have been keeping an eye on Hurricane Fay and Gonzalo.. appears they are heading out to Bermuda, so no real immediate concern.
We went through Beaufort, Georgia, Port Royal, Savannah and last 2 nights in Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, FL. King's Bay submarine facility.As mentioned tides are high, we anchored off Jekyll Island  in low tide and actually ended up moving the boat after 2 hours when we saw only 1 foot under the keel. To be safe we moved out 20 yards or so into deeper water for the night. As it goes, the wind was high that night , constant 15 knots with gusts to 20plus. Next morning when we weighed anchor , we found ourself on the bottom. Boat  moved off the bottom , by giving some power and by my me healing it over to the side a bit.
Other interesting point with tide was anchoring up some river off the ICW at low tide, to find 3-4 hours later, the river twice as large and the area not looking anything like it did when you anchored.
Many dolphins, eagles, herons, osprey, egrets, saw our first pink flamingo's... but no gators yet.
Family celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday... we called home and wished everyone a great day...
Till next week.

House in South Carolina

Typical anchorage at Low tide

Ocean going freighter

Submarine

Fernandino Beach

 

Charlston, South Carolina

Intracoastal cut

random ICW house

Full Moon on a small river off the Atlantic

 



Well we are in Charleston, sec and not sure if this is right but "frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn"

 

Very old city, flat and many remnants and history surrounding the Civil war and the break from the Union. I believe the Civil war started here at Fort Sumter. Marina we are is is open to Charleston Bay and the waves of freighters and large ships. Tide is 6' and current about 2 knots.

This week saw us pass through Southport, Myrtle Beach and to Charlston... about 275 miles.

We had one bad storm early last week and with the high winds ... we had trouble setting the anchor... the wind, tides and  current left us with a bad night, wondering if the anchor would hold... were up for an hour during the peak of the storm (4am).. Next day we had a better day, seeming to hit favoring currents and got into Southport. Next day however we slugged 60 miles seeming to hit every tide was against us as  we moved down the ICW and ended up averaging 5 knots for 10 hours. This was when we traveled through Myrtle Beach. Seen several Dolphins....

 

Here is my story for the week. While weighing anchor in the river (picture above with full moon) at about 7:15am... I happened to glance down at the water at the side of the boat... there was this dorsal fin... grey in color.... sure did startle me as I only had a glance at it for half a second... I am presuming , take that as convincing myself , it was a dolphin... it dove under the boat , to be seen no more.

First experience with heavy shoaling at a location called Jeremy Creek, got stuck in the mud, tide was rising.. managed to get out, but waited an hour for tide to rise higher, before we ploughed through with minimal water under the keel... Jo was at the helm and I was on the bow trying to even out the weight enough to push through... we managed to push through the 200 or so yards before we were out of trouble.

Picked up my Florida C-MAP charts in Charleston ...so set for the last part of the journey.

Indulgence at rest

US Customs Charlston

USS Yorkton

 

 



Chesapeake to Beaufort N.C.

Pungo /Pimlico River Canal

Morehead City NC

Am sitting outside Morehead  City, N.C.  having arrived a few hours ago. Along way around to get back to the North Atlantic.
We had bad weather on the Chesapeake, having been hit by a storm , which we thought we would beat.. as it was the last 3 hours of a 8 hour trip, we got caught fighting the winds, currents, tides and rain. Both of us got drenched with waves coming over the bow . We landed at Crisfield, MD and took a dock for 2 nights to provision up, dry out and regroup... well worth it at a $1/ft.
Since then we have had dolphins swim around us as we traveled,  traveled through Norfolk, VA and the naval bases, traveled down the. Dismal canal... well worth it,  spent a few days at Elizabeth City,  known for its hospitality, which we were recipients of for the 2 days, the last 3 days traveling back to the ICW and the Atlantic at Beaufort/Morehead City, N.C,

Many highlights and several hours of just routine.  An average 7-8 hours per day 40-60 miles average.
Had a small coolant leak, which I was able to find but should look at replacing some hoses when we get to our destination.

Several people recommended taking the Dismal Swamp, rather than the Virginia cut. Although it is a tedious 20 mile journey down a man made trench, the scenery is great. We were. Fortunate enough  to have coffee and a chat with Robert the lockmaster, as he told us the history of the Swamp. Looking forward to our return in the spring. Bout 850 miles to Miami.

Dolphin Chesapeake Bay

Air Craft Carrier Norfolk

Dismal swamp

Battleship Norfolk, Va

R36 - Mile 0 - ICW Norfolk

Battleship Norfolk

Elizabeth City, NC

Elizabeth City, NC

Dismal Swamp

New Jersey to Chesapeake Bay

Back again... not an overly exciting week, just hard cruising. After our last entry, the next day we headed out to Atlantic City on the Atlantic... not a bad motor sail and actually ended up going further to Ocean City. (Ocean City is the site, I believe, where the Amusement Park was that got destroyed by Hurricane Sandy . You will recall the news clips of the roller coaster, just sitting in the ocean, , totally pummeled by the storm. While crossing over the Atlantic City inlet, we saw some whales, not sure the type,.. humpback or "write"? whales . Saw several schools of silver fish about 1-2' in length , just breaking the surface of the water ... hundreds of them following us while we kept motoring on..
Our journey from Ocean City to Cape May was a tough slug, in 4-5 ' following seas, a bit too much for the Admiral to handle the wheel as we were surfing up and down waves for 4 hours. Winds were 15-20 kn with gusts to 25.. with a weather advisory. In hindsight we would have been better to wait the day. Boat and crew were fine, but just an exhausting 30 mile jaunt down the coast.
Got into Cape May and took a slip for the night, did some laundry and provisioned up .
Cape May to Chesapeake City was a 60 odd mile run up the bay. 13 hours... first 8 hours were great as we left on low tide and current pushed us up stream at 6-8 knots, then we had to slug the last bit out at 4-5 knot taking on the outgoing tide. We hit the D &C canal on low tide and we had to fight the last 14 miles up current. Arrived at Chesapeake City at 7:30pm Saturday night and anchored in the harbor. Next day entered into Chesapeake bay and made it to Rock Hall Landing  (40 miles) downstream.  The winds were strong and the 2 knot current made for a noisy and rocky night on the hook, There was a small craft advisory for the next day, so we decided to stay over another day. The rest didn't hurt either. Today we are in the Solomon Islands, about half way down the Chesapeake.
As I mentioned we did a lot of traveling this week, as the weather window was relatively in our favor, but just cold.

Mellowing out after 9 hours motoring

Crabbers on the Chesapeake

Atlantic City

 

Sunset  New Jersey Shore

See you next week. So far about 1250 miles completed, just over half way. Boat and wife still loving it, but it sure is hard work...