Journey to Florida 2014: 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.