Yet again, I’ve been slow and slack in my posts here. The
truth is, there’s simply not too many things going on that might make for
interesting updates. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say, that nothing
particularly exciting is going on for us. Lisa and I are adjusted to life in
the Keys, quite well, I should add. We are enjoying ourselves immensely and we
look forward to the next year or so we have remaining here.
Conch Ceviche and stone crab claws - it's what's for dinner
We have been getting out to new restaurants on occasion, but
often find ourselves gravitating back to certain ones. As those who follow us
on FaceBook know, one of our favorite meals is stone crab claws and conch
ceviche. Stone crab season ends on May 15, so I expect we’ll be spending lots
of time at Keys Fisheries in the coming days. Grouper and dolphin season come
on the heels of stone crab season. For the seafood lover in us, there’s always
something to look forward to. And for the uninitiated, ‘dolphin’ in this case
refers to the fish called dorado in the Caribbean and is most likely known to
most of you as mahi-mahi, it’s Pacific region name.
We’ve also found a few little Cuban treasures too, roadside
hole in the wall sort of places where the pork roast is marinated in delicious
potions of citrus and garlic then slow roasted for hours until it is melt in
your mouth tender. Then, of course, there are the black beans and rice and if that wasn't enough, there are the
sweet and sticky fried plantains. Yum!
Unfortunately, JO BETH has not left the slip since we
arrived in February. We’ve had lovely sunny and warm weather, accompanied by
weeks and weeks of howling winds. Remember our deck awning, which I wrote about
in the last post? We took it down in advance of some squally weather a week or
so after we put it up, and it’s been stowed away since.
Spring squall over Hawk Channel
Lisa and I are both working as well which occupies most of
our weekdays. We have had friends pass through Marathon on their way to the Bahamas and
islands south who’ve been stuck here for days. Our friends Ken and Carrie
aboard GRIFFIN, also a Pacific
Seacraft, arrived in Marathon after a rough ten day crossing of the Gulf of
Mexico from Port Aransas, TX. They were here for nearly a month, making minor
repairs to sails, etc., but primarily waiting for a weather window to continue
on. That window finally came for them last Tuesday and they left on a favorable
wind for South Bimini in the Bahamas. They arrived Wednesday afternoon and are
now very likely pinned down once again by the same winds which are keeping us
in place. Things will ease as summer approaches, and Lisa and I are planning
some early summer cruises around the Keys.
S/V GRIFFIN, now sailing in the central Bahamas
Part of the sailing life is meeting and saying goodbye to
friends. Bruce and Rhonda, aboard their catamaran LILA JANE left Marathon yesterday and are working their way north
for the summer. We went to dinner and spent a few hours in their cockpit
Thursday evening, discussing how the departure of friends is one part of this
life many people can’t relate to, and how it not only affects the people
staying put, but the people leaving. Most of us don’t live in a situation where
our home moves with us, wherever we may be. And after you’ve been in one place
for months or longer, leaving that place can be a bit odd. For me, the odd bit
is experiencing the realization we won’t be coming back this way again, or at
least not for a while. I remember that when we left Brunswick, GA bound for the
Keys, the reality that we were indeed leaving didn’t sink in until the next morning when we left
our first anchorage behind Cumberland Island and didn’t turn back north, but
continued heading south.
The cruising population of Marathon is dwindling, as boats
move north for the coming summer and hurricane season. It’s easy to forget that
Marathon is a small town when the snowbirds are here. There’s one McDonald’s, a
Burger King and a couple of other fast food places. Shopping is limited to
Beall’s and the strangest K-Mart we’ve ever been inside of. There are two
grocery stores, a Winn-Dixie and Publix, both miniature versions of their
cousins in Miami. The nearest Starbucks are 35 miles east in Islamorada and 45
miles west in Key West. Marathon does have a great little coffee loft, situated
on the upper floors over a potter’s and glass arts studio. Amazon has become a
major resource for our shopping, even for groceries.
Tiller, cat left and Rudder, cat right live aboard S/V WIND SPIRIT but spend time aboard JO BETH on occasion - particularly if that occasion involves food
Boat life is boat life. Lisa and I are quite content aboard
our little home. We’ve been pseudo adopted by our neighbor’s cats, Tiller and
Rudder. And even dockside, boat things still break. We’ve spent time replacing
cracked or broken fittings on tanks and repairing various hinges, cleaning
strainers, etc. We’re continually resolving stowage issues and still removing
little-used gear from the boat. In the evenings, we're entertained by tarpon hunting mullet in the marina basin, and on a few early mornings, have awakened to find a manatee scratching it's back on our hull.
Sunset over the Atlantic
All in all, boat life is dock life, and together they make up our water life – and that’s a good
life!
