What's Next?

We added a couple of extra days to our Marathon Marina stay because of weather. There were 30+ mph winds last night and we were again glad to be tied to a dock. We are leaving here tomorrow and anchoring for one night at an anchorage near Big Pine Key just 20 miles west. The next day, we go to our rental house on Cudjoe Key to meet up with our best friends, Sue and Ron, who are driving from MN so that we can spend a month together. The house has a canal with dock for the boat, a pool, and bedrooms for our 17 other family and friends that will be coming for a week each. We are very excited to see everyone.



Meanwhile, marina life has continued and is still fun. We would definitely return to this marina if we get the chance. Summer Love, a 105' Feadship, built in 1955 and beautifully preserved, arrived yesteday with its three full time crew members on the way to the Bahamas.
This boat has a "dry stack" exhaust system and "flopper stoppers", two systems rarely seen in cruising boats. This boat has taken her owners all through the Caribbean.

How about this Chinese Junk for a character boat? Great wicker furniture on the back deck under the roof.

Here's Pam and Dave (boat: Adagio) Loopers we met way back in Alabama who are also here at Marathon Marina.

Loopers Mark and Carol (boat: Grateful) arrived in the marina last week. They are from Afton, MN, but we didn't meet them until we got to Tennesee.

We met new friends Edy and Lorne, who started their cruising aboard R-Hope in Annapolis and are next heading up the west coast of Florida. They are not Loopers yet, but you never know.

We had a mama and baby manatee come into the marina. They were attracted to the water discharge coming out of R-Hope's air conditioning unit, and stayed for a long time, allowing us to take many pictures. Here's the best of the group, but the last one is my favorite.