Fireworks!

The 4^th!  Fireworks!  Marathon claims the largest and longest fireworks display in the keys.  We had a great view of some of the best fireworks from Fair Winds in the mooring field.  Gordy and Jeannie grilled hot dogs and we had all the fixings.  The evening was light and breezy, not too hot, clear skies, and we sat on the front deck with a clear view. Beautiful. The next night is Gordy’s and Jeannie’s last night in Marathon; they are taking the boat back to Titusville, so we all go to the Cracked Conch for dinner.  They, including their friend, John, all try conch - cracked, ceviche, and fritters, and declare it edible.  D and I love conch and we catch, clean, and eat it in the Bahamas.  We will miss our friends and all the fun. 

We settle in to life on board, but we don’t want to get complacent.  Some of our neighbors say they came to Marathon for 2 weeks and stayed 10 years.  D and I agree that we will leave for the Bahamas as soon as possible. That is the goal. Distant anchorages, uninhabited islands. He thinks 2 months, I say less.

Projects report - D prepares the water maker for storage until we leave the dock. He finds a leak in our main water tank. Luckily, it’s a small plumbing elbow and is easily replaced.  We take the new dinghy to the distribution facility in Homestead and leave it there for their inspection.  It is 2 months old and has blisters in the powder coat finish and there are signs of discoloration on the hull that indicate there could be corrosion. Stay tuned. Amazingly, we see Fair Winds sailing about 20 miles east of Marathon as we drive to Homestead and cross the bridge between Lower and Upper Matecumbe. We chat on the phone with them.  Back on the boat we replace the raw water strainers in the AC. It’s incredible how dirty filters get in the harbor waters. 

We build shelves for the V berth now that we have decided to convert the settee for beds at night. That gives us the whole V berth for storage and we wanted to make it more efficient and organized.  Storage continues to be difficult and we want to use this time to get organized, take what we need, leave what we do not need, and still have plenty.  We make curtains for the portals (windows).  Fly Away had canvas over the portals on the outside until we re-gelcoated the deck and decided to do away with them.  In the islands it won’t be as much an issue, but at the dock you need them for privacy.  They also block the sun and reduce the heat during the day.  So we bought a Singer sewing machine and whipped them up. D sews well, and teaches me a little bit.  I won’t say it was fun, but it was rewarding.  Attaching to the windows on the inside was a challenge as I didn’t want to make holes and make the curtains permanent, so D found hooks and rods and we have lines tied through the bottom.  It works, we'll see.  

D’s truck has a brake/steering fluid leak that needs to be fixed and orders the part.  He gets quotes from mechanics and decides to do it himself, and finds that his waste vegetable oil system makes the job more difficult as he had to remove and replace several hoses. Good thing he did the work as other mechanics may not have understood the oil system and perhaps ruined something, and definitely charged more. Routine stuff like laundry, cleaning, meals, reading, meditating, yoga, Spanish classes, and Tai Chi continue.   Current project is the Honda 9.9 motor that needed a new water pump and impeller.  There is progress on projects. 

Weather is summer – light winds from the east and southeast prevail, temperatures in the 80’s touching 90 in the heat of the day, sunny every day with threats of thunderstorms, but no rain. We have not had a good rain since we got here. Its hot and humid and huge gray thunder boomers spring up, but no precipitation.  We watch the weather every day and while the prevailing winds are easterly, we had a few days where the winds shifted to the west and southwest, bringing some cooler air.  Conditions are perfect for a Gulf Stream crossing.  With the strong northerly flow of the Gulf Stream, the east and west winds can be fair, but a southerly wind and west would help sail the boat comfortably and directly to the Bahamas.  D and I crossed the Gulf Stream in Ceilidh with west winds, wing-on-wing the whole way for 14 hours!  It was memorable! And when we crossed Andros we had southerly winds and sailed 150 miles in 54 hours all on port tack!  Incredible! In the summer there are few weather fronts with north winds - the Gulf Stream is very rough when the north winds meet the northerly current from the south. D and I came back from our first trip to the Bahamas with friends with a north wind and we sailed 10-15 foot seas, but it only took us 7 hours – it was fast. But we had to be back, for work. In fall and winter seasons northern fronts are more frequent and can delay a crossing for days, weeks, and sometimes months.  We aborted a vacation one year to the Bahamas because a long term northern front wouldn’t allow a safe crossing.  A safe sailor looks for a good weather window. 

The marina hosted a hurricane briefing.  The main speaker, Marty, a nurse practitioner and previous live-a-board who has experienced many years aboard during hurricane season in both the keys and the Bahamas, shared her practical tips.  Mostly she emphasized early preparation and not stressing out – as it’s a very stressful time and that is when mistakes are made.  She introduced Chip Kasper from the National Weather Service in Key West who showed us all the tools the Hurricane Center uses to predict path, strength, and storm surge.  Marathon and the keys are hurricane central for the Atlantic Ocean side. The last most destructive hurricane for Marathon was Wilma in October 2005.  Matt, assistant director of the port, outlined marina procedures to shut down for a hurricane.  He also gave guidance on tying to the moorings and what you can and cannot do in the mooring field.  For us that means that we would have to move from the floating dock to a mooring.  We would use 3 strong anchor lines to tie to the pennant of the mooring.  Before leaving the dock we would clear the deck of all fuel cans, motors, and gear. We would remove all the canvas, main sail and head sail to prepare the boat. We would put the dinghy on the truck. Then we would get in the truck and head north to Orlando and St. Pete.  We won’t ride a storm out on the boat unless it was necessary.   Interestingly, Marathon has one of the four evacuation shelters in the keys and it is open only for a category 1-2 storm.  For cat 3-5 all keys’ residents must evacuate to Miami-Dade County.  Can you imagine the traffic?  We will want to beat that traffic jam!