Packing Up to go Home

Saturday, March 29, 2014

A bittersweet day on the Blue Moon.  We are busy packing up the boat for long term storage.  Dave is cleaning the dinghy and stowing things and I have been dealing with the food that is left.  I learned the hard way a few years go that you do not leave any food on a boat.  I had a bad incident with some shrimp left in a freezer that was only there for a week but there was a power outage and the boat smelled really bad for days after that.  Lots of bleach later I could still smell that bad shrimp!

We had planned on spending the last day here boating with Ryan and family but once again Mother Nature had other ideas.  Thunderstorms and rain do not make a boat a wonderful place to be with a one and four year old so we will go to their house later.

Tomorrow Dave, Ryan and Lili are making the 4 hour boat trip to Stuart where Blue Moon will be stored.  I will drive there and meet them.  This will be Lili's first real boat trip with Grandpa.  I hope she likes it!  They will navigate in the inter-coastal all the way so no big waves will scare her.

This week we made our travel plans for Crissy and Clint's wedding this July in Oregon.
They are having it at a winery.  How romantic!  We are going out a few days before to revisit the Oregon Pacific Coast, especially Cannon Beach.  We stopped there briefly on our way to Alaska a few years ago and always said we would like to go back someday. The Pacific coast is spectacular.

Without Blue Moon at our dock this summer I'm afraid the Captain will have to amuse himself with his sailboat.  I have a busy spring/summer planned helping Kristin with her gardening at their new house and Bobby has a large masonry project planned for his front yard.  Kristy and Toby are in the process of buying a larger house that needs lots of work as the previous owner has ignored it for the past 20 years.  I know it's sick but I'd rather be knee deep in cleaning, fixing and gardening than be on vacation!  I love that feeling of accomplishment after a hard day's work.

256 DAYS JOURNEY
OBSERVATIONS

In no special order...

• Wildlife along the Great Loop waterways are still hanging in there in spite of all the hurdles mankind throws at them.  We saw hundreds of majestic American Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Herons, Ibises and one scary little bat.  There were raccoons, wild boars, manatees, alligators and a giant begging snapping turtle.  There were snakes I'm sure but happy to say we never saw one.  

• Commerce along the great rivers, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Tom Big-Bee, Tennesee and Black Warrior seems to be vibrant.  It is a comforting feeling to see American industry, in some form, still producing.  On the negative side, it was a bit disturbing, while in East Chicago, (Indiana) to see the remnants of what was a great power house of steel producing plants lying eerily quiet and in decay.  There were still some mills running and vomiting out their filthy air and soot.  It looked like the perfect setting for an Upton Sinclair book.  The dingy homes in the surrounding neighborhood were just sad little testaments to a time gone by.  

• Canada, as always, was a delight.  The little towns along the Trent Severn Waterway, all 45 locks, were enchanting.  No looper should miss the experience of the bath tub lock and the big chute that gently slides you into Georgian Bay; the big prize and my personal favorite part of the trip.  The crazy hairpin turns and giant granite outcroppings kept you on your toes and it was thrilling to anchor out there.  For a while I was having those "honey, let's buy a place here!" thoughts until I remembered their season is only June through August.  A bit too short.  Get to Georgian Bay if you can.  It is stunning.

• Lake Michigan and it's dedication to pleasure boating was a big surprise.  That state totally has its act together for the people who like to play on the water.

• Tow boat captains driving six deep and six long barges have really big balls!!

• Of course the people we met along the way were most interesting.  Each one having their unique life story and we got to be a part of it for a minute.  Most of our fellow loopers were around our age and it seems we are all trying to beat the clock and living our dreams because the clock is ticking louder than it used to!  The people who live and work on the great river ways were my faves.  Gentle, unassuming, salt of the earth types who would drop everything and give you a hand or throw you their car keys.  That special camaraderie among boaters gives you a warm feeling when you are out there alone.

• Being on a confined space with your spouse for 9 months could be the end of some marriages for sure.  There is no where to escape from each other.  The daily mechanics of getting the boat from point A to Point B can be a real challenge and this trip is not for sissies and I am a sissy.  I was having a real anxiety attack when our friends left and it was just Dave and I alone on the boat with this huge trip ahead of us.  I had been spoiled by enablers (John, Jim and Lin among others) for so long that I really had no confidence in my ability to help Dave navigate and handle the lines on this large boat alone. But we did it!  He never one time raised his voice to me (even when I was fumbling around with lines and being in the wrong place!) or was short with me.  He is so patient and calm and it was his sheer will that made this journey happen.  I feel like I'm a little bit stronger for having gone waaaay outside my comfort zone to do this trip and it's all thanks to Dave; my adventurer husband and I love him dearly for being the gentle man that he is.  
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Blue Moon, casting off for now.

Jupiter to New York and Back

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

About a week and a half ago we returned home to tend to the real world and more importantly, build a snowman with Carmen.

 

On this day we flew back to Florida on a 6: 00 a.m. flight and once again Steve graciously drove us to the airport.  Steve has been a tremendous help to us regarding this big trip.  It has been a real challenge getting back and forth on these trips home involving planes, trains and automobiles! Not only has he hauled us back and forth but he has taken care of my grumpy, zero personality cat for 9 months!  Aja is a beautiful ragdoll breed but no one's "dream cat".  I owe Steve BIG TIME for this!  Thank you Steve!

We stayed at a Sleep Inn at the Buffalo airport last evening and took their shuttle to the airport early in the wee hours to catch our plane.  Otherwise it would mean leaving Pt. Breeze at 3:00a.m. and who wants to do that?

Back at Blue Moon and the sunny, stellar weather continues here.  I wonder if Floridians ever get tired of the perfect weather all the time?  Probably not.  Although, you couldn't get me to live here in their sweltering summer!

Dave jumped right on his never ending varnish project.  He also completed the mahogany rail repair from our "oops" landing a few weeks ago.  Of course he did a great Dave job and it looks like it never happened.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Today is our grandson Cooper's 1st birthday!  This past year has flown by and look at what happened while we were off on our big adventure:

He went from tiny infant to gorgeous little toddler just minutes away from letting go of that chair and walking.  He is a pure joy and we were happy to be there for his big day.

Lili was happy too:

Tomorrow Lili, Grandpa and I have a special project planned.  Hope she likes it!, 

Friday, March 21, 2014

I started to work on getting the boat ready to close up for storage soon.  Dave re-installed the stainless steel rails on the port side.  Blue Moon is all put back together now.

We drove the 45 minutes to where the kids live in Wellington to baby sit for the evening so Mom and Dad could have a few hours to themselves.  Lili, Grandpa and I scoped out a good location for her fairy garden.  We put it together and hope the fairies come there to live.

Cute huh?  We read a book to Lili about fairy houses and she was happy to see that we built it correctly for the little creatures.  We see her not often enough but always make sure to read to her when we do.  

Saturday, March 22, 2014

We took a much needed 3 hour bike ride around the complex where the marina is located.  It's in a beautiful gated community and the flowers are in full color here.  The Captain and I have indulged like we have been on vacation for 9 months; I guess we kind of have, and it shows!  We've got some serious work to do, fitness wise, when we get home,  It seems hopeless until this tour is over!

Which brings me to this.  Looks like if all goes as planned next Sunday, Dave and Ryan will be taking the boat up to Stuart where Blue Moon is going to be stored.  I will drive up there and meet them so we can then drive Ryan back home.  We will probably spend a couple days closing down the boat and then be on our way home.  Driving.  No more airplanes for a long time I hope!!  So home in early April; this amazing adventure just a happy memory.

It Feels Like Rain

Monday, March 3, 2014

Morning.  Dave immediately started breaking down the railings in preparation of re-varnishing the mahogany cap rails on the perimeter of Blue Moon.  This has to be done about twice a year and I really don't think he minds at all.  Kind of like when I'm working in my gardens; a labor or love.

It was John and Karen's last day aboard Blue Moon; for this trip anyway.  They got in touch with Bob and Kayleen Muscarella, friends from Pt. Breeze who are Boca Raton snow birds. Kayleen is an awesome cook and insisted we all come for dinner.  We happily drove the 1/2 hour to Boca and enjoyed their company and fine dinner.  Thanks you guys!

John and Karen stayed the night with them and Bob is going to drive them to the West Palm airport tomorrow to catch a red eye and return to the frozen north.  John has a vintage snowmobile weekend planned at his cabin in Redfield, the heart of the Tug Hill area north of Syracuse that gets wallooped with snow every year.  They measure it in feet there; not inches.  He and some buddies have collected antique snowmachines from the 1970's so they are packing along a bunch of tools and having an outing.  They have made friends with snow!  Something I could never do.  

We will miss them.  It was their misfortune to join us when I am pretty worn out from these 9 months on a boat. My whining level hit Defcon 4.  Thanks for putting up with me!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

We took the dinghy (1/2 Moon) up the ICW about a mile to a restaurant called Guanabanas.  It's a tiki hut style place and we love it.  Crissy and Clint gave us a gift certificate for there and we were happy to use it (keep 'em coming kids!).  

After lunch we explored a little and ended up near the infamous Jupiter Inlet.  This is one of the most dangerous inlets on the Great Circle route.  It's only 400' wide and gets the big surf breaking in the mouth of the inlet.  What causes the danger is a build up of sand and shoaling about 1,300 ft. offshore from the inlet.  The flow from the Loxahatchee River emptying into the Atlantic pushes out the sand, building the crescent shaped shoal about 5' deep making for unpredictable waves.  People have died there.  Google or U-Tube Jupiter Inlet accidents.  

A few years ago we had a 28' Boston Whaler we kept here and decided to attempt to go out into the ocean via Jupiter Inlet. We did not make it and I informed the Captain that I would NEVER go out or in Jupiter Inlet again.  I am sure there are days when it's safe but that's not the norm.

It was funny on Sunday, while putting up with the ICW congestion and bridges, John innocently suggested that we go "outside" and come in Jupiter Inlet.  It would have been much faster and less hassle.  I went mental!  He didn't know the history of that ill-fated spot.  I enlightened him.

We made a run to Ace Hardware to get some more varnish supplies.  While there Carmen facetimed me to show me a tiny boo-boo on her head.   This fueled Ganny's homesickness for sure.  This has been an incredible trip but about 3-4 weeks in I get pretty homesick.  Never thought I would miss home in the WINTER but there you are.

This motorcycle and dog (check out the goggles on the dog) were in the parking lot:

Wednesday, March 5, 2014--Happy Birthday Karen!

Dave finished putting the 4th coat of varnish on the cap rails by 8:30a.m.  It was already pretty hot out and windy.  Good drying wind.  Low humidity or we would of had to postpone the project.  Humidity is not a friend of varnish.

We decided to take a road trip up to Stewart to interview baby sitters for Blue Moon for the Spring-Summer-Fall, until we come back next winter.  Dave is like a newborn's mother; nervously considering a daycare center for her precious.  I know he will have separation anxiety.  Me?  Not so much!  I have many things I want to do and none of them involve a boat! ha-ha

The facility is gated, super secure, is about 14 miles inland (good hurricane storm surge protection) and they have some serious yachts there so I think the can take care of our boat just fine.  Papa Dave told them to expect us next month.  He also asked them to recommended where to get a piece of replacement mahogany for our little docking boo-boo from the other day.  They sent us to Ft. Lauderdale to Seafarer Marine.

What a cool place!  Every kind of marine wood and hardware you could ever need.  They pulled a piece of perfectly matching wood out of their scrap pile, ripped it to size, and $15.00 later we were happily on our way.

This area of Lauderdale is ground zero for all things for boats. We stopped at a marine supply warehouse that makes West Marine seem amateurish.  Fun times.

Once back to Blue Moon the skies got really dark and soon it was gushing rain on top of our new varnish.  Pretty sure it was dry enough not to worry but hey, you can always sand it down and start over again.  So now it's still raining pretty hard and Dave is happily playing with his wood.  All is well on the Blue Moon.

Spring Break Land

Friday, February 28, 2014 --- Happy Birthday Crissy!

Our goal for this day was to find an affordable marina in Ft. Lauderdale where we could get off the boat and pick up a repair part we had ordered.  Bahia Mar, a very famous marina right in the heart of the decadence that is Ft. Lauderdale wanted $7.00 a foot with a $500.00 minimum!  So that was out. Per our trusty Garmin we found a city run marina up the New River at about $1.20 a foot.  Unbelievably reasonable for the area we were in.  Traveling up the windy New River we passed many beautiful homes and yachts.

Dave's favorite.

8 bedrooms/8 baths

that should do it

pretty corner

I like this tiny one.

Huh??

We traveled on up the river and huge yachts were also trying to get around the bends.  They were being towed and we thought it was because they were not working but we found out later that they have to be towed out of there because they are so large it's difficult for them to navigate in tight spots.

We had an appointment to meet a fuel barge upriver to fuel up. Saving 30 cents a gallon really adds up when you are buying large amounts.  

             Rather surprised the  Florida DEC allows this?

We traveled back down river to our city marina slip.  What they didn't tell us when we made the reservation is that there is a very strong current (almost a whirlpool) going on at certain times and it's not wise to try and dock then.  Naturally we pulled in at the peak of the current action and Blue Moon has a few battle scars to show for it.  Nothing we can't rub out and re-varnish luckily.

The guys scrubbed the gleaming salt crystals off the boat while Karen and I cleaned the interior.  It's amazing how grimy a small space can get and how quickly cluttered.  But we are relentless and keep at it.

This marina was a great find, not only cheap but right on Lauderdale's Riverwalk.  Many restaurants, a park, an art museum and Science Discovery Center.  Later in the day our buddy Dick Donk (really!) and his cousin Eddie (really!) stopped by. Dick is a Ft. Lauderdale snowbird and has a cottage close to ours in Pt. Breeze.  It was nice to catch up and tell him some of our Great Loop stories.  

We walked around the restaurant district and had a nice meal sitting outside.  I went to the restroom and on the way back to our table realized that the pocket that I had my iphone in had a hole in the bottom and cellphone was not there!  Huge panic time!  I ran back to the restroom, not there.  Asked the bartender, nope.  Dave and John were calling my phone and Dave heard it ringing.  A guy on the street had it.  Not sure if he was on his way down the road with it but THANK GOD Dave got it back for me.  What a huge pain it would be to try and replace it while on a boat trip. Police reports and all that nonsense.  It's ridiculous how attached we are to those things but we are.  I mean, how could I get those all important facetime updates every 10 minutes??

Saturday, March 1, 2014

We decided to stay another day.  It was a perfect 80 degree, low humidity March day in Florida (sorry to those of you at home).  We had sterned in to face the riverside so we could watch all the amazing boats go by.  We all kind of did our own thing until later in the day some friends from Pt. Breeze who also are snowbirds stopped by the boat for docktails.  Paul and Phyllis, Tom and Linda are all veteran boaters so we told them some of our travel adventure stories and heard some of theirs. We ate at a large outdoor Irish Pub facing the water. They had a pretty good band and it was a perfect evening. 

Thanks again John!  

Tomorrow we may try and make it all the way to our final destination in Jupiter but will wait and see how the day goes.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

We had to time our departure to avoid the swirly current at our slip.  The river was pretty narrow in spots to get us back to the ICW.

A 120' private boat hailed us on the radio to let us know that he was approaching us going downriver and it was a pretty tight fit.  Reminded me of the barges on the Mississippi.

We again passed by more and more opulence and after awhile it seemed almost obscene.  We've noted for years that we see these amazing mansions on the water but rarely see the owners out enjoying them but rather the service people taking care of them.  Probably just another possession in the inventory to many of the owners.

Likewise the yachts.  We see the crews aboard washing and waxing and a captain at the helm but no owners?  

The name of this one is "Told U So".

BUMMER

Slow down !

This was the perfect storm for an extremely congested day of travel on the ICW between Ft. Lauderdale and Jupiter.  A stellar Sunday during Spring Break in partyland.   We weren't sure when we left in the morning if we could make it all the way to Jupiter with all the boat traffic and bridge openings but we perservered and made it well before dark. For Dave and I it was the completion of a huge goal we set for ourselves when we left last July so we were both anxious to get it done!  What a long strange trip it's been. (you knew I was going to say that, right?)

When we were bowing into our dock the sun was directly in Dave's eyes and the port side of Blue Moon has a war wound to repair. Again, Dave can fix it!  After all the miles we've traveled in the last 9 months, the last few days have taken their toll on our boat.  It's pretty amazing that just the two of us made it through  33 river locks, windy anchorages, difficult docking situations, currents driving us into pillars, etc., without a scratch!  I was so concerned that I would not be physically or mentally able to crew for Dave alone but somehow we managed.  It is nice though to have John and Karen along because they are such experienced boaters and know just what to do in tricky situations.

We just read the blog of a fellow looper that we met a few times along the trip route.  He and his wife are in the Exumas (Bahamas) and suddenly he is having heart problems and had to be choppered back to Miami Hospital so basically their trip is over now.  They will have to have a captain bring their boat back to the mainland.  They had sold their home to do this trip so its rather a sad ending.  I guess our little boat boo-boo's are really nothing.

So travel while you can ya'll; you never know when it's over.

Islands in the Sun

Tuesday, February 26, 2014

Traversing through the Boot Key Cut we left the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico for the deep Atlantic Ocean waters.  We left Marathon behind to head for a day of snorkeling at a place called Sombrero reef recommended by the locals.  Karen and I took advantage of the flat water and fried ourselves some more on the large sun pad on Blue Moon's bow.  Every now and then a little ocean mist would cool us off. Felt good.

When we reached the reef there were already 8 other boats there.  We were happy to find a mooring ball since you aren't allowed to drop anchor and tear up the fragile, disappearing Florida reefs.  In all these years of boating, Dave and I have never used a mooring ball!  If I'd known how easy it was we would have done it alot sooner.  You just snag the line that is attached to the mooring ball and hook it on the bow cleat.  Simple!

Karen, John and Dave donned their wet suits and snorkels and jumped in the crystal blue water.  I am more of a shore snorkeler. (translation: " chicken"). Later they shed the wet suits as the water wasn't as cold as they thought it would be.  Minimum shrinkage....

After lunch we headed for Islamorada (where our son Ryan had a beautiful wedding to his beautiful Adrianna a few years ago).  The marina had warned us when we made the reservation that the inlet was very shallow and to arrive at high tide.

This guy was standing pretty far offshore!  We kicked up alot of mud but made it to the seawall to tie up for the night.  After getting some laundry going we walked around looking for a place to provision up.  Not much luck, just the marina store that had the bare essentials.  So we had their little stale donuts for breakfast !  Reminded me of all the Dollar General shopping we did on the rivers last fall.  Seems every little burg has a Dollar General.  After dinner we crashed early.  The sun and water and just boating in general wipe you out!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The shoal keel of Blue Moon was dragging in the sand and mud bottom as we left the next morning but we made it out of the inlet and back into the Atlantic.  The ocean has been much kinder to us than Lake Michigan ever was!  Do not underestimate the Great Lakes people!

Heading towards Alligator Reef for some more snorkeling we picked up another mooring ball.  The three snorkelers jumped into the wavy water and the verdict was that there wasn't as much to see as the day before so we didn't stay long.

We traveled east to Key Largo for our first ever anchorage on the Atlantic side.  Blue Moon has a 40 k.g. polished stainless steel plow anchor with 250 feet of 3/8" stainless steel rode (chain).  The shear weight of the chain laying on the sea floor keeps the anchor dug in deep and provides a secure anchorage.  This night it was pretty wavy and the 18-20 knot winds were a true test of our ground tackle(anchoring system) even though we were tucked in behind some mangroves we were protected on three sides only. 

Note:  2,400 nautical miles ( apx. 2,700 statute miles) covered to date!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Continuing on the "outside" (ocean) we cruised up to Government Cut where we entered the Miami shipyards.

This was quite an extreme change of scenery as compared to the everglades just days before!

After the unobstructed, open waters of the ocean we once again had no wake zones and manatee zones to deal with (well we did anyway, not so much the Florida macho boater guys!).  

There are endless bridges to deal with on the Inter Coastal Waterway.  Blue Moon is about 19' high so we can make it under alot of them but some are really short so we wait.  While waiting for one that opens on the quarter hour this guy flew up and said hello to us!

He was like a giant hummingbird and was having a really good time!

He paused right in front of us and then was on his way.

Once the entertainment was over and we made it under a few more bridges we were in search of an urban anchorage among the condos.  Our handy Garmin Bluewater Charts Mobile app on the ipad has been  invaluable to us on the trip.  I first overhead come Loopers talking about it back in Pebble Isle Marina in Tennessee and downloaded it.  For $49.99 it has been more user friendly and detailed that our Raymarine set up!  It pinpoints anchorages and marinas and you can link it to Active Captain

(another valuable online cruiser's tool) for free and get reviews from other boaters.  HIGHLY recommend to traveling boaters.

The Garmin brought us to an anchorage that we would have never found on our own.  We went thru a very narrow canal into an open lake surrounded by tall condos with docks.  

Our Garmin told us that there was a Walmart, Publix, etc. within walking distance so after John consulted Google Earth we found a place where we could dock the dinghy and walk to the stores and restaurants. It is  a bit of a challenge to find somewhere to take your dinghy in the city and even though there were docks all around us the private condos do not really want  the boaters at anchor to use them.  I totally get that.  I would not want just every one who comes down Oak Orchard River to crawl up our docks at home and walk past our door. There are many derelict sailboats and sailboaters that have taken advantage of other people's property and not always respected it.  Ruins it for the rest of us.

We locked the dinghy to a post and then went into the town of Hallandale and after much debate over whether we wanted Cuban food or Italian we ended up at Matteo's Italian Restaurant and had the best restaurant meal of the voyage. Thank you John and Karen!  It was served family style so we ate ourselves silly.  It started to rain pretty hard so while riding the storm out (forgive me, I can't help myself!) we ordered a giant canioli  and cheesecake.  I'm not much one for food pictures but this was extreme!

We know that Brandon loves canioli's so we texted him a picture of it to harass him.  He texted back a picture of an egg salad sandwich he was eating!  Sorry kid!

So we waddled back to the boat and tried to keep awake watching a movie (Master and Commander) but soon crashed.

Tomorrow it's on to Ft. Lauderdale.

  

Is Anyone Here a Marine Biologist?

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Salty Sam's Marina in Ft. Myers has a Margaritaville kinda' vibe.  Blue Moon docked there for the night.  Dave and John found a fresh seafood store where the shrimp were harvested just hours earlier.  They brought some back and we grilled them and of course they were fantastic as compared to the rubbery frozen ones we are forced to buy at home.  Karen continues to dazzle us with her gallery offerings and is spoiling me as usual.

During the night when the boat traffic calmed down and it was quiet we all heard a strange snap-crackle-popping sound (just like Rice Krispies!) coming from the hull of the Blue Moon.  Dave got up to investigate but couldn't find the source.  It sounded like a constant water leak or an electrical popping sound. Neither one very desirable on a boat!  Weird.

Next morning we wanted to walk to the farmer's market for some fresh veggies but it was about a mile and a half away over a very long bridge and we are always anxious to get up an moving again in the morning so we took off instead.

Friday, February 21, 2014

The ride to Naples was "outside" in the Gulf of Mexico.  This was our first real gulf experience since the big gulf crossing up north in December.  It was a light chop and a very pleasant ride.  Our dolphin buddies continue to amuse us.

It just so happened that Carmen was facetiming us when these guys showed up.  We held the phone where she could see them jumping and you could hear her squeal with delight in the phone!  Perfect timing for once!

We arrived at Gordon Pass, the inlet to Naples and started up the canal into the city marina area.  We have covered over 2,000 miles in Blue Moon since we left last July and the rudest, most inconsiderate boaters we have encountered by far are the south Floridian macho guys who are apparently overcompensating for some personal short coming by blowing past other boats and rocking the shit out of them with their huge wakes.  I can only imagine what it will be like in Ft. Lauderdale. :(  Seems the more $$ people have the ruder they are and there is LOTS of $$$ in Naples.  

O.K. More positive stuff.  Naples is absolutely gorgeous; the Beverly Hills of the East coast.  Opulence reigns here and you can see it in the 30-40 million $ waterfront homes.  We had a dock assignment at the Naples City Marina and mistakenly stopped at the Naples Yacht Club.  Since marinas do not go out of their way with signage it was a simple mistake.  Walking to the  harbormaster building to register Dave and I remarked on all the multi-million dollar boats docked there but figured since it was Naples after all, that was normal.  Wrong!  
We started to realize our mistake and then quietly moved to the correct dock at the Naples City Marina which in NO WAY resembles the yacht club.  Again, no apparent sign! I think its a private joke among marina owners to make it as confusing for transient boaters as possible.

The docks were in poor repair, dirty and the bathrooms and laundry were sub-parr.  Some docks were abandoned and pelicans had taken them over.  With all the $$ in Naples apparently very little goes to the city marina to attract transient boaters.  Go figure.

Again, being without automobile, we decided to take a trolley ride around the city.  It was pretty much a ride through Friday rush hour traffic.  The downtown area of Naples is reminiscent of a European town.  Very pretty.  Those darn Bentleys  and Ferraris kept cutting off our trolley driver!

We hopped off the trolley at LaPlaya Hotel for a drink and to meet up with Al and Kim.  Kim is the daughter of good buddies Ron and Sue back home and they have a home in Naples.  Later they invited us to their gorgeous waterside home for more cocktails and pizza.  They are very gracious hosts and we all had too much wine and a very good time and ended up drunk dialing Kim's parents!.  Later Al drove us thru Naples at night and continued our tour all the way back to the boat.  He restores vintage Chris Crafts for fun and they are as near perfect as a boat can be when he is done with them.

After we all settled down again to go to sleep we all heard the snap-crackle-pop sound again.  It seemed louder this time and was really starting to disturb us. Dave and John inspected every nook and cranny of the boat but to no outcome and the mystery continues.

Next morning a three hour very smooth gulf ride brought us to our anchorage in the Everglades National Park.  We cut through Indian Key Pass and went up the Barron River a ways to find the perfect spot among the mangroves; a rather ideal setting.

Karen and Dave took the dinghy to Everglades City to re-provision and I read for awhile! ha-ha Dave!  When they got back Dave and I took the dinghy there.  What an adorable little fishing outpost!  There is a old hotel there that was built in the 1860's.  This place was rugged yet classy and I'm sure a real 

hopping place during prohibition with the Cuba to the U.S. route; much like the drug route north today.  A perfect place for Ernest Hemingway to sit in the corner and write.

While we were in town John and Karen went online to research "funny boat noises".  Amazingly enough there was internet in the everglades!  After a short while they found the source of our snap-crackle-pop mystery!  Unbelievably it is a little marine critter called a Pistol Shrimp!  Googling it we found that there are over 500 species of these little monsters.  They have two claws that create a cavitation bubble as it snaps shut.  This bubble, very briefly, reaches temperatures approaching that of the sun; 4,700 degrees celcius.  A loud popping noise is then created.  So, what a relief that was!  Its always nice to know that there's nothing wrong with the boat when you are in the middle of no where!

Although the Everglades bugs tried to feast on us near sunset we still managed to dine on the back deck and enjoy the the strange, alien setting we were in.  I'm still waiting to to clean and cook a fresh catch but so far the boys have not produced!  

A silly Johnny Knoxville (of Jackass fame) movie called "Bad Grandpa" amused us after dinner.  Usually I can not get through a whole Jackass movie but this one was pretty cute and actually heartwarming near the end.  

Lying in bed we could still hear the snap-crackle-pop but knowing that the boat was o.k. and it was just some very hungry shrimp let us relax and sleep.

The temperature and humidity are rising but look where we are!  Apparently during the spring the bugs are so vicious here that people stay away.  So far we can handle them with a little bug spray.  Still have not seen the famous 2" everglades flies and don't really care to!

Tomorrow its on to an anchorage in the Shark River (!) still part of the National Park.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Flying fish really do fly! We saw the first ones today but it's near impossible to get a picture of them.  Will keep trying.  Karen and I fried ourselves on the bow during the gentle ride to Shark River.  When we got there I was happy to see a couple boats anchored out for the night.  It is really off the grid out there. No cell phone service and certainly no wi-fi.

Dave tried his luck at fishing again and caught a ladyfish off the stern.  Not suitable for eating so we threw her back.  A fish still the same!

John and Karen went fishing with the dinghy and after hooking a log, a pole and a tree, John pulled up this flounder:

After he threw it back we realized it was an excellent fish for cooking while looking through our fish book.

We made a yummy taco salad for dinner with some Key Lime pie and again listened to to the pistol shrimp munching away all night.  You could even hear them when Dave took out the dinghy.  Little buggers are everywhere!

Monday, February 24, 2014   Day 222 since we left home last July!

Deciding not to sacrifice 3 days by going to Key West (been there and bought the t-shirts already years ago) we headed for Marathon in the center of the keys.  Leaving Everglades National Park the gulf was again perfectly flat and at one point there were dolphins to the left of us, dolphins to the right of us and also two swimming under the bow at the same time! We were squealing like 4 year olds!

The crab pots were everywhere so we really had to keep a good watch. Amazing how the fisherman put them IN the channel.

Nearing Maraton it was decision time.  Try to get one of the 225 mooring balls in the harbour or get a slip at a marina. When we got closer we could see that all the mooring balls were filled!  (about 95% sailboats). It was like a parking lot!  No ball for us!  So, we anchored next to another looper power boat and still had to pay $22.00.  That's the first time we've ever had to pay for anchoring!  

We walked into town and had a drink at a really nice place and Dave and John started talking to the guys next to us.  They were from Hamilton, Ontario and knew all about Pt. Breeze.  We have run into so many people from New York this week.  I wonder why??? 

Marathon is  shabby funky but just right.

Later we walked to a fish shack on the gulf and I had the best coconut shrimp ever.  We had to again find our way back to the boat in a very dark harbour with some shoals thrown in just for fun but we made it.  

Tomorrow is snorkeling day on a nearby reef and the first day in the Atlantic Ocean!