In the three weeks since Kim's visit, we have kept busy visiting with cruising friends in the harbor. We have consumed many five dollar lunches at The Hurricane.
Molly and Andy Jensen arrived in the harbor on their 25 foot C-Dory, which they trailered down from South Dakota. We met them about five years ago at Mangrove Marina, and it was great seeing them. We got together to talk about old times at The Hurricane for lunch on Saturday, March 6th.
On Monday the 8th we met for lunch again at the Hurricane, this time with the Gemini Catamaran sailors in the harbor.
All eight boats in the harbor were represented, and we had a great time talking about sailing and maintaining our boats. After an hour the crew of "Island Days" showed up. They were anchored near Islamorada and somehow heard about our gathering. They caught a bus to Marathon and arrived at one.
Linda and Paul Smith off "Double Exposure" posed with Carol and Tom from "Island Days".
That same evening Sue and I dingied over to "Tomcat", the PDQ 32 sailed by Tom and Kathy Root, who are from Grafton, Ohio. We had a nice visit, and were impressed by Tom and Kathy's talent with a conch horn at sunset.
Wednesday the 10th we went to Dockside for the prime rib special with Tom and Kathy, Michael Mahon from "Casey Dee" and Jim and Sharon Angel from "Blue Angel". The prime rib was fabulous, and the people were definately into having a good time. Michael stayed after the rest of us left, and reportedly had a little trouble locating his boat!
We were entertained by the guitar and voice of Rob Sweet.
On Thursday we had our boat bottom cleaned by Barnacle Bill, a colorful local diver who lives in the harbor.
After seven weeks the bottom was covered with a heavy slime due to the nutriant rich water. Despite new bottom paint, small barnacles had taken root all over the hull. Bill worked pretty hard for his money.
The Original Marathon Seafood festival was held at the park adjacent to the marina on Saturday and Sunday the 13th and 14th. We spent Saturday morning visiting the booths and displays with Tammy and Jerel Roe from "Osprey". In the afternoon we listened to John Bartus and Stormwatch, followed by Howard Livingston and the Mile 24 Band. Howard Livingston performs original island music similar to Jimmy Buffet.
Saturday night I was awakened at three a.m. by a strong boat wake. Since I was up, I wandered to the head. On the way back I discovered the cause for the wake when I noticed a boat on fire at the east end of the anchorage. The wake had been caused by the arrival of the coast guard. The small house boat that had been anchored in the harbor for years was a total loss.
Sunday we arrived at the Seafood festival too early to see Sue's favorite performer, Brian Roberts, who was performing along with his band The Prime Movers. The act before Brian was The Amber Leigh Band. Amber, a young country singer, played a mean fiddle and put on a great show. The Prime Movers then played for 90 minutes. At the end of their show, Brian invited his former student, collegian Christian Davis, to sit in at lead guitar. Christian's dad Mark sat in on keyboards. Christian is a gifted guitar player.
After the concerts Sue and I strolled across US 1 to Keys Fisheries with Tammy and Jerel. We enjoyed some stone crab claws and a beer at the bar on stilts, and then put down a fine seafood dinner at the Fisheries. It was a marvelous end to an especially great weekend.
This week we have been getting "Passage" ready to go and waiting for a weather window to sail up the west coast. Right now it looks like we will get a two day window starting Saturday, so we will try to reach the Marco Island area by Sunday night.
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