Today was hot, sunny and beautiful....I paddled the kayak to Sombrero Beach via Sister's Creek which was lined with mangroves. There were water birds peeking through the branches but the bushes look so tangled it's hard to believe that anything else could work their way into the dense growth. Sombrero Beach is beautiful and lots of people were reading, playing volleyball, swimming and just enjoying the weather.
Dinghies are essential to the cruising boat, especially here in Marathon where over 240 boats are on mooring balls. Without your dinghy there are no trips to the store, the beach, happy hour at other boats, or to the marina showers..... You are totally isolated without your dinghy. Even Ranger loves our dink because when he's aboard he knows he's going to shore for a walk and a visit with other boating canines. Most dinghies don't like salt water....as critters attach themselves to the bottom as well as lots of algae. Walt spent an hour or two cleaning the bottom of our dink so it would glide through the water better. Keeping up with the salt environment is quite a challenge.
We had some interesting planes visit us here in Marathon this week. This is a photo of boats in Boot Key Harbor mooring field and up above the masts is a B-17 headed for the airport where you could pay for rides. Also flying around were the B-24 and the P-51 Mustang....it was quite a sight....also very noisy. This week we also had a craft show located in the K-Mart parking lot and a Pigeon Key Art Show located at the airport.....always lots going on!
One of the really great things about Marathon is the Community Park that adjoins the City Marina. The four tennis courts here are fantastic, with bathrooms and drinking fountains just a step away. Everyone plays tennis here in the Keys. We are fortunate to have Bill, a tennis instructor, who decided to coach us two years ago and who picked us up again as soon as we arrived in Boot Key this year. Every day he helps us with our swings, serves, and foot placement. It's great and we are improving nicely! We never had the luxury of lessons before.....thanks, Bill for all the time you've spent with us!
Steve and Juliann visited us here in Marathon for about 2 and a half days and we filled each day to the max! We sailed on Saturday even though the winds were gusting to 28 and there were crab pots everywhere, what a ride! Then we went to the Sunset Grille for Happy Hour..Steve and Juliann swam in the pool. Off to Burdine's for dinner on the second story deck and JO MAMAS Band. Sunday we spent the day in Key West walking Duval Street, Mallory Square, and lunch at the Hog's Breath Saloon. Tuesday Steve flies to the Philippines for three weeks to oversee the TI production department of the silicone testers. We keep busy!
Libby, aboard Tarwathie, is teaching pine needle basket classes here at the marina. The baskets that can be made out of pine needles, sliced walnuts, and shells are just amazing. I have started two but they don't look quite as nice as this one made by a woman with lots of experience. The pine needles are hard to pick up here on Vaca Key, we have to take the bus to Big Pine to collect needles. It's OK, only $1.50 bus fare for old people!
Here you can see the old and the new 7-mile bridges.....one of a series of bridges that link the Florida Keys from Key Largo to Key West. We rode our bikes to Pigeon Key and saw 8 huge spotted manta rays with wing spans from 4-5 feet gliding along beneath the bridge. It was happy hour at the Sunset Bar and Grill so we cooled off with a brew pool-side and then biked back to Boot Key. There is always something fun to do here and we keep fit with all of the walking and biking that we do. Sunshine today and in the 80's...no rain for the last three weeks!
The social life here in Marathon is incredible! This morning I attended Libby's pine needle basket making class....wow, it's labor intensive! No wonder these baskets cost so much to purchase! We played tennis early and Bill gave Walt some lessons....then our dinghy was picked up for some warranty work, and I had to use the kyack to get in from the boat. We had dinner for six on our boat tonight, Bonnie and Sid plus Rich and Anna. Sailors are such agreeable folks...and fun to boot!
Today we biked to Sombrero Beach after our tennis match and we saw this Manatee mailbox...how cute! Friday is $5.00 lunch day at Hurricane's so we just had to go and were quite surprised to find a good portion of the marina already there! Bonnie and Sid came with us and we met Anna and Rich and also Wayne and Patty who were here in
Boot Key on their sailboat two years ago but are now at the camp sites near-bye with their camper and motor boat. This afternoon we played Balderdash aboard Anythings Paw-sible, a lagoon 420 with hosts Shelly and Lynn plus 4 other couples. This is Dick and Libby's favorite game and it was great with 12 people. While we were playing this white heron dropped by to say hi!
