No Name Pub at Big Pine Key 1/17/2014

Wayne & Patti are camping near us again this year at Knight's Key.  We met them five years ago when they were moored next to us in Boot Key on their sailboat, Bumm's Rest.  They sailed to the Exumas that year and we followed them on their blog.  This year we're planning to sail to the southern Bahamas and will take another look at their blog and check out the places they liked the best.  Since they are camping, they have a truck and they picked us up and drove us to No Name Pub on Big Pine....what an awesome, off the beaten track,

pub this is!  Wow!  It's unique and I highly recommend a ride out.  The walls and the ceiling are entirely decorated in one dollar bills....thousands of them!  You'll need your GPS.  The address is 30813 Watson Blvd...Enjoy!

Trip to Bahia Honda

It's been very windy and unusually rainy here this winter in Marathon but last Sunday we had a weather window to sail to Bahia Honda State Park and back.  The winds were blowing 15-19 knots at 90 degrees to the boat so the sailing was awesome.  We pulled our Mercury dinghy behind us just to make sure that its bottom got scraped!  It was a bit too windy to anchor so we sailed into and out of the harbor between the two bridges and then back to Boot Key.  Walt saw a huge sea turtle on our way back.  We love sailing Hawk Channel....except for all of the crab pots!

Iguana country! 1/14/2014

We see iguanas everywhere here especially when we are biking around town on our boat bikes and it's sunny and hot.  There were three iguanas in the one photo and two facing away in the other picture.  Today we saw another manatee alongside the dinghy dock but no gators yet.....

65th Birthday!

I celebrated my 65th birthday with my great cruising friends Roy & Yasmine and Bonnie & Sid today.  Walt treated me to breakfast at I-Hop in the morning and then at 4:00 we all biked to the Sunset Grill for Happy Hour and were treated to a fabulous sunset.  Yasmine and Bonnie surprised me with birthday cake, champagne and goodies on Yasmine Ann.  What a special day!

Tax Office Visit 12/27/2013

I visited the tax office here in Marathon today to ask some pertinent questions about Florida taxes for cruising boats......The tax office is not far from the City Marina and since we just had a meeting in Boot Key with the FWC I just wanted to get my facts straight.
     1.  A boat that is stored on the "hard" in Florida does not have to register.
     2.  A sailboat that is in Florida for more than 90 consecutive days must register and title in Florida
     3.  When we return to New York in 6  months then we have to re-register and title in New York
     4.  If we decide to stop in another state and stay for several months then we have to register there too
     5.  If we leave Florida after 90 days and come back then our 90 days starts over....
     6.  We could just forget the rules and sail to the Bahamas where we'll encounter other rules and regs.....

Key West 12/18/2013

Everyone visiting the Keys wants to visit Key West so the four of us set out to explore the southernmost tip of Florida today.  I took a few photos that represent the lifestyle down here....relaxed!  There were plenty of Tarpon swimming under the pelicans in the old harbor.  Walt and I took the afternoon bus back to Marathon to attend the three hour meeting with the Florida Wildlife Commission.  Boot Key Harbor sailors have been harassed by the younger members of this group.....dinghies checked for lights, fire extinguishers, mildew-free life jackets, whistles, and original registrations.  The meeting went well and hopefully the harbor will again become hassle-free!  There is always a fine line between safety and government meddling.

Cousins visit this week! 12/16/2013

Danny and his daughter Ali arrived yesterday to spend the week with us here in Boot Key.  We played tennis, biked to the beach and visited the 7 Mile Bridge today. They are impressed with our warm weather and sunny skies.

The Beach 12/14/2013

Sombrero Beach is one of the highlights here in Marathon. It is at the junction of Hawk Channel, oceanside, and Sister's Creek which flows into Boot Key Harbor where we are in the mooring field. The beach is beautiful and is a great place to kayak to from our boat or to pedal to on our boat bikes. It also has beach volleyball, playground, picnic pavilions and bath houses. What a treasure! In addition we saw a huge manatee (is there any other size) at the dinghy dock. She had the fresh water hose in her front fins and was trying to bite the hose to get a taste.....We are all prohibited from petting manatees or giving them fresh water which they love.....It was a great to see one so close.

Key Biscayne to Marathon 12/12/2013

We had an exhilarating 96 mile motor-sail in Hawk Channel today for 12 hours. We normally stop near Key Largo and anchor at Rodriguez Key but very strong winds from the NE were predicted for tonight so we decided to do the trip in just one day. We anchored just as it was getting dark opposite 7 Mile Bridge right outside of Boot Key Harbor. The water was turquoise-blue today, with partly sunny skies and warm breezes....this is why we come here! We started the day with this beautiful sunrise south of Miami and saw this sunset as we spotted the 7 Mile Bridge.

Vero Beach to Lake Worth 12/10/2013

Winds from the south again so there was no advantage to ocean sailing today......8 bridges to Lake Worth but we made great time and anchored at 4:45. The ICW really is pretty here.....We did hit some skinny water near St. Lucie's Inlet. Jupiter Lighthouse is still quite a sight as you make the turn before the Jupiter Federal Bridge.