Plantation Key and Islamorada, FL

Saturday we left  Faro Blanco and headed out into the Atlantic, we cruised out about 7 miles offshore hoping to catch some big fish! Didn't happen. About 15 miles from Islamorada we turned into Hawks Channel and low and behold I hooked up a nice sized Spanish Mackerel, we now had fresh fish for dinner!
We got into Plantation Marina, filled up with fuel, and got tied up by 4pm.  Saturday nights sunset was spectacular! The picture was taken right off the back of the boat. This marina is part of the cities, Founders Park.  The facilities are terrific, besides the usual there is an Olympic size pool, tennis courts, baseball fields, dog park and a beautiful  beach.  It is a great place to hang out waiting for a weather window,  it is supposed to blow hard (22-27 mph) again until Friday.  Our slip is well protected so we should be fine!

Today after some morning chores we were off on our bikes to check out the area, Islamorada has nice bike lanes.  We road 5 miles one way to a favorite water side establishment, The Lorelei, for lunch and a beer. Tonight will  sear some tuna steaks on the grill and watch another sunset!
Cheers

Getting ready to leave Marathon!

The past week here has been fabulous!  After returning from Soren's B Day, we have kept busy provisions the boat for the next  2 1/2 months.  Key questions, like how many rolls of Marine toilet paper, Bloody Mary mix,  bottles of booze, etc. do we need.  We hear that US domestic beer in the Bahamas can go for $60/ case.  For our MN boater friends Karen and Reed met us for lunch on Tuesday, thank you for drivin over to see us.

Sunday night the Ocean Reef Yacht club moved in OMG!  Mostly 70- 130 foot yachts.  The most expensive was reportedly 25 million. Several had 34 foot Boston Whalers with Triple 300's as tenders. The attached picture of the power cat is 86 foot in length and a 34 ft beam!  Spot the captain on the bridge and you can see the scale!

We have enjoyed great biking out on the Flagler railroad trestle, we could see a 10 foot shark in the water 30 feet below us!  Swimming  at the  pool and just chill'n has been great.  Last night the Marina threw a great  hospitality night with free apps and drinks!

Our rigid plan of infinite flexibility is as follows.  We should leave Marathon some time this coming Sat. - Monday weather dependent,  still messing with Northerly winds blowing through. We will head to Plantation   Key just North of Islamorada and stay there until around the 14th.  We will be traveling with new friends DeVere and Carrol on Work Site ( 48 ft Sedan Bridge) and Tom and Julie on Sum Escape (47 ft Grand Banks).  Our plan is to catch a weather indoor and shoot straight to Bimini, then work our way down the Berry Islands to Nassau.  We will spend 2 nights at the Atlantis Resort and Marina and then head south to the Exumas and Stanley Kay.  We will then turn North and cruise up the Abacos to Marsh Harbor. From there we will follow the Islands north and then West to Freeport where we will cross back to  Stuart FL.  We will head across Lake   Okeechobee to Fort Myers and then home late May.  Our Proposed loop from Florida around the Bahamas and back to Stuart should be about 600 miles!

Week 2 in Marathon.

On the 14th, our good friends Rod & Allison from Legacy Marina in Ft Meyers drove our truck down and stayed on the boat with us for two nights. With a vehicle we explored Marathon and went to the Crane Point Nature Preserve and other sights. We went to Sunsets for lunch and Barney's Tiki bar for dinner.  Brigitte even got to fire a miniature cannon at sunset.  The boom from a 10 gage shell scared the H out of us. On Wednesday we drove to Key West to the Border and Immigration office for an interview and obtain our frequent boater card.  This will enable  us to simply call in to clear customers when we get back into the US waters after the Bahamas.  We had other Legacy friends, Tom & Doris  ( pictured) meet  us for lunch back at Faro Blanco.

Thursday we packed up the truck and drove 5 hours back to Ft. Myers and dropped Cody off at Happy Paws Doggy Ranch. After running a few errands, we had dinner with our friends the Hoffman's.
At 7:20 am Friday we flew back to MN for our Grand Daughter Sorens's first birthday party!  We will spend as much time as possible with the kids before we fly back to Florida.  We are leaving our truck at Legacy  until  the end of May and renting a car to get back to Marathon.  The next post should have a lot more boating stuff.
Cheers Scott

Marathon on Vaca Key

We now have been at Faro Blanco for a full week. We are making new friends as you can see by scrolling down to the Docktails gathering by the light house. This occurres at 5 PM every night, weather permitting. It might we a good thing that the wind has blown hard 4 of the last 7 days, not sure docktails 7 days a week is a good idea.  I would guess there in excess of 15 Looper boats here!

The wind died down on Thursday so we took the dingy down and cruised down the gulf, under the 7 mile bridge and into the Atlantic and to the entrance to Boot Key Harbor.  All in all, about a 1 1/2 hr cruise.  Friday's weather was also fairly calm so we road the bikes down to the Steak and Loster house for early happy hour.  $2.75 drafts, 5.95 for a half proud of peal and eat shrimp,Tuna, wings, and other appetizers. We got back in time for docktails! Saturday was beautiful , we took a 3 1/3 mile walk down to the 7 mile Bridge and back, then biked down to the grocery store and back. In the afternoon we hung out at the pool for a couple hours.

Our plans for the Bahamas are starting to shape up. We have met two other couples who are heading over about the same time. One is a 48 foot Sea Ray Sedan Bridge and the other is a 47 ft Grand Banks. Our ridgid plan of infinite flexibility is as follows.  Around the 10th of March we will cross to Bimini from the Islamarada area.  We will then move on to the Berry Islands, Nassau, and the Abaco. We might sneak in some time in the Exumas. Our plan includes being home around June 1st.

Happy Valentine's Day

Faro Blanco

Key West to Marathon

Well the party did get started in Key West with our friends John and Cappy. Highlights included Schooner Warf, Irish Kevin's, Sloppy Joes, and McConnells Irish Pub. Around the Marina we saw 6 ft Tarpon and a 400 lb Goliath Grooper swimming about. We had eighty degree weather all week. Thursday night the wind started blowing and the waves started building. Even in the marina we saw 30 plus mile an hour sustained winds.  The moring  and anchorages were full, and I can't imagine what it would have been like out in open water!  One 30 ft sale boat lost its anchor and it ended up crashing into the Jetty and sank, thankfully no one on board.  John and Cappy flew out Friday afternoon, and the wind continued to blow.

We were originally leaving for Marathon on Sunday but Sunday looks ugly, and  the forecast for Saturday looked favorable untill around 2 PM. At 8:30 we said good buy to Key West and rounded the west side of Key West and headed to Marathon! As we headed out into the Atlantic we where greated with an unbelievable sight,  the entire shrimp boat fleet some 16 ships were anchored in the Lee of the Key trying to stay out of Friday's Storm and the up coming blow on Sunday. We headed East at 13 knots into 1-2 ft waves, after a bit they grew to 3 plus. This lasted for about 30 minutes and then they settled back to 1-2 footers.  After 45 miles we turned North and passed under the overseas highway and back into the Gulf.  We arrived at Faro Blanco Marina ( a Hyatt Resort) at 12:30.  By 2:30 we started to get rain and 28 mph winds are expected as early as 9 PM. The God Lord gave us a short but pleasant passage. 

We are hunkered down and will be here a month. We will fly home the 19th - 25 for Soren's birthday!

Pics