A week in Marathon: We really enjoyed our "stationary" week in Marathon, FL.
We are grateful our Great Harbour has a shallow draft (under 3 feet), since that is the primary reason the marina could accommodate our slip request; they were "slam full". The slip is shallow and the finger pier is short.
SCOUT has 3 boarding options on each side -- the swim platform (aft), a mid-height gate (mid-ship), and a tall-height gate (bow). Here in Marathon, we boarded mid-ship. You can see in the photo that our gate barely cleared the end of the finger pier.
If we carried our dinghy off of the back of the boat (on a dinghy davit), we would have had trouble boarding the boat from this short "fixed pier". (Unlike a floating dock/pier, a fixed dock means that the pier is higher or lower than your boat -- depending on the tide.) Here in Marathon, we had about a 2-foot tidal change. The pier was about level with our boat at high tide; and we had to step down about 2 feet onto the boat at low tide.
There were some beautiful sunsets from the marina.
This CruisinTiki (outboard-powered floating tiki hut) looked so cute coming back into the slip next to us. The weather cooperated for them, and they stayed busy the week we were there.
Time for Exercise: The first full day in Marathon, we walked 3/4 mile to West Marine to get supplies for the thru-hull repair. Later in the day, we bicycled 2 miles to Paradise Produce. We walked 3/4+ mile for dinner several nights.
Unfortunately, I was doing chores during both of the marina's water aerobics sessions. We did, though, make time for relaxing pool time a few days.
We intended to bicycle out to the center of the old 7-mile bridge, which we read is used as a fitness path, but it is currently under renovation. I must have been in a bit of hurry -- on the ride back -- to get to the pool! 😉
Seven Mile Bridge: A high-school friend of Ray's brother stopped by the marina one evening to see us. She said renovation of the old bridge started about 3 years ago.
Below, you can see part of the Seven Mile Bridge off our bow (as we entered Marathon).
The original bridge -- a railroad bridge -- was built by Henry Flagler and completed in 1912. It was known as the “Eighth Wonder of the World’’ because even attempting to build something so ambitious over miles of open water and a soft bottom in a harsh tropical climate seemed a bit nutty.
Flagler's dream was to take his Florida East Coast Railway from Miami to Key West. His dream was fulfilled in 1916, when Flagler, age 82, rode his train to Key West. Sadly, much of the railroad was lost in the 200 mph winds of the most powerful hurricane to ever hit the United States on Labor Day in 1935.
Florida East Coast Railway sold the railroad line to the U.S. Government. The Overseas Highway was placed over the surviving railroad bed and opened in 1938.
A $77 million project to restore portions of the bridge began in 2016, and is expected to be completed in 2021.
On our two previous road trips to vacation in the Keys, I had seen a small island at the base of the bridge, but never knew anything about it. Pigeon Key, in the middle of the old bridge, is where the workers who built the Seven Mile Bridge were housed from 1908 to 1912. It is still open for tours (by ferry boat).
Ref: https://www.floridarambler.com/florida-bike-hike-trails/florida-keys-take-the-old-seven-mile-bridge/
Work Day: The channel to the haul-out slip was narrow, angled, and crowded by a large docked catamaran, and had a couple of dinghies drifting behind their docked boat. Ray maneuvered precisely through the gauntlet, and we arrived at the "sling" around 8:30 am.
Once SCOUT was "in the blocks", we got right to work on the thru-hull. (Yes, I helped by holding a wrench in the sea chest -- wedged to hold one side of the the thru-hull while Ray removed the other side.)
While the sealant was drying on the new thru-hull, Ray started replacing the packing on the rudder shafts, and I washed the hull, and replaced the 2 prop zincs. Then we both tackled waxing one side of the hull (......that Ray could not reach when he waxed the other side in St. Augustine).
Repairs went pretty well. By late afternoon we were ready to "splash" (move back into the water). The skinny channel was difficult enough to navigate in FORWARD; now we had to back all the way out of the channel in REVERSE! Again, no problem for Ray (at least that I could tell).
New Problem! As we reached the half-way point of our short trip back to the slip, Ray noticed the engines were beginning to overheat -- and there was no water coming out of the engine cooling thru-hulls. 😮
As soon as we got the lines secured just on the other side of the marina, Ray went to the engine room and discovered that both engine impellers (which bring in sea water to cool the engine) had torn themselves to shreds. 😮😥
Not Another Problem? After running the air conditioners for a few minutes, the power pedestal breaker tripped. Ray reset it, and we tried again. Again it tripped. Now, the power would not even flow from the pedestal to the boat, and Ray noticed the breaker was hot to touch.
How could this be? We've used power from the same pedestal for 3 days already? Hmmm.....This is the first time it was hot enough to need the air conditioner.
We normally use a 50amp power connection/cord. Now, with the 50amp breaker broken, Ray got out our 30amp-to-50amp adapter (requires 2 30amp breakers) and connected one cord to our pedastal and a second cord to the neighboring pedastal. No luck. He decided that our entire pedastal was malfunctioning, so he finally connected the 2 30amp cords to 2 neighboring pedastals. Success! We were finally cooing the boat again!
Marathon Wildlife: We saw wild roosters all over the island. The rooster below had beautiful colors (but you can't really see them all in this photo). We saw several iquanas at the boat yard. Can you spot the green iquana right in the center of the photo below?
Emergency Repairs: Ray spent the day after haul-out removing both impellers, flushing out the broken bits of rubber from the engine cooling lines, and installing the last 2 spare impellers we had on board. We will need to order more spares when we get to Key West (where we will be docked long enough to wait for the shipments).
Below are the 2 destroyed impellers beside an example new impeller.
Demolition at the Yard: The day we hauled out, we thought it was strange the way the crew hauled and set a sailboat -- kind of lying on its side/keel. Hmmm.
The next day, as I walked to the laundry room, I heard a terrible crashing/cracking noise. I could see a construction claw over the top of the boat yard fence. Several other bystanders heard it too and thought there was an accident in the yard. I suspected, however, this was the planned action for the strange sailboat placement we saw the day before.
By now, there was not much left of the boat.
Best Happy Hour in Marathon: While we enjoyed our dinners at Burdines (on the water) and Lazy Days South (right at the marina), Ray & I most enjoyed our dinner at Castaway, where we enjoyed a great happy hour with delicious 'tunachos' and my new favorite beer -- Funky Buddha Last Snow -- on draft!
Final stop - Stock Island (Key West): We left Marathon on Valentine's Day, just as the sun was rising.
The winds and seas were forecast to be just right for a cruise south on the Atlantic side of the Keys toward Key West: wind 5-10 mph, 2-3 foot seas near shore.
The beginning of our cruise was quite bumpy. I told Ray, "even if we can take it, these blinds won't." I found a way to secure the vertical blinds that were slamming all over. Fortunately, it wasn't too long before the seas smoothed out a little. We decided the choppiness was worse as we passed each open area between the islands of the keys.
The closer we got to Key West, the bluer the water became. Gorgeous!
Made it to Key West: We arrived at the marina early afternoon, but our slip was not ready. We tied up to the fuel dock to wait. We had a delicious burger at the poolside pub, Salty Oyster, and our Great Harbour friends on Semper Fi stopped by and had lunch with us. They are docked at the military-only Boca Chica marina just over the bridge north of Stock Island. (Dang it! I forgot the photo again!)
We waited some more, and, finally, by 4:30, our slip was finally cleared of the previous tennant and we were ready to go.
Ray did a great job navigating the tight entrance toward our slip. (We got a photo of this catamaran squeezing through - to show you just how tight.)
We quickly secured SCOUT and got some extra fenders out, since we knew our slip neighbor boat was just behind us (at the fuel dock). Wow! A 60-foot sportfish SQUEEZED in beside us! We only have about 1.25 fender widths between our two boats! (Haven't gotten a photo yet, since I don't want to seem obvious to the neighbor!)
Key West R&R: After 3 weeks of cruising, we will enjoy staying put in Key West for a month!
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