February 25th- Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

We are still on the mooring in Boot Key Harbor. We’ve had plans to leave for the past few weeks but keep extending our stay. Marathon is a nice place to be stuck at. Lynne has been taking yoga, going to Bahamas seminars, and gardening. Ollie has become the Marina greeter. I’ve been reading and fixing stuff.

I’ve never met this person before but somehow we had the same outfit on. Maybe it’s some kind of Florida uniform?

One old salty definition of voyaging is: boat repair in exotic places. Since we will eventually be traveling a couple thousand miles north, I’ve been trying to go through Catalpa and check all of the systems out. We had a problem with one of the water tanks but managed to clean it out and treat the water. Our batteries needed to be switched around and topped off with distilled water. Another day was “engine day.” Working on the engine starts by emptying the cockpit lockers. The lockers are very deep, bulk storage, and hold a lot of gear. I have to distribute this all over the deck. This opens up a small area where I can get at the back of the diesel. Inside Catalpa the companionway stairs are removable and this opens up the front of the motor. By this point, moving around the boat is similar to traversing an obstacle course. Lynne and Oliver go to shore as it’s difficult to function in Catalpa and I’m usually not good company by this point. The worst part of the job is contorting my body to squeeze behind the engine. When we first bought Catalpa (12 years ago) I was almost too rotund to fit. Luckily my waist size has gone down a few inches.

It was good that I checked on the engine and have spare parts. We had a broken water pump (impeller) again. The fin from the impeller was stuck in the heat exchanger. Change the impeller , disassemble the heat exchanger, etcetera . Since I was having such a good time I also did an oil change, swapped out the fuel filter, and the air filter. After all that it was time for a beer.

Catalpa’s Beta Marine diesel. The heat exchanger is on the upper right. Engine is about 6 years old. I keep a neat engine room. No rust!

We’ve loaded up with food and water but weather prevents us from leaving. The weather is good but we keep having these weather fronts moving through with strong northerly winds. We’re looking for a weather window with no north wind for Key West. I think this is all part of the Keys winter weather pattern. We’ll reassess the situation toward the end of the week.

Some views of the dinghy canal at Marathon. Inflatables are far more popular than rigid dinks.

The marina office.

The sea-dog. He’s always ready to go for a ride.

Mooring field.

Catalpa moored with the Admiral waving me in.

After a long day the pirate is finally asleep on the main sheet block and tackle.

February 15th- Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

A belated Happy Valentine’s Day. We had Valentine’s breakfast at a Cuban Restaurant (5 stars). It was over 80 degrees so we then went to the beach. Many sailors were heading out to the reefs to go snorkeling. Since we have almost no snorkeling experience we decided to try it out at the beach. Unfortunately, the water was very cloudy so we couldn’t really see anything. We enjoyed the swimming anyway. Ollie was like a fish. Later in the day we headed back to Catalpa for grilled steaks and a nice sunset.

Oliver was tired from all of his swimming activity.

By the time we got to Marathon, a month ago, Catalpa was looking pretty rough. The hull was stained from the tea colored ICW water (called ICW moustache). My varnished teak was beat up. Our American Flag was in tatters by Vero Beach. We replaced old glory when we were there. The Cuttyhunk Burgee made it all the way to Boot Key Harbor but it was also shredded. The hull is now white again and I’ve managed to touch up the varnish a bit.

We discovered, on the radio net, that a woman on Invictus makes BKH burgees. We promptly ordered one. She also made us a custom Catalpa flag.

The new Boot Key Harbor burgee. We still love Cuttyhunk too. We’ll get a new Cuttyhunk flag when we get back.

The Catalpa burgee. I’ve wanted one for years.

More bling. Catalpa also got a new anchor.

One more for the road. I found these colorful fish interesting.

We’re here for at least another week. Then we’ll go West.

February 9th- Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL

We’re still floating around in the East end of Boot Key Harbor. It’s well protected on all sides so Catalpa doesn’t move much, even when there is some wind.

The dinghy channel, at the city marina, has been visited by various manatees over the past week or so. This momma and baby were around for a few days. One evening I watched the baby eat seaweed off of the seawall.

Another day, this beast was spotted at The Dockside.

Later in the evening the same beast was still prowling around for any food that hit the deck.

We watched some karaoke before heading back to Catalpa for some much-needed sleep.

We heard, on the radio net, that there was going to be a “turtle release ” at Sombrero Beach this morning. We grabbed some coffee, hopped in the dinghy, and went to check it out. There is lots of local support for the Turtle Hospital and their mission. These events are well attended.

I was a little concerned that Ollie might not act appropriately at the site of a big turtle. Since everyone at the beach was watching the turtle, Ollie and I got some exercise (off leash) at a distance. Lynne managed to work her way through the crowd.

This young green sea turtle was found last June. Terri had surgery and was rehabilitated at the turtle hospital. Fair winds and following seas Terri.