Back to Boot Key Harbor. According to the tracking, our new battery charger should arrive today. We stopped for fuel and ice on the way in, then dropped our main anchor. The weather is supposed to turn chilly and windy again, so we got the dinghy down and set a second anchor.
I fussed with the batteries, certain that they are on their last legs. I called a dealer here in Marathon, and found out it would be two weeks before he could get replacement batteries in. That won’t work for us, so we’ll limp by with what we have. Fortunately the new charger did show up, so maybe that will help our battery situation.
Brent and Dixie invited us for supper on their boat - they made steaks, Joan made pasta. It’s hard to imagine we lose weight when we are cruising, but it must be because of the extra exercise we get.
The city is putting in new mooring balls, so the marina came right out when we anchored to let us know that we had to be out of here by Sunday. Yes, we already knew that... I also let them know that we have been kicked out of nicer places than this! It’s no problem - if we decide to stay longer than Sunday, we’ll just find a different place to anchor.
Saturday, February 17th. One of those “getting things done” kinda days. First up was laundry, this time in the laundry room in the marina. We were the first ones in there, so Joan got all three washers. Dixie came in just as our machines opened up. Easy.
Next, installing the new battery charger - the install went well, the charger works, but there is definitely a problem with the batteries. We’ll deal with that another day.
Installing the new charger...
Finally, grocery shopping. We walked the mile or so to the store, filled a shopping cart, and took a cab back to the marina. There was barely room for us in the dinghy with all the goodies. We may not have the biggest boat, but we we sure eat well!
Brent and Dixie came over to our boat for the evening; more good conversation and some trip planning.
Sunday, February 18th. The wind really ramped up. Gale force winds with rain as I write this. With our "eviction", along with everyone from the east end of the harbor, it's putting twice as many boats anchored in half as much space. In the heirarchy of things, it's better than being "out there" (Captain Ron reference), but not as good as having decent room to swing. Having a boat that doesn't draw much has let us tuck into a small space with a little shore protection, but I had to tighten up the scope. Lots of boats (including us) moved yesterday while the weather was decent... so, we've seen a few boats drag as the light came up. We took the motor off the dinghy, snugged the dinghy into the stern, and have the main motor down and ready... just in case.
The partial view of the anchorage from our window...
We provisioned yesterday, have full fuel, the generator is keeping everything topped off, freshly showered, and while it's only going to be in the low 60s, we're snug in the cabin. We're supposed to meet Casey and Sandy from NakNek onshore for lunch... looks like we may just wave at them from the boat. We certainly hope there will be another opportunity to meet up.
The forecast is for this to hang in there most of the day and night. If so, we'll be taking turns sleeping tonight. Anyone heard the Ken Gill song, "Blowing a Hooley Tonight"?
Afternoon Update: one particularly strong gust pulled the second anchor loose. 50 feet of chain on the primary with a Delta is holding fine. Joan handled the bow while I got the dinghy ready and reset the second anchor. Other than that little chore, we have been entertaining ourselves in the boat (Yahtzee, Phase 10, and gin... rummy, not the drink).
Our plan is to get out of here as soon as the weather breaks; just a few too many boats in close proximity for my comfort level. Joan asked me, "When does the 'kicked back, relaxing part' you promised start?" Shucks, I got a short nap in before the anchor reset... it's windy, but not much fetch, so there isn't a lot of wave action... if I had a couple feet more room between boats, this would be a walk in the park! :wink:
Molly got a nap, too...
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Several updates since we were without the site for a while!
