Mini-Marina 2-21-09

We do not have the greatest sunset location in Marathon but we do have a dock real close to the grocery store, Publix. We have had a steady stream of Looper friends tying their dinghy up to our boat and using our cart and/or bikes to get supplies in town. We have welcomed Debbie and Tom on “Catrina” a number of times and here are pictures of Jeanette and Charlie on “Highlander” doing reprovisioning at our mini-marina. We have even done gas for the “South Shore” dinghy for Ted and Pat. And, if you are here at 5pm, we offer Happy Hour.

Sombrero Reef Day 2-19-09

Tom and Debbie aboard “Catrina” invited us, Ted and Pat from “South Shore” and veteran Loopers, Pat and Colin from “Lady Margaret” for a fabulous day of fun aboard their PDQ sailing catamaran. On the menu was snorkeling, sailing, fishing and good company. “Catrina” is on the mooring ball in Marathon and all of us dinghed over to start the day—don’t the dinghies look like the friends that we became today.

Here’s Captain Debbie sailing us over to Sombrero Reef where we snorkeled. It’s been quite a while since I have snorkeled, and I forgot to put in contact lenses so I was” blind” but I did kind of see yellow tail fish. Here’s a picture of the group on the trampoline part of the cat—our favorite part, and a close-up picture of the 2 Pats enjoying a great day.

We capped off the evening with dinner at Key Fisheries. Ted and Pat accompanied us on their bikes and when it was time to go back to the marina in the dark, Bob took the lead position with his high intensity headlamp and Ted took the caboose position with the red light on—our 4 bikes looked like a stretch limo bike.

Marathon 2-18-09

There are a number of Looper friends now in Marathon—welcome to Rose and Gary on “Rose’s Pick” and Ted and Pat on “South Shore” who joined Jim and Sandy on “Footloose”, Charlie and Jeanette on “Highlander” and Bob and I at Sombrero Dockside.

Meet the Men in the Mangroves 2-15-09

My sister Maureen and I were touring the Anne Kolb Nature Center in Fort Lauderdale when these 2 hunky men emerged from the mangrove forest. How could we resist them?

Maureen and Kevin are hibernating here for a week to get a reprieve from the cold NY winter. As we walked around the park, they marveled that they were actually sweating and seeing color again. The park is on the ICW waterway which we will pass through when we come up here by boat so we had a chance to check it out and take a picture from land this time. We also checked out marinas in the area as we will probably have to wait here for awhile to get a weather window to go to the Bahamas in the next few weeks.

Fort Lauderdale is a great location with a fantastic beach, shops and restaurants. We strolled through galleries and had a great dinner at Café del Mer. Our time passed much too quickly but we will catch up with each other again soon.