Little Shark River to Marathon

 Day 11: March 15, 2018
Follow our progress using this link: Steve's Spot 

I didn’t sleep well last night.  In this area, we have no cellular service or VHF radio signals, so it is impossible to get weather forecasts.  I checked the extended forecast for the area yesterday, however, I rely on daily updates so heading out today was sort of a crap shoot.  We awoke to relatively calm waters in our anchorage area but it is well protected and very different from the open waters of the Gulf.

Our anchorage off of the Little Shark River

We started our day with pancakes and bacon and were able to get underway by 7:30. We planned to make an open water run for Marathon on Vaca Key.  It is about a 37 mile trip. The air was quite cool as we motored the two mile stretch back to the open waters of the Gulf.

The winds were still blowing from the north at a speed that I estimated to be about 10 knots. Before we left I had jury rigged the reefing system so that when we raised the sails we were able to shorten them to cut back on the power.  To make a long story short, we had a truly wonderful sail for about 25 miles.  The wind started out from the north but by mid-morning, it had clocked around to the east so that we

A Great Egret hunting for breakfast

were able to cruise gently along at about 4 to 6-knots. 

As the afternoon progressed, the winds continued to die down.  We had shaken the reef out of the sails by mid-morning, but by about 10 miles from destination, the best we could make was 2.5 to 3-knots. So, we finally started the engine and headed on to a cove on the north shore of the town of marathon.  We dropped the anchor and climbed in Damn Dink Too and headed for a fish market to buy some lobster tails.  As we were pulling away from Second Wind, a large commercial fishing boat stopped and the

And away he goes.

skipper hung out the window informing us that where we were anchored was very close to the path that about 15 really loud fishing boats would be heading out to open waters at between 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning.  He suggested that we might be wise to move a bit closer to the shore.  We abided by his suggestion. 

At the fish market, we bought 4 beautiful frozen tails.  Back at the boat, we broke

What we do a lot of in open waters

out the little grill and prepared two of the wonderful treats.  We had mac and cheese as our side and washed it down with a glass of Rex Goliath, 48 Pound Rooster Merlot.  It was a feast for royalty.

Damn Dink Too dragging along behind.  Note the Honda Tiller before ilt broke

After dinner, we got back in the Dink and headed to shore with our several days accumulation of trash.  It was good to get off the boat and walk over to the huge City of Marathon Marina.  On our way back to the Second Wind the tiller on the little Honda motor broke off in my hand.  The bolt holding it on just broke.  It was corroded into the side of the engine and although I worked for a good ¾ of an hour trying to get the broken part of the bolt out on the hole, I was unsuccessful.  Back home in my

Coming into our anchorage near the bankrupt marina

shop, I have the tools to fix it but not on the boat so I will just have to make do by grabbing the engine cover and twisting the little motor when I need to turn.

Tonight promises to be a warmer night so hopefully I will sleep more soundly.