March 22, 2015

I should have dated every entry so far, just for clarity's sake.  Takes me a while to learn.

Today, at daybreak, we set sail for Cat Cay in the Bahamas where we will check in and clear Customs.  We motored all yesterday and hooked up to a mooring ball at Cary's Fort Reef (that's where I hurt my rib in January) to cut some time off the crossing.  Gary thankfully let me sleep in while he and Elliott got us underway.  So far, the sea is like glass, with a few wind ripples here and there, but not enough to give us a good push along.  So, after a few hours of piddling along, the sails came down and the motor came on.

  

I liked Marathon; it's a crazy mooring ball community.  At nights, the anchor lights add to the stars in the sky for a beautiful landscape.  We came in amidst a parrot whistling a tune and a couple on board a boat at anchor screaming at each other.  The parrot was much more entertaining.

The mooring field at Marathon is huge, by far the largest I've ever been in.  Gary's been in one that might have been larger, outside Salem, Massachusetts, but he says its nowhere near as organized as this one.  Marathon is the city marina, owned and operated by one entity.  They abut a community park, the hospital is close by (that's the one I visited with my rib injury), restaurants and other amenities are within walking or dinghying distance.

Elliott found a cadre of kids to hang out with while we were there, so he was always looking for an excuse to go ashore.  The main office is attached to a large lounge; like an old warehouse.  You walk in and the office is open to the left.  Straight ahead of you is a wall of bookshelves (yay for me!), mailboxes, and filling the open space are round tables with attached bench seats.  Any time of the day you can find kids doing their school work, ladies gathered to work on crafts or puzzles, maybe a lone quilter, and some folks come in and eat lunch and read.  Along the right side of the wall as you enter are long rectangular picnic-type tables where all the computer folks hang out as there are the cords for charging electronic implements of distraction. 

On the far right side of the building are large open sections, the far left with boards for announcements and classifieds, games for use, books, etc.  The two middle sections look like mini theaters with angled chairs for watching television or movies.  The other section has schedules for classes and bus routes and a snack machine.  Soda and water machines are located just outside that open door, of which there are four in this building, two on each side quite a distance apart.  Further down, if you take the sidewalk, is private lockers and workshops for sail repair or engine work.  A separate building houses the laundry and bath houses.  To the right of the sidewalk is the second dinghy dock and also has a wall of boats tied up.  That's also where transients go to get water and settle their bill before heading out. 

The A mooring balls are closest to the office; we were on W9.  That was closer to the bridge than the office, and while there was hustle bustle everywhere, it was cool to be close to private homes where people were gathering and to hear the church bells melodically ringing out the hours.  Dolphins also came to visit us there and, in fact, as soon as I let go the mooring ball as we were leaving, a huge dolphin swam up as if to say goodbye.

One night, really late, I heard what I thought were dolphins nearby. I went up on deck and heard them, but did not see any splashing.  The SOUNDS were kind of dolphin-like, except this sounded more like some one hacking or coughing.  Had me worried a person was in the water, but then I realized that maybe it was just some play wrestling among dolphins going on; they do this a lot.

Our favorite sounds came from the parrot across the way.  On our first full day there, we heard this bird whistling the theme from The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which had us entranced.  I mean, how can you not either snap your fingers or join in the whistling yourself?  It was impressive.

Then we could hear the bird dipping into the lower octaves singing some sort of a bluesy tune.  All I could make out was the word "Fire," delivered with a knowing raspy voice.  Just hilarious.  His (or her) favorite words were, "Hey, Hey!"  We did attempt to go over and find out the bird's name, but they weren't on board at the time.

We always hope to run into someone we might know in a marina this size, but meeting new people is great, too.  I was fortunate enough to meet a sailing/culinary shero of mine, Carolyn Shearlock, whose journey I'd been following, but whom we just kept missing (probably by minutes).  She is the author of a great cookbook, meant for cruisers, but not exclusively so.  We stopped by their catamaran.  Her husband was on deck and I asked, "Is this Carolyn Shearlock's boat?"  He said, "No, this is MY boat!"  Ha.  Off to a great start.  We clambered on board and stayed a while, but I could have stayed for hours.  Carolyn and Dave both have a very easy going way about them and I sure hope we run into them again some day. 

As a treat to ourselves (before the daunting grocery shopping trip), Gary and I left Elliott with his friends at the lounge and we walked over to Keys Seafood Restaurant and Store.  Our friends Suzy and Otis brought us here when we docked at their rental house in Marathon in January. 

There is always a line there, but it doesn't take too long.  They always ask you to name something, a celebrity or an animal or something, to make your name being called a unique experience.  That day, it was to name someone famous.  I chose Gloria Steinem, a shero of mine.  I am sad to say that the young woman behind the register had no idea who she was; sad, sad.

While waiting for my order, I walked over to the fishing pier and noticed an odd thing; the guy who ran the charter was filleting his catch and would hang up the head and bones on a cross piece as if to show off the size of the fish he'd gotten.  Macabre, for sure, but he did get some big dolphin.

Sitting at a table upstairs, we had our meal and some drinks and listened to live music.  Gary was so happy to be able to dig into some stone crab claws.

Our last bit of craziness before leaving was to do our grocery shopping; I had suggested taking a $5 taxi to the store to make it easier, but Gary said he had a better idea.  We dinghied off and by nightfall, found a half-finished marina to dock in.  We did not tie up where it said "No Trespassing," but I still think we should have taxied over.  We had to walk through the marina, down a road a bit, and then up another road a bit to get to the store.  A few hundred dollars later, we took the bulging cart back to that deserted place and offloaded.  What a pain in the butt!   We got it done, but Gary's back had been in pain for two days and I'm sure all this stretching and bending under stress didn't help a bit. 

So, here we are now, motoring to the Bahamas.  I think the wind has picked up, so we'll probably set sail soon.  We've seen hundreds of flying fish, Portuguese Man o' Wars, and currently are being visited by a Loony Bird (cormorant), who came flying in at an angle to land right in front of our dodger.  He's snoozing and grooming and probably wondering where in the world he could be.  We haven't seen any others out here and wonder if he got lost.  I hope he likes the Bahamas!  (He did leave the boat, eventually; he settled back on the water, rested and ready to resume his nonstop fishing.)

While I prepared lunch, Elliott has been studying world history and Gary is refitting the seawater pump for the galley sink.  Late in the game, I started using seawater for washing dishes; what a water saver!  I don't know why I didn't think to do this earlier.