Cruising with Stevedore

Banana Bay Morning

The sky was red when we first awoke, but soon the Marathon sky returned to its normal sunny self with temperatures reaching 79 degrees. At 11:25 we backed out of Banana Bay aboard Young America bound for Boot Key Harbor and Marathon Boat Yard. I love being on the water. We cruised under the Seven Mile Bridge, passed my favorite restaurant Burdines, and dropped a hook near some mangroves to enjoy lunch aboard. Young America had a 14:00 appointment for haul-out and they were pulled on-time, a rare occurrence here in the keys. 

Burdines Restaurant Best Fries in Marathon

We returned home for a nap and then it was off to choir practice. Whew.

Sharon and Barbara Walk For Kids

 How can you say “No” when asked to model at a fund raiser for troubled kids? We couldn’t. Most of our day was spent travelling to Hawks Cay Resort where six of us modeled three outfits each. It was fun, but we were tired when it was over. Shoes broke, earings fell out, and when we exited the cat walk, food servers needed to be navigated in high heels, but no one was the wiser. Our clothes were made by Sylvia of KeyKers here in Marathon. Everything fitted to you! Three hundred fifty people attended the dinner at the upscale resort. I made it in and out without tripping. Barbara stole the show with her modeling antics!

Now back to painting.

Under the Palm Tree

While practicing my favorite yoga pose-corpse, I looked up and saw this wonderful view. Thought I would share it with my readers. Did I mention that Stephen has been attending with me and has never missed a class? This is amazing.

About painting, I stripped two sections of the newly painted wall, then washed and re-sanded, adding the hallway and some of the pilot house to the schedule. Tomorrow before my five-mile walk on the bridge, I’ll get the first coat of oil-based paint on those walls. Sunday I’ll apply the second coat then quit to prepare for company. Can’t wait to hug my brother Dale, who formalized his “grandpa title” with the birth of Samuel Heydlauff earlier this week.

Saturday we’re attending a fundraiser for troubled teens on Grassy Key. Yours truly is one of four models for a local clothing designer.

Sunday, the choir is singing Mendelssohn’s He Watching Over Israel From Elijah. It’s a beautiful classic that has taken some work. We’re sounding pretty good!

Life is full, and our time here passing way too quickly.

Sophie Being Cute

We have a certified Yoga instructor on-site at Banana Bay this week, so after a quick two-mile walk, ten of us were performing “Sun Salutations” and at least a dozen other exercises on the dock. Stephen put the last cut-off valve on the aft head while I started raking the grasses off the steps leading into the gulf. When I got back to the boat Sophie was frogging just as cute as can be. How can anyone live without a pet?

Tomorrow is Krogan Breakfast and hair day-always an adventure. We’re celebrating our first great nephew Samuel’s arrival today. Giving thanks….

Hi Mom!

The week has been full of tasks, exercise and manatees. We had two adults and one teen manatee last Thursday. Pretty much everything comes to a standstill while they’re here. Old and young alike start acting like kids when manatees arrive. They’re very quiet, seeming to lounge about until they decide to head back into the gulf.

The forward head is completed and we’re moving things back into the cupboards. Stephen spent the last two days putting cut-off valves under both bathroom sinks. He hates plumbing especially on a boat where 10 minute jobs often turn into 10 hours of effort. He gets lots of exercise walking to Home Depot and back!

I read A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith, a novel about the settlement of Southern Florida. We have such easy lives today. Those before us lived on wild greens and raccoons for years until they caught wild cattle and learned to pasture them. Turns out Julia Tuttle, for whom a highway is named near Miami, is credited for encouraging Henry Flagler to build his railroad to Miami and beyond. During a devastating freeze in 1895 most of Florida’s orange crop was lost. Mrs. Tuttle mailed an orange blossom to Flagler proving Southern Florida oranges were spared and the land was worthy of development! The Keys are celebrating 100 years of the Flagler Railroad this month.

Friday night we had dinner at Sunset Grille. The food was OK the view was great.

Sun Sets over Sunset Grille

Saturday we finally made it to two flea markets on Big Pine Key. One was nautical and the other a combination of produce, clothing, plants and junk. There was a restaurant too, and we enjoyed fresh cinnamon donuts and chocolate shakes. First ones in a long time!

Last night the choir sang at 16:00 so I have Sunday free. I started the day with an eight-mile long bike ride to Pelican Key and back. I’ll never tire of riding or walking the old bridge.

We’ve been painting and staining so we took a day off. Lucky for us our friends on Papillon, another Kadey-Krogen 42, have a Grady White go-fast boat. We went out to Sombrero Reef for an afternoon of snorkeling. There were abundant fish to swim with including; sergeant-majors, blue parrot fish, yellow-tailed snapper and dinner plate jelly fish. There was also a barracuda. Those that didn’t go in the water, sighted a man-of-war but, refrained from worrying me! Oh, by-the-way, I was the only one in the water. The others were reluctant to get in the cold 72 weather. Geez.  This was a great day!

Painting the Forward Head

I hate painting. I’m simply not good enough. I started in the forward head because usually I’m the only person in there, so no one else is likely to see my smudges. We picked Home Depot’s top brand Behr latex with blended primer for bath rooms. Big mistake. The paint did not flow nor adhere well. But, it’s done. I’ll switch to oil paint for the halls and saloon walls.

We broke away Saturday to attend the 100 year celebration of Flagler’s train, on Pigeon Key. After standing in line 90 minutes we gave up and went to a flea market on Big Pine Key; it wasn’t there! No problem, I remembered seeing a sign for No Name Key so we took off to find the famous No Name Pub! We did. My walking buddy Linda was with us and we had lots of fun being spontaneous!

Leaving our Dollar at No-Name Pub

It may not seem like a big deal to you, but this key is off the beaten path. You cross bridges, wind around a nature center for Key Deer,and travel through half-finished neighborhoods until a little bar on a corner lot comes into view. When you walk into the lower level it feels like entering a Hobbit’s cottage. The bar is dark and the ceiling low. What distinguishes it from other cottages and bars though, are the thousands of one dollar bills stapled on every possible surface. We stapled our dollar on the newly added attic-too cute and way too much fun.

Stevedore Dollar

Cleaning Marathon with Linda of "Young America"

She was a Girl Scout, I had Grandma Turner. We both learned to leave a public space cleaner for others than we found it for ourselves. Eleven miles later we have picked up ten bags of groceries. We walk, talk and pickup-what a work out! We also learned we completed the Great American Loop at about the same time! Lots of notes to compare.

After walking three miles with Linda from Young America, I stripped my back doors, damaged during tropical storm Irene. Three hours of sanding and one coat of finish later I headed off to San Pablo to sing for the Arch Bishop. A great day.

Catalina 22 Regatta

High today is 75, and the sun is shining bright. There is a Catalina 22′ sailing regatta underway about a half mile out in the bay. On Overseas Highway, there is a walk to raise money for Wounded Warriors, and the flea market is back underway on Pine Key.

Both neighbors’ kids, and grand kids have returned home. Grandparents are all snuggled in for long naps!

Stephen has successfully completed the back hatch retrofit which now features gas struts for easier opening and closing.

Saw horses have been delivered for me to get busy on bright work. So it looks like on Monday the song of the sander will once again be playing aboard Stevedore!

Today, I’m just going to look out at Pretty Joe Island…

Pretty Joe Island

The wind is out of the North 25 to 35 miles per hour, waves are cresting, and the waters’ color ranges from indigo to turquoise. Beautiful, but exhausting when walking or attempting any other project. Temps have plunged to 66 and will be down to 48 tonight. Soup’s on!  Right now we’re watching a sailboat whose anchor is dragging. This wind could bring it into the marina. Yikes…

We had our Krogen breakfast this morning and the crowd is growing now that Christmas and New Years are behind us. One of these days I’m going to start sanding, but I’ll wait for the salt spray to drop.

Stephen has gotten several projects completed including gas struts on our rear hatch, and an exhaust fan for the kitchen.  See, it’s not a vacation, it’s living on a boat in the most beautiful setting in the islands of Marathon.