Today, we left our remaining friends at Faro Blanco Marina, Marathon, FL.  We were sad to leave but excited to start moving again. We were feeling a little anxious because not moving for two months made us feel “soft” on our boating skills. However, once we pulled away from the dock, the stress went away.

We left on Gulf side of the Keys and crossed under the #5 Channel Bridge and traveled on the Atlantic side. Just passed the Keys, we turned into the Card Sound. Weather was great in Marathon but it started to rain when we got close to our destination. The trip along the inter coastal from the Atlantic was a bit concerning. Our charts were showing shallow water on both sides of us and we had to carefully stay in a narrow channel….while in the rain.  Our boat has a 4.5 foot draft. That means our boat is 4.5 feet below the water surface any water depths less than 7 feet can be stressful. We took it very slow just in case we ran aground – only go as fast as you are willing to hit something.

Once we got to the Card Sound, we found our anchor spot, Long Arseniker.  This spot isn’t talked about much amongst the Loopers. Not sure why, because it turned out to be a really nice spot.  We wished we could have stayed longer than one night because we would have put our paddle boards in. It was very calm and beautiful. Instead, we grabbed our snorkel gear and jumped in. We didn’t see any fish but it was still fun. 

We left the air conditioning off and enjoyed a quiet peaceful night….half way through the night, we were all wishing we left the air conditioning on! It got pretty warm.

Today is our last day in Marathon. After 2 months in paradise, we are leaving tomorrow to get back to conquering the loop.

Jen spent a few hours enjoying the pool for one last time.

Because our plan is to leave early in the morning, we decided to get fuel today. Which was not an easy endeavor. Getting out of the slip was a little tricky as the current wanted to push us back into the slip, and because of the way it’s shaped and angled we couldn’t just give it gas and pull forward so we had to kinda wiggle on out. Once we made it over to the fuel dock there was a whole lot of current pushing us away from the dock we had to pull up next to. The dockhands were very helpful and basically had to man handle pull us in… it was in that moment we wished we had bow thrusters. After we got fuel, we pulled out no problem and we able to get back to our slip, which we had to wiggle back in to. High fives to the Wishes crew after all that.

Instead of 5 o’clock docktails we had dinner with all of our friends at Lazy Day’s in Marathon. Mel bought some fish from a local fisherman and Lazy Days cooked it for us. It was super yummy! We had an absolute blast at dinner. We love our friends at Faro Blanco and leaving them is going to be hard. They really have become family.

When we got back from dinner, we enjoyed the sunset and started getting ready to leave tomorrow.

We’re all feeling a little anxious and excited to leave. So hopefully we can all get some good sleep tonight as we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.

This morning we said “see you later” to our good friends Kevin and Martha on the sailing catamaran Just Diftin’. They are headed back home to New York, for the summer. We said “see you later” to Bob and Diane on the Ocean Alexander, Soulmate. They are doing the loop as well, we hope to bump into them again along the way. We never say goodbye to boat friends because you never know when you’ll see them again out on the water.

The dogs were crazy today, Bonnie and Harley did a lot of wrestling.

Kelly did some laundry and yelled at Harley for trying to play on it. For some reason they love to lay all over it as soon as she’s done folding it.

Kelly and Jen went to Paradise Flavors, our favorite ice cream shop and stocked up on ice cream bars. We bought 35. I know that sounds alarming and like over kill but once you have tasted their ice cream you’ll understand.

Jen made BBQ chicken sliders for docktails tonight. This is the last docktails we are attending before making our way north. They are Mel’s favorite, he was very happy Jen made the sliders for him. Harley was happy too, he got to go with to docktails.

After docktails, we went to the community theater to see them preform The Outsider. We have never laughed so hard, it was hilarious. One of the actors looks exactly like our friend from back in Texas, Josh.

Quick shoutout to Josh for being so amazing. He has been such a bug help to us when we have boat questions. We are very lucky to have him as a friend. We love you Josh!

Michael and Mike spent the day changing the oil in both engines. It’s important to collect a sample of oil from each engine to send off for testing. We send ours off to BlackStone Lab. They check the condition of your oil and look for elements in the oil that would indicate sign of wear on your engine.

After Mike and Kelly drove the kids the to Miami airport.

On the 31st Kelly picked up Jen from the Miami airport, and the girls drove 2 and a half hours back to the boat in Marathon. Mike made the girls dinner, steak and pasta. It was delicious as always. Harley was so excited to see him mommy, he missed her very much. Jen and Harley shared some ice cream before heading to bed.

Today was a great day. Well, any day when the family is all together is a great day.

We started the day by having breakfast at Marathon Bagel Company again. Then, we went fishing on Marathon Lady. It was fun. We caught different types of reef snapper. The best part was the moray eel that Jen caught. Jen and our new friend Kimberly saw one while snorkeling so it was fun to see one close up and watch it curl on the hook.

When we got back to the dock there was a scientist from the Florida Department of Fishers and Wildlife waiting to collect some samples.

Overall, we caught 27 fish! We froze some and Jen cooked the rest for dinner. Fresh fish and Jen’s great cooking made it awesome.

It’s always something…. This morning we were going to take Wishes out with our friends on the boat Miss Kimberly. We started up the boat, and got the lines untied and when Mike put the boat in gear and the starboard gear shift leaver broke.

Luckily our fiends Dave and Kimberly asked us to join them on their boat and we were all able to go snorkeling out at Sombrero Reef. Kimberly climbed out on the bow and go us hooked up to a mooring ball. It was a beautiful spot, the water was so clear we could see the bottom even though it was 20 feet deep. The water was a little chilly, but once you’re in you get used to it. Seeing all the pretty fish and coral distracts from the cold water. We made sandwiches and had lunch out there, it was the perfect day! Kimberly and Jen were out snorkeling they saw two eels! They were do bright and green, it was so majestic. Dave had a secret trick to getting all the fish to come up to the surface… tortilla chips. He would crush them and toss them in the water and hundreds of reef fish would swim up to eat them.

On our way back to Faro Blanco Mike did some research on the parts needed to fix the leaver. Pictures of the broken one are posted below.

Jen made pasta salad for docktails tonight. It was yummy. Michael and Jen took turns pulling each other in the wagon… not matter how old they get, when they are together it’s like their kids again.

This morning Kelly, Jen, and Michael went to yoga class. The girls have been going almost every Wednesday and Sunday since arriving in Marathon. For Michael this was his first yoga class, he did good. Some of the poses where easier than others, he actually enjoyed going.

Today we put the dingy in the water. We had been having some issues with the motor, and Mike had replaced the carburetor a few days prior. Once we got the dingy in the water it started right up with no issues… we can cross that problem off the list.

Michael and Jen went for a ride around the marina and the area outside of the marina. Mike and Kelly took the dingy out as well, they took it all the way over to Tranquility Bay Resort. It was the perfect weather for it, super sunny and not too windy.

We took the car and Michael and Kelly went to the produce stand, while Mike and Jen got ice.

Michael and Jen went the pool for a few hours to relax and swim before heading over to docktails at 5.

It’s tee time!

This morning we went golfing at The Florida Keys Country Club. Jen is not very good at golfing and mostly just drove the cart today. Mike, Kelly, and Michael has some really great drives and putts. It was a nice course, and if you’re ever in Marathon and want to play golf its a good one to play at.

After golf, we went back the boat and Jen made wraps again for lunch.

Mike and Michael spent the day working on boat projects. They finished pulling the wires for our Victron house bank battery monitor. Before leaving for the loop, Mike did lots of research on house bank battery options. We used to have 2 8D Master Volt batteries, delivering 470amp hours. They took up a lot of space in the engine room and after through research we decided to upgrade to 4 Victron telecom batteries delivering 800amp hours. They take up the same amount of space as our old 8D batteries, and provide us with more apt hours. Which for all our non boating friends, this means we spend a lot more time anchored out without having to run our generator.

We wen to docktails at 5, and everyone really enjoyed meeting Michael.

Michael did a little fishing off the back of the boat in the marina and he caught a few yellow tail snapper.

Happy Monday!

Today we went to Key West.

There was a Vince Vaughn movie being filmed in Key West, and we got to see them setting up and film a few scenes. It was cool to see all the equipment and work that goes into shooting a movie.

We went to Matthiessen’s Bakery to get cookies for breakfast. They have giant half pound cookies, we got chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and peanut butter. Highly recommend checking it out, they are very good cookies. Soft in the center, and crispy on the outside.

We walked down to where the cruise ships dock, Mike and Michael were trying to figure how the engineering behind the docking systems. They do this every time hey are together, they cant help themselves.

And of course while we were in Key West we went to Lucy’s to drink and visit our favorite singer, Dallas. As always it was blast. Dallas even learned Jen’s favorite song “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies.

Then we got drinks at The Flying Monkey. They were very yummy, and strong as well.

Afterwards we headed to Sloppy Joes and Michael got to try the sloppy Joe fries and a pretzels. The fries were just as good as last time, defiantly the best sloppy joe we’ve ever had.

After a long day in Key West, the crew drove back to Faro Blanco and watched Big Bang Theory and headed to bed early.

We had breakfast at Marathon Bagel Company before heading to Miami to pick up Michael. The bagels were delicious, they make them fresh every morning. The owner is a retired police officer from New York, super nice guy.

We headed to Miami to pick up Michael! It was about a 2.5 hour drive, but went by pretty quick as we were all very excited. Mom called dibs on the first hug, Jen got the second one, and then Mike. It felt so good to have the full Wishes crew together again!

On our way back to Marathon we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop in Islamorada.

We drove back to the marina. Bonnie was very excited to see Michael. She attacked him as soon as he walked in the door. Jen made wraps for lunch. They has chicken, spinach, and guacamole in them.

Michael and Mike spent the afternoon working on boat projects. They installed new blowers for the engine room. They had to pull out the old wires and then pull the new ones. They put in the new switches, and were don’t for the night. Having Michael back in the engine room was super helpful, he small enough to get into the tight little spots.

Jen made dinner… Shrimp, bacon, green beans with rice.

The Wishes crew then played cards before heading to bed.