Start: Shark River, 25.19.784 N, 81.08.010 W
Finish: Marathon, 24.42.398 N, 81.05.392 W
0645 Underway
1345 Picked up mooring ball in Marathon
Total Time: 7 hours (including 35 minutes to cut crab trap line off port propellor again!)
Total Distance: 48.15 nm
We were very happy to get up early and leave Shark River. Only two other sailboats came in after us yesterday, which I guess means most cruisers are where they want to be by the middle of May since this is the only place to stop between Marathon and Marco Island. We didn’t get much sleep because quite a few mosquitos made it inside the cabin and buzzed around us all night long. A few hitched a ride with us to Marathon. We have seen very few bugs here, so if a mosquito appears, we’ll know it came from the Everglades.
This was not one of our better sailing days, probably a Murphy’s Law kind of day. It started out with a beautiful sunrise and then went downhill. For the first hour we motored on one engine because the other was fowled up with a crab pot line.
When I took a shower this morning I left a 5 X 12 inch hatch on the port side open. Normally I wouldn’t do that, but the water was so calm I forgot how easily sea water can come in through open windows. In fact, all of our windows have a sticker reading “Watertight closure. Keep shut while underway.” I guess I should have read that warning a little more often. The wind picked up later in the morning and with it, the swells got bigger. A few hours later I went into the bathroom and discovered water covering the floor. It was coming in with such force each time a swell hit that it was spraying the cabinets, not just going on the floor. Boats have actually sunk when hatches have been left open while at sea. Luckily, I caught it in time but it was a mess. After the sea water was removed, everything had to be washed down with fresh water. Murphy’s Law continues.....
The mooring field at Marathon will not allow you to make reservations for a ball until you are actually in Boot Key Harbor. During the winter, this huge field with over 200 balls is often full. Boats come in, get on a waiting list and anchor until a ball is vacant. When we called, we asked for the same mooring ball we had a few weeks ago and that was acceptable. Right now, fewer than half of the balls are taken. Although we knew approximately where our assigned ball was, the wind was blowing hard and it was difficult to read the numbers on the sides. When we found the correct ball, Mark had to back up a bit and he ran over a different mooring ball. The mooring ball line caught on the port prop. I dropped the anchor and once again he went under the boat, but this time didn’t cut anything. He just eased the line off the prop. Of course, since this is Murphy’s Law Day, he forgot to take his wallet and phone out of his short’s pockets before he dove into the water.
Needless to say, we were happy to finally hop in the dinghy at Marathon and take Daisy ashore. Daisy was even happier because she hadn’t been ashore since we left Marco Island 31 hours earlier, a long time to keep her legs crossed. We’ve paid for a week, but aren’t sure if we will stay that long. The forecast shows storms all week, but we’ll believe it when the salt is gone from the deck.