Must be having fun...I am way behind!!!! Let's see how long it takes to catch up!!

Sunday the 9th we did a major grocery run, courtesy of a local taxi...$5 there...$5 back!! Spent the rest of the day getting organized and paying that marina bill!! Time with Faye and Sanford to end our stay in Marathon! Sometimes you wish you could take the people with you...this is one of those times.

Monday the 10th...right on schedule...we pulled to the fuel dock for a pump out...and then off to Caloosa Cove on Islamorada key...a real character marina...16-20 slips...lots of empties...cement wall crawling with ants...and a resort area next door that had signs eveerywhere...NO PETS ALLOWED. But the real attraction for us was the GAS!!! 45 cents a gallon cheaper than anywhere else....and when you're buying 200+gallons that'll add up quite nicely.... Anyway, it was just one night.

Tuesday the 11th...cruised for 5 hours to Garden Cove marina in Key Largo...and it was a good thing we'd saved money yesterday on gas...cause this dump was the most expensive marina we've stayed at in a long long while...at $2.50 per foot we paid $92 for one night... And yea, not much better than the last place...jagged cement wall...lots of dry stacked storage...but we were the biggest boat in the place...and there weren't many around....but it did host a pretty nice restaurant ...so why not?? Crab cakes were the BEST!!  Tricky getting into and out of the place...lots of shoaling issues...but tide worked in our favor...and an O'dark thirty start...

We were really looking forward to Wednesday .. Short cruise into No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne...we arrived just after noon to find about 16 sail boats and a couple of big cruisers at anchor...we had no problem finding a spot close to shore...dropped the hook...easy peasy...lunch...dog to shore...and then the real fun began...a 62 foot party boat arrived...full of party people and photographers...some sort of photo shoot for the boat manufacturer...and the beautiful ones began to party and pose....change and pose, play and pose, sing and pose, eat, drink and  be merry...and pose....we had a front row seat as the restaurant in the cove supplied huge trays of artistically presented snacks....then they began to assemble the water toys...jet ski, paddle surf boards, air slipper slide....the sail boater on the other side of us tried to enforce some water rules...without much luck....then as the sunset in our party cove, they put away the toys, and left!! We enjoyed a delightful evening on the hook....

Thursday we decided to stay the day...the winds picked up significantly and our anchor held
fine. Others seemed to struggle getting an anchor to hold. Even though the dinghy wouldn't start, Floyd paddled Dakota to shore three times a day and claimed he liked the exercise...boats came and went...though most just stayed...at one time we thought there were over 20... But it never felt crowded...always room for a few more. But no beautiful party people on Thursday...:(

Friday was time to move on....we soon discovered why our anchor held so well....it had dug in. It didn't help any that the wench wouldn't engage...but Capt Floyd managed to direct Driver Linda...and after quite a bit of finagling we got it. Floyd is still giggling that we somehow managed to bend the shank!! The strongest part of the anchor....I'm giggling because the anchor has been bent since I came aboard in '07. We just hauled that sucker to Wichita with us over the holidays to have it straightened...and now it's crooked again!! Hmmmmm, maybe a trend?? We just got the props reconditioned in Mobile...then banged 'em all up 6 weeks later.....dinghy motor worked on, now won't work.....hhhhmmmm.