MOVING ON UP....

Well we have officially started heading north. We left Marathon, Florida Monday April 13 and stopped at Rodriquez Key for the night.  We had our best sail so far this year, without the motor all day. Winds were from the southeast at about a steady 15 knots. We loved it. Oh, Jon spotted dolphin again and they came right over and swam with us.  He is just a "dolphin magnet".  We were able to watch the  "blood moon" at Rodriquez.   Gotta say it was a ligule disappointing, only slightly red. However, watching the eclipse progress was pretty cool. It's now almost 8am and we are about to turn north towards Miami.  We are traveling with our friends, Benny and Lisa who are on their sailboat, Rhiannon.  

We spent a week in marathon and we will miss the laid back sailing community there. There is a nice beach, plenty of dolphin, pelicans, turtles and sting rays. By the way Jon saw another sting ray jump up out of the water about three feet--saw the barb this time. We also like the characters that seem to collect at Marathon. One 96 year old gentleman, Capt. Jack, lives on his boat on the wharf near the dingy dock. He spends his day telling jokes and greeting everyone. For the ladies he  usually bestows a fresh flower from one of the near by bushes.  When we get old..hope it's a ways away, we would consider Marathon a good place to live. For now...we sail!

We should be in Ft Lauderdale by Thursday night or Friday. We hope to catch up to with our nephew, Ben and our friends Denise and Ladd on the sailboat, Blue.  Big news and a very big deal for me, we are getting a new mattress for our V/birth.   Yeah!  No more sleeping in a hole. 

We had a few minor problems with the dingy motor. The lower case grommet popped out..probably during a back fire. Jon used one of our many through-hull plugs (wood and my idea) 

Removing the wood plug,,,,

....,to replace with ordered part. 

  Open mic night at dockside. 

Friends we met in Key West and then again in Marathon. We are on Dave and Renee's catamaran Allergia. Three boats met along their way from Texas. They all left separately and when they met they realized they were from the same city. Small world. 

 

Real house boat.. On the move 

Capt. Jack with his home, Fantansy. 

   Small sail boat anchored near us in Marathon    Looks like a Viking ship. 

        Our glorious sail on Monday

More dolphins ..see my Facebook page for video

The dolphin magnet, Jon, dreaming of more of them. 

Look at the color of the water. The darker areas are grass beds. The lighter is sand

       The moon Monday night before the eclipse at our anchorage at Rodriquez