Crew Change the Admiral's Aboard

Just one of Two dingy dock Areas, This one is used if you are going to the Tiki hut, or Marina Office Area, the other is down the Channel and used if you are doing other things.



Marathon City Marina




Murals are typical all over Marathon and the Keys




The Day of the Iguana




Crab traps everywhere, we were trying to figure out hoe they worked.




Excellent




A easy tow block walk from the Marina




Great Place to wait on Crew, John is no stranger to the finer spots in Marathon.




Creativity is alive and well in the Keys




Hanging out at the Resort with Johny and John




One small piece of Marathons' Paradise





A Florida Bay Beacon



Just another Banyan Tree



The Stuffed Pigs Endeavour




This little Island has a Cabana you can rent and get great Florida Bay sunsets.



Day 4/II –Day 5/II Marathon Boot Key Harbor


Crew Change the Admiral's Aboard

The Admiral was already being escorted to Marathon by Johny, the retired Daytona Beach Cop when I cooked up some Texas Egg Tacos for breakfast with John’s favorite HEB salsa, Avocado and Jimmy Dean Microwaveable Sausage Briskets with plenty of coffee. I asked John what he would like to do for the morning and he said he would like to check out Sister Creek by dingy to check out possible anchorages for his next visit to Marathon. I love a good dingy ride so after we got squared away we were off in the AB 9’ dingy. The 9.8 Tohatsu outboard needed a good running anyway as I had a few issues with it running smoothly. Most of the problem was solved with a new female to fuel tank connector that had a bad O-ring. I learned from John that I should have never completely closed the fuel tank vent due to gasoline expanding so much in the summer heat. It will find somewhere to go if the vent is completely shut hence the new connector. If the fuel line from the tank is not airtight the engine sucks in a bit of air causing it to run a bit rough. This is why you want to have a retired Merchant Marine Engineer for crew to help remove all the misconceptions in your brain regarding anything mechanical or engine related. I thought you were supposed to keep the valve closed when not running to avoid having your fuel evaporate. I am sure I need a new fuel tank as well but it runs smoothly at low speeds, it just starts sputtering when you want to get up on a plane and go fast. Deal with that later since the whole harbor is a no wake zone. We went all the way out into the Atlantic and checked out the area just outside the creek and then came in and ran down some of the small channels in the Mangroves on Boot Key. We had noticed on Google Earth some sailboats anchored in the Mangroves and just wanted to check depths. The Admiral called and said they were about an hour out and they were hungry. We dingied over to the Marathon Marina dingy docks and asked around, Anne at the front desk suggested Key Fisheries: http://www.keysfisheries.com/ they had a special on Stone Crab, $1.25 for the claws, I knew they would taste good with a Beer. It was just a short walk across Hwy. 1 on the Florida Bay side. A great place to just hang out. We waited in the upstairs Bar and I had a beer while waiting for the ground crew to arrive. John said that if we decide to go over to the Bahamas and need crew that he would work for food so the deal was on if we decide to go that direction. Johny and The Admiral arrive and the lunch feast was on. We immediately ordered a dozen claws and this would be 24 since they come in pairs, enough for all four of us. We each get us a side dish from the downstairs kitchen and had a nice laid back lunch with a great view. Lynn and I consumed most of the Crab as John nor Johny like shell fish that much. It was almost to much but I made sure not to waist any crab meat. The fisherman just pull off the claws and throw the crab back in. The Crab re-grows the claws so there are always plenty to go around every season.

Later we walked down to BlackFin Resort and Marina http://www.blackfinresort.com/ where we had a room booked for Johny. We did not want him to just turn around and drive another 6 hours back to Tampa besides you always have to have a celebratory dinner after a ocean passage! (Cheated Death one More Time). We checked out Johny’s lovely accommodations and spent the afternoon enjoying the resorts small beach and sunset views. Little did we know that Hurricanes Bar & Grill that is attached to the resort was a local Favorite so we just decided to have the Party there: http://www.hurricaneblues.com/ . A great Evening, after bidding Johny goodnight we returned to Wand’rin Star and quickly found sleep.

We knew Johny would be bittin at the bit to leave early so we agreed to meet him by 0900 for breakfast at the Stuffed Pig: http://www.thestuffedpig.com/ I love this place, not sure if I will ever be allowed to eat a breakfast again but it was 5 STAR!