Today is the day for us to leave Marathon Key. Time to start blogging again.
We are aboard the new to us boat, De Ja Vu. Purchased 1 month ago and we have spent the entire month, morning to night bringing her into the 21st century. With the exception of the March Break week, when Michael and the kids, Taylor and Nicholas joined us. We took a week off and enjoyed our time together.
A good cleaning and some long overdue maintenance and we should be ready to go. Peter will know the systems of this boat thoroughly.
The plan is for a 9:30 am departure, with Steve and Linda. But just wait a minute. The aft head is not flushing. The bowl fills but does not go anywhere. The hose from the bowl is plugged. Peter is off with the dinghy to shore to get a new hose, some clamps etc. One more system for him to master.
We had been at Marathon Marina and Boatyard for the month, and left there on Tuesday as our month was up and the daily and weekly costs were exhorbitant. You can stay for a month for $1,000. with everything included, but to stay an extra week is $600. Don't quite understand the math. Must be Keys math for sure. We have been anchoring off the marina where Steve and Linda stayed for the winter, Banana Bay. We have enjoyed being at anchor.
The starboard engine seemed to be heating up more than the port engine. Peter spent a day in "the bowls of the beast" as Peter is lovingly calling it. Personally, I am getting a little jealous, he has spent more time with his Perkins diesels lately than me. He emptied the strainer and then checked the impeller. Now here was the problem, 3 of the ribs were entirely broken off and blocking the water flow. Went for a test drive and she likes to travel about 7 knots comfortably.
We also were able to raise and set the 60 lb anchor, with its 30 to 40 feet of chain quite handily. Another challenge met.
Another first for us, was a shower on board the boat. Yahoo! Who would have thought that such simple things could give such pleasure.
Oh and another challenge was keeping the refrigerators cold and food frozen while at anchor. The little Honda generator will power the two refrigerators but needs to run a lot to keep things frozen. Yesterday we moved the frozen meats from the freezer (Refrigerator 2) and put everything in Regrigerator 1. Ran the generator for an extended period and this morning all of the meat was frozen. Yahoo!!
Well by 9:10 am, and Peter was back with the parts. 20 minutes to spare before take off. He started to put the parts on the toilet. At 9:30 he was lifting the anchor. We are off for our first day on the water. Steve and Linda are leading the way. I am driving the boat and Peter is back to his "head" chores. By noon he had the head fixed and was looking for a sandwich, that I gladly provided.
We travelled about 30 miles and have anchored off an island, Lignumvitae Key. Steve and Linda have gone out on their kayaks, and Peter and I enjoyed a swim in Florida Bay. Relaxing for awhile before dinner, just like it should be. Tomorrow we have reservations at Pennekemp Marina. Here the overnight charges are based on the beam of your boat, not the length.
We have seen the green flash twice now. Once on the last night the kids were with us. So glad they were able to see it. The green flash is a phenomena that happens just as the sun sinks below the horizon. The sun has to be setting over water for this to be apparent. Many, many nights there have been clouds that appear just as the sun is setting. Wish us luck, perhaps tonight will be sighting Number 3.
