Ft Myers to Marathon

Departing Ft Myers, the course runs close to
all the islands.  Let's see, "red, right, return"

Well, I found an engine mechanic in Ft Myers who would come to the boat the very next day (the Caterpillar rep said he could come in 2-3 weeks), and my problem with the engine tachometer sensing unit was found.  It was a corroded wire which had broken loose.  As he’s replacing the wire end connector, the screw stud on the sensing unit broke, so we ended up using the new unit which I had ordered “just in case”.  So the cost to repair a broken wire came to $475 and some loose change.

We stopped at a marina in Marco Island.  These condos
START at $1MM, and they are simply winter homes
for the rich folk, who shutter them up for the hot
summer & head back north.

We stayed in Ft Myers an extra day to get some routine work done on the boat & to eat at other restaurants.  When we’re traveling nearly every day, it’s hard to get even minor projects done around the boat.  And we’ve had such excellent weather that we need to keep moving while the moving is good.

Before leaving Ft Myers, we took on a few hundred gallons of diesel fuel, and paid $1.99/gallon.  Looking at my log book from 3 years ago when we came through here, we paid $3.80/gallon back then, and were glad to pay such a “low rate”.  I like cruising these days much better.  Besides, we already told our kids that there’s no inheritance after our cruising this year.

The Gulf of Mexico never looked so calm nor so pretty

Our weather window looked great, so we departed on our 3 day trip south to Marathon in the Florida Keys.  For all 3 days, the winds & waves were so calm that we let “Otto the Pilot” (autopilot) do the driving.  The farther south we went, the clearer the water became; a pretty turquoise, or aquamarine, or blue-green or whatever.  As we came to the Keys, the water depths went to 8-9’, and we could see the sand or grass bottom.  Quite a bit different from last summer, when we crossed Lake Michigan with 900’ depths.

The entrance channel to Marathon, at the eastern end
of 7-Mile Bridge, originally built by Henry Flagler as
part of his Florida East Coast Railroad system around 1915.

We made Marathon Boot Key Harbor just after noontime the 3^rd day & headed to the far eastern end to our marina.  I was amazed at how many boats were in the harbor – and this is the “off season”.  I’m told that each winter, there are about a thousand boats in and around Marathon.  Most of them anchor or tie to a mooring ball, so their common means of travel within the area is their dinghy.

Entering Boot Key Harbor with boats anchored everywhere

The mooring field has room for 250+ boats

The dinghy docks become very crowded at all the restaurants

We got the bikes out to ride to a restaurant to eat
Stone Crab claws & a lobster reuben sandwich

Our marina is called Sombrero Resort & Marina.  It’s a bit weak on the “resort” claim, but there’s construction going on to improve things.  It does have a remodeled large swimming pool (solar heated, of course) with a tiki bar next to it.  The docks & utilities are very adequate, and best of all, the cost is only $250/wk, including all utilities!  My Admiral did an excellent job of finding this place, but I’m sure that all that money “saved” will end up somewhere else.  We’re considering renting a car for a couple days to drive to Key West to enjoy the wildlife, er, I mean wild life.  Next week, we’ll hook up with Shirley & Don, our Power Squadron friends from Myrtle Beach, who spend a month in Marathon each year.  We might just have so much fun down here that we might just stay another week or so.