Thursday, January 19, 2012

Marathon - At anchor

At the far end of the anchorage - a better view of the sunset at least
Even though we were anchored 0.6 miles off-shore, it was a calm night at Rodriguez Key with light winds out of the north, off the shore. The worst thing about the anchorage was the long trip to shore for Hoolie relief.

The jellyfish are out
The same weather conditions that contributed to a calm night also led to light winds for our trip to Marathon so motoring was the order of the day (again!) We had to be alert for crab pots (but nothing like lobster pots in Maine!!) as we continues into Marathon. The town of Marathon runs a huge mooring field, 226 moorings! They rent them by the day, week or month but you cannot reserve them in advance. If they're full, then you go on a waiting list but you have to appear in person at the dock office to  be put on the list. Well, that's what happened to us - we're number 7. There is room to anchor still but it's a long way to the office and the dinghy dock. Hopefully we'll get a mooring soon and move closer so Hoolie trips won't consume most of the day.

Marathon rivals Block Island at night - even on a mooring, anchor lights are required to be on here
We'll be here until it's time to move on to Key West for our dock on Feb 1. Time to provision, do laundry and get odds and ends supplies. At least it's very well protected from wind and waves.

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