Marathon or Bust!

We took one day to rest and recover in Marco Island and wait for some wind to hopefully appear in the forecast and then we headed out early Monday morning to head farther South down the coast. We started out with decent wind and had the sails up early and were happy with our speed. The weather was already much warmer than it had been the day before, and although we were still bundled up, we were at least warm. Unfortunately, the winds didn't hold up and before long we were going too slowly and had to turn on the motor. It is such a downer to us to have to motor because it costs money, but more importantly, it completely ruins the sacred peace and quiet of the sailing life. But, with the motor and sails up, we finally made it to Little Shark River just in time for sundown.

We planned to head out before sunset Tuesday morning, but when we went to pull our anchor, we realized we were stuck. We tried backing it out and going forward to rip it out, but no luck. Finally, I was able to zoom in on the GPS and locate the exact spot we dropped the anchor and I powered the boat over towards that spot. With a lot of power behind it, we were finally able to rip her free. Still not sure what she was stuck on, but at least we got her free!

The rest of our trip was uneventful. We motored 6 of the 8 hours of the day, as the wind was light and variable. We were able to use the autopilot for most of the trip, until we got closer to the keys and had to dodge all the crabpots that were out. It is like a minefield out there this time of year!

The weather was beautiful and we finally felt like we were in Florida when we shed all our layers for shorts and t-shirts. Even Koa and Moo enjoyed the sunny sail!

We made it through the seven mile bridge with two hours of sunlight to spare. We grabbed a mooring at Marathon City Marina and made plans to meet our neighbors at the local watering hole for drinks. We love it here and will leave the boat here while we fly to the Bahamas to meet the family for Christmas.