Meandering Magees: February 2017

February 25, 2017
Day 172

It has been a month since my last post. How time flies when you are having fun. Yes - in between the cleaning and maintenance jobs, we are enjoying the Keys and the great weather. If there is an award for "Cleanest Boat on the Loop" we would win it. (I'm preparing our acceptance speech, just in case). The flybridge was the recipient of our efforts this week. Top to bottom - literally, as the ceiling was washed and the carpet pulled up to clean the floor and everything in between.

While Mike and I were gone last month, Greg and Karen had good friends Mike and Deb Koster on board for a week. This month brought more welcomed guests. Greg Wessendorf (brother-in-law) came for a 2 week visit and Dolores and Keith Larson (sister-in-law and brother-in-law) stayed one night. While Greg W was here we spent an afternoon in Key West, a day at the Miami boat show and he and I took a tour to Pigeon Key.

Pigeon Key is a small (5 acre) island between Marathon and Big Pine Key, on the Gulf side of the Seven Mile Bridge. With a walking/biking bridge closed for repairs, the island is only accessible by boat. Volunteers from the Pigeon Key Foundation lead daily tours, sharing the history of this tiny but strategic island. Henry Flagler, who obtained his wealth as a partner of John Rockefeller in Standard Oil, financed the continuing of his Florida East Coast Railroad from Homestead (near Miami) to Key West. Pigeon Key was designated as a good construction site and as many as 400 bridge builders lived on the Key between 1908-1912.
At the time of its completion in 1912, the Key West Extension was called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Flagler's vision was to promote commerce. Key West was the only natural deep water harbor in Florida. Ships loaded with goods from Latin America, Cuba and the west coast could dock at Key West and those goods then be transported by his railroad to cities along the entire east coast. Between 1912-1935, there were about 40 residents on Pigeon Key. They maintained the original Seven Mile Bridge and operated the swing bridge at Moser Channel. Despite overcoming damage during construction from 3 hurricanes, the railroad was partially destroyed by the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and rail travel to Key West ended. The track was sold to the State of Florida, which built the Overseas Highway to Key West on the rail beds in 1938. The current Seven Mile Bridge opened in 1982. Sections of the old railroad and highway are now used as fishing piers. The swing bridge was removed in 1982 and True North passed through the opening at Moser Channel when we came to Marathon.

We are also enjoying the company of fellow Loopers. There have been several dinghy runs where we travel from tiki bar to tiki bar for appetizers and lunch and beverages. This Sunday we are going to a Looper get-together with entertainment.
I'm posting a link to a video by a 10 year old who is doing the Loop with his parents and brother. (4 of them on a 27 ft. sailboat!) He is being homeschooled while on the boat and the students in his class back home (Canada) were doing speeches so Lucas did one on the Great Loop. He did a really good job.

https://youtu.be/XmYGFY27VGI

Fish, fish everywhere! All the tiki bars/restaurants specialize in fresh fish. As one waiter said, when telling us the daily fish special, "they were swimming last night!" On their menus, most restaurants list a price for preparing any fish one catches and brings in.
Greg was invited to go fishing by another boater in our marina. He came back with mahi-mahi and we didn't need to ask any restaurant to cook it for us. Greg put half the catch on the grill and half he breaded and fried. We all agreed the grilled mahi was excellent. With the warm temperatures, we grill often, which reduces the time Karen and I spend cooking. You have to be thankful for the little things . . .

When out on dinghy rides by ourselves, Mike and I usually just putz along looking at boats or for fish. Every so often Mike will crank up the engine and to get the dinghy to plane, I sit as far forward as I can, holding on to my hat with one hand and a rope tied to the front with my other hand. If the water is choppy I feel (and am sure I look) like I am bull riding in a rodeo. (when he is not cleaning, Mike has discovered a channel on TV that is 24 hour westerns, so that analogy came easily to me!) Today while out on the dinghy we saw 5 dolphin, all together. They never jumped out of the water, like when they followed our boat wake, but gracefully arched up so we could see their fins.

I've started going to water aerobics every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at the pool here at the marina. It's quite a good workout, and the fringe benefit is listening to everyone talk about things to do, and good places to go eat. Mike and Greg get their info every morning at 9 am. They turn on our boat radio and listen to the community of boaters anchored out in Boot Key Harbor as they talk about items for sale, ask for help with mechanical problems, and report on which guitarist/singer/band is going to be at which tiki bar that week. The hour-long session usually ends with trivia.

In the small world category, we ran into fellow Ionians Rich and Paula Geldhof at a marina close by where the majority of Loopers stay while in Marathon. They are not looping, just here on their sailboat for a few weeks of vacation. They are docked next to Mark and Karen from Captain's Choice, who we sadly said good-bye to as they left Marathon to slowly work their way up the east coast of Florida and continue on to complete their Loop in New York.

We are excited for March as more friends and family come to visit. And we are squeezing in a trip back home - business for Mike, pleasure for me.