3-30 to 4-5 Key West to Vaca Key (Marathon)

By the time we got to Marathon we felt absolutely filthy and decided to splurge and go to a marina for a couple of nights and get cleaned up. We had been at anchor for seven weeks, with the exception of 2 nights in Venice and 2 nights in Ft. Meyers. The last time we were at a dock was February 22, 5 weeks ago! The salt and humidity that last week in Key West really put us over the edge. John and Debbie (Wanderlust) recommended the Sombrero Marina so we went there.

I had given the inside of the boat a good cleaning on the ride to Marathon. We washed the sheets, towels and clothes at the marina laundry while having dinner the first night (the restaurant and laundry are conveniently right next to each other), and when I woke up the next morning in a clean boat with clean clothes, clean sheets and having had a full length shower the night before it was just heaven! Plus the marina had cable!We met our neighbors Frank and Joan, who owned property in Apsley Ontario, a rural area in Canada where our summer cottage is. Small world!

The outside of the boat needed a bath too, and that was the job for the next day. A dinghy went by, and John and Ara (from Everglades City) stopped over to say hello! They, as well as Tabby and Barry, had been in Marathon a few weeks. We decided to get together the next night.

While Dave was washing the transom I heard him yell “Hey, Warren!” Time Out (traveled with us from Pittsburgh to Tennessee) was pulling in 3 slips down from us! Really small world! April 1st was Warren’s 60th birthday and we invited him and Layla to join our party the next night.

It was incredibly hot and humid in Marathon, so just sitting in the boat with air conditioning and watching TV for a couple of days was a joy. The boats near us were very friendly, 3 of them offered us their cars! And they were nice cars! Diet coke, Miller Lite and some decent white wine were on sale at the near by grocery store so we stocked up. 2 nights turned into 5, and finally we just decided to go for the marina’s weekly rate. The absolute fabulousness of being clean, cool and having cable are not fully appreciated by land lubbers. Plus it was great to see Warren and Layla again.