Still in Marathon...into Week #3

Day #145; Loop Miles to Date = 1,751

It's interesting how things work out.

When we first planned our visit to Marathon, we figured we'd want to be here for a month. Then we changed it to 3 weeks when our arrival was delayed by a bit. Then, when we first got here, we thought that we might cut that short and stick around for less than 2 weeks. Now, here we sit and in a couple of days it will have been 3 weeks, and we likely won't get out of here until after that day passes. So...it looks like our first guess on time spent here turned out to be about right.

The weather has turned really, really nice the past few days, and that has encouraged some of the folks who have been here much of the winter to head out and venture northward...including our friends on California Lady earlier today. It's been great spending time with them, and we look forward to catching up to them somewhere "up the road" before too long. For us, it's wonderful to enjoy the light winds and warm temps. Today, we left the dock for the first time since arriving, and went snorkeling out at Sombrero Reef...only about 5 miles from our marina. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and we thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation.

We don't have a bunch of photos to share...we just haven't been very focused on snapping pics of day to day life here. Of note since our last posting, we have:

• Taken Lola to the vet to get a check-up and to get some blood work done...nothing serious we hope. We should find out tomorrow.
• Taken Kikie to the groomer to get a haircut...frankly not a great one, but she should be much more comfortable now that she is clipped.
• Acquired a second fold-up bike so that now both of us can ride at the same time instead of taking turns. We've both gotten a fair bit of exercise, as the Publix is 2 miles away, and one of us ends up there about every other day. Sandy has also ventured further in both directions from the marina, logging a couple of 6 or 7 mile jaunts. (A bit more exercise than it sounds like since these bikes are not really full sized.)
• Celebrated Sandy's birthday...thanks to all for the cards and best wishes.
• Had a ball playing a card/board game called Jokers, with our friends on California Lady and Act III.
• Toured the Turtle Rescue Center...this was fascinating and we do have a couple of pics of this outing.
• Confirmed that it is dangerous to have a West Marine right across the street from your marina. We've made way too many trips there to purchase stuff for the boat!

The Turtle Rescue Center rescues turtles from all over the Keys. Of the 7 turtle species found worldwide, 5 of them can be found in the Keys.

This is a Green Turtle, the most prevalent species found here. If we remember correctly it's being treated for tumors, a rather common ailment.



And this little guy is a Loggerhead...not so common around here. These guys grow to be 300 lbs, and live for 50 or more years. This specimen was only about 10 lbs or so...we can't recall why he was at the facility.

All for now...we'll probably post again when we are on the move. Next direction for us is back up the Keys towards Miami, backtracking a bit of ground that we have already covered. And, we are headed back to Stuart Yacht Builders...one of the repairs that we had attended to needs some additional fine tuning (our rudder seal again). Nothing serious, but we'd like to get it corrected before we venture too much further. It should not be a major undertaking, but we will likely be there for a day or two.