We left Newfound Harbor for Marathon this morning after a very gentle and uneventful night (this was the location of the 'anchor dragging incident'). We like uneventful. As a matter of fact, we love uneventful!
What an absolutely gorgeous day! This is what we came sailing for! High 70's, bouncy (but not too bouncy) seas, the sea a beautiful blue and a green sea that you could look straight through to the bottom of. This is exactly the type of sailing that we ADORE! It was perfect!
As we got closer to Marathon, we heard people calling the City Marina there and, oh no, being told they didn't have ANY mooring balls. Now normally this would not be an issue, but there's a cold front coming on Friday with 20-25 knot winds. Now normally this would not be an issue, but Marathon's Boot Key Harbor is crowded, actually packed, with boats. It's bumper to bumper (or fender to fender) boats. They have 225 mooring balls and every one is taken. We know from having been there before that all of the spaces which don't have mooring balls are already filled with anchoring boats or are too shallow to anchor in. In Boot Key Harbor if there isn't a boat there, there's a reason! No room at the inn!
This called for a change in plans. I got on the phone and prepared to make calls to all the local marinas to see if there was any chance at getting a slip. We lucked out! The first one we called had a slip for us!
So we zipped (or motored in a slow, but stately manner) up to Marathon to get situated before the storm. Before entering the slip we made a fuel dock stop with an enormous, monster power boat riding right on our stern. We had called in and they told us to go to the dock, but that power boat must have thought he was going first. He left us almost no space in the channel and sat right off our side revving his bow thrusters. One thing I have learned on this trip is to pay no attention or to get stressed by what other boaters want to do, I focus on my own boat - that's enough!
After a successful fuel docking, we 'backed' out of the channel. Please note, this is a serious accomplishment in a Morgan - when backing, they have minds of their own and where they go has no relationship to the direction in which you are turning the wheel! Next step was to find the slip. 'Oh dear, do you really think we're going to fit this fat boat in that skinny little slip?' No time to think about it, Steve was directing us onward! We fit between the poles and coasted to a stop next to the dock, with only a foot to spare on either side!
That was the end of our Shakedown Cruise (another entry to follow on that topic), two months of using the boat all day, every day, putting it through its paces. We're done! A special sunset toast was in order and celebration to follow! Here at the end of it is the view from our back porch.
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