March 28 – April 2, Marathon FL
Anchoring out in the bay for a long period of time is an usual experience for us – and some boaters live aboard full time this way, and visitors to the area do it for months at a time.
First the battery power for the refrigerator was insufficient – so we needed to run the generator for a few hours morning and evening (which is a bit noisy and not our favorite thing to do). After a few more days we realized that we needed ice to help out and fortunately they have an ice machine at the marina. For $2 we could get enough ice to fill a large (canvas) shopping bag. It brought me back to growing up and camping with my family in the Adirondacks! That ice machine was very busy with so many boats in the harbor.
We have water tanks that hold 150 gallons and only ran out of water once the entire trip when we were held up due to flooding and engine trouble in the Rideau in Canada. This time we knew we were running low and so we conserved water in new ways to avoid moving the boat to shore and filling up again. (We knew we’d get to a marina soon). So we washed dishes and hands in the melted ice water and put a bag over the faucet to remind ourselves not to use it. (We needed the remaining water for flushing!) It worked and we didn’t run out.
But the beauty of being on this protected bay is the cool breezes and friendly boaters continually going back and forth in their dinghies to get provisions, do laundry, take showers, etc. The marina includes a large hall with many tables and outlets so people can sit and read, work and charge up their laptops and phones and use the marina wi-fi. They also have loaner bikes that we were going to borrow to go to Home Depot but there was only one available. A boater heard us talking and offered to give us a ride while her husband labored on their taxes at the table next to us. We gratefully accepted – and that’s boaters for you! After getting what we needed we saw another boater friend shopping and he gave a ride back. How about that!
Some additional harbor shots – the colorful one is on the outside deck with beautiful mural in the background. Note the busy dinghy docks – so many dinghies since there are 150+ boats in the bay..
Wandering Star 