Marathon Harbor was crowded. Before we could get out of Marathon, the water pump I had previously repaired, failed again.  That was the last straw. I took the broken plunger plates with me to West Marine on the outside chance they might have the parts.  No Luck ,so I had a machinist make a beefier pair. Then I bought a less expensive ShureFlow model and installed it as our primary fresh water pump.  The repaired pump would be saved as a spare.

That evening we had a celebration.  The wind had clocked  around to the South East.  All of the Sailors now had a good weather window for going to the Bahamas. Jane and Jeff from S/V Cest la Vie came with their friends Sandy and Rick Rodgers on S/V Silver Lining for an extended Hors de Overs and cocktail hour. They left the next day for the Bahamas. We began our trip to Maimi that afternoon.
 

There is a rule that you should not leave Marathon without having Hamburgers at Burdines.  We fueled at their dock, and I went off diet to have the Cheeseburger with Green Chilies.  Rating **** Price $$  Waitress *** LignumVitae Key That afternoon we cruised up Hawks Channel and made the crossing into the Bay side through the Channel Five passage. It was almost dark when we set anchor in the lee of LignumVitae Key.

The next morning we moved from anchor (to one of the free mooring balls furnished by the park. (We were not supposed to have anchored, but we did not know that, nor did we see the moorings the previous night.)

We launched the Sunfish sailboat and spent the morning attempting to circumnavigate LignumVitae Key.
We went ashore at the park rangers HQ and saw the well restored house that served as a museum and their office. The LignumVitae is a tree (literally Tree of Life) which was used for making shaft bearings for propeller shafts on early powerboats. Long cutlass bearings of this wood wears well, and water swollen  wood  made a relatively water tight shaft bearing.

Our circumnavigation was foiled by some very shallow water on  the south side of the island. It was time to move on, so we returned to Remedy and hoisted the sailboat.

As we were leaving I failed to miss a Crab trap. It caught on the port propeller. I dove in with hopes to unwind it from the propeller. I had immediately gone into neutral when it was obvious I would pass over the trap. Nevertheless, the prop continued to turn and the line had made several turns around the prop. After four futile attempts to free it I had to cut the line free.

Islamorada

Our next stop was Islamorada, a mere 6 miles away. The anchorage had about thirty boats. There was plenty of room so I put out the new Fortress and 120 feet of rode.

We went to Lorelai for lunch. It's a funky,friendly place with a great view. We ordered water, a glass of ice and a glass of chardonnay.
        Put a few cubes of ice in the wine.
        Float the smaller glass of wine in a larger glass of ice water to keep it cool.
 

We both had fish dinners. They were kind enough to substitute veggies for the french fries. Veggies can be kind of bland, but, if you lather them up with Tartar Sauce they are really quite tasty.  Rating *** $$ ambiance @@@@ We walked lunch off going to town.    Did some minor  reprovisioning and got back to the boat in time to catch a lovely sunset.

Jewfish Creek

We had not been plugged into shore for over nine days. It was time to do laundry and go celebrate Valentines Day.

The trip to Jewfish Creek took us through the shallowest water we had seen all the trip. In two places we bumped something... probably a sand hummock. The trawler ahead of us left a trail of sand in his wake. It was like "follow the white sandy streak."  The ICW cuts through some narrow and winding passes before you reach Jewfish creek.

Anchorage Resort and Yacht Basin was our destination for the night. It's a small timeshare resort. We had drinks by the pool while the laundry machines did all the work. We met Don and Joan Comiskey from New Jersey and told them about our planned trip. They had lots of tales to tell about the Port Imperial Yacht Basin and the surrounding area. We invited them to come to the 7 day party that would be going on, when we all got there for the Fourth of July. We also met Eli and Belle Shaff from Plano,TX. They keep their ketch sail boat at the Yacht Basin and vacation there often. They were originally Yankees, but are now Naturalized Texans. Lots of fun.

We dressed up and walked over the ICW bridge to have dinner at Gilberts.  The restaurant is under new management by a couple from Germany. The cuisine has a continental flair.  We placed ourselves in Gilbert's hands. He recommended the fish soup for appetizer. Awesome!  Next the broiled seafood platter for two. It had an elegant sauce with a touch of sherry and just the right spices. Superb!

Ready for this Ranking?  **** $$  We did not have room for dessert  so we retired to the boat for brandy and Sattelite TV.

The next day Marion drove the boat almost all of the way to Maimi. While she drove, I took some hand cleaner with pumice in it and scrubbed the marks of many years of usage off the dinghy.  It looks like new.

At the Maimi Stadium anchorage we were greeted by Jack and Betsy Hardy, M/V Antares. They would be our companions for the next several days.