As you know we arrived in Marathon a couple days early so as not to be out during an upcoming storm. It stormed, but since we booked, we were secure. The spot we were given certainly didn’t meet my expectations. We were at the very east end of the harbor, maybe a mile from where I moored this spring and actually right next to the Publix supermarket. There were 6 other boats along the wall, many in some state of disrepair. The dock space was littered with boat stuff – dinghies, davits, radar arches, etc. There was a big crane on a barge and two other barges that listed terribly. This basin is 5oo yards from the Sombrero pool, bath facilities and laundry. The slip was plenty wide – probably 30 feet so even tying up was problematic. All told, I wasn’t all that happy with the facilities. But the power was clean, the two boys next to us were good and interesting, the other facilities in the harbor were even more expensive, this location is as secure as anywhere I have been and the location is as convenient to shopping, etc as any, so after mellowing a bit waiting for the weekend to pass I was able to meet with an owner and we eventually came to an arrangement. He has big plans for the place (don’t we all?), but so far they appear to be only plans. Oh, except for the crane, barges and 4 roll off dumpsters on the property. We considered a mooring ball (far less money), but we will be driving back to IN for Christmas and we have a bunch of stuff in the fridges that would need to either go or we would need for someone to come out and run the generator. That’s too much to ask of anyone. So here we are.

We settle into this semi resort living. It is a little cool for this time of year, so no pool and no beach time. We slowly generate a list of boat chores and first on my list is changing the oil in the mains. After doing this a couple times, I am much better at it than my first attempt and the eighteen or so quarts of black liquid is sucked out and put into containers for disposal. I still send in samples of the old oil for analyses. I may stop this practice soon as the Amsoil is working and all parameters come back in the very good category.

There is a cruisers’ net each morning on the VHF where many of the hundreds of boats in the area tune in and learn who has just arrived, what’s happening in the area an so forth. There is also a buy-sell-trade portion where I hear of a aluminum bike with aluminum rims being sold for $60.00. Seems to have a lot of interest. It is rainy, but I find my rain coat and jump in the dinghy to find the mooring ball where the sellers are. I get there first and buy the bike sight unseen. I figure I could sell it tomorrow if needed. Well it isn’t quite as advertised, but close. It is a Trek and has a new seat, new tires and new brake cables. It really needs new shift cables and some good cleaning and major adjusting. Brenda actually rode it first – from the City marina to the boat. She will attest, it really needs adjusting, especially the brakes. You know I had a bike of one sort or another since was maybe 6, but I really never worked on one. No better time to learn than now. There are two older sailboats next to us, each with a 30 something semi itinerate guy on board. One of them is a bike freak, how convenient. The shift cables are pretty much frozen so only one of the 24 gear combinations is functional. I get ready to ride down to a bike shop to buy some cables, but first we break out the folding bikes (known as clown bikes since they have small wheels). These are a little small for me, but they fit Brenda well. The one speed on the Trek and still maladjusted brakes get us to the store and back. John, the bike freak, comes over and pretty much takes over the initial replacement. We soon learn that in addition to frozen cables, the shifters are mucked up. But, he has a spare set of shifters and brake levers and he gives them to me!! What a sweetheart. We get the rear cable and shifter on. John shows me how to adjust the derailleur and I am nearing heaven. The bike is far better now. The front brake lever he gave me has a broken screw. My screw extractors are all at home, but I find the first use for the two torx screwdrivers that came in the set I have. I am able to get the screw out, but I need to find another. Brenda and I ride back to the bike shop. They have none (it takes a metric aluminum screw - pretty rare). The technician suggests a hardware some 6 miles from the bike shop, so we head off in that direction. Nice store, but no aluminum metric screws. I do buy a Stainless one and some anti seize and we head back to the boat. The front systems are repaired with only a few swear words uttered and the bike is running good. She still is a bit beat up, but should do fine. Eventually I get some solvent cleaner to clean some of the crud off the gears, a pump, a lock and a handlebar water bottle holder and I have a great island ride. All I need now are the legs to power her and a butt that can stand up to the saddle (so to speak).

The Boot Key Harbor crowd is interesting and a bit eclectic. Yesterday, I heard it likened to a trailer park. There are several opportunities to meet your neighbor, some planned some spontaneous. There are perhaps 500 boats in and around the harbor right now, about 150 on moorings, at least that many in the various marinas 50 or 60 in long term anchorage and a hundred or more local boats in the canals connected to the harbor. All are welcome to join the ubiquitous cruisers net every morning at 0900 on channel 68. .This seems to be a spontaneous offer from the community to greet new folks, say goodbye to those traveling on, find out the local scoop, sell whatever you no longer want (actually not legal to conduct business on the VHF) and so on. However, lying just below the surface of the conversations are the axes people carry around to grind. They can be political, commercial, but rarely philosophical. There are a few commercial interests in the harbor who always get their message out. Now if one needs this service it is certainly a benefit, but their axe seems to be nearly ground down to a nub. And it is obvious the rules that apply to others do not apply to these commercial interests. Everyone who reads this knows I don’t mind sharing my views on nearly any topic, but I can’t see myself broadcasting them to anyone whether they want to hear it or not.

Boaters are notoriously cheap (no doubt because it takes all of ones assets to maintain one of these floating money pits). This becomes even more obvious in paradise, where life is generally more expensive. When a true bargain is available, whether it is broadcast on the buy, sell trade portion of the net or a local establishment has a sale, the bargain seekers flock in. One of the best examples of this is the Wednesday "meet and greet". This is an opportunity organized by a cruiser where everyone is supposed to bring something edible to share and you spend the evening meeting your neighbors and enjoying good cheer. We went to one and it was well attended. Most folks come in groups and stay to that group so if you want to meet someone you must have the initiative, but the most interesting sub set are the power eaters. They are the people who bring a bag of chips and a very big plate. I saw several plow through the line as people were setting up and then get back in line with a full plate eating as the line moved forward. Thry refill and do it all over again. Guess they were hungry and they certainly know how to implement a plan. There is also a cocktail hour celebration at the resort with which we affiliate. I think it meets nearly every evening and we stopped by there once. This is a smaller group of mostly septa and octogenarians. Food is brought only on Sundays, but in this situation one person didn’t know the rules and brought some dip and crackers. Oh my, all I could see were elbows and bald heads! We may go back this Sunday with a camera. The pool at the resort is nice, but unheated. I slipped in the other to do a few laps and the temp was maybe 70. No laps, just a serious case of shrinkage. Oh My God, I think it is permanent… There is a water aerobics class a couple times a week. I hope they have a defib unit available. Mercy that was cold. However, the chairs are great for lounging and Brenda is in heaven there.

All told life is good. The boat list (chores, things that are necessary and some that are not) waxes and then wanes as we tackle the items on it and find others that that end up on the list. We ride around the island finding the points of interest – the parks, the beach, restaurants, movie theater, etc. We dinghy around the harbor looking at the boats and meeting folks. This has become our best way of meeting people. There are some mighty fine examples of watercraft and there are some that don’t look to float all that well. We have attended a couple "Bahamas bound" meetings. These are a relatively impromptu group of folks most of whom will be traveling east this season. Mostly is a few folks telling others what they think is right. Most of it probably is, but much of it is simply chatter. A few items seem clear, communication is a key item. Cell phone minutes are expensive ($2.00/minute), there is no VHF weather, but WiFi is generally available in the towns. Many boaters, mostly sail boaters use a SSB radio for listening to weather and some use it for ship to ship communication and email. That probably won’t work for us as the units are large and expensive to purchase and install ($5000+). We may get a moderate shortwave receiver so we can at least get weather reports. Satellite phones are intriguing, but at $1000+ to purchase and a buck forty per minute, I’m not sure it is right for us. So, WiFi (with Skype) near the towns, cell phone near a tower and a moderate SW receiver along with whatever we can get from other cruisers on the VHF will be our communication plan. We did learn other things, like Bimini is the best place to check in, the Berry islands are the berries, Nassau should be avoided unless you really need something and the Exumas are a great place to hang. We may be getting close to a plan.

We decorated TBBG for the holidays. I rescued a snow shovel from the canal. Why was a snow shovel in the canal? Who knows? But you must admit, it is the best place for a snow shovel. So the family with me dressed in my best lobster hat posed for some pictures. Afterwards, the shovel was returned to the canal for more resting…. We will be traveling back to IN for the holiday, so this is the last log for 2008. Sure has been a good year for us, hope is was just as good for you.