Marathon Marina and Boat Yard for a month!

What a contrast from the Everglades! Along with Bama Bell, we carefully steered through the crab traps as if through a mine field. Snagging a crab trap could stop one of our propellers and leave us running on one engine. The crab trap lines were at times floating lines, which made the area to avoid even larger. The chart plotter was a godsend as the shoals around Marathon are significant and we were looking for the entrance to Vaca Key, where Marathon is located as one enters Boot Harbor.

Marathon Marina is a small Marina with a working Boat Yard. Marathon Marina has the best view of the sunset in Marathon, so we are fortunate to enjoy the sunsets each evening. The sunset pictures are from our comfy seats on the bridge, as we enjoy drinks and appetizers with our fellow loopers or visiting friends and family.

Marathon also has a City maintained marina and mooring field with 260 mooring balls. A boater uses a boat hook to pick up a line and run a line through the ring and secure it to the boat. This is a huge mooring field. Most residents are sailboaters and they run their dinghy to the dock to use the facilities. Quite a picture to see a hundred dinghies tied to the dock!

We love the boat specialties stores along the way. Here is a picture of the "organization" of the store in Marathon. Jim was lucky as he was hunting for a wiper for Crawdad. Would you believe the store owner listened intently to Jim and walked to one of the shelves, climbed on a box and brought down a wiper for a Grand Banks! It fit perfectly!

The manatees call the Marina their home and are floating around the boat most warm days. One day we enjoyed a mother with a new baby. They like fresh water, but we try to avoid giving it to them as it causes them to float and they are more susceptible to being hit by boats.

The picture of the classic yacht is 102 foot Freedom from Newport Beach. There is no more beautiful sight than a perfectly maintained classic yacht. I was out with the kayak and took this picture. Cruising the mangroves is an interesting way to investigate the area.