An easy "run" to Marathon

Not wanting Dory to have another tension filled day, we put the dinghy down at day break and took her ashore at a restaurant (Mandalay's) dock for her morning duties.

We were greeted by this white heron as we approached the dock.  He had no intention of breaking his vigil on our account and stood watch as we entered and left the small harbor.

The anchor was up and we were on our way by 8 AM. We were surprised that not as many of our neighbors left at or before daybreak for a Gulf Stream crossing as we had expected.

The breeze was very light and just far enough off the bow to allow us to roll out the jib to steady the ride.  It didn't do all that much for speed, but we made a respectable 7+ knots most of the day.

By midday we were off the Islamorada coast and managed to spot Patrick and Carolynne's home.  I was able to use "street view" on Google Maps to verify we had the right place.  Their house has the blue awnings just to the right of the large white roof.

The rest of the trip to Marathon was easy - - - except we felt right at home dodging crab/lobster traps for the rest of the day!  Dan dipped (the most accurate way to tell how much fuel we need)the fuel tank as we turned toward Marathon.  It was a little before 3 PM when we pulled up to the fuel dock at the Marathon Marina for 25 gallons...dock hands are always so thrilled to see such a big sale arrive!  We headed right back out the entrance channel and dropped the hook in 9 feet of water right near the seven mile bridge.

We watched this schooner head out of Marathon to drift about so customers could experience a sunset cruise.  The beginning of the seven mile bridge is barely visible in the background.

Tomorrow we'll head on down (actually it's almost due West) to Key West and wait to see when we can do the overnight trip to Fort Myers.  It's a quiet night here even though we aren't in a protected spot.  ~~~_/)~~~M&D