As part of my preparations in Chattanooga over two months ago, I had stored an eight-foot inflatable dingy in the bottom of my storage locker. I also had packed a 3.5 horsepower outboard motor to power it. When we arrived in Marathon one of our first chores was to liberate the little boat from the locker and assemble it. It has worked very well, but it is just enough trouble that you think twice about every trip away from the mother ship.
With 300 boats in this harbor, each with their own dinghy, the management of all those little boats is a major issue. I was not surprised when the marina here asked to see the registration for Agaliha. I WAS surprised when they asked to see the registration documents for my dinghy. Fortunately, I had them. I also received a dinghy tag that had to be displayed on the little boat so that they would know I was entitled to one of the many "dinghy docks" at the marina.
Another major consideration "on the mooring ball" is that we have no electricity or water. We don't need much electricity, except for our freezer/refrigerator. It runs off of the batteries, as long as I recharge the batteries each day. I can do this with the engine or with a little portable generator that I brought for that purpose. Lack of attention to this could lead to spoiled food, or worse yet, warm beer and warm martinis.
We also have to be very aware of how much water we use. Agaliha had full tanks when we arrived here -- which is 90 gallons of water. We go ashore each morning to shower in the marina's shower house to conserve our ship's water for dishwashing and drinking. Ninety gallons sounds like a lot until you spend a week on a mooring ball.
Also, there is no WiFi or television signal here. Marathon is far enough from Miami that you can't get direct television signals and, of course, there is no cable to our "boat-island." The marina building has a big "Day Room" with several televisions, so we pass by them a couple of times a day to see what's going on in the world.
All of this would be bad enough in good conditions. It has been made even more challenging by the howling east wind that has been with us since shortly after we arrived. For four days the wind has blown all night and all day at 20 to 30 miles an hour. This makes a dinghy ride a small version of the flume ride at Lake Winnepesauka. The wind and chop sprays water on everything in the dinghy, especially the humans.
The wind and waves also make it very exciting when you are getting on and off of your boat. Yesterday when we were returning to the boat late in the afternoon, John misjudged his handhold and went unceremoniously into the drink. Fortunately, he had put his smart phone in a zip-lock baggie before we started out. He warned me to do the same thing and I did.
The forecast says that the wind will subside starting tomorrow. The slang for this among the sailors here is, "The wind is going to lay down tomorrow." Whatever the terminology...I'm ready for it. (I know sailors shouldn't complain about the wind, but...)
This frothed-up harbor also makes it harder to be sociable. We took a very wet dinghy ride on our second day in the harbor to find Walt, who used to keep his 42-footer next to me at Gold Point Marina in Chattanooga. He left about three years ago. We had a great visit and it was one more reminder how small the world is.
Some boats come to this harbor and live on a mooring ball all winter. There are lots of Canadian flags flying and many boats have homeports of Michigan and New England states. Snowbirds. This is a very inexpensive way to live in a warm climate. In fact, some of the boats look like they haven't moved in years. Other boats are sitting here waiting on a weather window to head east to the Bahamas or north to Miami and beyond on the Atlantic seaboard.
As they wait, there are some unusual solutions that have arisen to solve the social communication challenges. The first is called "The Cruiser Net." It is a hosted radio broadcast on VHF Channel 68, where all kinds of information is exchanged. There are discussions about the weather and windows for destinations. There are opportunities for boats to "buddy up" -- travel together to the next port. The broadcast ends with a "swap shop" where boaters trade and sell stuff to each other. There are some expensive electronic items and there is a lot of junk. John and I joked that we were going to advertise our Sunday newspaper on Monday for sale -- "read only once!"
The other solution is a bunch of duct-taped lawn chairs under a tropical tree on the edge of the parking lot, lovingly referred to as "The Tree of Knowledge." We have passed by it many times and overheard some interesting conversations. Lots of sailing talk, and lots of social policy talk -- taxes, health care and politics. We haven't had the nerve to sit down yet.
The "Tree of Knowledge"
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