Moving on to Marathon and A Word about our Boat!

Stock Island Marina

2/3   Last few days in Key West
    We toured Key West one last time, this time on our bicycles!  We have these really cool bikes that fold up and can be stored on our boat.  They even have 5 gears!  We rode on the beach side and stopped for lunch.  It was Super Bowl Sunday so it was pretty crowded.  People were already claiming their bar stools to watch the big game!  We ended up watching it on the boat.
     Karl received his order of an anemometer, which is a weather station that measures the wind speed and wind direction.  It also monitors rainfall, temperature and barometric pressure and several other things.  It is a "smart weather station," connecting wirelessly.  He has always wanted one, so he was pretty excited to install it.  He mounted it on the roof of the boat and the display console sits inside the boat.  I think it will be another helpful and fun tool to have on the boat for determining the weather.
     We ended up liking Stock Island Marina, despite hearing the loud navy F-18 Fighter jets flying over the island every day.   The Naval Air Station is a training facility for combat fighter aircraft. This is where the pilots learn to land the jets on big carrier ships.   It was kind of cool seeing them fly so low and in formation, made us think of watching the Blue Angels flying out of Pensacola, which is very close to our home port of Sandestin, Florida.

Mackie and Salty on the front of the boat

2/4 - 2/5       A Word About Our Boat
    We departed Stock Island Marina to go to the Marlin Bay Yacht Club in Marathon, still in the Keys.  It is a distance of about 41 miles, the weather was nice but cloudy.  Seas were calm.
     We have a 50 foot Mikeleson sports fisherman boat with twin Cummins QSC 540 horsepower inboard engines.  We have had this boat for 11 years and used to fish a lot.  It is also very comfortable to cruise on.  Our tanks hold 1000 gallons of diesel fuel.  Cruising speed is about 20 knots and at that speed it burns 40 gallons per hour! A little math:  If we go that fast, it will only get 0.5 nautical miles per gallon, which can get quite expensive!  When we slow down, say to 7.5 knots, it uses about 6 gallons per hour and we get about 1.25 nautical miles per gallon, extending our range to about 1100 miles.  Much more reasonable cost wise, but it takes longer to get someplace!
     We decided to go slow since we now have the time.  This trip of 41 miles took us about 5 and 1/2 hours.  It was actually a relief to go slow and enjoy the day,  eating lunch on the boat and watching the dolphins play.  They will often come up to the boat and jump in our wake.  They always make me smile and I never tire of seeing them.
     We motored on the Atlantic side, then passed under the famous 7 mile bridge to the gulf side to reach our destination marina. This bridge is the longest of the bridges that connect the islands together.  The bridge is undergoing a makeover now, which apparently it needed since it was built so long ago. The bridges were originally built by Henry Flagler as an overseas railroad.
    Marlin Bay Yacht Club is absolutely beautiful.  It is small with only about 40 slips.  the facilities are brand new with condominiums for rental, a very nice pool and clubhouse.  We feel like we are really on vacation! We are off to the pool this afternoon!