Thursday we sailed Hawks Channel from Islamorada to Boot Key (Marathon). Hawks Channel is the Atlantic ocean but there is a reef line offshore before it gets deep. The reef does not come above the surface so it does not offer any protection, you just need to know it is there. It is the reefs that everyone snorkels on in Florida. We had good winds again. We have been able to sail since Miami which has been really, really nice. I am so glad that Karen got to actually sail a lot instead of motoring which is a totally different experience.
Upon arriving at Marathon, one of the first things we did was to find AJ and Lisa. AJ and Lisa were the first people who took us under their wing here in Marathon and showed us the ropes. We have kept up with them ever since that first year. It is because of AJ and Lisa that we met Ted and Mili, s/v Morning Glory. AJ and Lisa have just purchased their second Seawind 1000. They are both amazing. For me especially Lisa, I would just like to follow her around with a notebook taking notes. She can do anything and is a wealth of information. When they are not cruising she works for West Marine, infact she is working part time at West Marine now. She told me about two products I had no knowledge of so I will pass it on….303 which is a UV protector she said we should apply two times a year to our tramp and and Plexus for glass. I intend to quiz her more and will pass on the information. She also told me that the sticky glue from the velco I had first used to attach the bug screen will dry and you can use a plastic razorblade to get it off. Just a word…..be very careful about using self adhesive anything on the boat. It tends to stop working in time and the adhesive separates from the product leaving a mess. Also be very careful with rubber backed rugs. In time if you are in heat the rubber will adhere to the surface of your boat and it is very hard to get off. Finding rugs that do not have a rubber back is hard. I still use them but I make sure I take them up fairly often. We left a rug down in the salon when we left the boat in Brunswick and the rubber back has attached itself to the deck and we are playing heck getting it up.
But back to Marathon. We found out from AJ and Lisa that the couple that bought the Allons-Y ( currently named Windfall) is coming to Marathon for a couple of days. The Allons-Y was the Seawind 1000 we rented for our honeymoon and a couple of other times. We all met up for dinner at Burdine’s which is a seafood restrauant under the bridge.
Rusty found the restrooms interesting!
They had other facilities!
We took the dinghy to Burdines and the sunset was spectacular!
A good way to get that tape residue (from self-adhesive anything) is WD-40 — we’ve found it works on virtually everything and is faster, easier and much cheaper than anything else we’ve tried.
I wrote about it in the context of getting stickers off stuff, but it works for all sorts of stuff:
http://theboatgalley.com/stickers-buy/
-Carolyn
Awesome…..I’ll try it on the stuck rubber as well…..thanks!