 grandmaR's Marathon Travelogues | | | |
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| Page Views: 3,626 Last Visit to Marathon: February, 2001 I Used To Live Here | 2001 Feb 2-4 A Scare in the Keys by grandmaR - last update: Apr 16, 2009 |
| Four big motors on the back of the gofast boat |
The pictures in this narrative were not taken at the time of the incident. |
| East (north) of Marathon 2003 |
Friday, Feb 2, 2001 to Sunday Feb 4, 2001 We get underway a little after 8. There is very little wind. We motor sail and motor. Bob wants to get north of Marathon so that we can get north of Rodriguez Key so that we can get back to the mooring in plenty of time. So he doesn't want to stop at Marathon. We go up to Coco Plum and motor in to anchor, but the ground is very hard and the anchor doesn't set. So we go out and anchor in about 13 feet. It is very rolly. The picture shows the shore of the area where we anchored |
| Coast Guard boat being hauled for repairs in 2002 |
We have dinner and put on the anchor light. The rollyness doesn't really bother me, but it makes Bob's knee (which he wrenched when we came in to Oceanside Marina in Key West) hurt. So he goes out to sit in the cockpit and I have the computer in the cabin to do the planning for tomorrow's trip. It is dark, and we can hear music from shore, so we are playing the radio into the cockpit speakers. |
| non-flash picture of gofast customs boat |
Who Is It? Then a long low boat with three big outboards comes out right to us. They stop and then circle around us and put the spotlight on us. We can't see them. Bob tries out the spotlight that came with the boat and plugs into the pedestal, but it doesn't work (later find that it only runs if the engine is running). Then the boat motors off, and is joined by two more boats, one with no lights. We have been hearing all about Coast Guard intercepting drug traffickers and people smuggling illegal immigrants, so we are concerned. We don't want to be shot in a drug war. |
| Customs boat comes in to Marathon for dinner 2004 |
I call our daughter in Miami on the cell phone, and ask about a phone number for the Coast Guard. But she doesn't have it. I don't want to call on the radio - anyone could listen. Then I remember - I have a Keys phone book. So I look up the number and call the Coast Guard. The people on the boats are now transferring stuff from one boat to another. The CG says they will call me back. |
| The same boat coming in for fuel in the daytime |
About 10:30 I hear a call on the radio, and call the CG again. They tell me that the boats are Customs boats and they are working!!! The top photo and the fourth and fifth pictures were taken of a similar Customs boat to the one that scared us, with FOUR big engines, and the pictures were taken in the evening in January 2004. I took them with a digital camera without flash because I was afraid that they would be upset if I took a flash picture. They did have guns. They were coming in to get dinner where we were eating. This photo is of the same boat the next day at the gas dock. |
Saturday - 2001, February 3 Bob got up early and wanted to leave asap. His knee is still bothering him. We motored north -tried to sail a couple of times, but it was futile. Originally we were going back to Pt. Willie where we anchored on the way down. But I think last night cured Bob of staying at rolley anchorages. So we stopped at Rodriguez Key where we wanted to stop on the way down. There was one boat there when we got there (and when I looked over with binoculars later to see the name of the boat (which was DANS LE VENT) I saw a man with no clothes and no tan lines in the cockpit). Four more boats came in later. Bob said the anchor landed on sand, but didn't appear to set - we were being held more by chain than anything. There are lots of rocks and high spots - depth goes from 8 feet to 6.4 and back almost immediately. We put together the portabote on the deck, and then launch it using the whisker pole. This works well, even though the whisker pole gets hung up. |
| Rickenbacker Causeway bridges 2003 |
Sunday, Feb 4, 2001 We get underway early and motor sail back. We seem to go faster even towing the dinghy. Next: Back to the mooring |
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 Comments for grandmaR about Marathon | | | | |
iandsmith Mon Sep 15, 2008 18:47 UTC
You must spend all of your time in port writing tips! Thank you for sharing - liked the bridge story. | carrottop21 Thu Jun 26, 2008 22:35 UTC
Sparkeys has a great happy hour on Thursday and Fridays. Beers are cheap and there is music. | Jim_Eliason Mon Aug 6, 2007 14:41 UTC
great page! | hammersc Wed Mar 7, 2007 19:01 UTC
The Keys Fisheries is well known up here in Toronto. I have had a craving for a lobster reuben since my stay in the Keys. We sat at a picnic table overlooking the gulf and washed down the Reuben with a few Key West Lagers, the overall experience was 5*. |
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