Marathon Outside ... 2/5/11

Leaving Rock Harbor at high tide and heading to Marathon.  This is 50 miles by car and maybe a couple more by boat.  At around 2pm I lost all momentum.  The tides through one of the channels and a wind change put me down to a crawl. Time to let Mercury and his winged feet help out.

40 footer going north

The sun passing Mercury

I do believe Mercury has lost with 5 more miles to Marathon.

Marathon, Boot Key Harbor outside anchorage, I was hopping Pappy was a little more for my liking on this anchorage.  I was arriving after dark and only a "Gotta do it" attitude made things work.  The markers for the channel face 90 degrees to my entry so instead of nice green or red reflections I had a darker shadow from the shore and a light shadow from the water.  I proceeded until I felt it was the best place I could pick at this time.  Boot key harbor is crowded on the best day and I didn't want to enter without prior knowledge of the channel and anchorage.  I left the depth alarm on just in case I drifted and would have some chance not to go a ground.  This was a restless night as the tides pulled the boat north and south and the winds blew it like a rocking chair from the west.  When I awoke for sure I was only a hundred yards away from the channel and 75 yards away from a sailboat that didn't keep off the shore some time ago.