Brrrrr....what happened?!

Willis had himself wedged in the sea berth, on Donnie's guitar,
praying that he was not on a bucking bronco or an angry bull...

Last night was a rough night...very little sleeping going on for us at Banana Bay marina.  We had all of our lines out, all of the fenders out, but the wind was out the the N/NW.  Marquesa faces the Gulf of Mexico, to the north, along the wall, behind Biddi and the Beast.  Generally, the Beast is lead blocker for us, to any incoming waves.  Unfortunately, the waves were building more from the NW, which caught us on the port side, slamming us into the wall...repeatedly....all night long.  We went to bed with the wind a steady 30 knots.  The last time Donnie got up to check the lines, it was over 40 knots, gusting to 50.  The waves were at least 3's which raised us up, and slammed us down over and over again....GEEESH!  It was unnerving to say the least. I thought for sure I would have Willis puke on the bed this morning.  Thankfully, his weenie stomach perservered through the night.  In spite of the continued 30+ winds this morning, he was eager to leap off Marquesa and into the mangroves as soon as the companionway was opened.

We thought we had a rough night, until we stepped out and saw this...

This derelict boat was at anchor, about 300 yards in front of Banana Bay
when we went to bed.  She drug anchor, and ended up aground on a
private beach situated between Banana Bay Marina and Black Fin Marina.

It managed to miss two rock jetties, this private dock, and all of the
 boats in both marinas. Donnie said if it had been his boat, his luck would have
had him hitting everything in sight of any value!  Funny story on this boat, a
homeless man and just been kicked off of it a week or two ago.

So, I looked up salvage rights to derelict boats in FL. You must first report a derelict boat to the local police (I did), and then pay for the investigation for searching the rightful owner (I did not).  If the owner cannot be contacted, or does not respond in the given time frame, then I can also pay to have the title transferred to my name.  It was a $500+ gamble I was not willing to take.  Oh well, it made for interesting conversation on the docks today.

Fortunately, we had no damage at all...it was a miracle...just some
toppled clown bikes and lawn chairs.  My garden survived in the mangroves.

Church today was honestly really good.  Pastor Keith preached his best sermon I've ever heard (it reminded me of MZWC at home).  He really got into the Word today, and it was wonderful.  The music was amazing as always, but today the praise band did How Great Thou Art which was a welcome treat to all the contemporary music normally played.  I left the church a little lighter, in spite of being sleep deprived. My Mom and Paps really enjoyed it, too.  It made for good conversation over our $5.00 lunches at the Hurricane.

We got back to the boat, and Donnie changed the propane tank for me.  It finally had run out.  I wish I had some idea of how many hours I get off that one little tank.  It's amazing, really, for all the cooking and baking that I do in my little galley.  Since he had to get into some compartments in the cockpit, he was feeling industrious and tackled his 'garage'. 

As with any organizing project, it looks infinitely worse before it gets better.

Though the high was only 59 today, and the cold north wind continued to howl, Mom and I decided to tuck ourselves into the pool area as the sun was shining.  I actually got my face a little burnt in the 45 minutes we were out there.  The clouds came up, so I took her for a drive to show her the beach and give her a lay of the land around Marathon.  We ended up at Daffy's, only the best dollar store. ever.
Afterwards, Matt and Karie, Paps, Mom, Donnie and I had a rousing game of dominoes til after the sun went down.  Donnie was the winner tonight :)  We had a good time, but we all scurried to our respective rooms, homes, boats, as it is cold, cold, cold again tonight.  Thankfully the wind has turned out of the N/NE, so it at least is blowing us OFF the dock, rather than into it.  Looking forward to a much needed good night's sleep.  Willis has already claimed our bed. Dern cat.  G'nite all!

PS. Got a text that Mamaw, Dave & Diane have safely landed at MIA, and are now on their way back to Marathon.  It was Reece's first birthday, and they went up to surprise Meg and Jay.  I'm afraid they'll be the ones surprised when they step outside of the airport...brrrrr, it's windy and cold again tonight.