Marquesa is on the move!

Yesterday, Pastor Bob and Marcia Pavey met us at the dock at 10:00am to join us for a sail.  We moved Marquesa from Banana Bay to her summer/fall home this year on the canal next door to Dave and Diane, Donnie's sister.  This was our last time to sail under the Seven Mile Bridge for this season.  We didn't get to sail nearly as much as we had hoped with all of our Bessie troubles this year.  We are praying that the major B.O.A.T. expenses are behind us, and next year we can get back to doing some major cruising- as in out of the country :)

The picture simply does not do the colors justice.  The water on the Straights of Florida side looked electric.  There was a beautiful southerly wind that had us up to 8 knots several times.  This boat looked to be headed to Key West, or the Dry Tortugas, or even further beyond.  Not gonna lie, I was jealous that there adventure was just beginning.

It was Ms. Marcia's first time sailing, and her first time out on the ocean since she and Pastor moved down to Islamorada this past July.  We'll see to it to get them on the water more often next year.  It was a red-letter day...was dolphins, two loggerhead turtles. a nurse shark and a spotted eagle ray.  God was putting on a show today!  We had a ball :)

As we turned in to the channel at Sister's Creek, Pastor Bob took the helm, and Cap'n took down the sails for the last time.  He had a sad face.

We had lunch at Burdine's, and the Pavey's enjoyed watching the boats going in and out of Boot Key Harbor.  This was one of several crab fisherman we saw bringing in all of their gear.  The snow crab season has been dismal, and many are simply giving it up early.  There was even a story about it on The Weather Channel a few weeks ago.  They filmed the story at Keys Fisheries right here in Marathon.

We had to order a deep fried key lime pie for us all to share.  Only the best. key. lime. pie. ever.  They agreed!

We took our time going through Boot Key Harbor, so they could enjoy all of the boats and beautiful homes.  We even made a quick pass by Sombrero Beach here in Marathon, before we headed Marquesa up the canals to her new home.  The sun was shining, and it was HOT, but there were threatening clouds over on the Gulf side.  Bob and Marcia and Ken offered to help us get the sails off Marquesa and folded up while they were good and dry.  You don't realize how big they are until you have them all laid out!  You don't dare step on them either, as they are SLIPPERY!

It took all of us to get them neatly folded and back into the sail bag.  (Ken really did help, lol)

At about 6pm, we were HOT and BEAT, so we headed to Banana Bay for our last time in the pool.  Sad faces.

And then we caught our last Florida sunset for the season.

We bid our good byes to Thud, and Dan & Biddi.  Gert and Bernie even stopped by to say good bye.  Donnie also sold a gas can and fuel line to another boater since we no longer needed it with our new dinghy.  Yay, gas money to get home ;)

After sunset, we visited with Kenny and Fran for a bit, and they fed us ice cream.  We called it an early night, as we had a big day in store for us today doing the final preparations, cleaning, and packing.  It is a huge job to get everything off the boat, cleaned, stored, 'summerized', etc. 

Donnie had to make a run to Home Depot for lag bolts and supplies...when he jumped off the boat this morning, the dock caved in.  Great!  Fortunately, the Cap'n hat is retired for another year, and the Mr. Fix It hat got put back on a few days early.  I did all I could do down below to clean Marquesa up good.  The fridge is cleaned and turned off, the A/C was flushed with fresh water and the sea cock was closed, the head was bleached down for the last time, and the holding tank was treated with the enzymes.  The dinghy, cushions, sail bags and such are all stowed below, and all of the linens have been laundered and are vacuum sealed until next year. I have an army supply of Damp Rid all over the cabin, and a fan was kept on to circulate the air.  I have two prayers....one, that it is an uneventful hurricane season this summer and fall in the Keys.  The other is that I have NO CRITTERS get into Marquesa while we are gone.  I have been hearing tales of palm rats that has me a bit freaked out.  I. hate. all. vermin. 

And that is that.  This evening we are meeting Diane and Dave, and Kenny and Fran, at Brutus' for our last burger here in the Keys.  We'll stay with Kenny and Fran tonight, gather up a Willis T. Cat, and start the two day drive back home to our log cabin in the woods.  It's always bittersweet leaving...I'm sad to go, but anxious to get home to the kids and grandkids.  For now we need to get home and get working, so we can replenish the cruising kitty for next year.

Thank you ALL for following along on Sailboats and Kitty Litter.  Thank you for your prayers and encouragement, too.  For now, I am signing off, but we'll be back for more on 12/26/2013.  G'bye, y'all!