Out and About

As the work was complete at the Marathon Boat Yard, it was time to return to our mooring ball. In order to do this Captain Mark had to turn the Lolligag around and exit the narrow crowded channel back to City Marina. We go through all of our standard exit maneuvers and in my headset I hear Mark say “The bow thruster is not working”. This is a major concern for two reasons: first with boats stacked up on both walls of the narrow marina, Captain Mark could have most definitely used the bow thruster to assist in turning around. Secondly, this is a major component on the boat and should not be malfunctioning.

Calmly and with great ease, Captain Mark turned the boat around without the use of the bow thruster and with nary a screech of panic from me or butterfly in my stomach. This deserves major kudos for Captain Mark because as crew members Jerry and Taras can attest, I have not always been the calmest deck monkey. Captain Mark handles the Lolligag so well now that I have learned to relax and allow him to do whatever needs to be done. I am totally confident that he will get us where we need to go safely and without incident.




We needed fuel ($4.49 a gallon), so while at the fuel dock we checked to see what was wrong with the bow thruster. The bow thruster area is located under our bed in the stateroom which is where I also store yarn. It appears that when we took a bag of yarn out of storage yesterday that we inadvertently tripped the activation switch for the bow thruster. This was easily fixed, much to our great relief.

Since we were out and about, we decided to venture out into the Atlantic to see the seas. The area between the shore and the reef that parallels the Keys about five miles out is called Hawk’s Channel. As one travels north from the Keys there are two options available. You can travel in the Atlantic Ocean via Hawk’s Channel or take the Gulf side of Florida via the Intracoastal Waterway.

So it was that we were in Hawk’s Channel today. The wind was from the east at about 12-17 mph with waves of 3-5 feet. As we traveled northeast and with the waves hitting us pretty much dead on, we were being tossed around way more than we prefer. I made the mistake of going below to make sure that all was secure. Since the waves were coming over the bow, we had all the portholes and the doors closed making the boat extremely hot. While I pride myself on never getting seasick, I lingered too long in the heat and stuffy area of the stateroom. I was not seasick as much as overheated and lightheaded so I laid down on the salon couch for a few minutes. At this point, Captain Mark has decided that we have seen enough of the Atlantic for today and we turned around to head back to Marathon. As soon as we turned around, it was miraculous…now the waves were on our stern. Boat speed went from 7 to 9 knots and we glided through the water like sliding on glass. I was able to open the doors and immediately felt better with the ocean breeze cooling me down. If the winds continue to be from the east, we will take the ICW north from Marathon when we leave on Sunday headed to Plantation Key.