We are now in our final week of our 11 month adventure and it is hard to believe that it is coming to an end. It seems really strange to be preparing the boat for summer storage instead of winter storage. We are newbies at this so we have been trying to gather as much information that we can on the best things to do to prepare your boat for the summer sun, high heat, and hurricane season! The last thing we want is to come back in the fall to a real mess. The sails are now down, the dinghy is out of the water and we continue each day doing a few things towards getting the boat ready for Monday's haul out. This will also be my final blog entry for this season. I have never been a journal keeper or enjoyed writing much so I have to say that I am glad to stop for the next few months! I am proud of myself to have kept it up all year and hope that you all have enjoyed sharing the adventure with us.

We have really enjoyed our time in Marathon and have made some great new friends with whom we have shared some wonderful times with. We had been out to Sombrero Reef 3 different times snorkeling and diving. Once on Euphoria with Rick and Carla and twice on our boat when Leanne came to visit. We had quite the exciting day with Rick and Carla. We had decided to go diving early so that we would be sure to get a mooring ball and also because Rick rented his equipment so we wanted to make sure we had lots of time as the equipment had to be returned by 6 p.m. Rob and Susan from Mandate were also joining us so the boat was very full with 6 people, 3 who had all of their diving equipment and the rest of us with all of our snorkel gear and food etc. We managed to get it all loaded by shortly after 9 a.m. and quickly got off our mooring ball. As we were motoring very slowly out of the harbor and picking our way around all of the other boats, we somehow got into shallow water and you guessed it, grounded ourselves. This was really quite funny as we had often joked about the first time we had talked to Rick and Carla was when they were hard aground along the ICW. After that first day, it seemed everyday that we talked to them or saw them, they were once again on the bottom or had been on the bottom at some point in that day. It got to be a daily ritual and we often joked about it with them so it only seemed right that the first time we went out with them that we were stuck in the muck so to speak. They knew just what to do and there were lots of other boats around to help us out, but no matter what we did or how hard we tried, we just couldn't get free. We had resigned ourselves into thinking that we would have to wait for the next high tide which was about 4 hours away and started to get the cards out when all of a sudden we looked like we were moving and sure enough, we were free at last. Our diving day was not ruined after all and we had a fantastic day even though it was shorter than we hoped for!

Here we all are trying everything we possibly could to get the boat off the bottom!

Bruce (the heaviest) on the boom!

Susan hanging off the side

Highlights of the last month have been a visit for a long weekend by Bruce's daughter Leanne, lunch with some old friends from Naples Stefanie and Jim Curland (Bruce and I worked with Stefanie at Nordair and Canadian and they are now living in Naples Florida), a visit from Bob and Mardi (Salty Lady) who drove down from Nettles Island for a visit and stayed overnight, many potluck dinners with our friends Rob and Susan (Mandate), Norm and Paula (Madame) and Rick and Carla (Euphoria), bocce ball tournaments, baseball games (apparently I was the best 2nd base player they ever had, maybe the years of playing catch with my now brother-in-law finally paid off, who would have guessed!) and last but not least eating lots and lots of fresh fish caught by the owners of the boat beside us, Chuck and Barbara.

As much as we have enjoyed the last year, I am really looking forward to becoming a landlubber again for a few months. Bruce is looking forward to improving his golf game in the coming months and I am looking forward to long, hot showers, a toilet that never has to be pumped out, doing laundry whenever I want and only one load at a time, a dishwasher and spending time with my friends and family again. I am not looking forward however to driving again in traffic, yard work, having to wear makeup and do my hair every day and just generally the rat race of city life again! I am sure that when November comes around, we will be ready to continue our life as cruisers once again.

Out for a day of diving with Leanne and Bruce

Visit with Bob and Marty (Salty Lady)

A great catch of Tuna

Chuck and Barbara (boat next to ours)

Dolphin

Bruce was washing the boat one day and left the hose over the side while scrubbing off some dirt, you can image his surprise when he went to pick it up and a manatee was beside the boat having a drink of fresh water!

Big smile for the camera! I think he was pretty happy to have gotten some fresh water.

Some pictures of our last week in Marathon, lots of get togethers to say goodbye to all of our new friends!!

Mary and Gale's new house on Sister's Creek. Picture is of Mary and Dave though, don't know where Gale was at the time.

A very fun evening of dinner and dancing at a great Italian Restaurant! Ken and Angela won the prize for being the best dancers. Bruce and I realized after seeing all of the great dancers that we should probably take some dance lessons before next year. This place was like dancing with the stars there were so many great dance couples.