Lot's of Prep. Work

Not sure what I was thinking in my last post!  As if!  There has been precious little time to "chill"! 

We said goodbye to a bunch of fellow cruisers this morning as this is the weather window everyone was waiting for to sail to the Bahamas.  Oh how I wish we were sailing off with them but we will just have to wait for the next one. So many jobs needed to be done once we arrived in Marathon and so many things to see that we simply didn't have enough time to fit it all in a week.  I don't have a crystal ball but I bet there will be another  opportunity next week.  No worries.

So here we are.  The "to do" list is getting smaller every day.  The number one job was the watermaker and I'm happy to report it is now installed.  Number two? .... provisioning!  What a job that is!  I nearly had a complete meltdown in the grocery store the other day.  Grocery stores are few and far between in the Bahamas, and when you do find one, stock is limited and everything is so expensive.  Stocking up before heading over is highly recommended.  The problem for me is estimating how much we use.  For instance:  how much toilet paper do we use in three to four months?, or how much coffee do we drink?, how about happy hour snacks?  Yikes!  Where to put it all!  The other day we filled two grocery carts and we only went through half of the store.  By then we had, had enough and threw in the towel.  Today we finished that chore, filled the propane tanks and Harley is at West Marine right now picking up some more spare parts that we thought of.  At times it feels never-ending but as of right now I feel we can finally see the light.

You may think to yourself, " that doesnt sound like a lot", but when you factor in that we don't have a car and are not tied to a dock it might.  We are on a mooring ball, which means hauling all this stuff from shore into our dinghy and then from the dinghy onto the boat.  This often takes multiple trips in the heat and humidity. And, may I mention we walk everywhere and taxi back if there is a big load.  (We have our trusty fold up wagon for the smaller trips.)  I can understand why so many cruisers lose weight.  What I don't understand is why we haven't.

Anyway, we did take a well-deserved break one day and went to the colourful, artsy fartsy town of Key West.  It was great fun.   We spent the day browsing the shops and art galleries and took the side streets to check out the homes.  By the end of the day though I felt like my legs wouldn't hold me any longer and, to be honest, the best part was the bus ride there and back.  The bus was full with standing room only and alive with laughter and chatter as the locals all knew each other.  They included us in their banter and we had a blast!

Tomorrow our friends, Pat and Lynn on Adamant 1, should arrive here in Marathon.  Remember them?  We are quite excited to see them again and catch up....but...more about that. .next time.

One of the many trips with supplies and groceries . 

The dinghy dock

A manatee hanging aaround the dinghy dock

Duvall Street, Key West 

Key West chickens are everywhere 

No trip to Key West would be complete without a visit to see Sponge Bob