WHITE MARLIN MARINA, MARATHON, FLORIDA---VACA KEY

 Here's some pics of our new home for the winter. We arrived last Monday after an uneventful trip down the islands. Marathon is approximately 1/2 way down the Keys with Key Largo about 50 miles to the Northeast and Key West about 50 miles to the Southwest. We'll base here for the winter and spend as much time as possible exploring  the numerous islands.

                                          Entrance to our dock from the parking lot

                                                     The fire pit area

The Tiki Hut gathering area

                                                        M/V Endeavor in her new winter home

 We probably won't be posting again until we return in January after spending Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with the family. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday as well.

                                                  LIFE IS GOOD

A FEW PIC'S

 Here are a few pic's of the marina where we're "stuck"---and one of our new boat:

                                     The Tech. working on the engine controls in the engine room

                                                Our boat---M/V (motor vessel) Endeavor

😎

                                               Boatworks---- a boat dealer in the marina

                                                            Above----- The Marina

                  I promise I'll be posting some more interesting pic's in the future😁

Side note----The tech just left the boat after completing the installation and calibration of the controls. He says, "I know the controls are good". Still we want to do a sea trial this afternoon. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

 Let's begin with the UGLY-----The weather-----It's been raining and windy since we got here. We probably wouldn't have gone out even if all the boat systems were functioning. On Monday after we got here the previous Wednesday a strong gale started blowing with 30 to 40 mph winds. Fortunately this marina is pretty well protected and we didn't really feel the full brunt of the winds--but it was noisy and uncomfortable for the next 3 days. After that the wind continued for several days at around 20 mph. Still noisy and a bit uncomfortable. (We came here expecting perfect weather--perhaps our expectations were a bit optimistic?). Finally the weather has moderated and the breeze is gentle and conditions just right for a departure from this marina---but----

THEN came TROPICA STORM ETA--- This crazy storm went all the way into Panama and Nicaragua then did a 180 and headed for Cuba, then North into the Florida Keys and made landfall about 10 miles south of our boat. We had secured it and left to go to my cousin's in Ft. Lauderdale where we actually encountered worse weather than what hit our boat. Torrential rain for 2 straight days with winds gusting to 40. At the marina the marina remained inside the eye and received very little impact. One of the guys who stayed on his boat said the winds never got over 40 knots---the max sustained winds of the storm were 60 to 65. So this was no more than what we had encountered with the gales that blew through here earlier. My cousin lives on a canal--actually in Plantation, just west of Ft Lauderdale. THe canal, Sunday night, overflowed its banks and was about 1/2 way up her back yard--a bit concerning to say the least but by Monday morning the water was beginning to recede and we felt comfortable leaving her and returning to our boat. The boat suffered extensive damage consisting of one of the windshield wiper blades being blown off. Oh the misery!!!

The BAD------The other day, after installing the new controller at the upper helm (Glendinning Engine Controls) the technician discovered what he believed to be a problem at the control box down in the engine room. After discussion with the manufacturer and with Yachtworks it was decided to send the units to the manufacturer in S. Carolina. This was last Tuesday. So here we have sat since Tuesday with no engine controls and unable to move. (It has been our goal to move out of this marina and get a little farther down the Keys to White Marlin Marina. Our new dinghy is there waiting on us. The new Honda outboard for the dinghy is in the bed of the truck waiting on it's union with the dinghy. We want to get to White Marlin well in advance of Thanksgiving and, hopefully, in enough time to catch a flight back to Houston to celebrate Diane's and Anna's birthdays.). The technician is here as I write this installing the refurbished units and soon we'll test them here at the dock and then go out for a quick sea trial. The plan, if all goes well, is to leave here tomorrow and head west to White Marlin. The weather is supposed to be perfect for the trip of about 50 miles. We'll travel on the Gulf side of the Keys down about 20 miles and then pass under a bridge to head over to the Atlantic side (Either Snake Creek Bascule Bridge or the Channel Five Bridge). Once in the Atlantic we'll head west on down the islands to the north end of the town of Marathon. This is where the Atlantic-side entrance to White Marlin marina is. The marina is actually inland a bit, down a 1/4 mile channel to a little square shaped island which is the marina. We've stayed here on our previous boat (see prior posts from 2016 with description and pictures).

The GOOD---- All the other issues have been repaired and are, for now at least, working the way they're supposed to. (But this is a boat---stuff goes wrong all the time--you just wait for the next system to fail. I like projects so this doesn't bother me---I just don't care for the expense part of it).

As I sit here the new controllers are being adjusted---seems like there's a glitch or two but hope they can all be resolved. I'll let you know. They're very sensitive and if the adjustments are off just a smidgen they don't work right---so adjust away Mr. Technician!!!!! We want to get out of here.

"BOAT" SHOULD BE SPELLED--------F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-O-N

 First the good------We took off for FLA on Monday and had perfect weather and light traffic all day, 700 miles to Tallahassee where we spent the night after enjoying delicious fried chicken and broiled rainbow trout for dinner at the infamous Cracker Barrell. Next day, more good weather and light traffic and arrived in Ft. Myers around 3 PM on Tues. Our broker is located there and we needed to meet with him and sign off on a few more papers before we took possession of the boat (located in Tavernier on Key Largo. Diane arranged for us to stay at a beautiful new Marriot property right on the Caloosahatchee River at the City Marina. See below for the view out our window. Next day on to Tavernier.

(Sorry---for some reason couldn't download the picture---I'll figure it out)

Here's where the frustration begins. As we approached Tavernier we called ahead to the boat company that sold us the boat---Yacht Works. I was informed that there were still some issues with the repairs that we had required based on the boat survey tat we did a couple weeks earlier. Namely--they were waiting on delivery of a new raw water pump for the air conditioning system--thus, no staying aboard. And a new volt meter at the upper helm had not yet been installed. All the other systems, we were assured, had been addressed (including the toilet system and the sump pump that drains the shower ((had been draining directly into the bilge)). When we got to the boat we were met by Ryan who went over all the repairs with us to our (then) satisfaction. We booked a room at another Marriott for the night expecting to be able to move onto the boat the next day----NOT---. But, while we were sitting on our patio at the hotel a guy walked by and asked us how long we were planning on staying. Turns out he had his room booked for 3 days but had to head home right away for a family emergency. Marriott wouldn't refund his money and he offered us his room for $100 bucks for the next 2 days. Turns out he's a Circuit Court judge in Kentucky--nice honorable guy---so we took him up on the offer and moved into their room after arranging for new linens. This worked out perfectly as it gave us a couple days to clean the boat and move all our "stuff" in.

Here's where the really bad stuff begins. One of the items on our punch list was the malfunctioning engine control unit on the fly bridge. Ryan assured us it had been fixed--simply a loose wiring connection. We went up to check it out but it didn't work. Ryan called out for his fix-it guy who had "fixed" it previously. While he was messing around with it the boat (at the dock) suddenly went into gear and the engines roared in forward, straining all the dock lines. It took about 30 seconds for them to shut down the engines. Very Scary!!! The next morning a guy from a local diesel repair shop came and determined that the control unit was faulty and Ryan ordered a new unit---still has not been installed but expected to arrive tomorrow. We are cautiously hopeful that this will fix the problem---can't leave the dock until it's fixed.

Meanwhile we're moved onto the boat at the dock and then the following litany begins:

           1. The forward A/C unit quits working---fixed quickly by a boat mechanic that lives on his boat here at the marina.

           2. Yesterday, after using the head (fortunately just a #1) I smelled something fowl and discovered that the pipe from the pumping unit that carries the waste to the holding tank was cracked and the "contents" from the toilet were spewing into the bilge. Immediately shut down the system and called Ryan. Still have not heard back from him but I'm confident he will get it fixed. No toilet use right now so we have to walk to the marina facilities.

           3. After showering, Diane noticed that the carpet in the master stateroom was wet. On inspection, I found that the sump pump for the shower was working only intermittently and the reservoir was filling up and spilling over. On further inspection I found that the drain line from the reservoir was split allowing water to shoot up. Thought that's what was soaking the carpet. Still unsure. Will address this with Ryan when I hear from him.

          4. The anchor light doesn't work. Gotta have it for when we spend nights "on the hook". This was supposedly fixed by them.

          5. Before we got to the boat apparently the generator did not work, resulting in them replacing the charging unit with a new one. Haven't tested this yet but will today while Ryan is here.

          6. Turned on the instruments yesterday and depth at the dock was measuring 32 feet on our depth sounder (the depth at the dock is only about 6-8 feet). Gonna have to check that out. 

           7. That area of wet carpet continues to grow despite not having used the sump pump. I think it's the condensation from the forward A/C--(This is supposed to, also, drain into the sump reservoir and be pumped out overboard) I think the drain hose is either plugged up or not connected (They had to move the A/C unit to do some fiberglass repair in the area where it is located--maybe didn't reconnect the drain?)

Thus---FRUSTRATION---These guys seem honorable enough and I fully expect they will make everything good. It's just awfully frustrating when all of this was to have been taken care of before we even arrived.

I'm hopeful that my next post will be a bit more cheerful. Actually, we're doing just fine despite some inconveniences and we know eventually all these things will be behind us and we can move to our "home marina" by this week-end where we can settle in. More later