December here was very warm and humid, mid to upper 80s, then the El Nino effects started to affect us. Windy, squally, rainy about once a week. Record rainfall amounts but with all that it wasn't really all that bad.
The end of the month turned out pretty nice for Heather and Mike's Christmas Holiday week. Mid to upper 70s, very little rain, and several beach days. We took the boat out to Sombrero Light Reef for the first time since we started coming here and had a great day of snorkeling. The reef is less that three miles offshore and has mooring balls for public use. Very nice. Mike and Heather treated us to a New Years Eve sunset cruise off of Key West. Very, very nice. We left them the car and took the bus back to Marathon. Due to poor scheduling and demand we waited a long time to get a bus and spent midnight on the bus somewhere on Route 1. Not so nice. Normally we are asleep at midnight so I'm not sure this was an improvement or not.
As Marathon has become our winter (second) home we have gotten even more involved in the community. I was asked to be the net controller on the morning cruisers net on the VHF a couple of times We also became NOSE pickers and proud of it. I can't quite remember what N O S E stands for besides Nautical Obstruction something something. It's a program where we boaters help clean up the harbor and the mangroves and get a small rewards like credit on your laundry card and coupons at local businesses. We may have done enough in February to get some prize but we won't know as we'll be GONE. No problem. Happy to contribute.
I also play senior softball about three times a week. I managed to avoid serious muscle pulls until late in February but some of the bruises were impressive. I'll need a couple of weeks to recover once we get to sea.
January was kinda normal weather for here. Mostly in the 70s with a norther every 10 days or so. Northers are cold fronts but cold is a relative term. A high temp of only 60 is pretty cold. The tourists are in shorts and tee shirts but we are bundled up like the natives. January didn't get below 60 but a few days in February did... 58... twice. Awful.
It's amazing how quickly our three months here have passed. Too busy, I guess. Worse still is the fact I now have a job. Not just magazine freelancing (previously mentioned) but also writing for the Waterway Guide, Northern Edition. With a contract and everything. Oh, the pressure. It's terrible. The Waterway Guide is a major cruising publication. I will be in the 2017 edition covering most of Long Island Sound out to southern Mass. and the Cape of Cod.
That's my update. Next one should be once we get to Wrightsville Beach, NC, Carol's next work stop.
Sombrero Reef Light
