Bob and Marilyns Cruising Blog: The Cruising Continues

I’ve been bad, bad, bad. The logistics of keeping the boat in good shape and storage actives have just taken priority over maintaining a blog. Last year was a horrible year for maintenance problems and then when we arrived this November, we still had some battery and related solar panel issues that needed to be resolved before we could move on our way again. Fortunately, after we replaced the starter battery, the electrical issues seemed to go away and everything was functioning properly. We did have a couple of other minor issues like a bad anchor light, leaky foot pump for fresh water in case the pressure water stops working. But foot pump was a minor problem that can be addressed at anytime. Our hot water heater has also been a little finicky, so I’ve order another heating element and hope that will solve the problem if it decides to totally stop working. Again, that’s something that can be dealt with just about anytime. We can always get hot water by running the engine if we absolutely have to have it.

Although we got back to the boat in November, we did return to Bismarck on about the 17th of December for the holidays and then came back on January 11, 2015. When we came back, Cindy and Larry Dykema also came along and followed us back to the boat. After getting the boat cleaned up from sitting in the water for almost a month, we moved out with Cindy and Larry tagging along. We’ve decided to spend several weeks at Mangrove Marina in Tavernier, FL which is just a little south of Key Largo. After 3 years with the boat and only a couple of our friends taking the opportunity to visit us, several of them have decided to visit this year. We decided to stay a Mangrove Marina as a good place to explore the keys, whether by land or sea. We expect to see Lon and Jen Romsaas and Kurt and Colleen Schweigert in the next 30 days.

We traveled with Cindy and Larry to the anchorage off of Gilbert’s Resort at the entrance to Jewfish Creek to spend the night at anchor. Had dinner at Gilbert’s along with some great Gin and Tonic’s. The next day the winds were very light, but we headed for Mangrove Marina under head sail and engine. It took us about 3 hours to get to Mangrove Marina. The weather has been very pleasant for the last 3 days and we had an uneventful trip to Mangrove Marina. After getting settled in a slip we went to get Cindy and Larry’s rental car that we left there earlier so that we’d have transportation back to Manatee so we could get our car. The next day we had breakfast with Cindy and Larry and then went to get our car at Manatee Bay. Said goodbye to Cindy and Larry who were heading to Jacksonville, FL to visit other friends. After they left we went back and did some laundry and grocery shopping. Glad we were snug in the slip since the wind was pretty blustery and the temperature off the water was a little cool. Guess we got spoiled by the last 3 or 4 days.

Hope I have some good stories to share as we visit with some more of our North Dakota and Colorado friends.