Holed!

Weather: Heavy rain and thunder storms are predicted as a cold front moves through. The morning offered light winds and bright sunshine and a temp in the mid 70’s.

Comment: Anna Marie and I began the day at the nautical flea market held right here at the city marina. We purchased a swivel block ($5.00), teak mirror ($3.00) and a chart book holder ($10.00).

We enjoyed breakfast sandwiches at the Stuffed Pig (expensive at $4.00 a pop) then rode the dinghy back to the boat for some R&R. Gary stayed aboard, foraged for breakfast and made reservations for three of the crew to go snorkeling. Anna Marie is going to forego snorkeling in favor of some shore side activity. Marlin Bay is having an open house and the Pigeon Key Art Show is at the Community Park. She may attend either or both.

We rode the dinghy back to the boat for some R&R, ran the generator for 1 ½ hours and with Gary, we took the dinghy back to the dock. Anna was off to do her own thing and Gary, Jim and I were off for a snorkel adventure. We boarded the Sunset Catamaran (just past Porky’s) and went with five other customers to Sombrero Reef. We swam around for almost two hours before heading back. While on the reef we saw a plethora of fish, including barracuda, parrot fish, tile fish among many unidentified others (we needed a fish identification guide!).

On the way in, Captain Steve stopped the boat so we could watch a pod of dolphin working the area. There were many including several very little ones, Apparently the “fishing” was good!

Jim, Anna Marie and I took the dinghy back to SUNSHINE, while Gary waited for one of us to come back to get him. We were chugging away nicely on our way to the mothership when the OB started to run sluggishly, as if it were running out of gas; funny, because it should have a pretty full tank. Before knowing what happened, we heard a loud Pfffft. The starboard chamber deflated and we started taking on water. SUNSHINE was about 250 yards away, and it looked as though we might loose the OB before we arrived. Fortunately, the port tube kept us afloat although there was eight inches of water in the boat. We made it to SUNSHINE, hurriedly removed the OB, pulled the dinghy to the bow of SUNSHINE, and muscled the water filled piece of PVC to the deck. A quick inspection revealed about a 12 inch hole in the bottom.

This didn’t dampen our spirits because Jim still needed to experience Boiler Pan Man (BPM). Our plans changed from dinner aboard to dinner out! We had no way of getting Gary, so we all taxied ashore on the SmorgasBoat. Gary, who almost boarded a dinghy skippered by a couple from Barnegat Bay, heard our tail of woe as we walked to the Keys Fishery for Lobster Rubens. After a fine meal, we trudged back to the Overseas for Open Mic Night (OMN). Sadly, we had to leave at 2130 to catch the last SmorgasBoat for the evening. Jim did get to see BPR-man and his instrument, but we had to leave before he took the stage. Sorry you didn’t get to experience that piece of Marathon culture, Jim.