Blackfin Resort and Marina, Marathon, Florida, is an island paradise and a welcome slice…
People We Met at Chatterbox Falls
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People We Met at Chatterbox Falls
Chatterbox Falls is a Great Place to Meet People!
We feel one of the most important benefits of boating is all the wonderful people we get to meet. It doesn’t matter where we cruise, we find other boaters to be very friendly. Our time at Chatterbox Falls was no different. We met lots of interesting people during our stay, we even ran into a couple we had met in Alabama while cruising on the River System several years ago, 2,600 miles from British Columbia. It’s a small, small world.
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On the first day at the falls, soon after we tied up, we took a walk to the end of the dock to take in the surrounding natural beauty. We were still trying to absorb the fact we were actually at the falls again. At the end of the dock is a new float plane dock where, in the absence of planes, the views are unobstructed. Boats cannot tie up there. As we turned around to get a 360 view, we saw a couple on the back of their boat, Phoenix, closest to the float plane dock, they were relaxing, taking in the view during Happy Hour.
We struck up a conversation that kind of went like this: They to us, “What boat are you on?” “Where are you heading to this summer?” “Have you been here before?” etc, etc. With an ongoing exchange of information, they learned we were on a Ranger Tug and, like us, they had done the Great Loop. We finally got some dates out and realized we were probably at one of the Great Loop Rendezvous at the same time. Cathryn was now on the edge of her seat as she asked if we knew the Favors. I said, “We are the Favors.”
Apparently, we were a little rough looking around the edges with hats and sunglasses on. Long story short, we had spent two hours with Cathryn and Bob on our boat in Alabama at Joe Wheeler State Park, America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association Fall Rendezvous in 2013. They were very interested in the Ranger Tug line of boats and wanted to know more about our experience with Kismet.
We also met Pauline and Ed, on Spirit, a sailboat (above). Ed and Pauline are from Victoria, BC, they are seasoned sailors with many stories to share. Spirit was docked at the falls when we got there and left the same day we did.
On the second day, we met three guys on a sailboat, they were out for a 10-day cruise. The three friends, in their late 50s or so, have been friends in Long Island since grade school, they played football together, and every few years since they take a trip together. One of the guys lives on Vancouver Island. They looked like they were having fun.
Of course, we met the crew on Adelante (below) that beautiful classic old wooden boat tied up just across the dock from us.
A young man arrived on the dock by paddle board the afternoon of our ice cream run. We first saw him the day of our cruise up Jervis Inlet, looked as though he had been swimming and was climbing the rocks on the shore. Our second sighting was when we departed the Malibu Club on the return trip of the dinghy ride after getting ice cream. He was standing on his board zipping through the rapids, he was going so fast, that someone commented they thought he must have a small motor on the board. Then we realized, he was just riding the rapids on the flood tide.
Shortly after meeting Matthew on the dock that afternoon, we invited him to our boat for a hot breakfast the next morning. We wanted to learn more about him and his adventurous trip and what young man doesn’t need to fuel up with a hot breakfast when on an adventure.
Breakfast with Matthew
The next morning we found out that Matthew lives and works at Tours With Locals in Vancouver and decided he wanted to paddle his board the entire 48 miles up to the falls. He paddled during the daytime and camped overnight on the rocks along Jervis inlet. After three days, he arrived at Malibu Rapids and the falls – that’s a long way to paddle. We had a great conversation during breakfast, we found out that his entire family has moved out west from the Toronto area. He enjoyed his four-day adventure and plans on doing more solo trips in the future.
We helped Mike and Sandy, on Journey, an American Tug, tie up at the dock one day. We found out they keep their boat in the PNW but are from Arizona. They offered us a dinghy ride up to the Malibu Club, a Young Life Club, and Youth Summer Camp located at Malibu Rapids. They had not been to the club before, so we told them about the informative short tour of the grounds the club gives people who arrive by boat. The club happily provides a guide to show visitors around and cite the history of the Malibu Club. We also mentioned they have an ice cream shop there. They immediately said, “Let’s go!”
Minutes after they got settled in at the dock and took a quick walk unto the falls and back, we all piled into their roomy dinghy for the 4-mile ride up Princess Louisa Inlet to the Malibu Club. They must have been craving ice cream like we were. I had to have a double scoop – some things you just can’t keep in a small refrigerator on a small boat.
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