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FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

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EVERGLADES

EVERGLADES

Shark River

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RENDEZVOUS

RENDEZVOUS

Palm Island, Florida

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LOVERS LEAP

LOVERS LEAP

San Juan Islands – Stewart Island, WA

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SOUTH SOUND

SOUTH SOUND

Tacoma, Washington

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BLAKE ISLAND

BLAKE ISLAND

Puget Sound, Washington

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FLORIDA BAY

FLORIDA BAY

Marathon, Florida

Dinner with Friends
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Tug Nuts Reunite in Marathon

Just a few days before our week-long visit at the Harbour Cay Club in Marathon came to an end, Mike and Jess (below-middle), on Illusions (shown above) and Rich and Cheryll (below-right), on Roam (both couples own Ranger Tugs) joined us and before we knew it, we were having a mini Ranger Tug Rendezvous in Marathon. We had all recently met in Fort Myers Beach during the First Annual Ranger Tug Southern Rendezvous. We communicated often as we were traveling different routes down to the Keys with the hope a get-together would be possible – at least for a few days. As luck would…

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Seven-mile Bridge, Marathon, Florida
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Bridge Walk – Seven-Mile Bridge

We got up early this morning to do a four-mile walk on the Seven-Mile Bridge, two miles out and two back. It's a fun walk, we almost always see some aquatic life in the water below while walking. Today we saw several stingrays. The Seven-Mile Bridge is a famous bridge in the Florida Keys. It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is one of the many bridges on US 1 in the Keys,…

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Snow Crab, Keys Fisheries, Marathon, Florida
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Happy Hour Special – Stone Crabs at Keys Fisheries

Amazing as it seems, Jim and I have never tried stone crab claws, so, off we go for the well-known happy hour at Keys Fisheries Restaurant in Marathon. This is a good way to try this seafood special at a great price and we love the atmosphere. We've been here before for lobster Reubens, another unusual treat for boaters from the Great Lakes. We're glad to report the claws, along with the tuna sashimi we also ordered, were absolutely yummy.

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Dinner with Friends
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Dining in the Keys with Crew of Chip Ahoy

Dinner in the marina tonight with friends Scott and Cyndi Perkins, on Chip Ahoy. It's always a pleasure to bump into this couple whom we met on our first Great Loop boat trip in 2006. Also from Michigan, Scott and Cyndi sail down Florida's West Coast to the Keys every winter. Cyndi is a talented writer/editor (Cyndi has also written chapter's in both of our books When the Water Calls and Women On Board Cruising). Scott is a gifted musician and performer. Click on the CD covers below to read more about and listen to some of Scott's excellent boating…

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Pot Luck MTOA Party, Marathon, Florida
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2012 MTOA Gathering in Marathon

Another fun party in Marathon. Ken Chumley, on Mosey, organized the 2012 MTOA Gathering on the docks of Sombrero Dockside Marina (the same spot as our Tuesday night potluck a few days ago). It was a good time with lots of food and conversation. Lorenzo (Little David), Lisa, Ellen, and Roy (Our Turn) (below) are trying to hide from the sun under that sad little palm tree at 1 Palm Tree Ct. It was a hot one but we don't look to be suffering too much. We also got to meet Pete Donnelly (above - member 0001 - First member…

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Dock Party, Marathon, Florida
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Tuesday Night Pot Luck – 1 Palm Tree Court

Tuesday night was the first of three boat parties this week in Marathon. It will be followed by an MTOA get-together on Wednesday night (same spot as tonight – on the docks at Sombrero Dockside Marina) and a Looper Sunset Celebration at Banana Bay Marina on Sunday night. The 1 Palm Tree Ct. gathering (a private event – by invitation only) is held weekly by several of the boats docked close to the restaurant at the marina. Every year they put together a "boater's lounge," so to speak, right on the dock under a sad-looking, half-dead palm tree. They bring…

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SaniGard
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Getting Rid of Odiferous Aromas

If you're a boater or have ever walked a marina dock, sat on the back deck or cockpit of someone's boat, you've most likely had the occasion to inhale the odiferous and unpleasant aroma coming from the vent of a black water holding tank as someone flushed their business down the boat's toilet. I came across a solution a couple of years back and I've just installed it on our Ranger Tug. It helps us, our guests, and dock neighbors not be bothered by disagreeable odors. The product I installed is an inline, charcoal-activated, holding tank vent filter called SaniGard…

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Pot Luck MTOA Party, Marathon, Florida
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Initiating More Turtles

Jim couldn't wait to initiate Louis and Robert into the Turtle Club (below). Remember the post we made while in Tarpon Springs when Ed initiated us into the club, Turtles Inc.? So if you happen to see Louis or Robert don't forget to ask them, "Are you a turtle?" We had lunch with a group of boaters who are staying at Sombrero Dockside Marina. Diane and Louis, on Bella Luna (left), Phil, on Wonderland (center), Robert and Kay, on C-Life (right), and Alice, also on Wonderland (right in sunglasses). Wade and his daughter Shauna, on Shady Lady met us one morning to…

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Kismet at Dock, Harbour Cay Club, Marathon
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Arriving at Harbour Cay Club

We are ultimately on our way to Key West but we're stopping in Marathon for a week to visit with a group of Looper friends who are staying at Sombrero Dockside. Last year when we brought a friend's boat down to Key West for him we found out about this little boat club on the Florida Bay side of the island, we stayed a few days and really liked it. So, back in January, we checked into the possibility of securing a slip for a week in late February. Our chances looked good since a few members would be traveling…

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Alligators
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Caught Having a Mid-Day Snooze

How cozy these alligators look – we found them taking a mid-day snooze under the blistering hot sun just along Tamiami Trail in the Everglades. We were towing our boat to Marathon today and decided to stop at this Visitor's Center to see the alligators. They seem to have eluded us during our boat trips through here (probably because it was cold at those times) – I have to say the view we got of them today, from the walkway above them, was excellent. We found them sunning in this drainage ditch in front of the Visitors Center only feet…

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Kismet Docked, Everglades City, Florida
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Going Back in Time at Everglade City’s Rod and Gun Club

Our mission today was to leave our anchorage in Russell Pass somewhat early in the morning and head over to Everglades City (located along the Barron River on the boundary of Everglades National Park), about a seven-mile run. We've been hearing about the Rod and Gun Club since our first Great Loop boat trip in 2005. We never quite made it there during our other two trips through the Everglades due to an unalterable schedule. One of the nice things about having a trailerable trawler is you can get to places quickly with a lot of flexibility. The club has…

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Waterway, Everglades City, Florida
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On Our Way to Everglade City

We've been through the Everglades twice in the past six years but we've never made it to Everglade City. Today that will change as we are headed there to have lunch at the infamous Rod and Gun Club. A beautiful day to cruise in the Everglades, calm water and clouds that look like jumbo, puffy, cotton balls.

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Manatee trawler
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Thanks to all the “Ted’s” Out There

Recently we made a post about meeting Ted, on Manatee (below - left), a very friendly boater whom we spent only about an hour's worth of total time with. We first met Ted while we were both traveling south on the GICW (we slowed down for a short conversation about where we were headed), we finally met up with each other in Goodland, Florida where we anchored near the Calusa Island Marina where Manatee was docked. In an hour's length of total time, I don't think you could say we were good friends but good enough for us to know Ted…

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Kismet Cruising, Everglades, Florida
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Valentine’s Day Dinner in Russell Pass – Everglades National Park

Not many women get an opportunity to enjoy a romantic Valentine's Day dinner with their sweetie in a remote setting like our anchorage tonight in Russell Pass – Everglades National Park. It might not appeal to some but I have to tell you I'm lovin' it. We're anchored tonight with two sailboats, one in front of us and one behind us. Showers outside this afternoon and an early dinner on the back deck of Kismet (early because we want to eat outside before the bugs come to eat us). We didn't see any alligators or turtles during our stay, it's…

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Kismet Cruising, Goodland, Florida
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Haul Out – Driving to Goodland, Florida to Relaunch

We've completed almost two Great Loop boat trips (a circumnavigation of the Eastern United States from the Heartland Rivers to the North Atlantic Seaboard, Canada and the Great Lakes) and both times we bypassed a few stops we wished we had had time to include in our schedule while in southwest Florida. The first is the little town of Goodland, Florida, just south of Marco Island and the second is Everglades City, at the mouth of the Barron River, on Chokoloskee Bay, just inside of Everglades National Park. Today, we pulled the boat out at Fort Myers Beach and drove to…

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Fort Myers Beach
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Playing Around in Fort Myers Beach

Time to play around a little and enjoy the beach, located just a short walk from the marina and through the little beach town. The sand on Fort Myers Beach is so fine, clean, and white and it provided a fun way for the crew on Kismet to get some much-needed exercise.

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Women at Farmer's Market
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Up Early for the Farmer’s Market

   In true boater tradition, Ranger Tug owners still at the rendezvous, Carol, Jess, Cheryll, and I got up early to hit the Farmer's Market about two blocks away from the marina under the San Carlos Blvd. Bridge. It was a small affair but we all found something we needed.

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Boater Friends on Kismet
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Cheers with Good Friends

CHEERS... Here's to Here & Here's to There. Whenever we meet up with boaters from our homeport of Charlevoix, Michigan, we have a special toast, and it's always the same. The HERE is always where we currently are and the THERE is always where we love to be and it's always the same... Charlevoix. We've been meeting up with Hal and Marianne (above) in Florida for the last few years. (Hal is our harbormaster in Charlevoix, Michigan and they are both dear friends.)  This year they decided to try the Cape Coral area so it worked perfectly with our schedule. Before we left home, we…

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Happy Hour on Dock, Fort Myers Beach
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Shrimp Night Dockside, Fort Myers Beach, Florida

Two days after the Ranger Tug 2012 Southern Rendezvous planned festivities there are still five Ranger Tugs at the dock, including Roam, Kismet, Illusions, Gepetto, and Caroline Ann, most staying for the week. This really gives us an opportunity to spend some quality time, as a smaller group, with those still here. We figured since we are situated almost across from the shrimp boats in the harbor that we should track some down and have a party on the dock tonight. Jim and Mike, on Illusions, took a dinghy ride over to where the shrimp boats are tied up, found…

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Florida Ranger Tugs 2012 Rendezvous

It's being called the largest, sunshine state (Florida), Ranger Tug Rendezvous in the world! With 11 Ranger Tugs in attendance at Moss Marina, on Fort Myers Beach, we feel the First Annual Ranger Tug, 2012 Southern Rendezvous is a great start for Ranger Tug owners to meet each other in the tropics. The festivities began with a dinner at Nervous Nellie's, just under the bridge by the marina, and a great potluck Tuesday night in the marina's boaters lounge. In attendance (at one time or another over the last few days) were: Charlotte Ann, Gepetto, Illusions, Kismet, Little Toot, Moor Than, Roam, See Life II, Tangent, Tuggin Aweigh, and Namaste…

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Fort Myers Yacht Basin
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Fun Times in Fort Myers, Florida

Kismet was dwarfed by two larger boats in the Fort Myers Yacht Basin Marina. This is a fun spot to spend a few days or more. The downtown is vibrant with more shops than ever. It's a quick walk to the grocery store from the marina and they have a Joe's Crab Shack just a few blocks away. To top it off there is a great farmer's market under the bridge every Thursday. As it turned out we ran into another Looper, docked right next to Kismet, we'd recently met John & Kay on Admiral's Choice at the 2011 Fall AGLCA…

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Friends
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Cape Coral Anchorage Near Tarpon Point Marina for a Rendezvous with Friends

Just a little jaunt over to Cape Coral this morning, approx. 30 miles to Tarpon Point Marina where we threw the hook out within sight of the marina. Spent the afternoon catching up on the blog and bills until it was time to dinghy over to the marina so friends, Andy and Mary could pick us up for dinner at their rental located just a few miles from the marina. We met Andy and Mary in Charlevoix just before we began our second Great Loop boat trip in 2008. Always a fun time when we see Mary and Andy (above-left)…

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Kismet at Anchor, Cayo Costa, Florida
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Could Not Pass Up Anchoring in Pelican Bay

We had two ideas for an anchorage tonight, Pelican Bay, off Cayo Costa State Park, and a cove off Captiva, Sanibel Island. When we arrived at the entrance to Pelican Bay, it looked so inviting with twenty-some boats, sail, and power, already anchored it seemed a no-brainer to find a spot for ourselves and join in the fun. We felt like we were at anchor in the islands with boaters dinghying, Bahama style, (steering the dinghy while standing), from one boat to the next, meeting up with old friends and making new ones. It was that kind of night.

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