Getting acquainted

6-20
What a great night’s sleep – with air conditioning, no less! After coffee we walked to Publix and picked up a few things. I really must get a picture of Harold towing his little granny pull behind cart! It is our vow to walk there every morning just for the exercise, and it is less than a mile one way. We really just vegged all day after that– caught up on Casey and watched some old movies. After dinner, Ken from Savannah came over while his wife was at the movies with Biddy and Dan from Biddy and the Beast. After the movie, they all came on board and we got acquainted. This is Bob, the Great Dane. He did NOT come for a visit:)
6-21
Walked to Publix again, and also ventured across the street to K-Mart. That appears to be the place to shop in Marathon. There are also a couple of very cute gift shops in the Publix plaza. Back at the boat, Savannah has left to go to the ocean side to a boat yard for a short haul.
We get on with taking the dinghy down to try and see what the problem is with one of the sponsons. It appears to be leaking right around the fill valve of the forward port valve. West Marine recommends Shoreline for a repair, but their phone forwards to a 321 number. That’s no help! We finally got a good phone number and they came right to the marina to pick up the dinghy and take it back to the shop and fix it. The guy told Harold that the inflatables were about worn out. They are PVC and apparently they only have a life expectancy of about 3 years and ours are 6, so I guess we have had our use of them. Preferred material is Hypalon (now you know) and replacing the existing ribs is about half the cost of a new dinghy, so I am thinking maybe there is a new dinghy in our future since we have never been a that happy with this one. After a swim in the pool we headed to Hurricane’s for Taco Tuesday with Biddi and Dan from the 37’ trawler Biddi and the Beast. During dinner conversation I mentioned our friend, Izzy, and Biddi said, “Not Izzy of Izzy and Jeff on the Izzy R?” And I replied, “Yes!” What a small world! Izzy and Jeff were introduced to us by my sister about three years ago when they left landlocked life for the boating scene and have rafted up at our dock more than once on their travels back and forth up and down the ICW. They met Biddi and Dan when they did the Great Loop cruise two summers ago. After dinner we were joined by Ken and Diane from Savannah and enjoyed cocktails and the sunset on Dan and Biddi’s “beach” . Shortly after sunset, the mosquitos attacked, so we called it an evening.