Thursday, 23 March 2017 - We're expecting a big blow here tonight and rain and wind Friday and Saturday. I have been aground here where I am a couple of times even though the charts say I should be in ten feet of water, so I've been trying to figure out where I could move to within the harbor. On the charts this seems to be as good as any, short of getting a mooring ball. I'd rather not spend that much money. I think there must be a sand bar that runs along this side of the channel, perhaps natural and perhaps it is the spoils from when they dug the channel itself. Whatever, I seem to end up on top of it whenever the wind blows out of the east, and that's where this storm will blow from. The tide is up right now, about 3/4 of a foot above mean tide and I just saw my boat pass over a high spot that put me at exactly zero clearance with my 6.5 foot keel. The wind has already switched to the east and I think what must be happening is that the wind is literally blowing the water out of the harbor. I'm sure it will get shallower before it gets deeper with the expected winds. I had almost decided to just sit here. If I move a little ways to the port, I'd be too close to the channel and if I move a little ways to starboard and the wind switches only a few degrees further south, I'd be right back on top of the sand bar. I got out my new handheld depth finder and found that if I merely let out about 15 feet more of anchor rode, there is a deeper spot there, so I did. I'm now in about 7.8 feet of water. A simple solution that I certainly hope works. That certainly beats pulling up both anchors and moving to somewhere that might not be better anyway.

Friday, 24 March - Not much to write about going on here today.

Saturday, 25 March - I went back over to the scuba shop today because they were having a "garage sale" to get rid of lots of odds and ends. I also needed to get a lobster measuring stick that I forgot the last time I was there. I ended up getting a thin nylon shirt and a one-piece suit to wear while diving, too. I also needed to buy some V-belts as backups for the diesel engine and, although Google Maps showed two auto parts stores nearby, I could find neither of them.

Sunday, 26 March - I scraped the bottom of the dinghy while it hung on the davits, then this afternoon I finally made it over to Sombrero Beach on the south side of Vaca Key, which is the true name of the island that Marathon is on. The beach and park is right at the end of Sister Creek where I was anchored for awhile. After I walked the beach I decided that I had enough time to go explore clear around Boot Key in the dinghy, which is bordered by Sister Creek and Boot Key Harbor on two sides and the Atlantic Ocean on the other two sides. On the west end of Boot Key there is an entry to a channel that leads to two radio towers and a microwave mobile phone tower. The bridge out to the island has been abandoned and along with the road, the small group of buildings has too. Actually, it appears that there may be one crab or lobster fisherman on the island, as there are stacks of traps and about ten old boats up to about 60 feet long are sunken it the two channels in the interior of the island. There was also a huge pontoon sunken in one of the channels that appeared to be about 70 feet long and 12 feet in diameter. I can't imagine what it was originally used for. I think a hurricane several years ago wiped everything out on the island, although I would have thought the mangroves would have protected it. I guess not. It's hard to imagine the power of a full blown hurricane when it passes directly over you.

Monday, 27 March - I had fully intended to head out of the harbor today to go dive on Sombrero Reef, but since I had been trying to sell my spare mainsail, I had kept it out in case someone wanted to see it. I made the mistake of thinking it would only take about an hour to put it back in the forepeak storage area. I took three hours, so I decided to stay in the harbor and get gas and water. As I siphoned the five five gallon jugs of diesel fuel into my fuel tank, one of them looked wrong. Diesel here is dyed red and one of them was clear. I had had them filled for me at Moss Marina in Ft. Myers Beach and had not watched them being filled. I took a few drops of the red fuel and tried to ignite it with a cigarette lighter, but could not. The clear fluid burst into flame easily....gasoline. I can't imagine why they filled one of the tanks with gas instead of diesel, but I'm sure it would have been disastrous if I had gone ahead and put it in my tank. I also can't see how it could have been an accident. The diesel pumps were about 100 feet from the gas pumps, so they had to carry the container over to the other pumps to fill it.
                  The only thing I can imagine is that the previous time I got gas there, I had told them specifically that I only wanted 5 gallons of gas in each tank, although they will hold more. That way I would know exactly how much oil to mix with the gas. When I went to pay the bill was for 17 gallons, meaning that they had topped each tank off. I let them know in no uncertain terms that I wasn't happy with that and didn't tip them. Perhaps they remembered that and intentionally put gasoline in one of the diesel jugs. Who knows? I'll be filling my own jugs from now on, thank you.

Tuesday, 28 March - An interesting, but disappointing day. I headed out of the harbor this afternoon after spending three hours untangling and raising my two anchors. From the deck, they didn't look tangled or twisted, so I had assumed this would be quick and easy. Wrong! After getting out of the harbor, I unfurled the sails and headed toward Sombrero Reef lighthouse and started experimenting with the balance of the rig to control my sailing direction rather than the rudder. I had it close to balanced when the weather alarm on the VHF radio went off. I listened to the broadcast and they were saying that several water spouts had been seen not too far away and warned to be cautious of the nearby squalls. I couldn't really see anything that looked ominous, so I continued on my merry way. The third time the alarm sounded, I was close to the reef but so was a squall. I checked the radar to see what direction it seemed to be moving and it looked like it might be headed my way, so I turned around and headed back. I decided to continue my practice with the sails and started to reef the mainsail a little to allow me to head further downwind. When I did, the topping lift, which holds up the boom when the sail aren't deployed, tangled in the furling of the mainsail. Luckily, I was in open ocean, the winds were only about 5 to 10 kts. and the squall seemed to be dying out. The boat was holding a course pretty well, so I had time to figure out how to untangle the topping lift. I had to untie the end of the line at the end of the boom, then walk it to the front and pass it through the space between the mast and the luff of the sail then back to the end of the boom three times. After doing this and yanking on the line several times, it freed up, but then I had to reverse the procedure to put it back as it originally was. Ok, fine. By now it was already about 4pm, so I decided to anchor outside the harbor for the night and try again tomorrow. When I made my approach and tried to furl my mainsail, its own halyard became entangled in the sail. Aaarg! I wouldn't be able to put the sail away until I untangled it again. Pulling harder on the furling line would only rip the sail. After several tries, I finally freed it up, pulled the halyard off to one side and tied it, then doused the sail . At that point, I decided maybe I'd better head back into the harbor where I could get some help getting up the mast to take a look so I can figure out what the problem is. Disappointed, I'll deal with it tomorrow after I sleep on it, but this is a serious problem that I need to resolve. I could really be in trouble if I can't furl the mainsail quickly in tight quarters sometime. I had this problem before and thought I had it resolved. Obviously not.

Wednesday, 29 March - Overnight I decided to take advantage of being back at the harbor and to join the ham radio group for their weekly luncheon to learn more about my single sideband radio, or SSB. After having slept not so well on the furler problem, I also think I may have a good idea of what is catching the lines at the top of the mast. I think I'll drop the sail and check the eye at the top of the steel halyard to see if it might be protruding too far and catching the lines.
                  One thing I learned at the luncheon today is that I'm not alone in being baffled about the use of the iComm SSB. They said it is the most complicated radio and system in the world today and they all remember how hard it was to learn to use. It's nice to know you're not the only idiot in the world.