On the Hook at Marco Island

[Hilde's log]

I mentioned in my last post that the radar had turned up its toes twice when we really needed it. After checking all there is to check on the boat, our last option was to send it off to the manufacturer, a job that required a rigger to get the dome off the mast and a car to take it to UPS to be mailed. After that...5-10 days before we can find out what’s wrong, then mailing time to get it back. As David said, we don’t desperately need it, but drat it, it’s only 10 months old and wasn’t cheap. It needs to get fixed and be worth the effort and the price.

So here we are, in limbo, also known as Old Factory anchorage off Marco Island. It’s a nice, protected anchorage and Rose Marina, where we come ashore, is staffed with really nice folks. For a $5 day use fee, we can tie up at the dinghy dock and avail ourselves of hot showers or a walk on the island. Because we are saving buckets of money by anchoring out (marina slips here are $100/night), we’ve decided that next week we’ll get a car for a couple of days and do some exploring. I’d still like to have lunch at the Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City.

 

All sorts of interesting historical and fictional tales around this place!

Meanwhile...we float. Fisherfolk are always out zooming around, and their wake lops the boat but also provides some entertainment. There are a number of other boats at anchor here, all on their way somewhere else. We met one nice couple who are sailing with two small children and a dog. They are young and beautiful and full of energy and it’s delightful to hear children’s voices across the water.

There’s not much to see on shore except lots of people and traffic and big suburban houses and beige colored storefronts. We rented a car for one day to provision and do laundry, and running those errands here was like running them in 1,000 other cities – if you got dropped on a street here, you’d have no clue you weren’t in Columbus or Dallas except perhaps for the plants.

David beside the biggest mimosa tree I have ever seen in my life.

Me beside a gumbo-limbo tree. They are everywhere down here and get mentioned a lot in the Doc Ford books.

I have no idea what this is, but it's gorgeous!

This area got hit hard by Irma and there are lots of roof and screened porch repairs in progress. I wouldn't like to have this job: 

 Roofers removing tiles from damaged house

We did find one maybe old neighborhood that hints at what may have been like here before the place was developed (photos below) and that one place is quite charming. We had lunch at Petit Soleil and the food was superb – worth the mile walk! 

"Old town" Marco.

The attraction at Marco seems to be the fishing and the beach. The marina stores lots of fishing-type boats and there are also flat bottomed boats for rent from the marina that look perfect for an afternoon on the water with a cooler and a couple of fishing rods. We’ve seen a couple of people venture out on small catamarans as well. There are big cruise-type vessels at the dock, at least one of which makes the trek from here to Key West (see video clip). There’s also a fake pirate ship that goes out a couple of times a day for a tour of the water.

Marco Island Express 

Pirate Ship Excursion 

So what do you do while you wait? David fixes whatever has recently broken (a constant on a boat) and I feed us and do dishes and make half-hearted gestures toward keeping the boat clean. We read a lot – this time out we have access to electronic library loans so we have our pick of books. That’s another reason to choose this anchorage – we have phone access! We watch TV at night, being able to stream via the phones. Every day or two we dinghy in to take the trash, walk the island, and take showers.

One day we passed an entertaining hour watching a fisherman clean his catch and throw the leftovers to a gaggle of pelicans that almost launched themselves off their perches each time he moved his hands (video below). The egrets showed up to help, squawking and pecking each other. Some of the guys feed the egrets from their hands at the bait shop early in the morning. The egrets show up and stand on the bait trough and the guys toss them the odd minnow. There’s a big flap whenever a fishing boat comes in, because the fishermen toss the unused bait fish and scraps from the cleaning to the birds.

Pelican bar Marco Island 

After a day's fishing - pelican mob 

Fingers crossed, we will be able to leave in two weeks or less, maybe. I am hoping the weather will stay warm and the sun will come out. So far, we have done a lot more sitting than we have done cruising. Crossed fingers for spring, which I hope shows up here in February, dire groundhog predictions or not.