Happy New Year!!!! We have been blessed to have lots of friends and family come aboard in the past 2 weeks, and the boat has been filled with love and laughter. This particular update may also sound like an episode of ‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom’ due to all our encounters with wild beasts….not only us women on board after too much wine, but REAL wildlife too!!!!
The day after arriving in Marathon Key, we had a surprise visit by manatees who swam to the side of our boat in our slip. We were so excited to get a close-up look of these gentle giants. So imagine how thrilled we were when we discovered their love of fresh water (which they need sources of to survive) from our hose. For 5 days straight they would come by for a drink after they discovered it’s always happy hour on the Donna Mae! One big guy of about 1200 pounds actually let me rub on his face as he was drinking from the nozzle like it was a baby bottle. Unfortunately they have moved on to other sea grass pastures and we haven’t seen any the past 10 days.
On the 22nd, Derek’s dad, John, joined us again to stay with us through Christmas. Lots of hours were spent just lying in the sun and reading books. On Christmas day, while you all were picking up presents from under the Christmas tree, I was learning how to pick up iguanas from under the palm trees! They were big and fast, but once you catch them and pick them up they become docile. A few days after my first iguana, I caught a BIG red one. I pretty much stunned the other tourists who were watching. They stood there staring with their hands over their mouths and eyes popping out like I was insane. I asked one man if he wanted to touch it, and as he did the iguana jerked in my hand a little and he screamed like a little girl!!!! HA HA HA!
During the time that John was here, we also got a visit from my sis, Julie, who drove down from Lauderdale for 2 days.We had a great time, especially when the 2 of us took the dinghy out a few times to explore the Gulf. And just as she left, our friend, Kim, from Deltaville, VA came to see us. In an earlier blog, I mentioned the sudden death of Lou, Kim’s boyfriend, who we came to know and love during our 4-week-stay in Virginia while our boat was being repaired. Kim brought his ashes to Marathon to be scattered in blue water off the coast of the Keys. It was a bittersweet reunion and a privilege to be with her during this time. There was lots of drinking, reminiscing and laughter. Lou would have loved it.
Then Gypsea turned into one of the wild beasts we’ve encountered in the past 2 weeks when she became a ‘woman’ on the 27th! Hell hath no fury like a cat in heat who’s confined on a small boat!!!! She was screaming and shaking and sticking her butt up in the air constantly. Whenever we opened the door to go out, she would dash out too and immediately jump onto the docks looking for a tomcat. One time she took a flying leap off the upstairs flybridge to make a run for it. Needless to say we got her spayed by the local vet, and life is once again under control. There’s only room for one female with hormonal issues allowed on this boat, and that’s me!
Then the long-awaited day to see Trevor, Connor, and Emily finally came on the 28th. I knew I missed my boys, but didn’t realize how much until those first big hugs. I have to give so much credit to Emily, Connor’s girlfriend, for agreeing to stay with 4 crazy Gamradts for 4 days in only 400 square feet of space!!!!! She’s definitely a keeper! We all relaxed by the pool and the beach and played lots of Yahtzee and Farkel. Emily and I really got to know each other over 2 bottles of red one night, and now poor Connor has no secrets! The only thing that would have made the visit better would have been if Chase and his fam could have joined us too. But we’ll all be together again soon in a short 5 weeks.
The highlight of the week was the 5 of us going to Looe Key on the boat and staying overnight on a mooring ball. Looe Key is not an island, but a reef. In fact it is rated as the best reef to dive/scuba in the US other than Hawaii. We have snorkeling gear and wetsuits and the kids got to spend time in the water 5 miles offshore. We got to see an amazing sight just before sunset on New Year’s Eve. A Goliath Grouper came to visit. Goliath groupers can grow up to 9 feet long and up to 900 lbs, The big guy we saw was the size of our dinghy!!!!! Unfortunately we didn’t have underwater cameras, so I’ve attached 2 internet photos for you to get an idea how fantastic they are. We had some bait fish onboard, so he hung around for about 20 minutes at the surface eating our morsels.
The swells were terrible and running abeam overnight, so none of us got much sleep. This boat was ROCKIN’ side to side to the point of the water being less than a foot from coming over our sides. But we were rewarded with another dolphin running at our bow on the way back to the marina. No seasickness, so we’re all real sailors now!
The kids left today, and it’s back to just me and Derek again. Our boat feels huge! A front came in overnight with gray skies, temps in the 60’s, and wind gusts up to 30mph for the next few days. BUT, I won’t complain after seeing the weather for the rest of the world! Stay warm.
Much love to all.
The day after arriving in Marathon Key, we had a surprise visit by manatees who swam to the side of our boat in our slip. We were so excited to get a close-up look of these gentle giants. So imagine how thrilled we were when we discovered their love of fresh water (which they need sources of to survive) from our hose. For 5 days straight they would come by for a drink after they discovered it’s always happy hour on the Donna Mae! One big guy of about 1200 pounds actually let me rub on his face as he was drinking from the nozzle like it was a baby bottle. Unfortunately they have moved on to other sea grass pastures and we haven’t seen any the past 10 days.
On the 22nd, Derek’s dad, John, joined us again to stay with us through Christmas. Lots of hours were spent just lying in the sun and reading books. On Christmas day, while you all were picking up presents from under the Christmas tree, I was learning how to pick up iguanas from under the palm trees! They were big and fast, but once you catch them and pick them up they become docile. A few days after my first iguana, I caught a BIG red one. I pretty much stunned the other tourists who were watching. They stood there staring with their hands over their mouths and eyes popping out like I was insane. I asked one man if he wanted to touch it, and as he did the iguana jerked in my hand a little and he screamed like a little girl!!!! HA HA HA!
During the time that John was here, we also got a visit from my sis, Julie, who drove down from Lauderdale for 2 days.We had a great time, especially when the 2 of us took the dinghy out a few times to explore the Gulf. And just as she left, our friend, Kim, from Deltaville, VA came to see us. In an earlier blog, I mentioned the sudden death of Lou, Kim’s boyfriend, who we came to know and love during our 4-week-stay in Virginia while our boat was being repaired. Kim brought his ashes to Marathon to be scattered in blue water off the coast of the Keys. It was a bittersweet reunion and a privilege to be with her during this time. There was lots of drinking, reminiscing and laughter. Lou would have loved it.
Then Gypsea turned into one of the wild beasts we’ve encountered in the past 2 weeks when she became a ‘woman’ on the 27th! Hell hath no fury like a cat in heat who’s confined on a small boat!!!! She was screaming and shaking and sticking her butt up in the air constantly. Whenever we opened the door to go out, she would dash out too and immediately jump onto the docks looking for a tomcat. One time she took a flying leap off the upstairs flybridge to make a run for it. Needless to say we got her spayed by the local vet, and life is once again under control. There’s only room for one female with hormonal issues allowed on this boat, and that’s me!
Then the long-awaited day to see Trevor, Connor, and Emily finally came on the 28th. I knew I missed my boys, but didn’t realize how much until those first big hugs. I have to give so much credit to Emily, Connor’s girlfriend, for agreeing to stay with 4 crazy Gamradts for 4 days in only 400 square feet of space!!!!! She’s definitely a keeper! We all relaxed by the pool and the beach and played lots of Yahtzee and Farkel. Emily and I really got to know each other over 2 bottles of red one night, and now poor Connor has no secrets! The only thing that would have made the visit better would have been if Chase and his fam could have joined us too. But we’ll all be together again soon in a short 5 weeks.
The highlight of the week was the 5 of us going to Looe Key on the boat and staying overnight on a mooring ball. Looe Key is not an island, but a reef. In fact it is rated as the best reef to dive/scuba in the US other than Hawaii. We have snorkeling gear and wetsuits and the kids got to spend time in the water 5 miles offshore. We got to see an amazing sight just before sunset on New Year’s Eve. A Goliath Grouper came to visit. Goliath groupers can grow up to 9 feet long and up to 900 lbs, The big guy we saw was the size of our dinghy!!!!! Unfortunately we didn’t have underwater cameras, so I’ve attached 2 internet photos for you to get an idea how fantastic they are. We had some bait fish onboard, so he hung around for about 20 minutes at the surface eating our morsels.
The swells were terrible and running abeam overnight, so none of us got much sleep. This boat was ROCKIN’ side to side to the point of the water being less than a foot from coming over our sides. But we were rewarded with another dolphin running at our bow on the way back to the marina. No seasickness, so we’re all real sailors now!
The kids left today, and it’s back to just me and Derek again. Our boat feels huge! A front came in overnight with gray skies, temps in the 60’s, and wind gusts up to 30mph for the next few days. BUT, I won’t complain after seeing the weather for the rest of the world! Stay warm.
Much love to all.