Cell: 317-403-0128b
Email:davejoyceajohnson@gmail.com
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Friday Joysea, Joycie and Dave leave Marathon to begin the Great Loop adventure. We sure will miss all of the wonderful friends we met in Banana Bay marina. It will be fun to meet up with them again next winter.
We finally got a break with the wind and waves this week. Angie and Pam were the lucky winners ... we made it out to the coral reef for some snorkeling. Above Angie and Pam at the helm ... that would be scary but Joysea was on auto-pilot.
The weather was hot but beautiful. Above Pam and Angie snorkel with many colorful fish. The water was comfortable but the reef was crowed with boats. Arriving, we spotted a boat leaving a mooring ball and began easing toward it when a little fast boat slid in front of us. Joysea honk her horn but they didn't move until Pam yelled at them .... way to go mate!
The girls enjoying the sun on the upper helm of Joysea. A beautiful sail boat came out to the reef with a lot of young snorkelers (behind the girls). See below for a better view of the ship.
Well, we will begin the loop this week leaving Marathon Friday, weather permitting. We will be updating the blog daily, if we have Internet access ... so keep following us. We also plan to update the Google map of our location as we move north. Looking forward to moving ... starting to get way too hot down here (I know, eat your hearts out!)
Air conditioners are on here and have been for quite awhile. Pretty warm here, but we aren't complaining.
Almost forgot to mention our wieners and buns party. Our neighbor Susan and John put some pictures together on their website:
I have added pictures from our wienies and buns party to our website - www.trawlersrock.com If you go to the home page, the pictures are under the heading of Marathon or Bust
The weather did not cooperate today, so Joysea said she is staying in her slip. We think all of the autopilot and electrical problems are resolved, but won't know until we take her out. Maybe tomorrow?
Pictured to the right on the upper deck of Joysea is Joycie with the Singer family, Ben, Ashley, Andrea, Abigail, David and Emily.
We took Joysea out today and tried for the coral reef. Once again it was a little too rough for snorkeling. Above son Keith and grandson Bradley watch from the helm. Joysea has her auto pilot on so it makes it easy to keep on track.
Below grandson Andrew and daughter-in-law Lori enjoying the ride out to the reef.
Our son Keith and family arrived on Thursday and on Saturday we all went to the Turtle hospital. This hospital is very unique and is the first hospital for turtles in the world.
Above Bradley, Grandma Joyce, Andrew and mom Lori observe a small Loggerhead turtle that is almost recovered and will soon be release to the sea.
The small island behind Carl, Margaret and Joycie is "Pretty Joe Rock". It actually has a rental cottage on it. We were real happy to be on Joysea when the storm hit and not the little island which was totally invisible during the storm.
Joysea refuses to go out until the winds subside so Carl and Margaret will have to visit us again .... maybe in Michigan when we are doing the "Great Loop"?
Monday we tried to go to the Sombrero Key reef. Half way out we decided it was too choppy so we headed to the East Washerwoman Shoal which is a documented dive site. Captain Dave was happy to be able to try out his new anchor. After some minor problems with the anchor, we were able to set it and Greg, Janaye and Chelsie went snorkeling. Unfortunately no fish were to be found.
What can I say ... foxy lady above enjoying the ride:-)
The wind was blowing hard so Joysea once again stayed tied up. It looks like it will be Monday before we get a chance to do some snorkeling at the reef.
Nothing else to do today so Chelsie with friends Greg and Janaye partied all day! Hey, mom and dad, they got up this morning before 9 am so they didn't over do it too much (you owe me for this one Chelsie).
We have our auto pilot system ordered and have a guy lined up for installation. Joysea is getting real excited about her new equipment. The other Joycie is wondering about how we are going to pay for it. Kids, kiss the inheritance money bye bye.
Today George and Pat took "Reflection" out for a ride to Johnson Keys .... yep, after all of these years at sea, they finally named an island after us! The island on the left is Johnson key and the one to the right is little Johnson key. On the bow of Reflection is George, Pat, Joyce, George's sister Pat and husband Al. We anchored here for lunch before heading back to Banana Bay. The weather was great and the bay was as smooth as a lake.
This morning all of us went to our usual Sunday breakfast place, the American Legion, and enjoyed a great breakfast (way too much food!).
Patty and Bill plan to stop in Everglade city on their return trip home to Punta Gorda, Florida.
Pictured at right is terrified Lori hoping captain Kevin knows what the hell he is doing:-)
Bro Kevin and Lori are leaving us today and heading somewhere up the Keys. We had a great time with lots of laughs ... ask Lori sometime about the facial cream!
Kevin, Lori, Joyce and Dave took a shuttle boat ride to Pigeon Key. This is a five acre island located 2.3 miles west of Marathon. It is connected to Vaca Key by a bridge originally built by Flagler for his Florida East Coast Railway. From 1908 to 1935 , Pigeon Key served as a construction & maintenance base camp for the railroad workers.
Sis Jane Ann and sister-in-law Joanie relax on Joysea as we head for the coral reef. Another vessel in the marina left before us so Joycie called Jena Star on the radio to check conditions at the reef. Captain George told us they were leaving because it was "rocking and rolling" a little to much.
Captain Larry first took us about 10 miles out into the Gulf where he put out a couple of chub lines (ugly smelling/looking stuff that attracts fish). Fifteen minutes later the mackerel started to hit. We caught a bunch of mackerel before deciding to move. We cruised to the 7 mile bridge in hopes of finding mangrove snapper. Sure enough, we began catching snappers, small at first but larger later in the day. We also caught a lot of grouper (above Monica and Captain Larry with grouper), but unfortunately grouper is not in season. All in all, it was a great day of fishing! Larry cleaned the snapper for us and will smoke the mackerel later .... mmmm good!!
We met friends of Monica and Larry McCoy who have a place in Marathon. Larry and Jackie Reitz are from Indianapolis but stay here in the winter. Larry is taking Monica, Larry and Dave fishing this Tuesday. He has a 30 foot fishing boat with two 250 horsepower outboard engines .... fast! Dave will try to get pictures of the trip and big catch!
Larry and Monica McCoy arrived in Marathon this week and are staying at a Blue Green resort a mile south of our marina. We celebrated Joyce's birthday yesterday evening at their condo by chowing down on shrimp and grilled steaks. Today we took Joysea out to the coral reef. Above Monica and Joyce relax after attaching us to the mooring ball at the reef. Where you ask is Larry? Oh, he's asleep in the upper helm.
We had lunch before heading back ... and you guessed it, Larry woke up for that. He actually stayed awake for the trip back to the dock. He said he really enjoyed the trip ... hey this guy is easy to please. Just put him down for a nap and he is a happy sailor.
Happy birthday sis Jane Ann!
