It had been a fantastic stay at Key West, but the possibilities to stay any longer in Key West had run out (every slip was fully booked). So on February 3 morning, we got up to brilliant sunshine, no wind, no waves and cast off for the 53 mile trip to Marathon. Because the weather was so calm, we decided to take a left hand turn around the south of Key West from the harbor out to the Hawk Channel. It would have been a perfect day to go to Havana, just 90 miles to the south - but there are quite a number of formalities that prevent it from being an impulse trip (http://cubajournal.co/how-to-legally-travel-to-cuba-from-the-u-s-on-your-yacht/) - sorry Hemingway aficionados.

The Hawk Channel is a waterway that runs up the southern side of the Keys up to Biscayne Bay in Miami - it is protected by a submerged reef from the wide open ocean, but the channel is not nearly as protected as the Florida Bay side of the Keys. After an hour of open throttle - passing Stock Island, Sugarloaf, Cudjoe and Big Pine Keys, we turned north into the Moser Channel to pass under the 7-mile bridge entering the Florida Bay just before Marathon. Marathon Marina where a lot of the Loopers stay is on Vaca Key (the main key encompassing the town of Marathon) on the Hawk Channel side before the bridge, but our marina was on the Florida Bay side. We stopped at Faro Blanco Marina (another Looper favorite) for fuel and then proceeded to Marlin Bay Marina - a brand new facility that had just opened for business this season and one of the few that had space for us.

Marlin Bay was amazing - with lush tropical plantings, an enormous pool, hot tub, bar with all-day bartender, a fitness center, meeting rooms and more - all accessible to marina guests. We lucked out in ending up here, as opposed to the hubbub, crowds, loud children and noise at the other two marinas. The view out over the Florida Bay was something you could gaze at all day.

Marlin Bay Marina & Resort, with its huge pool and view out to Florida Bay

The contrast with the town of Marathon itself could not have been more marked. The town mostly consists of the heavily-trafficked Route 1 stretch encased on both sides by low slung buildings, dusty sand, fishing yards and a few handy big box stores (West Marine and Home Depot) and grocery stores (Publix). It seems to be a main mid-Key provisioning stop, the place where all the stone crabs are caught and processed in the Keys and where all the lower cost housing and trailer parks are kept. There was a serviceable bike path the length of Marathon (which is a town incorporated on seven separate keys) that enabled us to get to quite a few places, restaurants, marinas and Sombrero Beach - probably the nicest ocean beach on the southern edge of the town. The Florida Bay side of these islands was unfortunately plagued with a lot of sea grass, which got torn up from the bottom with every patch of stormy weather and with the prevailing winds washed up on the shores and rotted (with commensurate smell).

Two great institutions are located in Marathon - the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center. The Turtle Hospital was only about a mile away and is housed in an old motel complex. It has a visitor center that schedules tours of the sea turtle rehabilitation center with presentations on the turtles and some of the rescue stories. These folks do great work in healing and regularly releasing and tracking nearly all species of sea turtles.

The Dolphin Research Center is at the far eastern end of Marathon about 10 miles away, and we were able to ride the bikes out there, with most of the path separate from the main highway. The very dedicated staff gave some very interesting presentations and lectures on these creatures and their Florida habitat. The dolphins were all rescued at one point or another and seem to be happy to meeting and greet visitors several times a day. They are very vocal and seem to squeal with delight at the various meetings, probably because it is supplemented with feedings of lots of minnows and squid. We opted just to 'meet' the dolphins, rather than swim with them.

Leaving Marlin Bay was hard after two weeks of the most relaxing part of our journey so far. We'll miss coffee and the newspaper every morning on the aft cockpit looking out at the Bay and reading a book and drinking cocktails in the evening.