Fri, Feb 5, 2010 - Marathon, FL

The wind was pretty strong last night and tripped our stern anchor. Since we were being blown into the mangroves anyway, Gale simply tied the stern to a mangrove tree. It was low tide and we only had about 2 feet of water, but we knew there were storms predicted for the evening and the wind would be switching directions again. The change in wind direction would blow us away from the mangroves when we were ready to leave.

Maureen taught the yoga class this morning. We had about 15 yogis in attendance and it was a good session. After yoga, we dinghied over to Dockside Café where we met some other Gemini owners for a noon luncheon. It was nice to get to know a few new friends and greet some “old” ones. Tom, a friend of Don and Ally who owns a power catamaran, joined the group. His home is in Croatia and every year he makes a trip down the east coast and spends the winters in Florida. We enjoyed listening to a few of Tom’s adventures and after lunch he gave us a tour of his boat, Sunshine Baby.

After dinghying back to Blue Heron and Ally’s Cat, the girls stayed home while the guys headed to West Marine. When Don and Gale returned, they worked on putting together an anchor bridle for Blue Heron. In windy conditions, a bridle helps to keep the boat from “fishtailing” back and forth in the wind.

As the sun was beginning to set, Gale dinghied the few yards over to Ally’s Cat and brought Alice over for happy hour. We hadn’t been together too long before we could see lightning in the distance. We shared our snacks and drinks, but had to cut things shorter than we otherwise would have to get Don and Ally back to their boat before the storm hit. It rained hard, there was some thunder and lightning and the winds were strong. Our anchors held and the new bridle did its job nicely.