Waiting for mail in Marathon, FL

Yes, exactly, I am waiting for mail. It is a package from The Netherlands containing a phone card (SIM) and my official boat registration. Normally it takes about 10 days, packages are sometimes faster. It has been two weeks now. Is US customs taking that long to go through the package (they have opened packages before, and I don’t even mind that much, if it would not delay the delivery that much).

Yesterday morning we did another Publix run. Spent even more than last time, ouch! But, I hope I have plenty of those things that might be hard to find in Cuba (whatever those may be, I was just guessing).

Tuesday I filled up with some free fuel, Mandate had pumped his tank empty for cleaning, and gave the fuel away. I managed to overfill, even though according to the engine hour administration the tanks was 4 gallons from full. Probably because many of the recent hours were either for charging or minor engine maintenance. Where the fuel usage is way lower (since the engine is pretty much idling). Anyway. recalculate my average usage since late November (Brunswick, GA was the last time I made a diesel mess in the bilge) and came out on 0.47 gallons per hour. Now, I have adjusted my fuel spreadsheet to use 0.45g/h so err on the safe side (which, on the other hand is the not so safe side, since eventually, I will run the tank empty that way, that will take quite some time though).

Wednesday afternoon I finally took my bike on shore, I had been waiting for a quiet day, since the dinghy run is quite far. But, you can wait forever for the ideal circumstances, so I just went for it. I needed the bike to ride to Napa (auto parts). That is about a7km ride (or so). Bought some spare belts (now have 2 new spares for both alternator and refrigerator). Not cheap either, they better be good (hope they hold out well in storage, so they are not dried out when I need them).

After that I rode to the west side of Vaca Key, where there is the old 7 mile bridge. At first this was a railroad bridge (early 20th century), that converted to a narrow two lane bridge (very narrow). Now there is a new bridge, so the old bridge is a long fishing pier and running and bike trail. It leads to Pigeon Key. That is a key smaller than a football field (well, maybe not. but it IS small). Neat, if it wasn’t for all the bridges in their front and back yards.

Well, that is the update for now. Apart from pump out and laundry I am ready to leave here. If only that package would show up. Next stop is Key West, where I will stay just to check it out, and visit US customs to see if I need to clear out with them before leaving to Cuba or not.

Well, it is Thursday now, and I have been trying to track down my package. No such luck. I can’t track it in The Netherlands, and the US Postal website gives me
Track & Confuse

Two days ago. on a windy afternoon, a number of dolphins came through the harbor. Just by luck, I got some in a picture:

Dolphins

This entry was posted in At anchor. Bookmark the permalink.