Batteries are the heart of a sailboat

Batteries are our lifeline on a sailboat. Everything on the boat runs off batteries. They keep our refrigerators and freezer running. They run our water pump, flush the toilets and keep the lights on. When we are sailing, they run the VHF radio, chart plotter and other navigation instruments. Basically, the only things on the boat that do not run on DC power are the air conditioning, hot water heater and regular A/C outlets. Those we only use when plugged into a dock power source.

At anchor, we charge the batteries with the generator. Someday soon we hope to get solar panels to help keep us charged (on my Christmas wish list!) Usually running the generator once a day keeps us going. Lately, we have had to run it more than usual and struggle to keep them fully charged. It started in Sanibel, where we topped off the water in the batteries and fixed the settings on the Xantrex inverter. But we started having problems keeping them charged again after leaving Key West. The culprit was apparently one battery with a short in it. But one bad apple ruins the rest, so here we are in Marathon, Florida waiting for a battery delivery from Miami. Coming in here was a bit scary. With so little battery power, Nick flushed the toilet and I lost the chart plotter! Our bow thruster wouldn’t work, so getting the boat backed into the dock in the current here took a couple of tries. More stress for Nick when he was already stressed about the battery problem…

It’s all about perspective

We have to stay positive despite the frustrations. We knew the boat was going to take some work to iron out the kinks once we started cruising. The batteries didn’t get much stress when we were in Clearwater because we could only stay at anchor one or two nights at a time due to our work schedules, so the boat was happy being back at the dock on shore power. Plus we abandoned her for three months when we went to Albany NY for our summer contract. Now she’s showing us she’s not happy!! We could chose to sit here being angry and frustrated, or we could decide to enjoy ourselves in the beautiful Florida Keys.

Sightseeing in Marathon

Marathon is in the heart of the Florida Keys, about halfway between the mainland and Key West. It is attached to the lower keys by the seven mile bridge. We sailied right past it coming in here. Being on land again, we have been out exploring on the bicycles. It’s a great way to get around on a small island. No parking issues or traffic headaches! We did the grocery shopping Friday and yesterday took a 10 mile ride to see the island.

Sea Turtle Rescue Hospital

We started at the Turtle Hospital. They have a whole fleet of ambulances just for rescuing the turtles!! Sea turtles are vulnerable to all the plastics thrown in the water, balloons that are set free and fishing nets. Boat propellers can injure them too. When injured, it affects their bouyancy and ability to float or swim. Houses along the shore with lights on mess up the babies trying to find their way to the water after they hatch. Did you know they look for the brightest light source and that is how they get to the water? That’s why lights on the houses mix them up and they can die if they don’t get to sea.

Crane Point Museum and Nature Center

Our next stop was a two mile hike through Crane Point. We saw a Roseate Skimmer dragonfly, which is found only here in the Florida keys.

There is an old Cracker hourse on the premisis and a Bahamian-style cabin built from tabby (shells mixed with sand, etc.) in the 1906. We saw a couple of iguanas too…one I almost hit with my bicycle on the way there and scared the daylights out of me! The hike was a nice change for us and the grounds were beautiful. It is one of the only places in the keys that has been left virtually untouched by commercial growth.

• 

• 

Sombrero Beach

Our last stop was a trip to the beach. Sombrero Beach is supposedly the best beach in this part of the keys. Coming from Clearwater I have to say I was a bit disappointed. It was really small with very little space to walk on the beach (one of my favorite de-stressors of all times!) However, the water is crystal clear and you can see the bottom from 10 feet.

Marathon is a beautiful place and I know we will find more cool stuff to do today. Just wish we were here under different circumstances. Thankfully we are functional with two batteries running the house bank and the shore power working hard to keep us charged!