2025-01-06 Cape Coral, FL
Some definitions:
Proprioception: The sense of body position and movement that is largely subconscious. (Liam doesn’t know exactly where his rear legs are)
IVDD: Intervertebral Disk Disease—occurs when the cushioning disks between the spinal column bones bulge or burst into the spinal cord space.
Bridget worked. Liam was walking pretty well until I gave him the meds. Liam is not happy and I was sad and anxious. Thankfully, the horrible shaking had not happened again-yet. I spent three or four hours clearing out Bridget’s lanai porch area so that she could work on the floor. I also did some rearranging in the garage to put all the stuff in there. It was windy out but pretty warm. Bridget and I ate mac and cheese (my mom’s recipe) that Maura had prepared the night before, which we didn’t eat because of the pet hospital ordeal!
It was so, so good. I chose not to give Liam any more Valium, and he seemed more alert, although his legs were wobbly due to the muscle relaxants. Bridget and I watched Unsolved Mysteries. Jim and Dan arrived in Marathon and are living large—happy hour!
Marathon, FL
116 nights to go
2025-01-07 Cape Coral, FL
I got up early and got all of our stuff together and packed into Maura’s car. I could tell that Bridget didn’t want Liam to leave—she is still missing her little Teddy. Liam and I took off at 7:00 AM to head to FMB. Maura, Liam, and I took to the road to meet Dan and Jim in Marathon. I gave Liam a Valium thinking that it would relax him for the drive—not so. He rode shotgun with Maura and incessantly asked for his window to be opened—it was freezing, but Maura was a trooper. So, no more Valium for Liam. Liam, Maura, and I arrived (finally!) at Boot Key Harbor City Marina—it was a rustic yet comprehensive marina (laundry, showers, common room, free pump-out weekly). We took two trips to haul all the stuff to the boat. I stowed most of our stuff while Dan and Liam went back to pick up Maura and Jim. We hung out on the boat for a while and had some drinks. I was totally amazed at how giant the mooring field was—nuts! Everyone wanted to go to the Dockside for happy hour, so we did—it was cold and windy. We started off sitting outside, but Jim scored us four bar seats inside, and dogs were welcome! At the bar, I met a couple from Illinois who are staying in Marathon for a month—Paula and her husband. After happy hour, we all went back to the boat. Everyone was too stuffed for dinner, so later Maura, Jim, Dan, and Liam had snacks. Maura and Jim stayed over. I had a good night’s sleep for the first time in many days because of my cold and anxiety over Liam. We chatted and had a great time, but we were all sleepy.
115 nights to go
2025-01-08 Marathon, FL
We all got up and had English muffins and bananas for breakfast, except me and Jim since we hate bananas. We hung out and chatted. My beer fridge somehow got set to freezer mode—one Diet Coke exploded and all the other drinks were almost frozen! I cleared out the cooler and turned it off so that I could clean it later. Meanwhile, Dan was searching high and low for his hi-test Velcro—couldn’t find it! We all took off in the dinghy to head to lunch at the Sunset Grill. When we left the boat, it was windy but sunny. By the time we got seated at the restaurant, it was overcast with no sun, so quite chilly. Maura and Jim dropped us off at the marina to head back home to FMB. We will miss them! I was really happy that Jim had such a great time being first mate/galley wench! Back at the boat, I cleaned the cooler and put everything back where it went. Dan worked on hand-stitching the screen for the forward hatch. We had leftover PF Changs and rice—yummy!
114 nights to go
2025-01-09 Marathon, FL
It was cold and windy but sunny. It’s pretty here, but I’m basically trapped on the boat because I cannot start the dinghy engine—it kills my shoulders and I can’t row (never could)! Dan worked pretty much all day. I went through the boat organizing and taking inventory—I found Dan’s Velcro in one of Liam’s bins way at the bottom! Later in the early afternoon, Dan took Liam to shore and noticed that there were a bunch of musicians playing in the common area. Dan came and picked me up and we went to check it out. It was mostly folk music, so I really enjoyed it until the sun started to go down—I was cold!
113 nights to go
2025-01-10 Marathon, FL
It was way warmer today and much less windy. Dan worked pretty much all day while I continued cleaning and organizing the boat. Around 4:00 PM, Dan suggested we go to happy hour. We went over to the Dockside, and it was super busy and the weather was nice. The first band was really good, and both singers had very good voices. It was the first night of a Celtic festival, and I was anxiously anticipating the bagpipes—I love bagpipes! However, once the bagpipes started up, Liam freaked out and tried to run. Dan removed him from the premises, and I reluctantly left after the number—boo hoo. Strangely, Liam isn’t phased by fireworks or thunder—but bagpipes!
112 nights to go
2025-01-11 Marathon, FL
It was sunny, warm, and windy in Marathon. Dan worked in the morning, then we all got in the dinghy and headed towards Publix. There is a marina right near it, but word has it that the marina does not allow boaters to tie up or even get dropped off to shop—that sucks! So, Dan dropped me off at some other marina, and I walked 15 minutes to Publix, shopped, and walked back. Sadly, I broke the cart going over a curb, but fortunately it was still functional. We went back to the boat to watch football as it was Wildcard Weekend. We had cheese and crackers as a snack and shepherd’s pie with chili sauce for dinner.
111 nights to go
2025-01-12 Marathon, FL
Dan worked in the morning. It was overcast and cold. I cleaned up the dishes from the night before. Dan worked on sewing the screens for the doors while we watched football. We ate the remaining shepherd’s pie for dinner.
110 nights to go
2025-01-13 Marathon, FL
It was sunny and hot and not windy. Dan worked—good thing that he is retired! Dan and Liam dropped me off at the marina to do laundry. The laundry was a beehive of activity, but I was able to snag two washers. When the clothes were in the dryer, I took my cart and walked over to RaceTrac to get some beer—it was a short walk, but I had to cross a very busy street to get there. I also scored some Vuse carts. While my clothes were drying, I chatted with an interesting woman who lives aboard year-round here in Marathon. She is 81 years old and lived in the Bahamas for thirty years until Dorian hit in 2019. She studied the rare horses on Abaco and is still campaigning to resurrect the breed—she has horse tissue from the last horse. She lived in Scituate for a summer—God bless her. She lives on her boat alone with her dog.
Dan and Liam picked me up and we went back to the boat. Dan wanted to go to happy hour at The Dockside, so I hustled to get the bed made and the laundry put away since he wanted to get there before 3:00. We didn’t leave until 3:30 because Dan was still working. We went over there and the singer was not that great, but at least, for Liam’s sake, there were no bagpipes! We then watched football (tried to).
109 nights to go
2025-01-14 Marathon, FL
It was overcast and humid. Dan worked all day. We went to Taco Tuesday at The Dockside—hard shell tacos. I don’t like them that way, but I had nachos!
108 nights to go
2025-01-15 Marathon, FL
Dan worked all day. It was chilly, windy, but sunny. We went to The Dockside for happy hour—the singer was very good! We noticed on Nebo that Bryan was anchored in Sisters Creek, so we took the dinghy back to our boat, grabbed some beers and the remaining evil cookies that Bridget foisted on us, and went over to Ringul8R. We delivered the cookies and hung out and chatted for a while.
107 nights to go
2025-01-16 Marathon, FL
Dan walked over to Home Depot to get some parts. Dan worked on boat things: making the stern wash-down pump work properly, replacing the leaking hydraulic seal for the steering (still leaking tons). I did some more laundry and got beer and Vuse carts at RaceTrac. I had planned to go to Publix but decided to order through Walmart since Dan will have a car to do a pickup. There was a music jam at the marina, so we went to that.
106 nights to go
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