Welcome to Stock Island Marina

Here is the marina last evening.  

We are so happy to be at Stock Island today.  We were tired last night and went to bed early.  We were asleep at 9:00 pm when our son in San Francisco called to FaceTime with his babies.  He was amazed,"Are you asleep?"  Yes, we were.  The wind picked up in the night and woke us.  There was banging and clanging, and we got up to check around Aunt Aggie.  George added a line around the back of the dinghy. All was well.  We got up late, had grits for breakfast, and read the AJC.  We had hurried so yesterday that no paper was read.

A fun development is getting back in touch with loopers we met this fall.  Right after we got tied up yesterday, Mark Hill from Blue Willow and Michigan came by to welcome us.  They are here all month, staying on C Dock also.  This morning I wrote Kathy Scott from Serenity.  We thought we had heard her husband yesterday on the radio, and we wondered if they were at Marathon.  (No, that was a different boat named Serenity.)  Also Jesse from Bama Dream called us to ask where we are.  He'd heard us on the radio.  (Everyone keeps the radio on and tuned to channel 16.  We often hear boaters hailing a marina or another boat.)  So we had a good chat with him and caught up on their adventures:  They went to the Dry Tortugas for a week and are now anchored out.  Brave souls to stay out last night.  They are looking for a buddy boat to go to the Bahamas.

All caught up on our news, George did some drafting work and I washed dishes and paid a visit to the ship's store to ask questions.  George had been so tired when he signed in that he hadn't asked any questions about some procedures.  He had signed a dockage agreement with 22 articles as well as a list of 28 rules and regulations.  I had a few follow-up questions.    I found out how the parking, laundry and pump out work.  I discussed the reason for signing in our visitors.  Theresa, the manager, was clear and helpful and not picky.  Relief:  I am such a rule follower that I often worry needlessly.

We really like this marina.  It is expensive, but it seems as if they designed a place with the services boaters would like:  Recycling is easy!  Laundry is clean and new.  Bathrooms/showers are plentiful and clean. There's a community garden with a bar and a grill next door.  Everything looks shiny.
There is a free shuttle to Key West four times a day.  We can use it for both touring and going to Publix. This afternoon we took a walk all around the area to get our bearings + our exercise.

The colorful and decorated shrimp boats came into the harbor yesterday because of the high winds.  

We took a picture of the garden design to remember for next year.  The critters will not be able to get my tomatoes in 2016.

Guinea hens live here and were wandering around the outside dining area.

We'll see Mark and Vicki from Blue Willow today for docktails.  Tomorrow there are no tour boats coming to Key West, so we are going down to Mallory Square for the sunset celebration.  Stay tuned.