FRIDAY-SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13-15, 2026
FRIDAY
We slipped away from Marco Island and pointed the bow about 45 miles south toward Shark River Island, right on the edge of Everglades National Park. After dropping the hook, we took a moment to soak it all in — absolute serenity. The kind of place that makes you pause and just listen. For a while, we had the anchorage completely to ourselves, surrounded by nothing but water, sky, and wild Florida. Eventually a couple of other boats eased in, but it still felt wonderfully remote.
Jeff fired up the grill and made birthday dinner — burgers and salad, simple and perfect after a day on the water. Yes… it was my birthday, and fittingly, it fell on Friday the 13th! Adding to the mystery, we had zero cell service, and somehow Nebo didn’t track a single mile of our journey that day. Coincidence? No signal? Friday-the-13th boating magic? We may never know!
What we do know is that the evening was peaceful, the wildlife put on its own quiet show, and we drifted off to one of those deep, restful sleeps that only comes from being anchored in a wild, beautiful place far from everything.
SATURDAY
We were up early, ready to tackle the remaining 40+ miles to Marathon before the forecasted winds had their say. When we peeked outside, the water was glass — completely calm. Beautiful… but also a little suspicious. Because around here, calm often comes with a side of fog.
Sure enough, visibility dropped to about a block. With radar running, navigation tools dialed in, and extra eyes on watch, we decided to ease forward at a slow and steady pace. The biggest obstacle? Yep — crab pots. Everywhere. It felt like an endless obstacle course, carefully weaving our way through floats appearing out of the mist.
After about two hours, the fog finally lifted as if someone flipped a switch, revealing a gorgeous day and that brilliant Florida Keys sunshine. We cruised into Marathon excited to grab a mooring ball, only to learn an important detail: you actually have to be there to get one — first come, first served. Sounds simple… until you realize there are more than 200 mooring balls… and every single one was taken. With a waiting list, too! Holiday weekend — lesson learned.
To even join the list required paying for a full week, which wasn’t part of our plan. The harbor staff suggested anchoring just outside the mooring fields, which turned out to be easier said than done. Some areas were official moorings, others were boats that had set their own permanent-looking setups, and figuring out where anchoring was truly allowed took some detective work — and unfortunately included one gentle “touch” of the bottom while searching for a spot.
Thankfully, a friendly sailor pointed us toward an area that looked promising. Not perfect, but good enough while we regrouped and figured out our next move. The weather lately — especially wind and waves — hasn’t been overly cooperative, limiting our travel windows and keeping us flexible.
Just before dinner, we had a fun surprise when fellow loopers from Blue Lobstah and Loving Life dinghied over to say hello. Even better — they had discovered a much better anchoring spot nearby and shared the intel. It’s always reassuring to know your looper family is close by, looking out for one another.
We took the dinghy out for a little reconnaissance to get the lay of the land, then settled in for a relaxing evening aboard. Despite the day’s challenges, the boat felt cozy, the breeze eased off, and we both slept surprisingly well — another reminder that sometimes the unplanned stops turn out just fine.
SUNDAY
We woke up after a surprisingly good night’s sleep and wasted no time getting the coffee going — priorities, of course. With mugs in hand, we started mapping out our plans for the next several days. It looks like we’ll be hanging out here until Tuesday or Wednesday before heading south. We’re waiting on a package with special fuel filters for both engines that need replacing. Much to my dismay, these are not the same filters we already changed — apparently boats require approximately 47 different kinds of filters 🤦♀️.
Not that we’re in any rush anyway. The forecast is calling for wind and 3–4 foot seas over the next couple of days, so staying put feels like the smart move. We’re hoping to tuck into a marina on Monday for a few nights before moving on… assuming our reservation gets approved. Fingers crossed!
Just as we were about to sit down for breakfast, a city pump-out boat cruised up alongside us. They make rounds through the mooring field offering pump-outs — a pretty great service — but they also informed us that we were a little too close to the moorings and couldn’t stay where we were. Well… so much for that plan!
We quickly reached out to the looper friends we’d met the night before to see if there might be an opening near them, and voilà — luck was on our side! There was a perfect spot available right between the two of them. We pulled anchor and carefully made our way over. It took a couple of attempts thanks to tight quarters and a feisty breeze, but teamwork prevailed and we got settled in. New home, secured!
As we relaxed and took in the sunshine and steady breeze, we realized Millennium Falcon was anchored just on the other side of Lobstah — friends we haven’t seen since Paducah! Always fun when the looper world suddenly feels small again.
The rest of the day was wonderfully low-key — just soaking up the sun, enjoying the breeze, and appreciating another easy day on the water.
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