Faro Blanco Resort - Marathon

Tuesday, February 23 - On Saturday, February 20, we cruised from the anchorage at Little Shark River to Faro Blanco Resort and Marina in Marathon, a trip of about 45 miles.  The weather was cloudy and the waves were on the port (left) stern which gave the boat a rather uncomfortable (but not dangerous) ride.  The biggest challenge was dodging the hundreds (felt like thousands!) of crab pots.  Not sooner than we would engage the auto pilot on our course to Marathon, we would have to go to standby to dodge a crab pot.  This happened over and over again.  A highlight of our cruise was that we saw a huge sea turtle that was bigger than a garbage can lid.  At first we thought it was debris in the water, then as we got closer we saw it was a sea turtle.  We only saw him closely for a few seconds before he took a breath of air and went back underwater.  But, that is a sight we will never forget!

         View of Bay of Florida From LeeLoo - Look At That Caribbean Blue-Green Water!
 
We arrived at Faro Blanco Resort at 2:30 p.m. and were happy to be back in a resort marina.  For once it is very easy to get on and off our boat and the view is spectacular!  We finally found the Caribbean blue water. Although this marina is a bit pricey, we are staying for a whole week and then will continue towards the Ft. Lauderdale area.  One of the nice things about Faro Blanco is that we reconnected with many of our Looper friends.  We do have internet at this marina if we go up to the pool and restaurant area.  That is a plus!

 
Shortly after we arrived in Faro Blanco, we washed LeeLoo - a job that needs to be done after cruising in saltwater - especially when we have anchored out for 3 nights in a row.  While we were washing LeeLoo, we were visited by 2 huge manatees.  They were trying to drink our fresh water that was draining as we washed LeeLoo.  This was our first manatee sighting so we were thrilled!

                             Manatee Swimming Between LeeLoo And The Boat Next To Us

                                         Manatee Begging For Fresh Water
 


The next day, 1 manatee returned.  Someone on the dock was feeding the manatee romaine lettuce which is evidentially what manatees enjoy.

                                          Manatee Eating Romaine Lettuce