Marathon, FL
No LL
No LL
Dennis and Barbara from Noble House drove us up to the nautical flea market on Islamorada today. It was lots of fun. There was 100-200 boots, about half of them selling strictly nautical stuff. They have amenities like no other flea market, such as boat slips, a white sand beach, turquoise water, and a playground (see above).
I failed to find the one thing I wanted at the flea market, a foot pump, or a manual bilge pump. However, we found some real treasures and a real turkey -- about average for a flea market I guess.
Our friends Cheri and John Warren once showed us their Bushnell binocular with a built-in camera. It made great pictures at a distance. However, at $189, the toy was too expensive for us. We found one at the flea market, brand new and in the box, for $40. We bought it.
A guy was selling sea anchors and drogues. We were not in the market for one. They cost $500 at West Marine and they are too large to add to our pile of stuff; or so I thought. At the flea market, a man was selling sea anchors for only $50; and they came in a bag much smaller than what I expected. We bought it. It will add significantly to our at-sea safety margin. Don't know what a sea anchor or a drogue is? I'll write a blog about it some day after the first time we run a practice drill to deploy it.
I also bought 60 feet of web strap for $20. I wanted it to replace the lines we use for jack lines. When I returned home and examined it closely, I see that it is not strong enough for jack lines. Jack lines need a breaking strength of 7ooo pounds. The web I bought is good for only about 1000 pounds. Don't know what a jack line is? I'll write a blog about it some day.
I also bought myself a new Panama Hat. I really like those hats for sailing. The wide brim keeps the sun out of my eyes, and the ventilated top keeps my head cool. The only trouble is that they blow off; even when I wear a chin strap. Worse, they sink before I can turn the boat around to rescue them. I lost two such hats in my first year on Tarwathie. This time, I'm going to get some plastic corn foam, the kind they use when shipping, and sew the corns into the had to make it float.
Now our business in Marathon is complete. The very next weather window and we'll leave for The Bahamas.
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We are sitting in No Name Miami waiting for that window too. We will probably go to Rodriguiz and then jump off. See you there!
ReplyDeletePenny and Richard
Just a note: The packing "popcorn" peanuts are often water-soluble these days (friendlier to the environment), so they might not make the best floation.
ReplyDeleteI've seen hats with a circle of about 1/4" closed cell foam on the inside of the top of the crown. Then it floats plus the UV rays can't get through to the top of your head (might not work if the top of the crown is not flat though).
Thanks for the blog; enjoyable as always.
R.
We love the photos of the Islamorada flea market. Walt and I attended last year when we were at port in Key Largo. We bought a rope ladder for our dinghy. Have a safe trip to the Bahamas!
ReplyDeletePat & Walt (Eagle's Wings)
Brother Dick, in a hat with a chinstrap. The image is disconcerting! Image is everything Dick!A little dignity PLEASE! haha....
ReplyDeleteI once had an interesting yardsale encounter. The lady was selling lots of stuff for next-to-nothing. I had already purchased an electronics technician's suitcase toolset for $12 that was like $600 when I looked it up on "the google" [Bushism].
I then noticed a spool of white rope, like 5/8". The spool was like 24 in hi- I think it said 500 feet, and it looked unused. It was marked $5.00
I was out of $$, so I told her after lunch I'd be back to buy it. I don't know a lot about rope prices, but with two flagpoles I sort of figured it would be handy to have it. Like 10 year supply of replacing both each year!
Plus I figured I'd show it to Dick when he breezed through next, and if he could use some he could take what he needed.
Anyhow - I go back after lunch and hand her $5. She looks confused and says "what is THIS for?". I say "The rope". She says
"Oh no honey- that says 5 HUNDRED dollars!!"
I do a lot of yard-sale-ing and I know very few bargain-hunters with a $500 budget. Not that it might not have been worth that? She said the spool was like $800 new.
The odd thing is- had her neighbor been there instead watching the sale, in all likelihood she would have unknowingly sold it to me for $5, and I would have unknowingly bought it! I would not want to take advantage- so I'm glad that didn't happen. But some very interesting things can happen at these sales!