We took the dinghy into the Marathon Municipal Marina this morning and Tom worked on disabling my rear brakes which 
allowed the bent wheel to rotate on the axle of my bike. Riding slowly with my bike so reengineered, we arrived at the bike shop just as it was opening at 10 AM. The manager agreed to work on my rim if we could leave it for a couple of hours. Tom had seen the Marathon United Methodist Church along the way, so we decided to walk back to it while they worked on my bike. On the way, we passed the Hidden Harbor Turtle Hospital which is a marine environmental non-profit 
organization that rescues sea turtles as an endangered species. They even had a turtle ambulance.
The service was very joyful, and blended contemporary and traditional service which began with a flute, piano duet of Amazing Grace – what a blessing. The music was provided by the Gospel Warriors, an awesome Christian music group including a professional flautist, electric guitar, piano, drums and steel drum pan. We sang lots of uplifting praise songs, but I was struck by one in particular named The Wonderful Cross. It had a modern chorus, but the verses were the lyrics form Isaac Watts 1707 hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Singing the familiar words in a different context deepened the meaning of the words for Easter “Love so amazing, so divine, 
demands my life, my soul, my all!” The pastor, Peggy Benson, gave a message on dying to self in our relationship with God taken from John 12: 20-23 in which she included her personal testimony. We appreciated her sharing her calling to become a pastor after she was in her 50’s and giving up her well paid job to move towards where God was calling; and how God had blessed her in it. The Old Rugged Cross was sung as a solo and the congregation sang The Lord’s Prayer as part of Holy Communion. We met a couple from Hatteras, NC who sat on the pew in front of us, and they were nice enough to give us a ride back to the boat shop after the service.
The bike shop did a great job and truing my rim (they did not have a new one the right size), so I am mobile again. After a quick trip to Wendy’s for lunch and Winn Dixie for milk, we headed back to the boat to head towards Key Largo. This 
afternoon, traveling again north of the keys, we found the water surface a little calmer.
We followed the channel through the Florida Bay because it is full of sandbars – reminds me of Bogue Sound. At one point, the channel led with red and green markers through, Cowpens Cut, a grove of mangrove trees out in the wide expanse of water. It took us about 3 hours to reach Tavernia where we found a harbor enclosed on three sides. This should be a quiet place to spend the night.
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