Not There Yet!

Wednesday 4/1/09 The forecast still predicted bumpy seas so we dropped the dink in the water and cruised around Boot Key Harbor in Marathon, Fl. What a collection of boats!. Boot Key is most noted for it's large mooring field filled mostly with sail boats in all states of repair or disrepair. Supposedly the place has been cleaned up over the years from when it was filled with abandoned boats that had been left to rot & sink. Also even more unpleasant was the fact that most of the boats in the harbor pumped raw sewage directly into the water. No More! They now have a boat dedicated to wandering thru the harbor to pump out the holding tanks on the boats! I now know what I want to do if I need to get a job!

We left Marathon around noon and headed out to start working our way towards Miami. We first tried the Hawk Channel route which is on the Atlantic side of the Keys. The wind was whipping out of the South which made for a wet and uncomfortable ride. Water was spraying up over the entire boat! At one point Pam thought she could reach out and touch the water we were heeled over so much. No one got sick and nothing broke but even still we decided to cut back to the Florida Bay side at Channel Five near Lower Matecumbe Key. What a difference! We continued on and anchored near Islamorada for the night.

Thursday 4/2/09 Last night we planned on taking the dinghy into the Lor-e-lei restaurant for breakfast this morning before leaving. We had a change in plans when we got up and realized that we had drug our anchor for about a half mile away from shore. At first I thought that all the other boats that were around us when we anchored had left since I couldn't see any of them. WRONG! Once my eyes cleared and I looked back towards shore I could see that they were still in place. Turns out that I had not understood Pam when we were letting out the anchor chain and thought that we had passed the mark on the chain that we use for a gauge for that depth when in reality we had not even reached it! Check and double check! Needless to say we were too embarrassed to motor back in to the anchorage so we skipped breakfast plans and headed out to the channel. The only casualties were a bruised ego and one crab pot which got caught in the anchor chain while dragging across the bottom.

We followed the marked channel of the ICW to Card Sound where we anchored for the night. This time we let out more than enough chain and when the wind picked up all we did was swing from side to side but remained right where we started! Forecast seas for crossing to Bimini are still too high for comfort. On to Miami!

Friday 4/3/09 Very windy today with a 2' chop on the waters of Biscayne Bay. We checked rates at the marinas around Miami and chose Miamarina (http://www.miami-marinas.com/) which is right downtown Miami. when making our reservation I asked if they had fuel. No such luck. But Pam found that Crandon Park Marina did have, and since it was in our path we pulled in and fueled for $2.01 a gallon. Considerably cheaper than the $3.00 at some of the other more well known marinas. Turns our Crandon Marina is owned by the Dade County and we have found that the govt. owned marinas are usually cheaper.

Our marina is right downtown Miami just at the foot of the bridge that goes to Dodge Island where all the cruise ships dock. If you ever went on a cruise out of Miami ours is the Marina on your right as you cross the bridge. It is also the home of the sail boat section of the annual Miami Boat Show. The area reminds me a little of Navy Pier in Chicago with plenty of activity at the shops and restaurants. You can check it out at http://www.baysidemarketplace.com/ . The only draw back is the music and activity until late at night but then that's also part of the charm! the view out our back door is of several 80' to 90' yachts tied up on the other side of our dock. These aren't the mega yachts you see in Ft. Lauderdale but they are still impressive! Looking out our side windows we see the American Airlines Arena where the Miami Heat play (basketball). Also located in the harbor are several excursion and fishing boats one of which is a Skipperliner which is made in LaCrosse.