Thursday, December 18, 2008
Merry Christmas to all - see you next year
It's Thursday 18 December and we are back at Las Olas Marina in Fort Lauderdale to have our non-freezing fridge fixed. (Ice for our G&Ts at last!) Hard to believe that this time next week it will be Christmas Day, and we shall be miles from here, in snowy Victoria, enjoying Christmas with Charlotte, Pierre, Lily and Isabelle. It will be Isabelle's first Christmas, and it's also the first time Lily has been old enough to enjoy all the snow they have been having! As Torontonians who are 'old hands' at snow, we shall have a thing or two to teach the little girls!
We sailed here up the coast from Miami on Tuesday. We had spent four nights at 'Dinner Key Marina' as the weather was a little gray and chilly - down to mid 50sF at night. We ate stone crabs once more with Sue and Jean at Monty's on Friday evening, and on Saturday we went out for a delicious Italian dinner with Brenda and Herb from 'Brenda Star'. I took the opportunity of a cloudy day to 'stay indoors' and write some Christmas cards. Just like a winter's day at home!
The weather improved on Sunday, so after stocking up on food from the 'Fresh Market' we went off to anchor just off the west side of Key Biscayne, where we had been before. We were fairly sheltered from the strong easterlies that blew the first night. We explored by dinghy this time, and discovered that we were just off the Key Biscayne Yacht Club. Unfortunately it was Monday, and the club was very quiet and the dining room and bar were closed. However, we did notice a large picture of the Queen prominently displayed, and figured that our Royal Canadian Yacht Club credentials might stand us in good stead for reciprocal privileges on our next visit.
On Tuesday we had to tear ourselves away from this lovely anchorage and sailed the 20 plus miles to Fort Lauderdale. We navigated out the Biscayne Bay 'cut' past the old lighthouse and jagged rocks at the southeastern tip of Key Biscayne. We set off at 8:30 a.m. and were at Las Olas by 5 p.m. Yesterday, while the fridge was being fixed, we took a bus to 'West Marine' once again...nd bought some more essentials for the boat. On the way back we hopped off at the 'Bahia Cabana' waterside bar at the Bahia Mar Marina for a late lunch. We'll be here at Las Olas for one more night, and will then go off to anchor at Lake Sylvia for Saturday and Sunday night. (From there we can dinghy to the 'Southport Raw Bar' once again!)
On Monday we'll make our way up the 'Intra-Coastal' to Fraser and Edi's lovely dock, where the boat will stay while we are in Victoria. We'll return on January 1st and make plans to meet Carole and Bob on 'Sea Change', and John and Eileen on 'Somewhere in Time' and plan our trip across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. We'll sign off for this year now, and wish you all a very merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy and healthy New Year. We'll be back on line in a couple of weeks.
We sailed here up the coast from Miami on Tuesday. We had spent four nights at 'Dinner Key Marina' as the weather was a little gray and chilly - down to mid 50sF at night. We ate stone crabs once more with Sue and Jean at Monty's on Friday evening, and on Saturday we went out for a delicious Italian dinner with Brenda and Herb from 'Brenda Star'. I took the opportunity of a cloudy day to 'stay indoors' and write some Christmas cards. Just like a winter's day at home!
The weather improved on Sunday, so after stocking up on food from the 'Fresh Market' we went off to anchor just off the west side of Key Biscayne, where we had been before. We were fairly sheltered from the strong easterlies that blew the first night. We explored by dinghy this time, and discovered that we were just off the Key Biscayne Yacht Club. Unfortunately it was Monday, and the club was very quiet and the dining room and bar were closed. However, we did notice a large picture of the Queen prominently displayed, and figured that our Royal Canadian Yacht Club credentials might stand us in good stead for reciprocal privileges on our next visit.
On Tuesday we had to tear ourselves away from this lovely anchorage and sailed the 20 plus miles to Fort Lauderdale. We navigated out the Biscayne Bay 'cut' past the old lighthouse and jagged rocks at the southeastern tip of Key Biscayne. We set off at 8:30 a.m. and were at Las Olas by 5 p.m. Yesterday, while the fridge was being fixed, we took a bus to 'West Marine' once again...nd bought some more essentials for the boat. On the way back we hopped off at the 'Bahia Cabana' waterside bar at the Bahia Mar Marina for a late lunch. We'll be here at Las Olas for one more night, and will then go off to anchor at Lake Sylvia for Saturday and Sunday night. (From there we can dinghy to the 'Southport Raw Bar' once again!)
On Monday we'll make our way up the 'Intra-Coastal' to Fraser and Edi's lovely dock, where the boat will stay while we are in Victoria. We'll return on January 1st and make plans to meet Carole and Bob on 'Sea Change', and John and Eileen on 'Somewhere in Time' and plan our trip across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. We'll sign off for this year now, and wish you all a very merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy and healthy New Year. We'll be back on line in a couple of weeks.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Bill's BIrthday at the Ocean Reef Club
I am writing this sitting on a stone wall outside the Coconut Grove library. For some strange reason it is closed on Fridays! But I have a signal and a hard perch, so, although the sun makes it hard to see the screen, it's fine.
Well...the Ocean Reef Club really did us proud for Bill's birthday. It took us a about three hours to motor up from the Marina Del Mar where we'd had an early birthday breakfast dockside. We had to leave the dock by 7:45 a.m. as the entrance channel to Port Largo Canal is shallow within two hours of low tide. We just squeezed through. The wind en route to the Ocean Reef was, as usual, 'on the nose'! We docked next to one of only three sailboats in the whole marina area. We were the smallest. The sun shone from a cloudless sky, and it was beautifully warm. For the rest of the day we strolled beside the pools, bars and restaurants, occasionally stopping to graze on something succulent from the sea, or sip a restorative cocktail.
Later in the day we had a visit from the Ocean Reef Sales Manager who delivered a lovely gift basket of goodies! I happened to mention it was Bill's birthday, and our dinner at the Galley Restaurant that evening was graced with a celebratory dessert and complimentary bottle of wine. Though all of this came from the sales office, we were not given any type of sales pitch! Strange and wonderful! I think the message they wanted to get out was that they are open to non-members, as, in many of the information books on the area, the story is that they do not welcome 'transient' boaters. The economy sure can turn things around pretty quickly. And there were a lot of empty docks!
The next day we returned to Biscayne Bay through the shallows of Angelfish Creek - again we had to leave early to do it within 2 hours of so of low tide. We had a good, fast sail up through the bay with winds of 20+ knots, but no waves! A bit different from Lake Ontario! We anchored that night at 'No Name Harbour', just at the south tip of Key Biscayne. It was fairly busy with boats waiting for a 'weather window' for the Bahamas crossing. Unfortunately I think they will have to wait for quite a few days as we had a storny day yesterday, and the weather for the crossing will be rough for the next few days. We are back in Dinner Key Marina and Bill is taking this opportunity to get the engine serviced. Tonight we are looking forward to having dinner with Sue and Jean at Monty's on the water. Tomorrow we will probably move off to anchor. This is Southern Vectis signing off...more anon.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Good advice, good friends and good fun...Sailing away to Key Largo
I am writing this sitting at the dock at the Marina Del Mar in Key Largo. We arrived here yesterday and decided to stay two nights as the Marina has a lovely swimming pool, a water's edge bar called 'Coconuts', and includes a delicious breakfast buffet with the cost of the dock ($3.00 per foot!).
Since I last wrote we have met some wonderful people and have been given a great deal of good advice about sailing in the Bahamas, and also much needed technical advice about how to use our Single Sideband Radio to listen to the weather and some of the 'Cruisers' Nets'. The 'Nets' are to be found on certain frequencies at set times, and are usually hosted by a cruiser who passes information on about cruiser-related events, or acts as a contact point for cruisers checking in with their present position.
Before we set off from Dinner Key on Thursday (4 December) we had met the crew of 'Nauti Girl', a Beneteau 473 - Bob & Bonnie - and the crew of 'Brenda Star' a Caliber 47LRC - Brenda & Herb. They gave us a crash course on sailing through the Bahamas, and we were able to mark up our charts with the best routes, anchorages, beaches and, of course, restaurants. Thank you Bob, Bonnie, Brenda and Herb for sharing seven or so years of Bahamian sailing knowledge with us. We hope to meet up with you somewhere 'over there' in the New Year.
Later that day we sailed/motored to Boca Chita Key to spend the night. It's one of the barrier keys between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic. At one time it was the home of the rich and famous, but now it is a National Park area which provides alongside docking around an almost circular lagoon with a very narrow entrance and a picturesque old lighthouse. Our friends at Dinner Key had assured us we'd get in with our 5 foot draft, and, as we followed the narrow channel in, we were encouraged to see another large sailboat already at the dock. The boat was 'Estelle', a Bristol 41.1, and her owners, Jim and Jeannie, are from Charlottetown, P.E.I. Our conversation started with the state of Canadian politics and, after a few drinks, we discovered we had friends and acquaintences in common. The 'no-see-ums' sent us scurrying back to our boats that night, but we decided we would carry on south together to anchor off Pumpkin Key the next day, en route for Key Largo. Both the weather and the anchorage at Pumpkin were tranquil, and we had a lovely evening helping Jim celebrate his birthday on board 'Estelle'. As we could not carry on much further on the west side of the barrier islands because of shallow water, we needed to cross over to the Atlantic side. Pumpkin Key is very close to Angelfish Creek which is touted as a cross-over point but with one possible drawback - a shallow, rocky ledge of about 5 foot depth at the eastern end. We wanted to try it, but were also cautious. Luckily Jim and Jeannie had a wonderful device - a handheld depth sounder (a 'must-have' for the Christmas stocking')- so Bill and I took the dinghy through the creek checking depths. We thought we could just about do it....and we did, with a resounding sigh of relief as we slipped past the last channel marker into the Atlantic waters. From there we had hoped to anchor at Rodriguez Island, but the weather seemed a bit unsettled, so we made it through the narrow and shallow 'Port Largo Lagoon', assisted by explicit instructions from Carli, dockmaster at the Marina Del Mar. And here we stay. Unfortunately 'Estelle' has travelled back towards Miami because of Christmas plans, but we hope to keep in touch and meet up again one of these days.
Tomorrow will be a BIG DAY. It is Bill's 'special' birthday...meaning he will now start getting pay-back from the Canadian Government! We have booked 'Southern Vectis' in to the 'Ocean Reef Club', just a little way north of here. It is a very special place from all we hear...so we hope it will be suitable for a very special celebration. We'll let you know!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Stormy Miami
Since I last wrote we've been getting to know Biscayne Bay and testing our anchor once again during a couple of days of fierce storms! Luckily it held this time! We'd spent two perfect days just sailing around the bay and enjoying different anchoring spots. We knew storms were on the way, but decided to anchor the night before they were due in a sheltered inlet to the west of Virginia Key - just beside the Miami Stadium and the 'Rusty Pelican' restaurant. From there we were confident we could easily make it the few miles back under Rickenbacker Causeway bridge to our pre-booked dock at lovely Dinner Key Marina. Well, this is what happened. Firstly, don't believe the marine guide books which tell you that a short dinghy ride will take you to the wonderful 'Rusty Pelican' restaurant - or the other restaurant - 'Joe's Tiki Bar' - nearby. You can dinghy around for ever but there is nowhere to tie up - all possible spots have large signs threatening fines of from $40 -$60 dollars for 'unauthorized' docking! So I cooked a non-gourmet dinner, and we admired a view of the city which reminded us of Toronto's skyline as seen from the north docks.
Next morning we awoke to raging winds with gusts of 30+ knots, and wild seas. Making the decision to stay put and ride it out was an easy one, as taking our boat anywhere near the shore, let alone a busy dock area, would have been disastrous! We noted that everyone else in the anchorage felt the same! So we spent that day and the following night watching the anchor and cosily reading our books. Bill cooked a gourmet meal of delicious tinned chili and rice. We were relieved that we had moved from our previous exposed anchoring spot. Though dark clouds still hung over the city the next morning we took advantage of a short weather window to scuttle back across the bay to our dock. We celebrated at Monty's restaurant that evening, choosing from the delights offered at the raw bar - stone crab legs, oysters, and shrimps, washed down with a variety of 'Happy Hour' fruit juices lightly touched with rum! Now we have decided to stay in this lovely place until Thursday morning as we are having some electrical work done on the boat. (A new inverter - the piece of equipment that allows us to use the microwave and make toast at anchor!! Bill says it is essential!) The shops are lovely, there is an excellent 'Pusateri' -style grocery store a short walk away, and a Starbucks up the road. The weather is perking up. What more could we want?
Next morning we awoke to raging winds with gusts of 30+ knots, and wild seas. Making the decision to stay put and ride it out was an easy one, as taking our boat anywhere near the shore, let alone a busy dock area, would have been disastrous! We noted that everyone else in the anchorage felt the same! So we spent that day and the following night watching the anchor and cosily reading our books. Bill cooked a gourmet meal of delicious tinned chili and rice. We were relieved that we had moved from our previous exposed anchoring spot. Though dark clouds still hung over the city the next morning we took advantage of a short weather window to scuttle back across the bay to our dock. We celebrated at Monty's restaurant that evening, choosing from the delights offered at the raw bar - stone crab legs, oysters, and shrimps, washed down with a variety of 'Happy Hour' fruit juices lightly touched with rum! Now we have decided to stay in this lovely place until Thursday morning as we are having some electrical work done on the boat. (A new inverter - the piece of equipment that allows us to use the microwave and make toast at anchor!! Bill says it is essential!) The shops are lovely, there is an excellent 'Pusateri' -style grocery store a short walk away, and a Starbucks up the road. The weather is perking up. What more could we want?
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