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.