'Au revoir' Margaritaville

We sailed away from Boot Key Harbour on Saturday 2nd April. It was the day of the 'end of season' BBQ, but we couldn't linger. We had two long days with 100 miles of Atlantic waters to cover before the next storm was due, and if you don't have a definite plan of action in the Keys you could end up staying forever!
The seas were fairly smooth, and a calm night at our half-way point anchorage was forecast. As usual on this trip, the wind was on our nose. Nine hours of motor-sailing later we reached Rodriguez Key along with others making the same trek back to civilization. We anchored in the same spot as on our trip down and had a lovely evening swimming off the boat and barbecuing our favourite dinner of lamb chops. As we came in to anchor we had seen large rays jumping out of the water, turtles sunning themselves and dolphins swimming along beside us. While we were swimming a large ray launched itself out of the water quite close by and had us scurrying to get back on board!
Another day, another 9 hours of motor-sailing and we arrived at Dinner Key Marina,Coconut Grove, Miami. En route, some friends took their boat outside the Hawk Channel reefs and snagged a huge fish - only to have a shark snatch it from the line as they were hauling it in! They ate what was left on the line!
As usual we enjoyed our stay in Miami. We did a mixture of staying at a dock, mooring and anchoring. It was, and is, very hot. So much hotter than last year. On what must have been a 30F day with high humidity, we decided to take what we had been told was a short walk to a lovely estate called 'Viscaya', on the bay 'close' to the marina. Well, 23 blocks later we made it...just. But it was well worth
it.
The Italianate mansion had been built by a leader of commerce, James Deering, as a winter home in the early part of the last century. The owner's shopping sprees in Europe had resulted in an eclectic and rather excessive (for modern tastes) collection of baroque furniture and decorative items dating from the 16th to the 19th century. The gardens were formal and dotted with brides having their photographs taken. Strangely enough, we didn't spot any grooms!! Were they all hiding inside Viscaya's dark and air-conditioned halls?
While in Coconut Grove we also went for dinner with our friends', Fraser and Edi's, daughter, Sune. It was good to catch up with the soon-to-be graduate of Miami University.
The next night we went to an outdoor concert at the 'Barnacle Park', also in Coconut Grove. We bought two collapsible beach chairs earlier in the day, and armed with these and a picnic packed in our cooler, we struggled through the heat of the early evening, with only a short stop to take advantage of the 'Ladies Night' free champagne at our favourite 'Greenstreet' watering hole. It was a perfect evening in the grounds of the oldest house in Coconut Grove, on the shores of the bay. The music was a mix of folk, blues and blue-grass, and the audience was a mix of all ages. All the children had so much fun running beside the bay as the moon came out and their parents grew mellow.
Yesterday - April 10 - we motor-sailed yet again up to Fort Lauderdale. It was so hot that we decided to pick up one of the mooring balls conveniently placed just off Fort Lauderdale harbour, and spent the afternoon swimming. As the sun set we came through the bridge and were lucky enough to find an empty mooring ball at Los Olas.
We'll be here for a few days to take advantage of the lovely beach. Must finish now as we are off for a swim!