Gremlins on board

Today is the day we are/were to sail to Miami. Unfortunately the gremlins we have had on our boat are still at work! This is their story!!!
We decided to stay two nights on the mooring at Las Olas so that we could assess things that needed to be done on the boat before we sailed around to Miami. Fort Lauderdale is THE sailing capital of Florida and everything a boater could need is right here. Well....these are the things that we have needed...so far!
The Chart Plotter has seized up and has been sent back to the manufacturer; the radio and CD player did not work so we have bought a new one and Bill has installed it; the 'Xantrex' power inverter (which will allow us to have toast and use the microwave while at anchor!) is not working (An electrician came on board but it cannot be fixed); the cell phone message system was not working - this was sorted out with a call to Telus; the dinghy, which travelled down with us from Canada, sprung a water leak and was sent to the menders. So we moved in to a dock at Las Olas Marina for two nights. This morning the dinghy came back and we were ready to set off on a perfect day for sailing to Miami when we realized that the fridge was not working! Now that has been fixed, and it's almost 12 noon, and too late to get round to Miami before dark.
But finding the gremlins, and sorting them out, is what this 'shake-down' cruise is all about, we tell ourselves! Better to repair it here than in the Bahamas......Boat repair is definitely one of those things that isn't "better in the Bahamas".
Apart from the gremlins we have had a very good time at this marina. The skies have been cloudless, and we have walked the white sand beaches. We have had a fishy dinner
(as in freshly caught) at 'Coconuts Restaurant' on the waterway. Last night we had drinks with a nice couple, Sue and Paul, from Long Island. They have been bringing their trawler, Independence', down the ICW and going over to the Bahamas for many years and had lots of good advice, plus a unique screw-driver which Bill was anxious to get his hands on!
So, we will probably move off soon to find an anchorage for the weekend. Weather is forecast to be sunny and warmer. (The Floridians are still shivering!) More anon unless the gremlins get us.

Bill in Margueritaville

Arrival in Margueritaville

Southern Vectis has set off on her epic voyage. Yesterday she backed away from her summer home in beautiful Lighthouse Point, and motored gently south down the ICW for destinations unknown.
Three hours later, after negotiating the opening of five road bridges, we picked up a mooring buoy at Las Olas Marina. After taking the dinghy into the marina to check in, we strolled to the beach just two minutes away. The beach strip here reminds us of Wasaga Beach on a busy day, except that here every beach bar offers 2 for 1 giant margueritas. (Note: As the cost of one giant marguerita appears to be $13-95, this is not as great a bargain as it appears!) We plan to stay here for two nights so that we can get to grips with some of the technological equipment on the boat, such as the Chart Plotter, Satellite radio, wi-fi antenna and even a CD player which doesn't want to work. We are able to pick up and use someone's unsecured wi-fi signal here on the boat, and actually send e-mails through our new 'bortnet' wi-fi connection. Such a luxury not to have to carry the computer to shore! We are heading for Miami, and will sail the 20+ miles around 'the outside'to get there, as there is one fixed bridge on the ICW route that is only 56 ft high and our mast is 59 ft!

'To boldly go where no one has relaxed before'

It's now Sunday afternoon, and we've been in living in Paradise for three days now. However, paradise can be a busy place when you have to re-commission a boat for a five month trip! Thanks to our lovely support crew, Fraser and Edi,who lent us their hurricane-free dock for the summer, all has gone very smoothly and we've had lots of fun wining and dining in between shopping and shopping and shopping! (Only for boating equipment, I promise!)Captain Bill is just inflating the dinghy now. We bought the Toronto one down with us on 'Jet Blue' and have sent the Florida one back to Toronto by UPS. Strange, you may think! Well, yes, but the Florida one had a slow puncture which we could never find, and we felt it would be safer to slowly sink into the hypothermic waters of Lake Ontario than to do so in the shark infested waters of south Florida and the Bahamas!
When we arrived on Thursday morning after a 3 a.m.start from Niagara-on-the-Lake via Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale, we found our boat had been cleaned and was looking really ship-shape. Since we've been here we've had the air-conditioning mended (Temperatures in high 80s F) and had a diver clean the bottom and put on a new 'Zinc'! (Some of you may know what this means. If not, don't worry.)
Tomorrow is the big day when we take off to 'go boldly where no one has relaxed before'. This is slight exagerration, as the whole of this area of Florida is filled with people and boats doing nothing but relaxing - whether it be at 50+mph or 5 knots under sail.
Tonight we have invited Fraser and Edi onboard for dinner. We plan to test out our new BBQ and eat up some of the vast quantity of food we bought yesterday at 'Publix' supermarket. Bill has a fishing rod now, and says that soon we shall be self-sufficient as far as protein goes anyway.
Tomorrow we'll head for Fort Lauderdale - probably via the ICW so that we can look at all the mansions en route.
'Hasta la vista' for now.

We have been meaning to write a 'to do'list for the past two months. With one week to go before we take off to Florida, maybe it's a bit too late for that now! However, we have done most of the things that occur to us during the day, or, more usually, during the middle of the night.

Our home in Toronto is rented, our cat, Brandy, has not been rented, but lent to a caring cat lover, our northern boat, 'Vectis', is out of the water waiting to be shrink-wrapped for the winter, and we've been wining and dining on the strength or our imminent departure for days!
The weather for the past few days has been glorious, so we've also been doing some last minute wine tasting in and around the lovely wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake.