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?

Thanksgiving Day the American Way

Thursday 27 November was American Thanksgiving Day. A perfect day in all respects. A brilliant sun rose out of glassy Biscayne Bay and painted the high rises first orange, then rosy pink. Sunrise here is so spectacular we don't want to miss it - particularly on Thanksgiving Day. We'd spent two nights at anchor - the second without any apparent dragging - and had spent some time at Monty's restaurant and waterside bar the previous night! Today we had nothing to do except get ourselves to my schoolfriend, Sue's house for Turkey dinner by 4 p.m. To celebrate in true Canadian/British style I cooked bacon and eggs and, dare I admit it.....fried bread (delicious,decadent and artery clogging) for breakfast, and we drank a toast -in strong black coffee - to American/Canadian/British fellowship everywhere. We had decided that we'd better move 'Southern Vectis' into a dock at Dinner Key Marina as the dinghy ride back in the dark, after a Margarita or three, had proved daunting after our Monty's session. So we prized ourselves away from our tranquil anchorage and joined the parties ashore early in the afternoon. Everyone at the dock was very friendly and helpful. We had a wonderful time at Sue and Jean's Thanksgiving party. Catering for a group of about 18 family and friends is not easy - but both the company and the food were perfect. We loved the garden and pool area, though Sue said it was too cold to swim although the air temperature was over 80F! It was also great to meet up with another Isle of Wight schoolfriend, Jeannette. We had last seen each other in 1995 at a significant birthday event! Such a lot of catching up to do!
Friday 28 November
We left the Marina and spent a day sailing in Biscayne Bay. We wanted to get to know the waters and get a better feel for how the boat handles. Again, it was a perfect, blue, breezy day. We had hoped to spend the night anchored in 'No Name Bay', which is at the south end of Key Biscayne, but is was chock-a-block with boats all seemingly still celebrating Thanksgiving! So we move to a peaceful anchorage just around the corner on the west side of Key Biscayne. Today we'll probably sail to another anchorage and may move back to the Marina for Sunday and Monday night as strong winds and the possibility of thunder storms are called for. More anon.

Onward to Miami

We have been out of internet reception for a couple of days even though we thought we has every angle covered with our '5 Mile WIFI connector'! Oh, well, just a minor gremlin to sort out this time..we hope. Anyway, here I am in the Coconut Grove library which is just a short walk from our anchorage at Dinner Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami. Since I last wrote we left our comfortable dock at Las Olas Marina and travelled a whole mile south on the ICW to an anchorage at 'Lake Sylvia'. This is a favourite staging point for boats waiting for a 'weather window' before crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Tuesday was to be the day for some, like our new friends, Sue and Paul on 'Independence', to make the crossing. We hope they made it safely. Lake Sylvia is also a short dinghy ride and walk away from a whole lot of useful shops, such as 'Blue Water Books' (THE best store for boating books and charts), 'Boaters World', Winn Dixie and Publix supermarkets, and also a great restaurant called the 'Southport Raw Bar', which offers 'happy hour' beers for $1.75 and a dozen delicious oysters for $6.95.
Tuesday was the day for us to make a break from the beaches and bars of Lauderdale to more beaches and bars in Miami. It was a calm, blue day, so calm in fact that we were able to practice pulling our self-furling main out and in a few times to check it out. Last time we had done this was in May in a 30 knot wind and it wasn't easy!
It took us 6 hours to run down the Atlantic coast past forests of high-rises, only to arrive in Miami..high-rise capital of the world! We sailed into Government Cut past cruise and container ships, slipped under Rickenbacker Causeway bridge and anchored, we thought successfully, at the Dinner Key Anchorage at Coconut Grove! However, when we awoke this morning, we weren't in the same place as last night!! Luckily there hadn't been much wind and we had missed all the other boats. So we have re-anchored, with some difficulty, as the bottom here is very muddy and weedy. We needed to use our 'Bruce' anchor instead of a 'Fortress' this time...for those into the technical aspects of all this! It's 'Thanksgiving Day' tomorrow, and we have been invited to dinner at my English schoolfriend, Sue's house. Must go now, as the air-conditioning is freezing in here, it's a bright clear 80F outside....and the shops and restaurants of 'The Grove' are beckoning. Hope we can find our boat when we get back!

A day out in Fort Lauderdale

Yesterday we became tourists for the day and took a water-taxi tour of Fort Lauderdale - 'The Venice of North America'. For $10 each (seniors' rate!) we could get on and off at any of 11 stops in and around the town. The boat captain also gave us all a running commentary on the mansions and mega-yachts that line the many beautiful canals. He stressed that he wasn't supposed to be a tour boat, but if requested, he could give out information about some of the sights en route. The request from our boat load of tourists was unanimous! We saw the mansions of the rich and famous - the owners of such mega businesses as Avis, and Wendy's Hamburgers hunker down here when the weather gets too cold in the commercial capitals of the north. We saw Tim Horton's ex-owner, Ron Joyce's mega yacht. We reflected that, up until a few years ago when he sold out to Wendy's, each time we bought a Tim Horton's coffee we were financing a drop of diesel fuel for Mr. Joyce's pleasure! Still, we reckoned this was one piece of expenditure that was worth it! The City has spent a lot on upgrading itself, and has built a lovely 'River Walk' which winds along the 'New River' from the 'Old Town', (at water-taxi stop #11) to the upmarket shops of Las Olas. I did some shopping! (Only for something really essential of course - a swim suit...plus a few other accessories.) Today we are cleaning the boat and getting it together for our hoped-for trip around to Miami tomorrow. Weather is warm and windy. After all this hard work, we'll take a walk on the beach this afternoon, and maybe treat ourselves to a beverage or two at a beach bar. More anon.
P.S. Forgot to mention that some of the bridges along the river are 'sponsored' - guess what colour the 'Mary Kay' bridge was......................pink, of course!

Southern Vectis at Las Olas Marina