Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Exploring Miami
We had anchored off Key Biscayne Yacht Club upon our arrival from Bimini. It was Easter weekend, the sun was hot, and everyone who owned a boat was using it. We swam and generally enjoyed the spectator sport of watching boats of all shapes and sizes cruise by, or stop for a short while to test the warm waters of the bay. But, after a glorious sunset had turned the bay waters crimson, most of the boats sped away back to their marinas, and we were left with just a few quiet sailboats for company. It was a perfect way to get acclimatized, once again, to the delights of southern Florida.
The next day we pulled up our anchor and made our way to check in at Customs and Immigration at the Cruise Ship docking area. We had decided to spend a night at MIA Marina, in the heart of downtown, so that we could avoid a long taxi ride, and also so that we could have a chance to explore a part of the city we had never visited before.
Immigration procedures at the Homelands Security Office in the docks went smoothly – we’d called the previous day and been given a number. Our taxi ride there was the first of many in which we, complete strangers in Miami and armed only with a tourist book, had to give directions to the Haitian driver who could hardly speak English! We carried a map with us ever after!
Now we were free to enjoy and explore the delights of the Bayside area, and also further afield. MIAMarina is part of the ‘Bayside Marketplace’. It’s an area of shops, restaurants of every nationality, and music. Each evening at 7 p.m. there was a different concert at the waterfront – our favourite performer was David Fernando with his Latin jazz group. Each day we would take our computer to Mambo’s Cuban coffee house to drink coffee and check e-mails.
We badly needed food on board, and were directed to take the free overhead ‘Metromover’ train to 10th Street where we would find a brand new Publix supermarket at the Mary Brickell Centre. We were so pleased to discover this lovely area – rather like Yorkville in Toronto – particularly as we happened upon a restaurant called ‘Balan’ at Happy Hour. We visited this twice to enjoy Happy Hour champagne and delicious dips and pita bread.
After four days of ‘extreme civilization’, and having managed to have a few electrical and other problems fixed on the boat, we headed out and back south to Coconut Grove. The wind in Biscayne Bay was brisk and we had a few hours of great sailing, only being passed by a sleek catamaran!
This time we decided to take a mooring ball in the brand new mooring field and not go into the Dinner Key Marina. So far it has worked out really well. When it is too rough to take the dinghy in without getting wet, we just call the shuttle to pick us up. We have planned a few areas we would like to explore on foot, or by public transit, and, as the weather is supposed to be rather stormy for most of this coming week, we’ll enjoy all that Coconut Grove has to offer.
Our next stop before sailing north to Fort Lauderdale will be the South Beach area of Miami – famed for its Art Deco revival architecture, white sand beaches and large gay population! Lots to look forward too!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Back in the U.S.of A....we've come a long way!
It's Easter Sunday - April 4 - and we've made it safely back over the Gulf Stream from Bimini to Biscayne Bay, Miami. A 9 1/2 hour trip with a few large rolling waves, but nothing to worry about. We seem to have travelled a long way in the last week since I last wrote.
Just over a week ago (Saturday 27 March) we set off from Highborne Key, Exuma Islands, headed for Nassau. We made it safely past the notorious 'Yellow Banks' - areas of coral which can only be spotted on clear sunny days, and can snare unwary boats. In fact, as we did on the way south, we cheated a little on this part of the trip, and sail a little further south around the White Banks and missed the hungry coral heads by a mile or two!
We had a wonderful welcome in Nassau from Marianne & Paul, who had managed to persuade Peter, the dockmaster at the Nassau Harbour Club, to give us a dock next to them. (There are lots of tales about 'Peter the Greek'...but that's for another time!) We celebrated a lovely sunset in the usual way - gin & tonics followed by a glass or two of wine - and caught up with all their news. The leak in their boat had been fixed, and now they were awaiting the arrival of their daughter and her husband before setting off for the Abaco Islands.
We appreciated Nassau much more this time around.Its' chaotic traffic, thronging crowds and general air of gentle decline were an interesting and not unwelcome contrast to the pristine and quiet anchorages of the Exuma Islands. We visited the Straw Market, took a look at Government House, once the home of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, and then discovered a little hotel, The Towne Hotel, just off the beaten tourist track and on the road below Government House. We were admiring the hotel, when the proprietor invited us in to see his parrot, Max!! So off we went and ended up having a delicious, peaceful and extremely reasonably priced (for Nassau) lunch.
Our last evening was spent on 'Knot-A-Gain' with a pot luck supper of fresh lobster, steak and all the trimmings.
At 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the last day of March, we waved a fond farewell to Marianne & Paul, and set off for our 115 mile trip over the sometimes tricky Northwest Providence Channel and the Great Bahama Banks, to Bimini. We planned to get as far as 'Mackie Shoal' (79 miles) and anchor for the night. All went well - the seas of the Northwest Channel were almost flat, as were the conditions on 'the Banks'. Although we had set off alone, we soon made contact with other boats en route via our VHF radio, and arranged to anchor together. It was comforting to think that other boats were around in all that wide open water, and waiting for our arrival. We were the last to get to our 'spot' and were welcomed with a VHF message from 'Southern Dreams': "Welcome to the marina...hope you sleep well!"
It was already dark when we dropped anchor at 9:15 p.m. Just a few minutes later we looked to the east to see a spectacularly huge and full, orange moon rise majestically out of the sea! All the VHF radios 'oohed and aahed' at the sight!
The soft nudging of the waves on the hull lulled us to a sound sleep that night.
The next morning we set off early and made Bimini by 4 p.m. The entrance to Bimini Harbour is very tricky for a variety of reasons: Firstly the current in and out of the narrow entrance can be fearsome, secondly the entrance is narrow and bordered by jagged reefs and sandbars just waiting for a likely victim, thirdly, there are no navigational aids (channel marker buoys) to help you thread your way through all this! (This is typical of the whole of the Bahamas, where you are on your own when it comes to navigating the perilous reefs that surround the islands, and that have been the downfall of many vessels, large and small, for hundreds of years!)
Despite all of the above, we liked Bimini from the first moment we saw it. Alice Town, the main town on North Bimini, consists of just a small strip of shops and bars, but the town is full of life, colour....and music! As it was Easter weekend there was what sounded like a 'Battle of the Bands' going on! Bahamians like their music loud, with lots of base! We stayed at the Blue Water Marina, which is right in town, and right in the music zone! We thought we could stand it for a few days, and met some other boaters who also felt the same. We walked the island's two streets, and we admired its' lovely beaches, we watched the Easter Parade on Good Friday, and then, after a few nights of earsplitting music from 2p.m. until 4 a.m., a large group of boats, including 'Southern Vectis', slipped their lines at dawn and left the celebrations to continue without them!
Our crossing of the Gulf Stream was uneventful. The wind was from the east, and the waves of 3 to 5 feet, with the occasional 8 foot roller, were from the same direction. After 9 1/2 hours we arrived at our lovely anchorage just west of the island of Key Biscayne, Miami. We've anchored here before. It's just off the Key Biscayne Yacht Club, and some lovely houses multi-million dollar homes. Richard Nixon used to have a home here, but it's been torn down now!
A couple of miles across the bay are the delights of Coconut Grove and the Dinner Key Marina. We'll probably move over to their new mooring field in a couple of days. Then we'll make our way slowly north. But there's no hurry! The sun is shining and the pelicans are diving for their lunch beside our boat...and it's time for our lunch too!
Just over a week ago (Saturday 27 March) we set off from Highborne Key, Exuma Islands, headed for Nassau. We made it safely past the notorious 'Yellow Banks' - areas of coral which can only be spotted on clear sunny days, and can snare unwary boats. In fact, as we did on the way south, we cheated a little on this part of the trip, and sail a little further south around the White Banks and missed the hungry coral heads by a mile or two!
We had a wonderful welcome in Nassau from Marianne & Paul, who had managed to persuade Peter, the dockmaster at the Nassau Harbour Club, to give us a dock next to them. (There are lots of tales about 'Peter the Greek'...but that's for another time!) We celebrated a lovely sunset in the usual way - gin & tonics followed by a glass or two of wine - and caught up with all their news. The leak in their boat had been fixed, and now they were awaiting the arrival of their daughter and her husband before setting off for the Abaco Islands.
We appreciated Nassau much more this time around.Its' chaotic traffic, thronging crowds and general air of gentle decline were an interesting and not unwelcome contrast to the pristine and quiet anchorages of the Exuma Islands. We visited the Straw Market, took a look at Government House, once the home of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, and then discovered a little hotel, The Towne Hotel, just off the beaten tourist track and on the road below Government House. We were admiring the hotel, when the proprietor invited us in to see his parrot, Max!! So off we went and ended up having a delicious, peaceful and extremely reasonably priced (for Nassau) lunch.
Our last evening was spent on 'Knot-A-Gain' with a pot luck supper of fresh lobster, steak and all the trimmings.
At 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the last day of March, we waved a fond farewell to Marianne & Paul, and set off for our 115 mile trip over the sometimes tricky Northwest Providence Channel and the Great Bahama Banks, to Bimini. We planned to get as far as 'Mackie Shoal' (79 miles) and anchor for the night. All went well - the seas of the Northwest Channel were almost flat, as were the conditions on 'the Banks'. Although we had set off alone, we soon made contact with other boats en route via our VHF radio, and arranged to anchor together. It was comforting to think that other boats were around in all that wide open water, and waiting for our arrival. We were the last to get to our 'spot' and were welcomed with a VHF message from 'Southern Dreams': "Welcome to the marina...hope you sleep well!"
It was already dark when we dropped anchor at 9:15 p.m. Just a few minutes later we looked to the east to see a spectacularly huge and full, orange moon rise majestically out of the sea! All the VHF radios 'oohed and aahed' at the sight!
The soft nudging of the waves on the hull lulled us to a sound sleep that night.
The next morning we set off early and made Bimini by 4 p.m. The entrance to Bimini Harbour is very tricky for a variety of reasons: Firstly the current in and out of the narrow entrance can be fearsome, secondly the entrance is narrow and bordered by jagged reefs and sandbars just waiting for a likely victim, thirdly, there are no navigational aids (channel marker buoys) to help you thread your way through all this! (This is typical of the whole of the Bahamas, where you are on your own when it comes to navigating the perilous reefs that surround the islands, and that have been the downfall of many vessels, large and small, for hundreds of years!)
Despite all of the above, we liked Bimini from the first moment we saw it. Alice Town, the main town on North Bimini, consists of just a small strip of shops and bars, but the town is full of life, colour....and music! As it was Easter weekend there was what sounded like a 'Battle of the Bands' going on! Bahamians like their music loud, with lots of base! We stayed at the Blue Water Marina, which is right in town, and right in the music zone! We thought we could stand it for a few days, and met some other boaters who also felt the same. We walked the island's two streets, and we admired its' lovely beaches, we watched the Easter Parade on Good Friday, and then, after a few nights of earsplitting music from 2p.m. until 4 a.m., a large group of boats, including 'Southern Vectis', slipped their lines at dawn and left the celebrations to continue without them!
Our crossing of the Gulf Stream was uneventful. The wind was from the east, and the waves of 3 to 5 feet, with the occasional 8 foot roller, were from the same direction. After 9 1/2 hours we arrived at our lovely anchorage just west of the island of Key Biscayne, Miami. We've anchored here before. It's just off the Key Biscayne Yacht Club, and some lovely houses multi-million dollar homes. Richard Nixon used to have a home here, but it's been torn down now!
A couple of miles across the bay are the delights of Coconut Grove and the Dinner Key Marina. We'll probably move over to their new mooring field in a couple of days. Then we'll make our way slowly north. But there's no hurry! The sun is shining and the pelicans are diving for their lunch beside our boat...and it's time for our lunch too!
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