No Name Harbour, Key Biscayne

This can be an excellent anchorage almost in all wind conditions.  When we arrived there were maybe a handful of boats. There were a few cabin cruisers and a few sailboats.  The harbor filled up quickly over the next few days and it was party central on the weekend.  There is a high end fish restaurant here, a laundry area and lots of picnic areas.  This anchorage is part of the Cape Florida State Park and has one of the last lighthouses on the mainland of the USA.

Chris and I did a lot of walking here as our bicycles were still mounted on our Deck.

There are a lot of interesting greenery as you walk through the State Park.  This is one old knarly tree and probably survived a lot of bad weather!

This lovely boat is called "Irock" it can be chartered out at a cool $25,000.00 US per week.  Note this includes crew and a captain.  It came twice while we were anchored here. The renters were Italian and had lots of wine, and meals served on deck.  Just Google Irock and check out the interior. Sweet!

The sunset just before the night we left

This is our "Pet"!  We received him for Christmas.  He is clean, no poop, no taking the dinghy to shore 5 times a day in any weather.  No barking, nor kitty litter. He hangs out and only lives on batteries!  His only problem, he has a really foul mouth.....Like Polly wants a F****ing Cracker!  Stuff like that.  But what is a sailboat, without a Captains Parrot.  Good thing Chris does not wear a patch, and has a peg leg!!!

Leaving Miami

After the cold front passed and being tossed around the harbor on the weekend, we decided to head to No Name Harbor to await out the next front.  There were no cruise boats in Government Cut and the Railway Bridge was closed for repairs, we had to go the long way around.

South Beach, Florida

Earlier in February!

We are anchored just off of Belle Island in South Beach.  There is a canal system here that allows you to go by dinghy to the grocery store and or a place to tie it up and go for a good exploring walk.  Chris and I have been to South Beach many times and there is lot’s to see here.

Sunset over downtown Miami

The anchorages both here and in Miami are starting to get full of abandoned boats.  Some places it is hard to get around them when the tide is low.

We only spent a few days here hiding behind a tall apartment building to get out of those wonderful cold fronts from the north.  We walked the Lincoln Mall, visited the Apple Store and proceeded to Ocean Avenue to walk the beaches. The Old Miami Beach has the most interesting Hotels and Restaurants.  A lot of these old hotels are in the process of being renovated.  The streets were full!  If you have that urge to go shopping, well this is the place.

Always a Selection of Find Food to Choose From

Fancy Drinks as well

Shop til You Drop, Depends if your pocket book can pay

Pick a Hotel!!! Lots of Fancy Places

Ft. Lauderdale

We were up early, listened to our weather forecasts and headed south via the ICW. Ft. Lauderdale is the city of boats, canals and mansions.  It’s nice to see and makes you wonder – Who lives there and what do they do for a living?  We arrived at the Sunny Isle Bridge around 2:15pm and anchored in the little bay just north of this bridge.  This will give us the protection we need from the north wind. Along the shores of Ft. Lauderdale there is lots of construction and tear downs of mansions.  After a great evening and a great sleep, we decided that we had enough of doing the bridges.  So, we did the last 3 bridges and headed out to the Atlantic Ocean and our next stop would be the Port of Miami.

We had a great sail! As we turned into the Port, there are rules here too.  If there are more than 2 cruise ships tied up you cannot use Government Cut and therefore you must go around the long way.  This was our trip in.

Passing the Huge Ocean Going Freighters

A Freighter being Unloaded

The Miami Skyline

The Hard Rock Cafe

South Beach off Yonder

Cruise Ship Alley

Rock Climbing Wall on that Cruise Ship

How We Get Weather Information

If you are wondering how we get our weather information without having access to the internet on the boat nor a TV news cast, we have our handy dandy VHF Radio (yes, it now works after sending it back and having it repaired).  NOAA updates the weather forecast and broadcasts this information on specific channels for specific areas, plus we have an SSB (Single Side Band Radio).  Every morning at approximately 6:45 am, we listen to the “Weather God”….Chris Parker.  He gives current weather conditions, synopsis and what to look forward to.  We can only listen to him.  Other sailors and or boater’s, subscribe to his services and he then will give out a “personal weather report” for where you are located.  This can help you very much because sometimes, that sailor right beside you gets his report and you are heading the same way!  He specializes in forecasts for the east coast of Florida and what the Gulf Stream conditions are and what the weather will be in the North, Middle and South Bahamas.  This also tells us where some of sailor friends are located and where they are heading. But if you have access to the internet, there are many weather web sites to check to see what the wind, wave and sea conditions are and what the weather will be doing for a week ahead.  Good planning, makes a great sail memorable.

Time To Go!

After spending a few months here at the Marina getting all our To Do’s done and spending quality time with friends and family, it was time to go!  Our Plan this year was to head to the Florida Keys instead of the Bahamas.  No Keys had to get a new prop shaft installed this summer and this new shaft needs to be tested before heading out into the Gulf Stream and away from accessible help if required.

We delayed a few days because a nasty cold front was coming.  This front deposited a lot of snow at home in our drive way but caused a lot of mess all over the United States and even a few funnel clouds off shore (tornadoes on the water). We wanted to have better weather so it was best to wait.  That is one thing about sailing, you must have patience and pick your best opportunity to have a safe and comfortable trip.  Our first leg of the trip was from Nettles Island to Lake Worth (just before West Palm Beach). We anchored just off the ICW and enjoyed our first night out on the water since putting No Keys in the water in November.  There are a lot of large yachts to be seen on the ICW. It is hard to believe when you see this for miles that the USA is in a recession. Beautiful Boats non the less.

While traveling down the ICW, there are many bridges that need to be opened for you but there are the newer 65 ft bridges too.  Our mast is 55 ft tall.  The trick here is making up the time between each bridge and it’s scheduled time opening.  Not always easy for a sailboat.  The tide coming in and out of the various outlets to the ocean can either push you further or pull you back.  We tried a few times with our Jib Up but the wind was on our nose, so we have to motor along.

Our second stop was south of West Palm Beach, almost in Boca Raton.  We anchored in the bay and headed in via dinghy to The Key Lime House.  There you can check your email and enjoy great food.  We had a wonderful dinner with Chris’s Cousin, his wife and their kids.  Wow, they are all grown up now.  Where does the time fly?  During the night, we had quite a few visitors!  They landed on the deck, did their business and flew away once we scared them off.  The last cormorant to visit scared me more as I was not expecting him to be in the cockpit at 5:45 am.  So now you know why they call it the “poop deck”. Time to take care of “The Business” and pull up anchor.

Next stop……..Ft. Lauderdale via the ICW.  Another cold front is on it’s way and we need to be tucked in somewhere.

Nettles Island, Jensen Beach, Florida

This is a great place for us. We have family and friends in the area and we have access to our car to get around.  So, in between boat chores, To Do’s and checking out our Wish List for No Keys, one must have fun!  At Nettles Marina, one becomes a member of the “Cranky Conch Boat Club” aka “The Tiki Hut Club”.  There were birthday parties, football playoffs, Super Bowl and also fair well parties.  The food, what can I say “Awesome”.  When everyone brings “A Dish”, the variety of food was great and made an incredible buffet.  There are many people that have been coming to this marina for years from New York, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Georgia and now us from Canada.  There are trawlers, catamarans, cabin cruisers and sailboats of all sizes and off course a few mega yachts 85ft and upward.

We signed up to participate in the “Annual Not So Annual – Blind Dinghy Race”.  The object of this was like a Poker Run but with a twist, the driver must wear a blind fold. Each dinghy has to have 3 people, a navigator, the blind driver (captain) and a helper. Each dinghy was given a package that contained, The Rules, The Map and The Blind Fold.

We all gathered out in the water to create a start line. Of course everyone just happened to have a super soaker on board!  Salt water was flying and you got to participate in a wet T shirt contest without even trying!  Once the air horn blasted it was time to go! 

Open your package, have the captain put on his blind fold, read the instructions and look at the course.  It weaved from one dock to another, around boats, in between boats and back again.  The navigator and helper had to give directions on which way to go and what to avoid. It was hilarious, dinghy bumper cars and off course, the super soakers.  Your goal, get all your little tags from each station.  

Half ways through the course, the captain and the navigator had to change places.  Driving a dinghy blind folded was hard to do!  Chris did the first half of the course with moi doing the last half.  Getting your “port” and “starboards” correct and remember which way the tiller goes and how many degrees.  A lot of pylons were hit and missed. But wet fun was had and our team worked it out.  We came in last place but won the “Booby Prize”!!  After the race, there was celebration, drinks and a DJ to top off the evening.  What fun!