Having spent several days in Vero, it was time to move on.
Initially we thought it might be nice to spend a few days in the Florida Keys before putting the boat on a mooring ball so that we could return home for the Christmas period.
Accordingly, we fuelled up and then spent most of the day motoring to Lake Worth. There were lots of bridges and shallow spots. Fortunately, the latter were not a problem for us.
At Lake Worth, we finally caught up with Sun Bum with whom we shared Happy Hour. Sun Bum is another Prout 34, but much newer than the Stray Cat. He even had the same outboard with which he had recently replaced his troublesome diesel. Compared to many others, we are travelling on a shoestring. Compared to us he is also travelling on a shoestring, so no matter what your challenges, there is always someone else with bigger challenges.
Early on the morning of the 27th, we left to go as far South as we could. There are about 40 lifting bridges between Lake Worth and Miami. If you can go outside on the ocean, you can save a lot of time. The forecast was 5 to 10 knots from the East so outside is where we went.
Unfortunately, this lead to a few unpleasant surprises and the demise of one of our cameras. Notwithstanding that the wind was pretty calm, there were significant and sometimes confused waves from the South East and the East. We tried to work offshore a bit to find calmer waters, but that did not work. We then tried nearer the shore, but that did not help either. We occasionally took water over the bows and then a few times, took solid water not only over the bows, but right over top of the cabin top and into the cockpit. Oops, that was the end of digital camera number 1.
Beverley tried fishing as we motored along, but without success. Motoring into these waves was not fun, so we went inshore at Fort Lauderdale. In the process, however, we had saved
ourselves about 30 bridges. 
We did 5 bridges and then anchored overnight in Hollywood, leaving ourselves only a
short trip and 5 bridges to clear Miami. The houses and the yachts are truly amazing.
Note the Santa Claus. Seeing Christmas decorations in a place with no snow and no chance of snow seemed pretty weird.
As we headed south from Miami, we had a chance to go for a pleasure sail to nowhere on our way to No Name Harbour in Key Biscayne, just south of Miami. It did my soul a great deal of good. I just love the feeling of peace that the sounds and motion bring me in as we reached gently at about 6 knots in less than 10 knots of breeze.
No Name Harbour is a favourite of those waiting for a favourable “weather window” before making the jump across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. I can understand why. It is extremely well sheltered. There is a very nice park, lots of dingy docking space and a city bus for those still provisioning. It is also a manatee zone which also contains many visiting dolphins for those wishing to nature watch. There is also evidence of great fishing with coral reefs near by. The water is a beautiful blue-green, a very pleasant contrast that of to the intracoastal waterway. We used this as an opportunity to scrub the bottom, something that had not been done since August.
During our stay, we were visited by the “Cuban Navy”, a cigarette boat blaring Latin-American music. Someone yelled “can you turn it up?”. “What?” was the reply. “Can you turn it up” they yelled. “What?” was the reply. “CAN YOU TURN IT UP?” they yelled, turning red with exertion. “OH, OK… THANKS” was the reply … and so turn it up they did. It’s a good thing we liked their music because it would have been pretty intrusive if we did not.
Initially we thought it might be nice to spend a few days in the Florida Keys before putting the boat on a mooring ball so that we could return home for the Christmas period.
Accordingly, we fuelled up and then spent most of the day motoring to Lake Worth. There were lots of bridges and shallow spots. Fortunately, the latter were not a problem for us.
At Lake Worth, we finally caught up with Sun Bum with whom we shared Happy Hour. Sun Bum is another Prout 34, but much newer than the Stray Cat. He even had the same outboard with which he had recently replaced his troublesome diesel. Compared to many others, we are travelling on a shoestring. Compared to us he is also travelling on a shoestring, so no matter what your challenges, there is always someone else with bigger challenges.
Early on the morning of the 27th, we left to go as far South as we could. There are about 40 lifting bridges between Lake Worth and Miami. If you can go outside on the ocean, you can save a lot of time. The forecast was 5 to 10 knots from the East so outside is where we went.
Unfortunately, this lead to a few unpleasant surprises and the demise of one of our cameras. Notwithstanding that the wind was pretty calm, there were significant and sometimes confused waves from the South East and the East. We tried to work offshore a bit to find calmer waters, but that did not work. We then tried nearer the shore, but that did not help either. We occasionally took water over the bows and then a few times, took solid water not only over the bows, but right over top of the cabin top and into the cockpit. Oops, that was the end of digital camera number 1.
Beverley tried fishing as we motored along, but without success. Motoring into these waves was not fun, so we went inshore at Fort Lauderdale. In the process, however, we had saved
ourselves about 30 bridges. 
We did 5 bridges and then anchored overnight in Hollywood, leaving ourselves only a
short trip and 5 bridges to clear Miami. The houses and the yachts are truly amazing.
Note the Santa Claus. Seeing Christmas decorations in a place with no snow and no chance of snow seemed pretty weird.
As we headed south from Miami, we had a chance to go for a pleasure sail to nowhere on our way to No Name Harbour in Key Biscayne, just south of Miami. It did my soul a great deal of good. I just love the feeling of peace that the sounds and motion bring me in as we reached gently at about 6 knots in less than 10 knots of breeze.
No Name Harbour is a favourite of those waiting for a favourable “weather window” before making the jump across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. I can understand why. It is extremely well sheltered. There is a very nice park, lots of dingy docking space and a city bus for those still provisioning. It is also a manatee zone which also contains many visiting dolphins for those wishing to nature watch. There is also evidence of great fishing with coral reefs near by. The water is a beautiful blue-green, a very pleasant contrast that of to the intracoastal waterway. We used this as an opportunity to scrub the bottom, something that had not been done since August.
During our stay, we were visited by the “Cuban Navy”, a cigarette boat blaring Latin-American music. Someone yelled “can you turn it up?”. “What?” was the reply. “Can you turn it up” they yelled. “What?” was the reply. “CAN YOU TURN IT UP?” they yelled, turning red with exertion. “OH, OK… THANKS” was the reply … and so turn it up they did. It’s a good thing we liked their music because it would have been pretty intrusive if we did not.
No comments:
Post a Comment