Sailing Again!!! (Posted 5/12/2010)

We are finally off sailing again after spending the winter in the Florida Keys! We left Boot Key Harbor in Marathon on Sunday, May 2nd. The first day we had beautiful weather but stronger winds than predicted so we sailed and motorsailed about 25 miles up the Keys and anchored in Channel Key harbor. The next day the winds were blowing about 15 to 20 knots and a bit more so we sailed with a reefed main and partial genoa to anchor in the harbor on the Gulf side of Islamorada. It was a gorgeous harbor, water crystal clear, nice shoreline where the homeowners were kind enough to plant LOTS of palm trees for us to look at! We stayed on the boat that afternoon and the next morning we took our dinghy and went into a public boat ramp. We shopped and toured Islamorada. Here is a nice photo that I took with my iPhone during our time ashore:


The next day we sailed north to Tarpon Basin in Key Largo. We anchored near some other cruising sailboats. One sailor came over in his dinghy to tell us about the new public dinghy dock at the new Government Center, how to get water jugs filled, where to put our garbage, etc. There is a nice new dock for dinghies and a beautiful park. From there you can walk less than a mile to the Publix Supermarket and Kmart, so we did! He brought along his parrot and put it on our dinghy motor to pose for this photo:


The next day we headed north again, through Blackwater Sound, Barnes Sound, Card Sound and up Biscayne Bay. Another gorgeous day! We were making good time so we kept sailing on up to Elliot Key where we anchored in 10 feet of crystal clear water off a beautiful little beach. The following day we motored in light winds on up to Coconut Grove in South Miami where we picked up a mooring at the new Dinner Key mooring field. Another boat, San San, that had spent the winter in Marathon was on a mooring right next to us and our friends, De Anne and Merrick on Rising Star, were also there. They came over to see us on our boat and we made arrangements to go with them into Miami the next day. Soooo... we took buses, trains and the "People Mover" (an elevated, automated monorail) and toured Miami. Those of you who know me well, know that I do not like big cities. Miami was not as bad as New York and was pretty but still a big city. They call it "Little Havana" but I think it would be more appropriately nicknamed "BIG Havana" because as near as I could determine, the four of us were the only people in the city for whom English was their native language!! We survived and even enjoyed the day and I was not mugged or pickpocketed!

I did not like the open, unprotected mooring field that was exposed to winds and waves from several directions and made for rough dinghy rides even in moderate winds. So we did the laundry, filled up with gasoline and water and left after three nights there. We motored into Miami harbor, past the city and into an anchorage in Miami Beach. Here is a photo of Miami as we passed by:


After we anchored in a beautiful cove surrounded by multi-million dollar homes, another sailboat came in to anchor. It was a 27 foot sailboat, the same size as ours, but I didn't recognize the brand. It was flying the Swedish flag. The young couple on board had sailed the boat from Sweden and had been in the Carribean and Mexico before coming here.

The following day we moved the boat only about a mile to another anchorage which had a public boat ramp and a dock for our dinghy. We dinghied ashore and walked about 3 or 4 miles, touring South Beach in Miami Beach, having lunch at an Italian sidewalk restaurant and visiting the shops. This is definitely the "high rent district" with prices to match. But Linda, intrepid shopper that she is, was able to find some bargains, of course! Here is a photo of Linda on Lincoln Avenue in the "Art Deco" area of Miami Beach. Expresso anyone, ta ta?!


We will leave tomorrow to sail up to a favorite anchorage in North Miami at Baker's Haulover Inlet. Then we will continue north to Fort Lauderdale, Lantana, Palm Beach and finally to Stuart where we will stop for awhile and will be flying back up to Connecticut in June.