January 5, 2016

Winds are out of the north 10 to 25 with intermittent rain. We are stuck on the boat in the Miami Yacht Club anchorage trying to make the best of it. The wind change has put us close to some boats in the harbor. They must have 200 feet of scope. How rude. We moved to our favorite spot by the wreck but it started to get rough there as well. We ended up following Tarsie's lead and anchored in between Palm and Hibiscus Islands. Al Capone had a house on Palm Island. The protection there was great. I polished the cockpit during the day.

We went into the Miami Yacht Club for dinner. The food was great but the drinks were very expensive. We don't plan to make that mistake again.

The next day we prepared for our departure and had our farewell meal with Tarsie on their boat. We enjoyed their company but it was time for us to go our separate ways.

January 7. 2016

It was time for us to part with Tarsie. They were headed for the Keys and we were headed for the Bahamas. They set out ahead of us. We needed to wait until after 8:00am for the local marina to open up so we could fuel up. We got to the marina at about 8:05 and we had to tie up ourselves. There were no dock hands available to help us. We waited a while for someone to turn on the pumps. Karen made a run for the Publix while I filled up the boat and the fuel cans. We took on nearly 50 gallons of diesel.

Karen was back in a half an hour, just as I finished the fueling. We backed out of the marina due to the wind direction (not enough room in the marina to turn around and get the nose into the wind) and then headed down the waterway.

The buildings in Miami come right up to the waterway. You travel along the edge of the city with the skyline above your head. It is a unique experience. Beautiful in its own way. One of the buildings has its entire front devoted to a light show where you can see individuals dancing or the lights making colorful patterns.

We broke into Key Biscayne with just one other boat in the channel. The bay was pretty flat. After passing the last bridge we broke from the channel and headed to Dinner Key to pick up a mooring. We traveled down the channel to the marina, through the marina and out to the mooring field. We were a long way out in the mooring field, on ball #161.

As soon as we were tied up we dropped the dingy and went in to do our laundry. We were lucky and had no waiting. While there we ran into Tempest (Ken and Marie Miltenberger) whom we had shared several anchorages with. They talked about crossing tomorrow so we arranged to cross with them and another boat, Celestial Music. Later that day we also ran into Mañana (Nile and Linda Schneider) who we had met before in Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas.

We had talked with Frank Choi a couple of times trying to meet up. Frank and I had worked together for many years and wanted to catch up. It's been three years since I left work. Today is also Karen's and my wedding anniversary. We have been married for 38 years.

Karen and I walked around the Coco Walk area to try to decide where we wanted to eat. We met Frank at the Coco Walk around 5:30 and we ended up eating at the Jaguar. Good Latin American Food. We all had Ceviche for appetizers and braised beef tips for the main course. Excellent food and the best part was that Frank picked up the bill. Thanks Frank!

January 8, 2016

We were all prepared to leave when Tempest gave us a call at 6:30 in the morning to let us know that they were not heading out. The weather report had changed and we no longer had a good weather window for a crossing.

We headed into the marina to try to arrange for dockage. We did not want to spend the weekend out on a mooring ball if inclement weather was coming in. We talked to the folks in the marina and they told us we could have G8 as soon as the people in that slip left. We kept checking with the marina to see if the people ever left but never did so we didn't get into that slip.

We caught the 249 bus and took it toward the train station. We needed to go back to Crook and Crook to pick up a few more snaps to finish the dodger installation. We did that and took the 249 back into the Coco walk to find the CVS Pharmacy to find a few odds and ends. We then walked over to the Fresh Market grocery store built into an old warehouse along the waterfront. They had a good selection of food but the selection was not cheap, however cheaper than Publix on a lot of things.

On our way back to the marina we found the old Chart House. I was so disappointed that it was closed. I was also surprised we were so close and I did not know it. We had many a dinner meeting at that location when I was working. I always loved the location, the food, and the company we had there. It is sad to see it go.