The Florida Keys

This is the cruising scene in Marathon, FA! It is the home to a huge number of boats for the winter. There is a radio net, they have yoga, baseball, Mexican Train, and meetings about Crossing to the Bahamas and what you can expect in Cuba. We are anchored in the outer harbour, about 2 nm from the dinghy dock, which costs you $22/ day to leave your dinghy, OUCH! I can see how staying here would be a comfortable place to spend the winter, apparently there are a lot of RV's here as well. I think we will move on down to Key West so that our crossing to Havana will not be so far. 

This series of shots were taken at the lighthouse on the south end of Key Biscayne. It is located in a state park on land that a newspaper fellow convinced the owner to donate to the state when it was scheduled for development. He felt that the people of Miami would need some green space, there are over 800,000 visitors to the park every year!  The lighthouse was built in 1855 and restored in the late 1990's, they had the bricks fired in a special way so that they would be like they were in the 1850's and they replaced all the iron stairs inside. It is now automated but still in use. 

The more modest homes of Key Largo, notice the cannons in this fellows' front yard, I was jealous, also the houses are built from large cement blocks. We talked with a taxi driver and he has been here 18 years and they have had 4 hurricanes, so the houses are pretty sturdy. 

We motor sailed down to Key Largo and pulled in behind a little island just at dusk.  We needed fuel and water so pulled into a Marina which we had to enter at high tide.  It was down a canal, which was about .8 km long and stayed there for the night. We arranged to go diving and what fun! Two really nice dives with lots of sea life, the corral on the second dive was a lot better and we saw nurse sharks, a bull shark possibly, and a largish sea turtle, plus a delicious looking lobster. There were a tremendous number so reef fish as well, all colours and sizes. I remembered how much I loved being under the water, yippee. 

 The start of the seven mile bridge from Marathon to Key West. I checked it out and Key West was the site of the filming of another 007 movie, so this will be our 4th Bond film location! 

So do the two boats look similar?? When we pulled in to Marathon there was another Fast Passage 39 anchored. The folks, Monika and Trent came right over and introduced themselves and we had a couple hours of a mutual admiration chat and then they kindly invited us to a potluck dinner aboard   their buddy boat. We had a lovely evening on a roomy 43 foot boat, the Last Tango, where Tim and Gigi were the hosts and a delicious bean stew was produced with fresh corn bread, yum. 

The last two days have reawakened my desire to continue cruising, the diving and the fellowship we experienced the other night. The ICW was not my favourite place, due to the shallow water, the constant fear of grounding and the inability to sail.  I am really glad we experienced it, we saw lots of places we never would have if we had hopped down offshore, but NEVER again! 

Miami

We are anchored across the bay from downtown Miami.  I must say that Miami was one of the busiest ports we have ever entered. We went out to see to avoid the last 20 miles of the ICW because there were too many bridges to cope with, and when we came in Wow.  There were sport fishers by the dozen, ferries, cigar boats and the thrill seeking go fast tourist boats, tankers and cruise ships (they were at the dock, thank heavens). Oh, did I mention the helicopters, sea planes and there was even a blimp. The only other port in the world to come close was Sydney, AU. 

We survived and found a decent anchorage, right next to the spot where they hold the Miami boat show, on Virginia Key.  It is not very convenient but we have been able to tie our dinghy up and grab a bus to get out chores down and do some exploring.  We have been trying to get things we don't think will be available in Cuba, boat parts and favourite food stuffs. We went to the Maimi Casino and took in a game of Jai Alai.  I have heard of the game and always wanted to see it played. 

It is kind of like raquetball except they use a scoops thing attached to their right hand to catch the ball and fling it at the wall.  There are only three walls and you have to scoop up the ball before it bounces twice.  This was a professional game and there were groups of men betting on the outcome.  I googled it and a good player could make over $100,000 a year. There are no lefties in the game, or if you are a lefty you still have to scoop and throw with your right arm.  They really whip the ball, apparently it is the fastest game in the world. They played singles and doubles, once the player  lost a point he had to retire, so if there was a good player he could stay on the court for 15 to 20 minutes. Very interesting! 

We strolled around downtown Miami and marvelled at the architecture and the skyline. 

The last night at anchor on the ICW was an interesting one. We were in Boca Raton, when we arrived it was New Years Day, and the party boats were all there. Young people were swimming and drinking and whooping it up. Then we were awoken at 0330 when a huge motor yacht pulled in and proceeded to crank up the tunes and give a drunken display of dancing to the anchorage.  Being unable to go back to sleep I watched off and on, soon the revellers were asleep and the wind picked up. Guess what, the drunkards did not set their anchor very well and a $1.5 million boat was drifting around the anchorage.  The next thing I heard we the 35 foot sailboat next to us blowing their horn, I went up on deck and there they were fending off the 70 foot motor yacht. Once they could be roused it took a few minutes for the motor yatch bunch to figure out what was going on and the hapless sailors were heaping abuse on them, quite the early morning entertainment. 

We spent the next day racing from one bridge to the next. They have it timed so that if you go about 6.5 knots you can make it from one to the other without having to wait a half an hour for it to open again. We had the motor revved to top speed for most of the day, once we hit Fort Lauderdale we had had enough and since the weather was benign we motored the remaining 20 miles to Miami in the Atlantic.  It was very restful and we had a great view of the Florida coastline.  The last view miles of the ICW saw some very opulent houses.  

 

                                 One of my favourites on a corner lot. 

 We particularly like this one because it had a basketball court on one side, a soccer field on the other and, of course, the pool in the middle. 

                              The family boat parked at the front door. 

                                  Inspired Christmas decorations! 

We will spend a few days in the Florida Keys and then wait for decent winds to head to Cuba. We are hoping to get some snorkelling and perhaps even a dive or two in before leaving. 

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. We just purchased some old cruising guides Waterway Guide published by Boating Industry Magazine. We got it at a Sailor's Exchange and it covers Florida, east and west coast, the Keys and some of the Gulf Coast.  We are using it only for anchorages and ideas of what to see in places we visit. 

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Boca Raton, FA  26*20.7 N  X 080*04.4 W

We anchored in about 3m. of water, very good holding.

This spot was party central on New Years Day. Very crowded. 

No info. on services. 

Virginia Key, FA     25*44.9 N  X 080*10.3 W 

We anchored in about 3m. of water, very good holding. 

There is good protection except from NW and W. 

Decent access to buses to downtown Miami, restaurants available, marinas are not friendly

We secured the dinghy to trees on shore when we left. 

ICW- Florida Style

                         A bridge with painted posts. Only in Florida you say, pity!!

    There was a lot of this, boats that had either been abandoned and sank or had been blown ashore during a hurricane and had never been recovered.

   The boat of choice in Northern Floida has pontoons on it, the flat bottomed Carolina skiffs are not so evident here.  Today was Jan, 1, Happy New Year, by the way, and we crossed the line from Northern Florida to Southern Florida and did things change.  All of a sudden there were speed boats everywhere, going to the right of us, going to the left of us and here we were stuck in the middle again.  Not only were we in the middle but the boat was constantly being buffeted by wash.  It was a rocky/rolly kind of day.  The vegetation has changed as well and we are back into the land of mangroves and palm trees.

Oh did I mention the uber rich houses??  Quite the spectacles. 

Here is a sport fisher going by and in the background is a campground where people are fishing, swimming and picnicking, what a great way to spend New Year's Day.  We are in manatee country and I have actually seen two, one was a glimpse of just his tail and the other I saw his head, Yippee!! 

Nice to be able to have a slip outside your home on the ICW for your "boat"!!

To end on a high note, it rained the other day and I came out to find Barry wearing my VERY pink jacket.  It looks good on him don't you think?

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. We just purchased some old cruising guides Waterway Guide published by Boating Industry Magazine. We got it at a Sailor's Exchange and it covers Florida, east and west coast, the Keys and some of the Gulf Coast.  We are using it only for anchorages and ideas of what to see in places we visit. 

Mile 925, Indian River FA  27*59.4  N  X  080*32.7 W

Anchored in 4m. Great holding, some protection from the south.

No services close by, anchored behind an island made by dredge material. 

Vero Beach, FA     27*39.4  N  X  080*22.2 W

Mooring ball at Vero Beach Municipal Marina. $15/night but they moor as many as three on one ball. 

Great free bus service, lots of services, cruisers winter hear. 

North Palm Beach FA    26*50.3 N  X  080*03.2 W

Anchored in 2.5m. great holding, open to ICW wind and waves.

No info. on services, anchored after sunset, no problem finding our way. 

Cape Canaveral

The Atlantis, the last space shuttle, one of the many that did 135 missions into space to repair the Hubble Space Telescope and build the International Space Station.

We visited the Kennedy Space Centre yesterday and I would highly recommend it.  It was fantastic! We spent part of our time on a bus tour of the facility where we saw the launch pads and the humongous crawler that moves the launch pads with the space shuttles with the rockets attached from one place to another. 

            The building where the rockets are built. Each star on the flag is six feet across. 

Then we got to tour a facility that explained the Apollo program. It took place in the sixties as a result of the space race between Russia and the U.S., the end result was men walking on the moon. 

The actual mission control equipment that was used to send astronauts to the moon. I got goosebumps as we listened to a launch sequence. It has been over 40 years since I sat in front of the TV with my family and watched as it all happened in real time. 

They had the rockets in three stages in the building, they were absolutely huge. 

The capsule from Apollo 13, the ill fated mission where the team had to abort a mission and return to earth, the whole team worked to fix the problems that occurred and the men came home safely.

We returned the space centre and toured the Atlantis exhibit, it was one of the shuttles. Here is the shuttle bay of Atlantis with the Canada Arm's in full view. 

How the astronauts had to sleep, hooked to the wall. 

We could have spent another whole day there, taking in the exhibits. We also visited the "Explorers wanted" building, where they talked about what is in the future for the space program. They had the three types of Mars rovers in there, the ingenuity and precision that went into building these vehicles was just unbelievable. 

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. We just purchased some old cruising guides Waterway Guide published by Boating Industry Magazine. We got it at a Sailor's Exchange and it cover Florida, east and west coast, the Keys and some of the Gulf Coast.  We are using it only for anchorages and ideas of what to see in places we visit. 

St. Augustine FA 

Stayed at a mooring at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina

$20/night, wifi in Marina bldg, a lounge, laundry $2/load/ nice showers 

A bit noisy as you are close to shore, cruiser bus $5/person, will drive you around and pick you up. 

Daytona Beach, FA

Anchored in 4m. Good holding, no protection, open to waves from ICW

No info. on services

Shallow spots in anchorage, proceed with caution. 

Titusville, FA

Mooring ball for $20/night. Good showers, wifi at Marina, laundry

Good access to groceries, within walking distance

Went to Kennedy Space Centre, taxi. $40 each way, worth it. 

Merry Christmas from St. Augustine, FA

                                      MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM FLORIDA 

We decided to stay in St. Augustine in northern Florida for Christmas.  Our new friends that we met in Nfld, Rod and Rhonda, have a condo down here.  They very kindly contacted us and offered to take us shopping when we arrived.  After we had done our errands, we had a lovey dinner and then they kidnapped us, "twisted our arms"😎and we went and spent a wonderful 24 hours at their condo. What luxury, a queen sized very comfortable bed, a bath and wonderful conversation and meals. They have two dogs, a golden retriever and a Portugese water dog.  After a gruelling session at the pool enduring the 80 year old female drill Sargent of an instructor in an aquasizes session we went to the beach and strolled down the beach while the dogs gambolled in the sand and surf. 

After we returned the dogs had to  endure a fresh water rinsing. 

We returned to the boat and walked around town.  We went into some of the wonderful buildings in the historic district.  St. Augustine was settled by the Spanish and it is by evident by the change in architecture from Georgia. 

We took a tour of Folger College.  It was originally a very exclusive hotel which was built at the turn of the century.  In order to stay at the Ponce de Leon Hotel you had to receive an invitation from the owner, be on the social register and pay $4,000 CASH ( equivalent to $100,000 today) upon arrival whether you intende to stay for the three month season or just a week. It was absolutely stunning inside with beautiful ceilings and the best collection of intact Tiffany windows in the world. 

The room where the window are was and is used as a dining room which sits 400, and is still used by the current students and can be cleared to be used as a ballroom. 

                  The ladies parlour which is used for college receptions now. 

                     What you would have worn 120 years ago to dinner.

Chillaxing while waiting for the tour to start!

Cumberland Island, GA

                                

Cumberland Island is the last of Georgia's Sea Islands and is a National Park. What a gorgeous spot, it is 16nm long and about 11/2 wide at it's narrowest point. It was originally granted to the English noblemen by the crown way back in King George's day after they won it from the Spanish. It became famous for it's sea island cotton, the plantations worked by slaves.  After the Civil War the plantations became unprofitable and the Carnegie family took over the island, hiring the former slaves who remained on the island as help. 

The family had nine children and built estates for two of them on other parts of the island. The home called Dungeness, was uninhabited after 1916 and it was decimated by fire, the remains are still spectacular. 

Mercury is one of the statues on the grounds, which were huge. There was a long 150m percola, which is a stone structure with a roof and open side, and I could just imagine people strolling along in the shade contemplating life! 

It was a warm, sunny day and we had the place to ourselves for awhile. The carriage house and staff quarters were still standing and in good condition. . In the graveyard some of the family was buried, their faithful servants were just outside the cemented in area. There was also a plot for a Revolutionary War General who was very ill when he came to visit and they buried him there for a brief time. 

The plot overlooked the salt marshes and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.  We saw lots of white pelicans, water fowl, herons and song birds. Wild horse inhabit the island, they have survived since being freed from the plantation. They keep the lawn mowed at Dungeness!  This is also manatee country but they have gone with to seek warmer water. I really want to see one! One of the park workers on the island told us about swimming with them in the Gulf of Mexico. There is wilderness camping available, you arrive by boat and then can use carts to pull your gear to the camp ground.  The cap on visitors is 300 a day. There are sand roads and remaining residents are allowed to drive around because they all donated their land to the Forest Service. We ended the day on the rocking chairs at the Ranger Station and met the woman who was instrumental in having the island declared a National Park.  There is a book written about her, Untamed, The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight For Cumberland Island, I intend to get it. 

Sailing Info.

We are using "The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Miami, A Cockpit Cruising Handbook" by Jan and Bill Moeller. It is a small guide with few pictures and has references to bridges, anchorages and marinas by the mile number along the waterway. We just purchased the Waterway Guide, Atlantic ICW, Intracostal Waterway, Norfolk VA to Jacksonville Fl, published by Waterway Guide Media.  It is a great guide, with introductions to cities along the way, plus it is updated yearly about conditions on the waterway.  It is sponsored by Marinas, etc. but also mentions anchorages and their pluses and minuses. 

Cumberland Island  30*45.2 N X 081*28.5 W

We anchored in 6m of water with very good holding, only protection was from the East. 

Consider the state of the tide as you anchor, it shoals very quickly to the West.

No services on shore but great hiking trails, a museum, and beaches. A must see.