Waiting,Waiting and More Waiting

  

View from our home for the week



Miami Beach Marina

 

Monument Island



 Well, we are getting to know the Miami area better than we want. We are so ready to get to the Bahamas but the weather just hasn’t quite co-operated. This past week had been so cold that I wore a sweatshirt and fleece long johns to bed under a sheet, summer blanket, fleece blanket and a coverlet. Did we turn the wrong way? We have seen quite a bit of South Beach, Monument Island and Miami from a distance from our anchorage near the Venetian Causeway. It has been home to us for a week and even longer for Sequence and Jubilee



Jubilee and Sequence in our anchorage in Miami Beach

Our group moved yesterday for a change of scenery to the Key Biscayne area. We wanted to go into No Name Harbor but there were 19 boats in there and would not take four more. So we went around the corner to Hurricane Hole which worked well except for the birds bombing us in the morning with their blue splats all over our deck and white bimini and sail cover! I guess I will be putting my cleaning skills to the test.
It started to warm up but our group of boats waiting to cross, hesitated on going (Saturday) because it was only a short weather window followed by a very strong cold front to come in Sunday night. The winds are still out of the north although lighter (10 knots) but we were taught that you don’t want north winds crossing the Gulf Stream which flows north because it can be very uncomfortable. Also the cold front will have winds of 25 -30 knots and we don’t want to have to stay put for several days in Nassau where thievery is common. The next good crossing is predicted around Thursday and looks good for several days after. If only that could be written in stone!

Dave Mershon and I kayaked the anchorage hoping to find a way to get to some of the canals in the area but unfortunately discovered it land locked. Don and Sue decided to move and checked out No Name Harbor and were pleasantly surprised to find only five boats in there. That means that fourteen must have decided to try for the short weather window. Al and I decided to pull up anchor and motored over and got a spot near Don and Sue. The Mershon’s decided to stay put in Hurricane Hole and use their dinghy to motor over.

 We packed our lunches and headed off for a hike to the lighthouse and to explore Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. It felt good to have shorts on again. Once back on the boat we were entertained by the locals on various boats blaring music with the hot babes on deck. The men especially enjoyed themselves! With the sun setting the anchorage quieted down nicely. After dark we also enjoyed  some of the decorated boats for the holiday



Cape Florida Lighthouse

 

The group checking out history of Stiltsville.




Power boat decked out for the holidays in No Name Harbor



                                                               

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