Hello from Miami! We have made it to another milestone in our trip. This is probably as far south in the US as we will go before heading for the Bahamas. We are currently staying at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove on the west side of Biscayne Bay, on a mooring, and the plan is to stay here until after Christmas.
Monday was our last day in Vero Beach. Dave did one last run for provisions in the car and we got everything stowed before we headed off to have a look at the beach and get an ice cream (a reward for all of our hard work provisioning over the previous few days). The following morning we said goodbye to Slow Waltz, as they were heading for Stuart to pick up their new dinghy, and we went to fill up with fuel, water and get a pumpout before setting off for Fort Pierce with Leeloo.
When we got to Fort Pierce, Dave headed in to have a look at a marine liquidators place with Mario, to see if he could find some tubing suitable for our bimini, but no luck there. For those of you who don't know what a bimini is, it is a cover that goes over the cockpit to keep the sun off. In Nova Scotia we didn't really need one, as we are usually looking for the sun rather than trying to keep out of it, but in the Bahamas it is a fairly essential piece of gear. We still have the canvas from our old bimini, which we are planning to re-use, but the old tubing was aluminum and flimsy and Dave cut it up to use for a winter cockpit cover. We had tried to get new tubing before we left Nova Scotia, but had trouble finding someone to bend it and then ran out of time. Now the quest is on to get new tubing bent before we head over to the Bahamas.
Wednesday morning we got up early to go offshore. We headed out the inlet at Fort Pierce into a spectacular sunrise and calm seas. As we turned south there was a light wind behind us and it was a beautiful day. Tons of flying fish were all around us and the water was a beautiful deep blue. The original plan was to do a day sail and go in at Lake Worth, but conditions were good, so we talked to the crew of Leeloo, who were traveling with us and decided to push on to Miami. Soon after that we connected with Slow Waltz, who had left Stuart planning to go to Lake Worth also, and they decided to join us.
By noon the wind had built enough that we were able to shut down the engine and sail. By 3 p.m. the waves were pretty big and I was starting to get uncomfortable and was dreading a long night with big waves. We were slowed down a bunch, so we figured that maybe we had current against us and that might be contributing to the big waves, so we turned in and went closer to shore and the waves dropped a bunch and we sped up. Just before 5 p.m. the wind had dropped quite a bit and we decided to start the engine again and motor sail.
That was when we discovered that we had a problem with the gear shift (again) and we couldn't get the engine into forward. Luckily it was still light out, so Dave took a bunch of things apart and tried to figure out what was wrong. He traced it to an issue with interference between the shifter cable and the steering chain and he was able to get the engine into forward, but he wasn't sure we would be able to shift into reverse if we had to. We pushed on and hoped that we wouldn't need reverse until we dropped the anchor as we figured we could manage to anchor without reverse if necessary.
Soon it was dark but it wasn't long until the moon came up. It was almost full so it was a very bright night between that and the lights on shore. The wind shifted to the east and we roared along the coast switching off watch every hour and trying to get some rest when we weren't on watch. Just before 1 a.m. we got to the channel at Government Cut in Miami. As we were furling the jib a bit and approaching the channel I noticed an un-lit navigation buoy just off our starboard bow and we made a quick turn to avoid it - a very close call. Shortly after that we encountered a large boat cutting across the main channel. Luckily I was able to find him on AIS and I called him on the radio to find out his intentions. He was very helpful and even told us to call the dredge that was up ahead to get instructions on how to get around them. By this time Leeloo and Slow Waltz were both close behind us, so all three boats managed to get around the dredge and into the relatively calm water between the breakwaters without incident.
One thing about going into Miami at 1 a.m. is that there isn't too much boat traffic. After the dredge we only saw a couple of ferries as we made our way past all the lights of Miami to an anchorage just south of the Rickenbacker Bridge. We dropped the hook at 2:40 a.m. just over 20 hours after leaving Fort Pierce and managed to get the transmission into reverse to set the anchor. A few minutes later we fell into bed, tired out from a long passage but happy to have arrived safe and sound.
The following morning we got up and motored five miles over to Dinner Key Marina with Slow Waltz and Leeloo and we all picked up moorings. We weren't sure how long we were going to stay, but now it looks like we will be here at least through Christmas. Dave headed in to see someone he had spoken to on the phone about bimini tubing and, after much discussion, they found some in their shop already bent that will work. They delivered the tubing to the dinghy dock the following day and we took it out to Romana in our dinghy, ready for one of the guys from the shop to come out on Monday and help Dave fit it up.
Just to keep us on our toes, the dinghy engine started acting up in Fort Pierce and hardly has any power, so we are experiencing what it is like to have a very small engine on our dinghy. Since we can't get the dinghy up on plane it has made the trips back and forth from the dinghy dock to the mooring field much slower and somewhat wetter than they normally would be. The wind has been blowing at leat 15 knots since we have been here and there is significant chop so it has been a bit of a rough ride getting back to Romana. We are hoping the engine will last at least until we get to Nassau, when we had planned to buy a new one anyway. As Dave says, this will certainly make it easier to part with the old engine.
We've done a bit more shopping for boat stuff and provisions and the list is much shorter but the items now seem to take longer to find. We hope to take a bit of a break to slow down a bit during the next few days before Christmas so we can do some celebrating and get in touch with family back home over the holidays. We've put up a string of Christmas lights to get in the spirit and we're planning Christmas dinner with Leeloo and Slow Waltz. If we can't be with family at christmas it is nice to be with friends.
I'm not sure when we will be leaving for the Bahamas - it will depend on when we are ready and when we get a weather window - but I will try to get at least one more blog out before we go. After that communications will be much more challenging so the blog posts may be less often and less regular.
I hope you are all ready to enjoy the holidays. Have a Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year!
Monday was our last day in Vero Beach. Dave did one last run for provisions in the car and we got everything stowed before we headed off to have a look at the beach and get an ice cream (a reward for all of our hard work provisioning over the previous few days). The following morning we said goodbye to Slow Waltz, as they were heading for Stuart to pick up their new dinghy, and we went to fill up with fuel, water and get a pumpout before setting off for Fort Pierce with Leeloo.
When we got to Fort Pierce, Dave headed in to have a look at a marine liquidators place with Mario, to see if he could find some tubing suitable for our bimini, but no luck there. For those of you who don't know what a bimini is, it is a cover that goes over the cockpit to keep the sun off. In Nova Scotia we didn't really need one, as we are usually looking for the sun rather than trying to keep out of it, but in the Bahamas it is a fairly essential piece of gear. We still have the canvas from our old bimini, which we are planning to re-use, but the old tubing was aluminum and flimsy and Dave cut it up to use for a winter cockpit cover. We had tried to get new tubing before we left Nova Scotia, but had trouble finding someone to bend it and then ran out of time. Now the quest is on to get new tubing bent before we head over to the Bahamas.
Wednesday morning we got up early to go offshore. We headed out the inlet at Fort Pierce into a spectacular sunrise and calm seas. As we turned south there was a light wind behind us and it was a beautiful day. Tons of flying fish were all around us and the water was a beautiful deep blue. The original plan was to do a day sail and go in at Lake Worth, but conditions were good, so we talked to the crew of Leeloo, who were traveling with us and decided to push on to Miami. Soon after that we connected with Slow Waltz, who had left Stuart planning to go to Lake Worth also, and they decided to join us.
By noon the wind had built enough that we were able to shut down the engine and sail. By 3 p.m. the waves were pretty big and I was starting to get uncomfortable and was dreading a long night with big waves. We were slowed down a bunch, so we figured that maybe we had current against us and that might be contributing to the big waves, so we turned in and went closer to shore and the waves dropped a bunch and we sped up. Just before 5 p.m. the wind had dropped quite a bit and we decided to start the engine again and motor sail.
That was when we discovered that we had a problem with the gear shift (again) and we couldn't get the engine into forward. Luckily it was still light out, so Dave took a bunch of things apart and tried to figure out what was wrong. He traced it to an issue with interference between the shifter cable and the steering chain and he was able to get the engine into forward, but he wasn't sure we would be able to shift into reverse if we had to. We pushed on and hoped that we wouldn't need reverse until we dropped the anchor as we figured we could manage to anchor without reverse if necessary.
Soon it was dark but it wasn't long until the moon came up. It was almost full so it was a very bright night between that and the lights on shore. The wind shifted to the east and we roared along the coast switching off watch every hour and trying to get some rest when we weren't on watch. Just before 1 a.m. we got to the channel at Government Cut in Miami. As we were furling the jib a bit and approaching the channel I noticed an un-lit navigation buoy just off our starboard bow and we made a quick turn to avoid it - a very close call. Shortly after that we encountered a large boat cutting across the main channel. Luckily I was able to find him on AIS and I called him on the radio to find out his intentions. He was very helpful and even told us to call the dredge that was up ahead to get instructions on how to get around them. By this time Leeloo and Slow Waltz were both close behind us, so all three boats managed to get around the dredge and into the relatively calm water between the breakwaters without incident.
One thing about going into Miami at 1 a.m. is that there isn't too much boat traffic. After the dredge we only saw a couple of ferries as we made our way past all the lights of Miami to an anchorage just south of the Rickenbacker Bridge. We dropped the hook at 2:40 a.m. just over 20 hours after leaving Fort Pierce and managed to get the transmission into reverse to set the anchor. A few minutes later we fell into bed, tired out from a long passage but happy to have arrived safe and sound.
The following morning we got up and motored five miles over to Dinner Key Marina with Slow Waltz and Leeloo and we all picked up moorings. We weren't sure how long we were going to stay, but now it looks like we will be here at least through Christmas. Dave headed in to see someone he had spoken to on the phone about bimini tubing and, after much discussion, they found some in their shop already bent that will work. They delivered the tubing to the dinghy dock the following day and we took it out to Romana in our dinghy, ready for one of the guys from the shop to come out on Monday and help Dave fit it up.
Just to keep us on our toes, the dinghy engine started acting up in Fort Pierce and hardly has any power, so we are experiencing what it is like to have a very small engine on our dinghy. Since we can't get the dinghy up on plane it has made the trips back and forth from the dinghy dock to the mooring field much slower and somewhat wetter than they normally would be. The wind has been blowing at leat 15 knots since we have been here and there is significant chop so it has been a bit of a rough ride getting back to Romana. We are hoping the engine will last at least until we get to Nassau, when we had planned to buy a new one anyway. As Dave says, this will certainly make it easier to part with the old engine.
We've done a bit more shopping for boat stuff and provisions and the list is much shorter but the items now seem to take longer to find. We hope to take a bit of a break to slow down a bit during the next few days before Christmas so we can do some celebrating and get in touch with family back home over the holidays. We've put up a string of Christmas lights to get in the spirit and we're planning Christmas dinner with Leeloo and Slow Waltz. If we can't be with family at christmas it is nice to be with friends.
I'm not sure when we will be leaving for the Bahamas - it will depend on when we are ready and when we get a weather window - but I will try to get at least one more blog out before we go. After that communications will be much more challenging so the blog posts may be less often and less regular.
I hope you are all ready to enjoy the holidays. Have a Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year!