Month: November 2011

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The market, the canal and the fire boat

A day of discovery and oodles of photos.  Made some progress with our sail drive repairs. Russ posted on the Cruisers Forum and got a few good ideas; one panned out. He discovered that the expansion tanks (small bottles) have a one way air vent in the cap that keeps them from functioning as needed. These are not typically required and the bottles were chosen by our Yanmar distributor to meet an expansion need. Long story short, we are due back at Marathon Boat Yard on Monday where they will remove the engines and replace the lip seals on the sail drives. The lip seals have been leaking due to possible pressure build up. Once replaced and the expansion bottles working properly, all- she says hopefully- will be well.

After breakfast we walked in. First stop The Fresh Market. For the underprivileged, The Fresh Market is similar to Whole Foods, but without the café dining, the chocolate bar nor the huge selection of cheese. Last winter we saw that construction was beginning with signs stating “Opening Spring 2011”. Great- by the time we came back this fall, they’d be open for sure. Grocery stores in cities take some getting used to. In Miami Beach at least, they are situated right on the street like any other shop, only larger with a parking garage next door.

New Fresh Market as seen from Collins Canal

After lunch we headed up the Collins canal aiming to find a spot to tie up and walk over the beach on the ocean side. The canal, 18 ft wide and 3-4 ft deep was constructed- well we’re not sure- but prior to 1967- likely for an industrial use. It meets up with Indian Creek, continuing for several miles alongside A1A and toward North Miami Beach. We found a good spot near the road with a small dock of sorts, tied up (lock too) and walked two short blocks east where we came upon a boardwalk along the beach and plenty of easy beach access. We are, remember, in Florida where beach and water access abound, the bridges open promptly for boats and Publix and The Fresh Market have a strong presence.

 

Lounging Lizard

Along the way my camera had a good workout with all the birds and iguanas tucked in amongst the mangroves and a couple guys paddle boarding. Ok, that covers the market and the canal.

As we approached the anchorage, a Coast Guard utility boat (like an inflatable on steroids) was rafted next to a monohull near us. That boat had entered the anchorage as we headed off toward the canal a couple hours earlier. Umm, the boat flew a Canadian flag. Was that a clue? No. Next thing we see is the City of Miami Fire Boat arriving and realize this is an injury or illness situation.

Not a happy sight

With the Coast Guard so close and being near a city with many facilities, if something had to happen this was the place to get immediate assistance. We will never know the proverbial rest of the story; we only hope the ending is a good one.

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West Palm to Miami

American Junque Vessel or Live Aboard? - Lake Worth

Our trip to West Palm Beach, aka Lake Worthless was uneventful, with 7 opening bridges. Our short stay however, was not.  This would be a third time here and the first time only staying one night. The saying is “third time’s a charm.” Our version is “third time’s a drag.” Ooohhh.  We arrive before 3pm and begin our anchoring routine. Selection, assessment, final selection, drop anchor, let out some chain, let out more, assess holding, attach bridle if all is good, acknowledge that it is 5 o’clock somewhere. The first attempt did not produce a good hold so we moved a bit and got a good hold on the second.

Opposing wind and current are tough on an anchor’s ability to reset itself; some types of anchors can reset better than others. Our over-sized 80lb Rocna loves mud; sand, not as much apparently. Around 1 a.m. I woke up when the wind picked up from a benign 7kts to a brisk 14kts, which was not quite the forecast.  I had this uncomfortable feeling and checked the weather on the iPhone to see if the wind was predicted to die down. Yes, no matter the frequency of error by the National Weather Service or NOAA we still check, as though repeated checking will give the desired result. Hope does spring eternal when it comes to the weather.

Within minutes the anchor drag alarm sounded and Russ jumped up to turn on the chartplotter and check things out. I’d felt an odd vibration right before the alarm, so as much as we wanted it to be that we’d simply swung around 150 ft worth, I knew in my heart that Mr. Rocna had moved. How am I supposed to trust him in the Bahamas where sand, wind and current abound? Looked around. A visual check told us we’d moved which the chartplotter confirmed. Suspect the pull of the current required the anchor to reset and for some reason it didn’t rise, or I should say, lower, to the occasion.  Faced with two options, three if you count leaving, we opted to raise Mr Rocna and re-deposit him. Even though it was the middle of the night, we could see just fine with all the land and ship lights. After that was done, we babysat Mr. Badboy for ½ hour then crashed for the night… until 6:15 when the alarm sounded… on the iPhone – time to wake up.

The forecast for Tues was WNW/NW 10-15, seas 2-4 ft. We’d chosen Tuesday several days earlier as being a good day for the downwind run to Miami and by golly if the forecast still looked good on Tuesday morning. On the plus side, the wavelets –  oh how I love that word – were easy to take and the wind direction was excellent. If only there was more of it. We motor-sailed for the first few hours until the wind woke up and gave us nearly 3 hours of good sailing before we went back to motor-sailing. We needed to arrive at the Miami channel around 4pm which would put the current against us- bad- but if we could use the main ship channel, then we’d be able to head to our desired spot with a pre-dusk arrival time.

Can you find the cruise ship amongst the buildings?

An 80 sm trip in daylight does not leave room for dawdling. A few hours out we began hearing the Coast Guard’s announcements that only one cruise ship was in and boats were therefore allowed to use the main channel. Yes! Our ETA was going would be just past 4pm- perfect. Dropped the main just before entering the channel and began the 75 minute trip to Belle Island.

The area was fairly quiet, the few usual small ferries between Fisher Island and the MacArthur Causeway and not much else to worry about. The cruise ship was small and cute.

One cruise ship allows passage in Miami

Dropped anchor at 5:15 with a prayer- more like an admonishment- that Mr. Rocna behave himself. Tomorrow was filled with promise- a brand new Fresh Market and a Publix only a block apart, a very short walk from the dinghy dock.