miami area

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Destination Achieved: Dinner Key Marina

Who says we couldn’t do this?   Despite a minimal amount of sailing knowledge and never receiving a thorough education about our boat; we have enjoyed a great voyage south, encountering few self-made problems- you know, like going aground.

The DK mooring field is huge

Why were we worried about Dinner Key Marina being full? Nope, we had our pick of the moorings- maybe they are 33% full. Perhaps the infinitesimally small dinghy dock, lack of Wi-Fi or the surrounding boat wakes are a turn-off, but at any rate it’s not bad here. Laundry is only $1.25/load, the cheapest so far. The pump-out boat is functional, unlike Vero Beach and we’ll be able to get a pump-out before we leave here- nice not to have that to worry about. It’s the small things that bring smiles. Our holding tank is only 10 gals- lasts less than a week. Showers are hot and big, but weird. Danger- a Fresh Market around the corner!  They are loaded with holiday goodies and we spend more than we should. Wait until our son arrives- can the boat hold enough food!?

Cocowalk is roughly two blocks away, which we tried to “walk-by” on our way to the Post Office and West Marine over a mile away. Lunch at Johnny Rocket’s was an outdoor treat and more within our budget.

The forecast proved true and from mid-day Sunday through Tues we bobbed about on our mooring in winds averaging over 22kts and often gusting to 32!  Did we get lots done, you bet.  Russ kept his long-made promise to make pizza and we enjoyed a fresh California style pie for dinner Sunday night. A few tweaks and the next one will be outstanding!

Russ: the pizza man!

For entertainment we watched Sea Tow corral a cabin cruiser that decided to go “sailing” and leave its anchor behind. A couple daring and obviously experienced guys spent a few thrilling hours windsurfing at the far end of the anchorage.  The weather and winds seem to change quickly; on Sat we actually had moments of zero wind. A sailing club that left in 10kts for a nice day’s sail in Biscayne Bay, limped back in with barely a breath of wind and several needed a tow as they got close to shore.

We check in on our various cruiser friends from time to time, via blogs and look back fondly to our time at Vero Beach…before we went our separate ways. Some to Bahamas, some across Florida to the west coast and others, like us toward the Keys. Will be fun to meet up again and swap stories.

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Made it to Miami!

We are here on day 60! In one 60+ mile “outside” trip, we’ve made it to Miami!  We got up at dawn to clear the Lake Worth inlet (waiting for a cruise ship to pull thru from the Bahamas first) & had a fantastic 8+ knot sail for … 3 hours, then the wind died & we were sadly motoring to Miami for the next 7 hours. Could have been worse though, the lack of wind meant very calm seas and boy you wouldn’t know that you were in the Atlantic ocean. Well, ok very less-than-three-mile coastal waters, but hey it counts. Only one dolphin sighting, but it was a family of three and we did get one decent shot.

Think I need a better camera

We are anchored in Marine Stadium- yes that would be a water stadium. Long unused, it appears to be manmade and on land there’s a grandstand sadly overlooking the water. Our view is pictured above; the Miami waterfront and while more impressive than shown in the photo, still, it’s a city and well, we’ve gotten used to creeks and tidy mooring fields.

Miami skyline- a bit dreary

Rain and wind will keep us here until Friday morning and then we’ll make a beeline for Dinner Key Marina and one of their mooring balls for a weekend stay. Benj, we’re just about ready for you! Two weeks and Miami airport here we come. Watching planes approach, but not taking off- maybe we won’t be awakened too early.