Ok, this whole cruising thing is really one huge emotional roller coaster. The desire I had to get OFF the boat, drive around in the van and buy things at Target in July has been equally matched by the desire to get ON the boat and away from the stores, away from cars, and return to the solitude of the family on Makai goofing off and living for the moment right now. Finally, after some great times driving around the East Coast, visiting friends, family and historical landmarks, and also our holiday time in Florida, we’re back to cruising!
Monday morning the kids and I headed for Makai and the Aanonson’s headed for the Orlando Airport. It was a sad time leaving our pals, but the beginning of a new cruising season. Their grandparents, Mark and Sandy were wonderful hosts to take care of all of us for the week, loaning us their car for excursions here and there, trips up to the boat and back and even after everyone had left we had the car one more day to get Topaz’s Veterinarian certificates in order and Eric had to fix our propane system that failed right before we left.
Finally on January 7th, Marie’s 9th Birthday, we headed out to sea. Poor thing had a special birthday dinner of crackers and water, her gifts included Dramamine and a bucket if needed and off we went for a wild ride. The wind was strong but from the right direction and we made the trip to Biscayne Bay in 24 hours.
Once again our cockpit enclosure proved to be an asset. I’ve never admired a new addition to the boat quite the way the side curtains with windows has struck me. The sea spray, splashes, rain and wind bounce off the enclosure and we stay dry. The last few days were frigid with some kind of a Polar Arctic Vortex stretching down to Florida, but being able to stay dry and out of the wind made a huge difference.
In the middle of the night the sea got bumpy, but the sea temp went up and we were bucking a current which is the tell tale sign that we were skimming along the edge of the Gulf Stream. The number one rule for the Gulf Stream is not to enter this strong current of warm water flowing north if there is a wind blowing to the south. So, we headed toward the beach a bit and the sea calmed down, a favorable current gave us an extra knot or so and the trip continued scooting along at 7+ knots with the jib sail only. It was amazing that we were about 3 nm off the coast and had 3G cell service most of the trip. With his connectivity we were able to monitor the location of the Gulf Stream using the NOAA weather website. This site tells us the approximate location of the Western Wall of the Gulf Stream so we can know how close to stay to the beach. Last night it said the Gulf Stream is 3nm from shore so moved in to 1.5 nm and everything was great. I’ll be really sad when I don’t have 3G anymore.
Outside of Miami was a tanker anchorage. There must have been half a dozen or so of these guys coming, going or anchored.
Eventually the troops all woke up and started looking for breakfast. Unfortunately, no one made them dinner the night before and no one was going to make breakfast. But of course even though everyone was hungry, no one was interested in eating. This is a great diet plan if anyone is interested.
Mid morning we turned the corner into Biscayne Bay. I quickly put potatoes on to boil and my geezer glasses on to help Eric read the charts. From the surface it looks like a wide open body of water, but the chart says other wise. The marked channel has 7-10 feet of water under Makai’s keel and anything outside of the channel is 1 or 2 feet deep. This is the way of the Keys and the Bahama Keys as well, good practice for the rest of the year. This whole area, including the Bahamas, consists of underwater terrain that is the shallowest we’ve ever navigated surrounded by the deepest of the deep. Just a half mile off of a several square mile bank of 20 feet of water and island keys is a 20,000 mile deep sea floor. It’s just crazy.
Down the channel into the bay are houses built on stilts. These structures are part of Stiltsville a community started in the 1930s. Most structures were clubs serving boaters during prohibition and active until the 1970s when the lease was decided to terminate in 1999. After hurricanes and neglect the structures remaining are the last of their kind.
You might order levitra online also want to try homeopathy to help treat your irritable bowel syndrome. Men on Medications Erectile dysfunction is also common among men who had driven chemists to discover the medicine for its treatment. cialis prices Uncommon effects are swelling of the eyelids, eye pain and red eyes.Blurred vision is also noted when alcohol is taken soon after or tadalafil 80mg before the Silagra pills.Sildenafil citrate is the key ingredient is sildenafil citrate that is recommended treatment of ED. There are cialis cheap generic other differences between cults and religions.
Now we’re here at anchor, we’ve picked up everything that fell on the floor, mopped up the seawater that dripped through this hatch or that hatch, washed dishes and fed all the hungry sailors. Marie sequestered her self into her cabin and went to work on whatever she does in there. It’s a crazy mess of clothes, stuffed animals, blankets, little petshops animals and trinkets. After awhile she came out with a gift bag and several birthday cards she made for her self. Sniff Sniff, I’m a horrible mother. She unwrapped each regifted package and surprised herself with items she found in her cabin. I made cookies with leftover Christmas cookie dough, we all sang to her and everyone was happy.
Today we tried to get back to cruising life. We all went for a swim, Eric got out the dive gear and checked on the hull and props. The last time anyone saw the bottom of the boat was in July before we left it off in the marina in Maryland. The water was full of jelly fish and he had full wet suit protection on with all of us watching for sea nettles drifting by. After that the water was either to murky or too cold (46 degrees) to get in. During those months, giant barnacles grew here and there and the poor propeller was full of them. Makai had to work extra hard to move through the water with these crusty appendages growing on her skin.
The sky is cloundy and rainy, but it’s warm. The girls had a great time being crazy Makai girls. Miami is off in the background and we’re anchored in front of Biscayne Key, the first of the Florida Keys.
Topaz was once again a wild and crazy cruising pup. She had fun barking, swimming, jumping, running back and forth and chasing stuff in the water.
Genny and Marie spent the day testing out my new camera’s settings. It takes great pictures. Here the Sports setting shows clarity on a fast moving target.
Finally evening is here and I get to test out the camera’s night settings.
The weather looks good for sailing to Bimini on Saturday. This Bahama island is only 45 miles from the coast of Florida but hopefully the weather will be better on the other side of the Gulf Stream. I’m looking forward to clear water, white sand beaches and warm water.