Miami – At Marine Stadium at anchor – a Fifty mile sail!

We left before sunrise - arrrgh

All the wind and wave gods were with us today. After witnessing a sunrise, we set out at 7:00 am, a record for us. There was a 12 to 15 kt wind out of the northeast which was perfect for sailing north. We kept the relative wind at around 60 degrees and powered forward all day except for a little tension at Caesar’s Creek where we saw 5.2 ft even though we had a 1.4 ft tide with us! So we threaded our way through the creek that took us from the ocean side to the Bay of Biscayne where the water was flat but we still had the wind.

Well, I did snap a photo later on of the sunrise

However, I am coming to the conclusion that I need to have the bottom of the boat scrubbed by a diver. My usual cruising speed at 2300 rpm under power is 7.3 kts but now it’s only 6.8 kts! I’m sure I’m using the same if not more fuel for the same rpm so it computes to not be very economical to continue to run the boat like this. The bottom was fine all the way down to Key West but sitting in at a dock in the warm waters of Key West for a month grew a lot of stuff, apparently. Of course towing a dinghy doesn’t help and we’re thinking of installing davits to keep the dinghy out of the water during none use.

The Miami skyline at night is gorgeous

We’re anchored in Marine Stadium anchorage which used to be an arena for water sports but a hurricane in the 80’s did it in. Now it’s a wreak but the anchorage is fine and is used by a lot of boats going and coming down the ICW. With a nearby beach, it’s perfect for us with Hoolie. We’ll stay and watch for a weather window to reach Ft Lauderdale since we have to go outside (via the ocean), we can’t use the ICW for the Miami to Ft Lauderdale stretch due to one low bridge at 56 ft.

Rodriguez Key – At anchor

by Rodrigeuz Key

Rodriguez Key is about 50 miles east of Marathon so it’s a long day for us in a sailboat. We’re anchored about a mile from shore since the water is so shallow near shore but it’s calm at the moment. However, it’s supposed to pipe up during the night out of the direction where we have no protection, the east, hopefully not too much.

There’s a boat ramp for Hoolie relief on shore so the anchorage meets all the basic requirements for us although it’s along run. It was dead calm tonight but it’ll be rocking with tomorrow’s predicted wind of 15 kts.

Naturally we sat on the back of our boat and watched the sunset, we never tire of the view and can’t think of anything we’d rather be doing. It’s an early departure on Tuesday for our 50 mile run up to Marine Stadium in Miami for another anchorage but that one is much better protected and has a nearby sandy beach for Hoolie relief. The stars are beautiful tonight with the absence of lights and no moon, just stunning!

Marathon – Still here

"thought I would pick up a bottle of wine for dinner..."

We had intended leaving today but upon looking at the weather radar, there looked to be a strong line of thunderstorms off to the west which were headed east. From their speed it appeared that they would have reached us about half way to our anchorage. Since we’re in no particular hurry, we decided to stay another day and leave Monday instead.

As it turned out, the thunderstorms never reached us, they dissipated before Marathon. We’re used to northern weather where when you see a line of storms approaching, you can be pretty sure they will continue along their way to pay you a visit. Apparently, such is not the case along the keys, live and learn I guess. Meanwhile, we did laundry and rewatered the boat so everything is done for the trip north.

Although Marathon is the poor cousin of Key West, it’s not that poor. I walked in the local deli and saw a stack of Opus 1 cases causally stacked in the corner next to the freezer. Opus One is wine that goes for $159.99 a bottle. The supermarkets in Florida are also allowed to sell wine and the local Publix had a section above the cheese case of wines prices from $100 to $200/bottle. So I suppose there must be a clientele that ensures the stores are not overstocked with such wines, yours truly is not among that clientele! For me, box wine is fine with an occasional bottle of $10 “good stuff” to remind me of the better life, oh well.

Marathon – Getting ready to move north

The Lazy Days restaurant is open to the west for a sunset view

We follow three weather forecasting services: Coastal Marine Forecasts by NOAA, wind forecasts by Ugrib and wave forecasts by Stormsurf. All are specific to a particular area of interest, i.e. where you’re headed. Looking at the reports for the next three days, it appears (unless the predictions change) that we’ll head out Sunday morning and try to make Ft. Lauderdale by Tuesday night. You can follow our progress on the bar to the left of the blog which updates every 10 minutes in real-time via a satellite connection.

Picnic area of the Boot Key City Marina where had a mooring

Given that, we celebrated by having a late lunch at Lazy Days which we think it the best restaurant in Marathon. The fish sandwich is $11 and is excellent. They don’t really have a dinghy dock but you can tie up to a pier next to the restaurant but bring a fender to avoid damage to your soft dinghy from the barnacles encrusted on the pilings.

Marathon – Unglamorous things to do

We never tire of sunsets

Living on a boat requires attention to things you normally ignore. Today was pump out day (how unglamorous it that! – but necessary) and the operator noted that the suction was not as it should be which meant that the vent to the outside was partially plugged. It hadn’t been cleaned in seven years but it required the outside chrome vent to be removed to be cleaned. Of course there’s lots of hoses inside that have to be released first so the entire procedure took about three hours.

Then the knot meter needed cleaning so the paddle wheel turns freely, a job that needs repeating every one to two months. Lime-A-Way seems to work well for that. Then the freezer needed defrosting. Unlike our home freezer, the one on the boat is not self-defrosting (it would require a higher energy budget). Then, of course, one of the primary propane cylinders needed refilling, we have two on board. The list goes on and tomorrow I’ll restart my chores (back flushing the genset to improve cooling water flow, cleaning waterline scum, doing the teak on the swim platform, etc.)

But then there are compensations. The temperatures continue to be in the 70’s and even though we’ve had high winds, they’ve moderated somewhat today – and – we had a nice sunset as we sipped our wine on the back of the boat. Ann went to the local fish market for tuna which we had for dinner. All in all, I’ll take that.

Marathon – Wind, wind and more wind

Actually, it looks rather calm in the picture, NOT!

The morning was relatively calm so we both went in to exercise Hoolie and get some exercise ourselves. It wasn’t long after we returned to the boat that the wind started to pick up. It dialed the wind gauge through the teens, then the 20’s and peaked out at 31 kts but held in the 20’s the entire afternoon.

Getting Hoolie ashore in the afternoon was an adventure. The direction of the wind was parallel to the long axis of the harbor (of course!) but the enormous number of moored boats did tend to break up the wave action somewhat. Still, it’s amazing the difference between 30 kts on the water and on land. Next to the clubhouse, it was like, “What’s the fuss about?” At any rate we just took it easy and did some mundane chores on the boat like doing taxes – yes, even on a cruise you have to satisfy Uncle Sam. Luckily, you can download all the tax forms off the website of the respective investment companies.

Always time to look at the sunset during happy hour(s)

We expect to get these winds for the next two days before they abate somewhat so we’ll be here for awhile before continuing north. On a cruise, the weather is king.

Boot Key Harbor at Marathon – On a mooring

A few clouds came with the high winds

We left at high tide just to be on the safe side. There’s a 5 ft sand bar running across part of the access to the anchorage and even though we would clear it at low tide, it’s easier on the nerves if you have a little extra room.

We actually sailed part of the way, a rarity for our trip south. But then the winds clocked around to on the nose and we had to motor to Boot Key. We called ahead and found that every mooring was already taken, all 238 moorings! We were advised to anchor and come to the office to be put on a waiting list. Luckily, there was still room to anchor but it was a long trip to shore for Hoolie relief. Furthermore, if you were anchored and wanted to use their dinghy dock there was a charge of $13/day! In all fairness, the $13 included the use of the showers, laundry and a free pump out. So we anchored but before I started out for the office to register for the waiting list, I called one last time and found that a mooring had just opened up. I guess March is a popular time for visiting Marathon by boat! The winds are due to howl for the next three days after which we’ll reassess our plans for heading north. It’s no fun banging into 3 to 4 ft chop with a 20 kt headwind. We’ll wait for better weather.