Finishing up our Trip, Almost

 

Pictures: One of our evening distractions while cruising is Mexican Train dominoes; Jean and Doug from Maine (their cruising boat is MIM); one of the monkeys we saw on a South Carolina island--strange but true; entrance to Windmill Harbor on Hilton Head Island, through a private lock; Ken at a fish market in Georgetown SC; several college sailing teams were in Oriental NC for a regatta when we were there; The Bean, at the town dock in Oriental

Pictures: Two Coast Guard officers checking out our safety equipment in Norfo;k VA; our boat with a ferry next to us, and a Navy ship in the background in Portsmouth VA; Heidi trying to blend in with the street mural in Hampton VA; the Travelift is moving VICTORIOUS at Deltaville Boatyard--there is another boat like ours on the right; Sienna showing off her moves; Kenny with Harold in his backyard; almost everyone from our extended family, at Easter.

From Florida to Virginia we had a very interesting series of small cities (or large towns): St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach (FL), Hilton Head, Beaufort (SC), Charleston, Georgetown (SC), Wrightsville Beach, Oriental (NC), Portsmouth (VA) and Hampton. In each of these towns we either got fuel, food, beer, or all three. We also hid from strong winds in Swansboro SC and Great Bridge VA, two days at each place. Any one of these towns would be a great destination for a long weekend or a week. Of these towns, the only one that we just passed and did not stop at was Charleston. They suffered damage from the hurricane in the fall and the marina that we prefer was still not open for business yet.
There was not much boat traffic, a combination of the winds, and the cooler weather. Some days we only see two or three other cruisers' boats, and only a handful of local fishing boats. However, in Kilkenny GA we anchored next to another cruising couple from Maine, on a trawler of similar size to ours. We had seen them coming out of a small creek not on the official ICW route earlier in the day and asked them where they had come from. It turns out that they had diverted to a small island in the string of Georgia Sea Islands because there are lemurs on the island, imported from Madagascar. It is otherwise uninhabited. They seem to be there for a research project. A few days later we stopped with our new Maine friends and checked out another island, this time in South Carolina, named Morgan Island. You can't go ashore, another research project, but this time there were rhesus monkeys that had the run of the island. We watched a few of them near the shore, and in the trees.
In Hilton Head we stayed at an unusual marina, part of a gated community, and the access to the marina was through a private small lock. Inside the harbor there was no tide, hardly any wind (and it was very gusty during our stay there) and the marina staff was very friendly and helpful. This part of Hilton Head is separate from the bike trails that wind through the rest of the island, and a big bridge and highway keeps you from accessing any of the roads suitable for walking or biking. During our 48 hours there we did get an Uber ride to a great lunch place. We also got to watch college sailboat race teams each day as they left through the lock and practiced during their spring break.
We had a visitor to our boat in Beaufort SC that really made us grin! Peter Mahoney and his crew steamed through our mooring area in their Hull lobster boat, headed straight for us. They had just brought the boat back from the Bahamas and up the coast this far, and it was so good to see them. We exchanged news that evening with Peter, and the next morning he was off before we got up.
Being back in The South (for some reason Florida is not as "South" as Georgia, S. Carolina, N.Carolina and Virginia) means that most music we can find on the radio is Country. We are back to having more opportunities to eat fresh shrimp, crab, grits, biscuits with gravy, and hush puppies. There are some days with long trips through the marshes on the ICW but there we usually see osprey, eagles, loons, pelicans, dolphins, and one day an alligator.
Our stay in Oriental NC was at a free dock that the town provides. It is next to some nice stores and a great coffee shop with ice cream, too. We watched some of the NCAA basketball tournaments at a pub there, both womens and mens. Teams from South Carolina  and North Carolina were victors.
In Virginia, near Norfolk and Portsmouth, we were chosen for a Coast Guard Safety boarding. It was a gray, cold day and there were no other cruising boats around so its not surprising they picked us. They launched an inflatable chase boat from a larger boat, and three "Coasties" came alongside of our boat, telling us not to slow down and to let two of them board while the third piloted the inflatable parallel to us.  The boarding party, one male and one female, checked a few items off of a safety list (we passed) and then asked us questions about our boat as they were curious about its design.
Later that day we walked around the area of Portsmouth that is near to their complimentary city dock. We took in a gallery opening at one of the museums (there were at least 5 museums within 4 blocks) and a free jazz concert with refreshments at another part of the same museum. In Hampton, our stop the next day, we found a new brewery right at the dinghy dock near our anchorage. It is called Bull Island Beer and they make some delicious brews.
The reason we are not home yet is that we stopped at Deltaville VA, had our boat hauled out so that the bottom can be painted (it is important to do this at least once each year). We will do the painting ourselves, but first we rented a car and drove home to visit our family back in Massachusetts. In addition to a few casual visits, we got to be part of a very nice Easter dinner at Jamie and Justin's house and to visit with Pete and Eri several times. Of course this means that we got reacquainted with grandchildren Kenny and Sienna after too long away from them. This was a 13 day detour that we both agreed worked out well.  Today is the first day we are back at Deltaville. We will fill you in on the rest of the trip in a few weeks.

"I love your boat!"

Pictures: The view from our pilot house where we steer from , probably in the small islands near Pine Island Sound, west coast of Florida; window art in Naples; Naples Pier at sunset (we had a seat on the beach); in the middle of this photo is a pink roseate spoonbill (50" wing span) flying; our small boats on a sandbar near Sanibel Island; Ken on the Cayo Coata beach; the Cayo Costa State Park shuttle to the beach; one of two pigs we saw in the last few weeks, this one at Cape Haze Marina; four of the competitors in the Watertribe Everglades Challenge (the two women were in a double kayak, the two men in a small wooden sailboat)

More Pictures: Barb MacLeod and Heidi (Barb is a mean card player, even with a new game she has just learned); the Honey Building in LaBelle on the route we used to cut across central Florida; VICTORIOUS at a dock provided by the city of LaBelle for free; cattle on the side of the canal near Lake Ocheechobee; tied up to "dolphins" in Clewiston on the south rim of Lake Ocheechobee; Heidi with Barry and Susan Perkins in Vero Beach; white pelicans (108" wingspan!) on a sandbar with cormorants. Nature note: white pelicans migrate to the northern great plains of the U.S. in summer.

"I love your boat!" We get this comment all the time--either that or someone holding up a camera to take a picture. Ken often sends back a toot on our Kahlenberg whistle, a very tug-like response. A sheriff's boat pulled up to us at our anchorage in Marco Island, we looked at each other wondering what we did wrong, but he just wanted to ask a questions about our boat. It's nice to be noticed; there are a lot of white look-alike boats out there. Of course, there can be other comments too. One we have gotten a few times is "It looks like Popeye's boat."
The best part about our boat, though, is the layout with three separate indoor areas and a roofdeck over the main cabin. We love to show it off and during this month we have gotten to see a lot of old friends and most of them have not seen VICTORIOUS yet.
We saw Josie in Naples, and after a nice lunch out, we sat in the pilot house and talked for quite a while, enjoying the view while we caught up. We visited with Barb and Dick who are renting a house for a month in Placida (north of Ft. Myers Beach) and we spent some time on our boat and some on their trailered outboard boat during the 4 days we stayed in this area. They took us on their faster boat to two great lunch spots, one in Boca Grande, and one on Don Pedro Island. Heidi's cousin Connie had a sprained ankle but admired our boat from the beach in Cape Coral where she winters. Then we crossed the central area of Florida on a canal and through Lake Ocheechobee and saw Lynn and Ray at Indiantown Marina. Back on the east coast after leaving the St. Lucie Canal we saw Susan and Barry -- they also helped us get groceries -- and Judy and Chuck who we first met last November in Brunswick, Georgia. Heidi's brother Jim couldn't get time off from work in Cape Canaveral but we had a long phone conversation. We were starting to forget who told us what story after this string of fun encounters.
At Don Pedro Island on the west coast we had a chance to walk this beautiful beach and search for fossil shark's teeth. Our collection now has about 100, but they are small and wouldn't quite fill a 1/2 measuring cup. We had some great home-cooked meals with Barb and Dick, and we got to try the BBQ at "JRs"in Indiantown--it's a locals hangout and the locals are mostly immigrants from Guatamala and Mexico although Linn and Ray are regulars there too. Our kayak came out at the backside of Sanibel Island and in Placida. At Marineland on the east coast we happened to arrive at the town marina just when a speaker from Duke Univ. was giving an evening talk next door at the U. of Florida Marine Lab, about the mantis shrimp she studies and their extreme speed.
Ken is always vigilant and helps us catch glimpses of roseate spoonbills, eagles, dolphins, manatees, white pelicans, many herons and egrets on the coasts. We watched cattle grazing canalside and in the canal, while crossing central Florida. The canals also had some very large alligators that often started thrashing about as we passed.
With all of this to fill our time, we just were lucky to be in the right place during a windy spell to meet a group of boat race participants who were diverted to the area we were in, Englewood (west coast). The race is a Watertribe event, with small boats like kayaks, hobie cats, small single hull sailboats and even paddleboards. By diverting the start, they shortened the total race distance from 300 miles to 240. The 70 or so participants (already there were dropouts from 91 registered) had 7 days to complete the race, ending in Key Largo and going around or through the Everglades National Park. It was extremely interesting to see the many different classes of boats, to see how each participant had provisioned, and planned for propulsion -- foot pedals, paddles, sails, an experimental class for solar-powered motors, and combinations of these. Small craft warnings due to the wind were causing withdrawals and DNFs, but we followed the race on the "Spot" GPS transponders each boat carried and about 50 singles/teams finished.
Those are the highlights for the past month. We hope to be home by the time the next blog is written, maybe in 4-6 weeks. Temperatures have dropped a lot in northern Florida, but it may just be a blip, we hope, due to strong north winds for the past 3 days. The good news is that wind and colder temps keep the bugs away.

In The Keys for Mid-Winter

Pictures: Heidi at the hair salon in Key Biscayne; panorama of Boca Chita harbor, our boat on the left; community band concert in Key Largo park; Ken's new slogan, from Florida Keys Brewing; new boating friends (from Rhode Island) we met in the Islamorada anchorage; two fishing guides waiting for the results of the Swamp Guides' Tournament and Banquet at Lorelai -- they are last year's winners; our weekend visitor Ray putting his kayaks back on his van at the Lorelai parking lot; part of the crew watching the Superbowl on Feb. 5, including Ray and Linn; the resort in Islamarada that is featured on "Bloodlines" on Netflix; VICTORIOUS at Lorelai docks; one of the turtles at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon (they are all named); pool and tour group at the Turtle Hospital; Ken, Roy and Bertha on our dinghy going out to see our boat in Marathon; bubble-blowers at Bahia Honda putting on a great show, and really just enjoying it for themselves; one of the many sunsets, this one under the old railroad bridge at Bahia Honda; the side-creek view from the kayak in Little Shark River; the dock at high tide at the Rod & Gun Club in Everglades City; panorama of Little Shark River at our anchorage; our Valentine's Day grand-daughter Sienna

There are a few more days in Biscayne Bay to spend before we leave for the Florida Keys.  Day one, we are back at No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne. Heidi got a haircut; all the stylists spoke Spanish, but English as well. We are meeting a few other boaters just to talk with for 20 minutes or so. Everyone seems to be heading in different directions. There is a couple from Salem, Mass. that we have talked with before, in Vero Beach, and a couple who used to live in Cohasset, before we did, but we have some acquaintances in common. Another sailor is in the area, from Marblehead. We missed him this week, but caught up with him a few weeks later. On day two we move back to a mooring at Dinner Key in Miami so that we can get groceries more easily before we cruise to the Keys. We also got our bikes ashore to do some riding on the bike trail there and another trip to the hardware store. The Sail World Cup Miami has started and the harbor is full of the small sailboat and sailboard classes that are competing this week, from all over the world. One two-person boat heading back at a fast clip after it's race passes our dinghy and the captain smiles as he is so close that he has to raise his tiller up to miss knocking us out of our boat!
We'll miss the finals of the World Cup but we head for Boca Chita, still in Biscayne Bay and part of the Biscayne Bay National Park. This island has no causeway or bridge so all visitors come by boat. We tied up to a concrete seawall there and chatted with the owners of a few of the boats that arrived before us. There is a beautiful beach here, a replica lighthouse, and not much else. We're not sure if we want to stay one or two nights, but the next morning when we see that some critter (a rat?) has chewed through our cockpit door screen and helped itself to some of our small snacks we left out in baggies (and it left droppings all over) we are sure we will be leaving. Thank goodness it does not appear that it stayed on the boat and hid.
Our first Florida Keys destination was Key Largo. We are taking the bayside route which is on the north side of the Keys, as the Keys run roughly east to west. This stop is primarily for shopping, as we have access to a KMart, a Publix (groceries), a fresh vegetable market and a flea market. We had a great lunch out at The Conch House. The we hit it just right to sit and listen to an early evening community band concert held at the park closest to our anchorage. We had fairly cold weather, 58 degrees one morning when we got up. We also got time here to just stay aboard and read the Sunday paper, talk to our family members on the phone, and "Tango" (a video phone call) with our new granddaughter Sienna. A partial day of rain here was the only rain we've had in a while and it won't rain again until the end of this blog.
Our next major stop is Islamorada. Traveling in the Bay, the water is  6-8 ft. deep maximum; however we only need 3 1/2 ft. so we are good. We broke up the trip to Islamorada by stopping in a small bay off of Windley Key. Sometime in the night our anchor dragged, and we learned that our danforth anchor is not good in grassy bottoms. We were far enough from other boats in the bay to not have hit anyone, but from now on we will have to be more choosy about our anchoring spots. The next night we used our bigger danforth anchor and picked a sheltered corner of the north side of Islamorada. It was windy but we were secure. This area is great for sunsets--the last two nights have been especially beautiful! We were in this anchorage for 4 nights; it is about a mile to dinghy to shore but we like the peacefulness and safety. Heidi used the kayak along the shore quite a bit; another boat near to us, from Rhode Island, is also kayaking and dinghying to shore and we eventually had a drink with them and discussed boating subjects we have in common.
For two nights we are going to treat ourselves and stay at the dock near to the Lorelai Restaurant in Islamorada. We have been to Lorelai almost every day, for happy hour or for lunch. Now we are positioning ourselves to be close to a TV for the SuperBowl and in a convenient place when our friends Linn and Ray drive down to visit for the weekend. (Linn and Ray have a boat in Indiantown Florida, where we met them; they live most of the year in Rhode Island and we have visited them there. We have never actually boated with them because, so far, each time we see them we haven't had our boat, or they are working on their boat.) The weekend is lots of fun! We ended up eating all our meals at Lorelai or other restaurants in Islamorada, we walked,  took bike rides and kayak trips, and we watched the best SuperBowl ever!! We don't have a TV so we picked a bar and randomly our companions watching the game were a young couple on vacation from the Canadian army and a Swiss mother of 3 children on a getaway vacation. Linn and Ray were great guests, partially living out of their van which resulted in our not bumping into them too much on VICTORIOUS, and we all seemed to enjoy the same activities.
Highlights of Islamorada not yet mentioned: they are filming a Netflix TV series that we have watched,  Bloodline, and we enjoy the stories of the actors and locations that we hear; there are two beer breweries--Islamorada Beer Co and Florida Keys Brewing--and we sip tastings at both; a young waitress who has served us several times is just down from Maine where she served as innkeeper, at Squire Tarbox, from last summer until Christmas.
Our next major destination is Marathon, further west, but we stopped to check out Lignumvitae Key first. It is a Botanical State Park, can only be visited by boat, and has two rangers. It's not one of their scheduled tour days but one ranger unlocked the main house and informally showed us around. There is a guest mooring that looks a bit worn but we use it overnight and it is good. From there it is 35 miles to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. The City Marina has 225 moorings there but the most recent 50 boats have had to anchor and go on the waiting list. They aren't even going to put us on the waiting list, as we would be so far down on the list and only plan to stay for a week.  We got a phone call while we were looking for a good spot to anchor in and it was friends from Massachusetts who were having lunch at a waterside restaurant and saw us enter the harbor. We met with them briefly and will see them later in the week; they are staying 25 miles away, toward Key West.
Our stay in Marathon extended to 10 days and included finding our Marblehead friend that we had missed in Miami and checking out his sailboat that was designed and built by the same people that designed and built our boat, along with sunset cocktails several times at Honchy Conch, and lots of kayaking for Heidi in the mangrove trails near to our anchorage. We had other happy hours, and lunches, one picnic on the beach and a "drift" in our dinghy with our beach umbrella for shade and beers for refreshment (it was Valentaines Day!). We spent one morning cleaning the bottom of our dinghy of grass and barnacles, another morning we hired a diver to replace zincs on the bottom of VICTORIOUS and also clean the bottom. We got groceries, borrowing the Marblehead friend's car, and got our mail forwarded by Pete and Eri. Heidi went to the Turtle Hospital and learned about how the 49  sea turtles in residence were injured or sickened and how they are being treated. The most recent turtle brought is weighs over 300 lbs.! Most will be released when they are better.
Roy and Bertha, who saw us on the first day in Marathon, drove back and visited with us,  lunched with us at Porky's, toured our boat and helped us run an errand. This was our last day before leaving for Bahia Honda Key. The weather during the 10 days was very hot. There are no bugs though, and there has been no rain. At Bahia Honda we can anchor close to shore between an old railroad bridge and a new(er) highway causeway. It is close enough to swim ashore. The key  has a camp store (this is another state park) with a luncheonette, clothing and souveniers. There are two nice beaches on this end of the key. On Saturday night, a ranger led a dark-sky walk to view the stars -- following a trail that goes up on the top of the old railroad trestle! Another treat is a sunset bubble-show put on by three adults in a small outboard, circling around the four boats that are anchored off of the beach. We very much enjoyed our visit to Bahia Honda.
From here we are leaving the Florida Keys after 3 1/2 weeks and heading to the western part of Everglades National Park. No towns or settlements are in that area, just fishermen, cruising boats and some canoeists and kayakers who travel on a backcountry wilderness paddling trail (a 10-day route before you come out in the south of the park). We came here one other time, 5 years ago, and enjoyed it although it can get very buggy. Once again this time we are able to watch sea turtles (loggerheads) swimming and feeding, along with birds, fish and dolphins. Our anchorage in Little Shark River is 5 miles inland from the open ocean. The river is fairly wide, no other boats are in sight. There is also an oportunity to kayak from our boat and sneak down into some side-creeks, as far as the mosquitos will let you!
In the ocean approach Ken found a school of tarpon, maybe 15 or so, that seemed to be cavorting as they swam, with tail-flips every once and a while, weaving in and out of each other, maybe feeding but not afraid of us as we got closer and closer. In one of the side creeks of the Little Shark Heidi found a single tarpon, maybe snoozing on the surface, that was startled (so was I!) and sudddenly twisted around and swam off. Small numbers of osprey, herons, hawks, and vultures also were seen.
Just yesterday we were in Everglades City at the Rod and Gun Club dock for a night. Back to civilization but this town is like an outpost, southernmost on the Florida westcoast mainland, and wild-west-like, in a Florida sort of way. Lunch at the Club was slow and gracious, and they don't take credit cards. Moms were picking their kids up at the end of the school day in golf carts. Lots of crab boats dock here and line the riverside. The former 1920s bank building is a B&B. We met up with Heidi's friend Alicia, who is the one that sent us here 5 years ago but our boat broke down then and we never made it. Alicia is camping at Big Cypress Preserve and drove over for breakfast and a walk around town in the rain. We plan to spend two or three more weeks on the Florida west coast before we cross the state by canal to get back to the east, and then head north.

At "Kayaking Disneyland" and Then on to Miami

Pictures: This is the Intracoastal Waterway near Hobe Sound, as our friend's neighbor caught a good shot of us passing by their condos; VICTORIOUS is in the mooring area near the Las Olas Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale; Ken is checking out a very low-rider outside of one of the tatoo parlors near the beach in Ft. Lauderdale; a new cruising friend, Louise, and I found these comfortable tables at the Florida International Univ. campus near our anchorage; another new friend took a picture of Heidi while kayaking in the Oleta River State Park; this group of happy kayakers makes it look like so much fun!; a typical line of kayakers as they explore the waters at Oleta River S.P; approaching Miami from the north on the ICW; in No Name Harbor after sunset, the boats are lit by their masthead anchor lights; this is how the sailors at the regatta move their boats from the launching area to the overnight area; here are Brazilian sailors and their 49er FX class boat passing us in the mooring area

This month we don't have a schedule and can revisit some favorite places, get lazy and stay in one place for a week if the mood (doesn't) move us, and we are enjoying the better temperatures mostly, comfortable for sleeping at night and not overly hot during the day. We've got DVDs to watch, quite a few books to read, and something new to us, podcasts to listen to. There is no TV on our boat and it is a relief in a way to get away from bad news, repetitive commercials, and somewhat unintelligent programming. We are also in the area of Cuban-American food, music and sexy lit-up speed boats! Every once and a while there is work to do, like changing engine oil, emptying the composting toilet, or cleaning the waterline of the boat, but we can space these chores out.
We only had a brief stopover in Ft. Lauderdale. A familiar boat was there, ELAN from Hull, Mass. We've been talking with Steve and Lynn off-and-on all trip and wondering when we would meet up. Here we had a chance to invite them to see our boat and they returned the favor. From the City Marina at Las Olas the area we could walk to was somewhat sleazy with tatoo parlors, the beach, and lots of liquor stores and bars. In the other direction we walked to a grocery store and got an Uber ride back as it was quite a distance. It is a busy boating place, and right now there are extra cruising boats accumulating, waiting for a good weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. The trip passes through the Gulf Stream (a strong current going from south to north just a few miles from the Florida coast) and this makes it a tricky passage, as you want to be sure to get the best weather.  We don't plan to go to the Bahamas but we are getting caught up in the discussions and the excitement!
The next stop is a return to Oleta River State Park where we first went 5 years ago when we came south in our Mainship powerboat. There is a bay adjacent to the Park, room for 2 dozen or so boats to anchor. It is well protected from the wind and happens to be bugless on this visit. Best of all the bay dead-ends nearby so there are no wakes from fast boats. There is also a uniersity campus across the bay; all this is in North Miami. The Park rents kayaks and also has a lot of mountain-biking trails and rents bikes. Every day dozens of kayakers paddle through our anchorage, mostly young people in their teens and twenties, but also families. They are almost all having a great time, splashing each other, racing, yelling back and forth. Our kayak got a lot of use here, as Heidi went on daily trips from one end of the bay to the other, and through the mangroves on narrow, bending routes.
We immediately met up with people from four sailboats who have recently connected with each other and are all waiting to cross to the Bahamas. Each day there was either a large group cocktail party on one boat or another, or smaller groups getting together for a hike in the park, to play board games, or to exchange books (this activity was initiated by the couple on WHISPER from Newfoundland). The other couples were from Maryland, Maine and a single-hander from Ohio.
One early evening gathering we were treated to a line of kayaks paddling by, lit with lightsticks on each bow and stern. It was the special "Full Moon Tour" for people who signed up at the rental center. This place is like a Kayakers Disneyland!
While taking a walk in the Park we saw a fox. It actually was waiting near the dinghy beach and most likely had spied our small plastic garbage bag we were bringing in to dispose of. It came quite near to us, but we headed in the other direction and waved it away. Other than the fox, wildlife was scant. Not too many birds other than herons, no manatees or dolphins. Good-sized orange iguanas are often seen hanging from the mangroves over the water. The weather has been a bit unstable, with clouds and passing showers, sometimes two or three times a day. But it hasn't really stopped the activity.
There are no services (water, laundry, etc.) here so the other four boats and ours had to eventually leave. Most of the group crossed to the Bahamas on the 18th of January. We moved down to Miami, to Key Biscayne which is across Biscayne Bay from the city center. We really enjoy No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne. We have anchored here on each of the three trips we have made to Florida. There is a restaurant in the small harbor, and another State Park with good bicycle trails. The ocean beach is just a few minutes on the bicycle trail. We only stayed for two days this time because we still need water, but it was long enough to meet boaters from Fairhaven, Mass. and get together with them to compare notes. We rode bikes to get groceries here and had lunch each day at the two restaurants in the Park and Harbor, featuring seafood and our first Presidente (from Dominican Republic) beers of the trip!
Finally getting to the first "real marina" in quite a while, we got water at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, part of Miami. While at the dock we were almost sideswiped by two girls on a small boat, sailing by fast with a spinnaker up, downwind, in the inner harbor. They were followed by two more female crews on similar boats. They all had insignia on their sails indicating where they were from -- Norway was the first boat. It turned out that a lot of sailors are in town for a "Sailing World Cup" that starts this week. It is so much fun watching the different classes (all are Olympic classes) sail out of the harbor with their coaches for training runs each day. We also pass through their staging area by the launching ramp and see the sailors all over town, at the grocery store nearby, and at the pre-launch area assigned to them.
We need to move from Dinner Key where we have a mooring to a quieter spot as a big wind is coming that will make it uncomfortable for a few days. But we did have three nights and days there, and had time to get a gourmet pizza lunch, go to the beautiful Barnacle park nearby (it is a former home of a boat designer from the late 1800s and also has a boathouse and carriage house), ride our bikes around to hardware stores and gelato shops, and get our laundry done at the marina headquarters.
The wind is hitting us now, but we are back at Key Biscayne. This time we went to Hurricane Harbor, a very safe anchorage, where we have no access to shore, but we can ride out the high wind gusts and relax. The homes here are beautiful, many have private docks, and there are another 8 or 9 boats anchored with us. It's 76 degrees out, sunny, and even though they are threatening thunderstorms, and even possible hail and tornados, it doesn't seem likely!