79 degrees outside air temp, 83 degrees water temp, winds SE @ 18 knots
I didn't sleep well and finally got up around 5am to slowly get things ready for leaving today. The previous evening I had topped off our water tank after our showers and stowed the hose. Not much left to do.
As I was winding up the power cord, our friends Rich and Marcy (M/V Tanuki), Joyce (M/V Straights Arrow) and Paul (S/V Jenny Lind) were on the dock for goodbyes. It really sucked that we couldn't hug and kiss for a real goodbye. We all just stood there talking and finally we got on the boat to leave after telling everyone the cruisers goodbye, "See you soon!".
At 7:15am we backed out of the slip, turned the boat around and headed out of the harbor. The winds were quite higher than predicted - 18 instead of 10 - and the boat was moving around pretty good as we rounded the SE corner of Boot Key and turned the boat east toward Miami. Winds were about 50 degrees off our starboard side so we pulled out 3/4 of the mainsail and 3/4 of the jib. Laura had secured the fridge and freezer doors plus all the big stuff. But, I think the boat was still overpowered as the boat heeled over and everything downstairs started rearranging itself. Apparent winds stayed in the high teens all morning as we slogged close-hauled through a 3-4 foot windchop coming off the ocean into the Hawk Channel. The ride took a while to get use to after 2 months on the dock. We were only off the dock about an hour when I turned off the engine and we started sailing eastward at 6.5 to 7 knots.
After noon, the winds started dying and even with the full main and jib out the boat slowed to under 6 knots. We needed to average 6 knots to make Anglefish Creek before low tide blocked off the eastern end for us. From experience, we know we need at least 1/2 foot of tide to help our 5.5 foot draft keel over the shallow spots. I started the engine and we motor-sailed for the rest of the day then arrived at Anglefish Creek with plenty of tide for a safe passage.
Laura took this picture during our sail this morning.
1.5 miles through the creek and we were on the calm Biscayne Bay side of Key Largo. As I turned toward our selected anchorage for the evening, I saw 4 boats already in that area but they were very spaced out. Still plenty of room for us to anchor behind everyone so we dropped the hook in 8 feet of water then tried to cool off the boat and ourselves. We were just about a mile NE of Pumpkin Key by the eastern shore.
The temperature had risen during the day to high 80s with very high humidity. Inside the boat it was over 90 because we had to keep the main hatches closed from the sea spray. After opening all the hatches, we had a good breeze through the boat so I opened all the engine room doors and closed the main hatch (so the breeze would go through the engine room). Laura and I then took a nice swim in the 88 degree Biscayne Bay which seemed cooler after we got out into the breeze. Back in the boat I closed up the engine room so the rest of the boat could cool down now.
After a long day on the water and hot humid evening, neither of us were hungry so we put our planned steaks in the refrigerator to save for tomorrow. We just had a light snack, watched a few episodes of ER that I have on the computer, and hit the sack early.
It was still 85 in the bedroom and 83 outside. We have a fan in the cabin that blows on the bed but it wasn't enough for me tonight. Instead, I slept in the salon under the open hatches with a nice breeze. Around 6am it was a little cooler in the boat (82) so I went back to the bed and slept in late.
Wednesday, April 15th
83 degrees outside temp, 85 degrees water temp, winds south 15-20
I was pretty pleased that everything on the boat had run well yesterday especially since we check out both motoring and sailing. This morning was a little different. Our Electro Scan waste treatment system stopped working and I noticed one of our bilge pumps was on all the time. I quickly slid down into the engine room and cleaned the sensor on the bilge pump. It started working nicely a few minutes later. The Electro Scan was going to wait until we got the boat underway and I could spend a little more time on it.
At 10:10am we raised anchor and motored toward the first of three shallow areas to navigate between Pumpkin Key and Key Biscayne. No problems other than a high pucker-factor as we cleared the worst part with only 6 inches of water under us. Of course, then I checked and it was just before low tide.
That first shallow area is the worst so we pulled out the full jib, turned off the engine and sailed the rest of the 25 miles to the Key Biscayne bridge. It was one of those beautiful sailing days where I didn't touch a sheet for the next 4 hours. Laura and I remarked on the nice sail several times. At one point she said, "If sailing was like this all the time, everyone would be doing it!" Yep.
Our Electro Scan waste treatment system seemed to be working much better after I ran a cleaning cycle with Muriatic acid. Only time will tell if it lasts.
Not too many boats on the water today in this normally busy area. As we approached the Key Biscayne Bridge, there were more boats around but they seemed much less than usual. We had never been through or anchored in the area by the Stadium anchorage off Key Biscayne but it turned out to be very nice. As we motored around through the anchorage, there were several spots we could have anchored but I decided to anchor outside the harbor where we could get a little more wind through the boat to cool us down. Once again, it was hot and humid - even on the water.
We anchored just after 3pm with a beautiful view of downtown Miami and great protection from the 15-20 knot south winds. Here is Laura relaxing in the cockpit with the Miami skyline in the background.
Tomorrow we will raise anchor at first light (or a little earlier) and head out Government Cut for a short leg off-shore to Ft. Lauderdale. Because of the 56 foot Julia Tuttle Causeway Bridge in Miami, we can't take the ICW through here - our mast is 61 feet over the water. All the other 1,200 mile ICW fixed bridges are 65 feet at high tide. Don't know what happened here. Somebody screwed up?
We always try to make the off-shore run from Miami all the way to Lake Worth when we travel north. It's about 60 miles so very doable with our 6 knot sailboat in a long day. However, tomorrow the winds and seas are very calm in the morning until about 4-5pm when storms and rain are predicted for this area. That's not quite enough time for us to get to the Lake Worth inlet and the winds are supposed to be 20-30 knots from the north - right in our face.
So, we bite the bullet and take the shorter 20 mile trip off-shore to Ft Lauderdale then the ICW north from there. I say, "bite the bullet" because there are 20 bridges that need to open for us between Ft. Lauderdale and Lake Worth. Only 3 of them open "on request". The other 17 open twice an hour on specific times. In order to make the best of this, I set the next bridge into our GPS which give me an estimated arrival time. I then adjust our speed so we are at the bridge just before they open. That prevents trying to keep a 21 ton sailboat in one spot waiting for the bridge with the winds and currents pushing us around. It's not an impossible or even hard job. Just takes some diligence to not be 5 minutes late and lose 1/2 hour at each bridge. Those 1/2 hours add up!
I also saw today that there is a front stalled across northern Florida. This is causing our hot and humid temps plus squalls and thunderstorms near the front. (On the other side of the front the temps are 20 degrees cooler. Don't tell Laura....) It is supposed to hang there until this weekend then finally move east out to sea. I think we will slow way down after making Lake Worth so we won't have all of those storms plus we'll be near protected areas with great anchorages. It's the time of year for them down here but no need to be looking for them. I'll let you know how it works out.
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