Riviera Beach - Miami - Key Biscayne

Miami skyline

Ft Lauderdale - boat show preparations

Colorful skyline




Lots of yachts and yachts.......

yes, it's a boat!

And it goes on and on......

One of the bridges opening for us

Did I mention the skyline?

Can you say concrete jungle?

Corner lot

I'll take this one!

Or maybe this one?

Maybe I'll take this one..........

One of the many canals along the way
the houses and boats just go on and on......

Ft Lauderdale getting ready for the boat show

What can I say?

Taxi anyone?

one of the many freighters along the way

Lots of cool designs

Just a little house by the water.......

 

(October 15)  Our plans were changed on Monday morning.  We had planned to head to Lake Boca Raton for an anchorage; but when the Captain checked the engines and generator, he found the generator was leaking water.  The pump that was rebuilt back in the Bahamas only about 100 hours ago had failed again.  Mike was able this time to find a part close by – well about a two mile bike ride anyway – that’s close…. At least he was able to get another repair kit and then he installed it himself.  It did take most of the day but at least he got it fixed.  This time we didn’t have to pay Basil from the Bahamas and also have the part shipped overnight. 

I took advantage of having some “spare” time so I caught up on the laundry and cleaned the boat.  What fun!  Ha!  After all the work was done, we headed to the TIKI Bar for dinner.  Had a great prime rib!

(October 16) Finally, Tuesday morning we were able to leave.  Once we had everything loaded we were on our way down the ICW.  We only had about 30 miles to go but we had several bridges.  Several of these bridges are too low for us to clear so we have to wait for them to open.  Most of them open on a schedule.  We really only missed one – the first one. We had to wait about 25 minutes.  That wasn’t too bad.  The others went rather quickly. 

The scenery along our way today was awesome.  You wouldn’t believe the homes that are built along the waterway.  Huge homes with beautiful pools, well-manicured lawns and enormous boats moored beside them.   You definitely wouldn’t believe the economy is in trouble by the looks of this area.  And we’re not even to Miami yet!

We made it to Lake Boca Raton in about 5 hours.  The anchorage here is beautiful and quite calm.  We had a great evening sitting on the sundeck and admiring the cityscape - lots of condos and lots of huge boats.  The water is also slowly beginning to get clearer. 

Tomorrow we should get an early start.  There are several more bridges from here to Miami.  If we time them right – we should have no problem making it to No Name Harbor.  We stayed there last April when we were trying to stage our crossing to Bimini.  It’s a very well protected harbor – looking forward to spending time there again.

(October 17) – A slight change in plans – we didn’t get all the way to No Name Harbor – we anchored in Sunset Lake in Miami just north of West Venetian Causeway – more on that later.

We did leave early enough from our anchorage in Lake Boca Raton.  We made the first bridge and off we went like a herd of turtles.  It’s hard to make any time when you are restricted by so many bridges.  Between the bridges and the no wake zones – we just putted along. 

You wouldn’t believe the homes along the ICW.  Like I mentioned yesterday the homes were truly beautiful – however, once we were in Ft Lauderdale, they became truly unbelievable.  Then we hit Miami – between the homes and the insanely huge mega-yachts – wow!!  It’s amazing  - but it is strictly a concrete jungle on water all the way to Miami.  I kept thinking about how different our voyage had been just a few months ago when we traveling to the Abacos.  I had felt so small in that dark almost black water with no land in sight.  Now here we are among all this abundance.  What a difference!

We decided that we should get fuel and we had been told about the Peterson Fuel Delivery out of Ft Lauderdale.  They have two barges that they run in this area – and the fuel is supposed to be cheaper than in any marina.  We called them and found the location of one of the barges.  Just down a little ways from where we were in the Dania Cutoff Canal.  We headed down there and found Carlos without a problem.  Carlos was rather interesting and made for a fun fuel stop.  He was an old surfer dude that was avid about cleaning up the waterways.  He said that he had already collected about a ton of garbage whenever he is out on the water.  Good luck Carlos!

We decided to stop a little short of our planned anchorage in No Name Harbor.  It had been a long day.  We found this amazing anchorage in Sunset Lake.  For those of you that might want to know – it is just north and east of the West Venetian Causeway Bridge.  We turned to the east and went past six islands that would have been fairly good anchorage areas – but kept going past them and then making a turn to the north.  The first canal that didn’t have a bridge to contend with you turn back east.  Go a little ways and the canal opens to a beautiful lake.  It is well protected from all directions.  There is room for at least 12 boats to anchor here – and we were all by ourselves.   For those of you using Skipper Bob Anchorages book – check out MM 1088.4 (2) - Venetian Causeway.

Tomorrow we again plan to stop at No Name Harbor where we will be able to unload the bikes.  We can then get to Winn Dixie where we will be able to do a little re-stocking.   Depending on the time and the weather – we will either spend the night there or move on to Boca Chita Key.

Another update – Thursday – (October 18)  - We ended up with a great anchorage last night in Sunset Lake.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  We waited out a short shower this morning and then another 30 minutes for the bridge to open (last one!) and we were on our way through Miami.  It was a little confusing once we got under the bridge – markers going in all directions.  One thing we knew we didn’t want to do was to go out the Government Cut.  That was obvious.  We figured in out and didn’t have any problems. 

More concrete – skyscrapers – it’s amazing.  We had a very short trip today – made it to No Name Harbor in about 1 1/2 hours.  Perfect!  Tied up to the wall – had lunch – unloaded the bikes and off we went to the local Winn Dixie in Key Biscayne.  It’s only about a mile or so ride.  We were back in a couple of hours – then we moved the boat out to anchor.  You’re not allowed to stay on the wall all night – only for the day.   We sat on the sundeck and watched the sunset – we also saw some leopard stingrays.  Finally, we’re back in the “tropics” again!  We even saw several iguanas on our way to the store.

Tomorrow we are going to travel another 10 miles or so to Boca Chita Key.  We spent last Easter weekend there waiting for the winds to subside so we could cross to the Bahamas.  Now we’re just taking our time going to Marathon so we thought we’d stop in.  Maybe all the crazy Cubans will be back.  Who knows!

Till next time!

Admiral ”C”

BTW  GO CARDS!!!