Crusing to Fort Lauderdale

A daylight cruise to Fort Lauderdale allows Don a last chance to captain the boat and Cookie to watch Miami slide by to the west. We arriveed in Fort LAuderdale in the early afternoon. We are staying at the city marina here for a week. Don leaves us here. We'll certainly miss him, especially when just Rick and I have to secure the boat alone!

The joys of autopilot.

We arrive in daylight on May 26th at our goal, No Name Harbor, a tiny almost circular harbor in the middle of a state park on Key Biscayne. We anchor, take a quick swim, row the dinghy over to the retaurant on shore. Lots of heat and humidity have us sitting in the shade, reading books until it is cool enough to hike. Instead, of a hike, we spend our time preparing for a storm. The wind almost drives one boat onto the rocks, as the couple barely manage to pull anchor and move. All boaters batten down and sit in their cockpits in rain gear, waiting. We are ready for this baby. In a masterful anticlimax, the wind dies and after a few drops of rain, the clouds separate and drift away, just in time for lime marinated chicken and white wine.

Night Passage

We left Marathon at 5 pm on May 25th for an overnight sail to Key Biscayne, south of Miami. Sunset was a round globe of fire disolving into a hazy horizon, followed closely by a sliver of a silver moon dipping out of sight. The cockpit is lit by the electronic glow of charts and radar images, blinking buoys marking the reef line the route to the east. A string of car lights and houses shine off the port bow. Faint traces of daylight reveal towering cumulus clouds. Jagged streaks of lightening cut from sky to earth to the westt, but overhead, a million, trillion stars. When you live in city lights, you forget the clarity and brilliance of a sequinned, starry sky. There is little wind. I hear the thrum of the engine and gurgle and splash as the boat rises and falls with the waves. The air is so soft and warm, you can feel it on your skin. Night sailing is a spiritual experience. You can connect with the universe at sea at night.

We dodged the first three storms, but the third one caught us at 2 am. A sudden howling wind rattles the stays. Vicious slashes of light and the crack of thunder. Heavy rain slams onto the boat. The flash of light reveals our isolation. When you are alone in the water in a storm , the 54 foot mast being the highest item around brings some anxiety to the situation. We were lucky to be on the edge and within the hour were back into the other world with a ceiling of shimmering stars.

Our cruising begins with a short 40 mile sailk to Marathon, in the Florida Keys. Marathon has over 200 mooring balls in a secluded bay, all provided for a small fee by the city. We tie up to a mooring ball and dinghy over to a great doockside restsaurant for a shrimp rueban sandwich.

Here is a picture of Wind Dancer moorted at Marathon.

Leaving Key West

Before leaving, we had dinner with crew Don Hutchins at Geiger Key, a great place so hard to find, you need local knowledge.

Leaving Key West, But We'll Return

We have developed something the locals call KD or Key Disease. This is an infectious disease that causes the victum to want to stay in the Florida Keys. There is no known cure, so we are treating the symptoms by getting a permanent boat slip here, at least for the next year. We found there were too many places not yet visited and too much fun to be had here in paradise. (Also known as Key West) We are, however, leaving tomorrow for somewhere further north. The final destination is not known at this time, and we do have to be back in Dallas at the end of June, so we will have to leave the boat somewhere in northern Florida or possibly South Carolina for some time this summer. We'll travel at least as far as North Carolina in the early fall before returning to Key West for next winter in late November. This gives all of you who weren't able to visit this year a chance again next winter. This week, friend and fellow grandparent of our newest grandson, Don Hutchins flew down to sail with us from Key West to Fort Lauderdale. We had to do the grand tour and he has already signed up as a return guest next winter. Next stop Marathon Florida