Coconut Grove, FL

On tax day, April 15th, we left West Palm Beach or Lake Worth with a rising tide and became temporarily grounded in the marina due to a sand bar again just outside the slip next to us! We did manage to get off it and proceed out into the ocean for a delightful brisk sail to Fort Lauderdale. We had great winds all day. We arrived just after the time for the 55 ft. 17th Street Bridge to open so had to wait a half hour. One reason we did go outside was that there are some 21-22 bridges that we would have had to be opened for our sailboat between Lake Worth and Ft. Lauderdale. Once through the bridge, we traveled north to the next bridge to an anchorage/mooring field for the night. Another boat already at the small anchorage encouraged us as we progressed into the area through very shallow water to an adequate depth where we did pick up a mooring ball.

We left Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday, April 16, 2009. The sea was flat! The wind was under 5 knots, so we were motoring. We did put up the spinaker for about an hour and though the wind was 3.6 knots, we were going 2.6 with just the spinaker alone. We were not getting anywhere fast. We motored to Biscayne Bay channel which is south of the Miami or Government Cut into Maimi. There was this cluster of scattered houses up on stilts/ pilings. Most looked boarded up. Someone later told us they were "party houses". There was quite a bit more wind in Biscayne Bay; but we were only about 30 minutes from the marina so we did not put up our sails.
We got ourselves docked and cleaned up so we could meet our friends whom we had not seen in 36 years since he was moved by ATT and Lucent to New Jersey and then various places around the world. They have "retired" here though both of them still work. We went to the Sonesta outdoor bar/swimming pool deck and watched the sun set. We had a panoramic view of Biscayne Bay and all the sail boats. We then walked to a french restaurant in "The Grove" for dinner which was also a birthday celebration of our host. Their daughter also joined us.

Reality returned the next day (Friday) with projects on the boat. The head has been leaking and getting worse so we went to a nearby chandlery to see if they had a rebuild kit. West marine would have been a taxi ride. Since they did not have a rebuild kit, Charlie replaced the head pump with a new one we had on the boat. Now no more leaks. I also did some grocery shopping at the Fresh Market...a wonderful gourmet grocery nearby. We went to dinner at our friends' home, a 1940 Coconut Grove summer house which they have extensively redone including a lush tropical garden surrounding it. We had a great time remembering old times and catching up on family. It ended too soon. My attempt to take a picture failed due to low battery.

Today, Saturday, I did laundry and bills. We ate lunch nearby and then walked around "The Grove" business area visiting Mayfair Shops and the CocoWalk. We will return for an early dinner. Coconut Grove is much more like a village than a bustling downtown of Miami. We have also been researching and planning our progress down the keys. Since our boat's draft is almost 6 feet, this limits where we can go into the keys due to shallow depths.

We hope to sail tomorrow, Sunday, with East winds outside in the Hawk's Channel. We hope to get to Key Largo which we may not get into or to Rodriguez Key and anchor overnight. We will proceed on to Marathon from there the next day.