The Search For Bright Waters

Monday, February 21, 2011

Welcome to Miami

Sorry for the delay, my computer has been having internet troubles.  Hopefully everyone has seen the SPOT app on our side bar that shows we have been chilling in Miami the last week!


We finally left Melbourne Thursday in storm clouds.










Thursday we landed in Fort Pierce.  And Friday we anchored in Lake Worth.  We attempted to go ashore but landed on some locals back yard and got kicked out. Owell.



Later that night we were relaxing in the cockpit and saw that Nomy was sitting on the dinghys transom.  We are constantly calling for the cats to get off the dinghy cuz it wobbles a lot and is dangerous.  Yet they always go back.  Well Nomy finally learned first hand.  Just as we looked up and saw him the dinghy swung and Nom went plunging into the water!

Now Nomy has been on the boat as long as us and has never swam before plus hes kinda over weight and it was dark so we both immediately jumped up and looked for him as I grabbed the net pole.  I took a couple swings at him but he was too big to fit in the net and then I lost sight of him.  The next 30 seconds were so scary as we searched around the boat and could not find him or hear him.  We looked at each other with panic wondering if Nomy just drown.

And then we heard the swimming noise again and saw Nomy swimming near the bow.  Christine decided enough was enough and heroically dived into the water.  She grabbed Nomy and began swimming to our stern ladder.  He was hard to keep above water so I threw them a life preserver and soon Nom was back safe on the boat.  We dried him off and he was fine except for a lil more disgruntled than usual.



 Nala coming to see if her older brother is ok


Saturday we knew we were getting close as we began seeing all the cruise ships.  They are massive!


We went through some 50 mini sailboat race



Saturday and Sunday we went through 36 bridges, 33 of which needed to be opened at a certain time.  So began the hurry up and slow down routine to arrive at each bridge at the correct time.  We now hate bridges.


Saturday we anchored in Lake Lettuce.  One more day to go!


Sunday we rose eager to make it to Miami


Fort Lauderdale really is the Yachting Capital of the World.  We have never seen so many boats in one area.





Somebody proposing via airplane sign


When we entered Biscayne Bay we noticed the water was so beautifully blue and clear.  Here is a hot dog stand on the water that boats can pull up to.


We are so close to clear bright water!!!


Welcome to Miami!
ICW Mile Marker 1088


We anchored Sunday the 13th in an anchorage right next to South Beach, Miami Beach and immediately went to the beach!  It is quite the place.

We have been here 8 days now.  It is so nice that we weren't in much of a hurry to leave.  Plus we had a lot of errands and repairs to make.  We were also hoping to find some other cruisers to make the jump and for Bahama Charts.  But we have found neither.  So if your in Miami and getting ready to sail to Bimini let us know!

Miami Blog to come before we leave.


On some personal notes.  Today is my sister Jessie's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

And we are very proud of Christine's sister Ashley!
Hooray! My (Christines) little sister Ashley took second place in nationals for ROTC (even against guys!) for shooting! It was a close second, with the guy having 1180 points and her having 1179. Hooray!! Here is the ROTC website and some pictures I took from her facebook. 
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_eventAward.cgi?matchID=6491&eventID=1&awardID=5







7 comments:

Laura and Hans said...

Christine, you are my hero!! Jumping in to save the kitty is something I'm not sure I would do! However the water here in Lake Worth really is surprisingly clear so maybe...
We are still in Lake Worth awaiting a parts delivery tomorrow and then we get to do the battle of the bridges. We intend to head to the Bahamas after Hans is finished in Ft. Lauderdale, most likely the first week in March. If you're still waiting (although I'm sure you'll be gone by then) you're welcome to tag along with us.

Anonymous said...

Did you check you dinghy for holes? Cats don't usually fall without putting thier claws out to try to save themselves.

Did you give him a fresh water rinse or just let him deal with the salt?

Speaking of which, what have you been doing for water? I don't think I saw a water maker on your list of equiptment.

By the way thanks for the update a few posts ago about the solar panels. 5 amps is more like it (although only half of what's advertised)

Jay

Mid-Life Cruising! said...

36 bridges! Wow, I bet you do hate them now. Sounds like you're officially in the land of blue skies and bluer waters. Congrats and enjoy!

Joey and Christine said...

Laura and Hans, all we need is charts and then we are leaving, hopefully this week!

Jay, we didn't think about Nomy being salty, owell he deserved it i guess for being a bad cat! Our dinghy didnt get any holes thankfully. We have two 30 gallon tanks in board of water and then six 5 gallon cans on deck, so 90 gallons. We used about 40 gallons getting down here and we have since refilled at the town dock and at the last marina we got fuel at. So basically water conservation is our only plan.

MLC - yes we have made it to the nice weather but we still cant wait to see the ocean floor! almost!

Melissa Shoemaker said...

Christine & Joey...
I love you two, and am so jealous that you are exploring the seas! I hope all is well, and I will be thinking of you when the Breaking Dawn soundtrack comes out! Hope to visit you in the Bahamas bitches...

PS: Don't go crazy on the boat!

Miami dentist said...

Nice collection of natural images.

Miami dentist said...

Nice collection of images.