The morning of January 2 dawned so quiet as to tempt us with a Bahama crossing, but we followed our plan and left for Miami mid-morning, playing the tides for the inlet this time. Our three hour ocean trip was quite unremarkable, a two foot chop and no wind, no sailing either. We were tied up and seeking a park bench by three o'clock.
It's been nice to reconnect with a few familiar vessels and owners, and nice to meet a few new sailors near us on Pier 5. Just when I was lamenting not being with last year's cruising friends we ran into Dan and Kath on Majiks. It was fun to have dinner with them in Coconut Grove, talk a mile a minute about their adventures and each of our plans. There's hope we'll see other friends this winter now.
Rick is watching the winds and they seem to be picking up a bit, actually more than a bit, just like last year. We are quite content to stay here and make short sails from Key to Key this year, with some fishing and sightseeing mixed in.
We did have the boat hull waxed in Lauderdale as we were there long enough to hire a local who did the work on New Years Day. I know, it's not how you spent New Years, but we slept through the noise in that raucous town (welcome college swim, football and basketball teams- half with families) and concentrated on our final run of the trip.
Miami was equally as busy when we arrived because there was a bowl game here as well. We have rented a car and provisioned. We also joined the Dock Watch Program here at Dinner Key Marina. It's a two mile walk if you walk all seven gated piers (yeah) and we log in our dates and observations, or call security if we don't like what we see. The networking and the walking are really good for us and I think it would be a great plan for any marina with live-aboards.
We are happy to be here, grateful for the weather and just working on our Jimmy Buffet attitudes!
