Our Voyage South

February 3, 2013

Due to high winds we decided to stay at Lake Sylvia another day. We were able to catch up on chores that we weren’t able to do while the crowds were here on the weekend. We met a Ukrainian captain, anchored near us, who had just purchased a U.S. boat. He came over for a visit, which made for an interesting evening.

We left Tuesday morning and headed south again down the ICW, 7 bridges later we stopped at Haulover Beach Park Marina in North Miami. When we made the reservation, the dock master said there was fuel, pump-out, shopping nearby, and newly installed WiFi. When we arrived, we found the fuel and pump-out were located next door to the marina, our slip was located in the farthest back corner, the nearby shopping was a short bus ride away, but the WiFi did work well ( first WiFi since Vero Beach!). Bakers Haulover Inlet located near the marina, has a fixed height bridge of 32 feet, which explains why we were the only sailboat in this marina. Most of the boats were large sport fishermen and 100 plus foot yachts. The parking lot was also interesting, having a selection of Audis, Mercedes, Porches, Jags, and one Rolls Royce. We didn’t feel like we fit in.

Dave had heard there was going to be a space launch from the Kennedy Space Centre, so we had booked a second night with the hope of watching it from the nearby beach. It turned out to be a night launch, after the beach had closed. We used the day to catch up on laundry and lay on the beach and read. We didn’t go in the water because the lifeguard stations had flags out warning of ‘rip currents’ and ‘dangerous marine life’. We asked a lifeguard about the ‘dangerous marine life’ and he said it was for Portuguese Man-of-War and jellyfish.

The Bakers Haulover Inlet is one of those locations that is known to have a serious shoaling problem. We spoke to a boat owner and captain from the marina Thursday morning and we were advised to wait until high tide to try passing through. So we took a bus ride and got some groceries while we waited. It was about an hour after high tide by the time we left the harbour. The shoaling was so bad that 3 green markers were almost in line with the reds on the other side and there was a tow boat who was lounging near the markers waiting for people to go aground. We didn’t disappoint him, we went aground, but we were able to wiggle our way off into deeper water. He advised us that as the current was going out we were drifting out of the channel towards the greens. We thanked him and tipped him for his advice, thankful that we didn’t have to pay $450.00 for his executive special. Seven bridges later we finally left Miami and entered Biscayne Bay. We headed for the Dinner Key Channel to pick up a mooring ball at the Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove.

Friday we were able to get a water taxi to shore and went for lunch and toured around some of the shops and boutiques in Coconut Grove.

We headed east to the south end of Key Biscayne to No Name Harbor, located in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. This is a popular anchorage for people heading to the Bahamas, or in our case, going south via the Hawk Channel on the Atlantic side of the Keys. The trip over only took us about an hour Saturday morning, which was good as it allowed us to find a spot to anchor before the party boats all showed up in the afternoon. Huge yachts with huge stereos, all trying to play their favourite Spanish tunes louder than the other boats.

We stayed here again on Sunday due to forecasted high winds and waves on the Atlantic. In the afternoon, the party boats started to arrive again, so we decided to walk to the beach. This is another big beautiful beach with crystal clear water. Dave saw a manta ray swim by in front of him, as he was wading in the water.