Weather forecast for April 11, 2019:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Low 75 high 84
Southeast winds, 10 to 12 kts
Captain’s Log: April 02, 2019 thru April 10, 2019
Tuesday, April 2nd, was Carlee and Zoe's first full day on the boat. Although yesterday was promising, I still was not sure how these two young ladies would adapt to the restrictions imposed upon them while living in a confined space, on the water, for 9 days.
The boat is configured to support two people, quite comfortably, for extended periods of time; add two teen-agers to the equation and all bets are off. If either girl had difficulty adapting it could be a very long 9 days for everybody involved. I soon learned that my concerns were ill-founded; they were model guests.
We were all up and ready for adventure by 9:00am (Zoe being the last one out of bed). The girls wanted to conduct an in-depth exploration of Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park so I delivered them to shore and off they went. I then ferried our collapsible bikes to shore and, after one final round trip to retrieve my XO, we took off on our bikes heading for Biscayne Village and the Crandon Park Marina.
Nine miles and several hours later, sweaty and thirsty, Shirley and I were back at the anchorage; the girls were waiting there for us, anxious to get back to the boat; they wanted to do some snorkeling. Soon the girls were swimming around and under the boat while the XO and I lounged under the shade of our deck awning.
By late afternoon Bruce and Claudette, two of the Skipjack Happy Hour Team from back in Marathon, dropped the anchor of s/v Summer Wind in No Name Harbor not far from us. They joined us for cocktails and appetizers that evening. Upon their departure we broke out the cards and continued our 'Hand and Foot' battle. We were all pretty tired by the time we hit the sack.
(Somewhat related side note: While in the Dry Tortugas I had broken a toe on my left foot. Shortly after dropping anchor in No Name Harbor I cut the bottom of that same foot. So, when the girls arrived, I had my toes taped together and a gauze bandage wrapped around my foot to protect the cut. After riding our bikes for almost 10 miles I was limping noticeably. Just before Bruce and Claudette came aboard I dropped an unopened bottle of ice cold Corona on my broken toe. I was consuming alcoholic beverages to dull the pain when the bottle hit the toe).
Two unexpected and pleasant surprises were the next day's gifts to us.
At approximately 10:30am I received a call from Amanda, our yacht broker. She had received a call from the advertising agency that does the work for Nautica, the clothing manufacturer. The agency wanted to do a photo shoot on a classic-looking, 50-to-80ft sailboat. Dennison Yacht Brokers, Amanda's company, thought that Perfect Love might just be what Nautica was looking for. She wanted to know if we would be interested in chartering our boat for a few days. Of course we would be!!!
Later in the afternoon, while I was busy doing something below deck, a gentleman standing on the bow of a big catamaran just now entering the harbor, called out to Shirley. He wanted to know if 'Jim Honerkamp' was onboard.
Shirley immediately shouted to me "JIM, someone on that cat wants to know if you are on board!!! Who the Hell is that???". The Cops? Do I owe money to somebody whose no-necked goon is coming for payment? I flew up the companionway and out onto the deck.
To my complete surprise and great pleasure, Kevin, a friend and current employee of the company that I had retired from, was waving enthusiastically at me. I had not seen Kevin nor spoken to him since I retired over three years ago.
While the big catamaran was tying up to the sea wall, Shirley and I climbed into the dinghy and motored over to meet Kevin. After hugs, handshakes and introductions to his wife and children, Kevin explained to us that his 18-year-old son, also a high school senior, wanted to have the entire family take sailing lessons while on vacation. Kevin chartered the catamaran, with captain and first mate (from South Africa). They were heading up to Ft. Lauderdale and had just decided to pull into No Name Harbor for a pump out of their black water tanks before continuing north.
Kevin was as surprised as I was at our chance meeting. He told me that, just yesterday, he had been telling his captain about my Vagabond 47. As they were entering No Name Harbor, the captain said to Kevin "I think that boat might be your friend's Vagabond".
Kevin and crew left the harbor shortly after their pump out. Kevin and I have stayed in contact since our encounter. What a small world!
April 4th was rather gloomy with on-and-off light rain showers. I took Shirley and the girls to shore where they caught an Uber ride to South Beach while I stayed behind and did boat chores. The ladies returned, empty handed much to my surprise, after getting their fill of Lincoln Mall and walking through a few of the art deco hotels along A1A.
Friday, April 5th, was a beautiful day. Carlee and Zoe decided to spend the day at the beach while the XO and I once again road our bikes into downtown Key Biscayne. We returned to find a bright red Zoe who was suffering from a severe case of sun burn. The mothering instinct immediately kicked in; Shirley had a new priority that demanded her full attention. I kept myself out of the way and stayed occupied with unnecessary boat chores. Zoe soon retired to the forward cabin, not to be seen for the rest of the day.
Zoe was still suffering the next morning and declined to join us on our expedition to Coconut Grove. Dinner Key Marina, one of our intended destinations while in the Miami area, is in Coconut Grove and I wanted to check the Marina out before we committed to spending time there. So, while Zoe slept, the three of us checked out Dinner Key Marina, walked to West Marine, ate a late lunch at The Fresh Market and familiarized ourselves with the general area. We decided that spending a few days in Coconut Grove would be a good thing. Only one catch: Dinner Key Marina had no slips available and could not accommodate boats over 40ft in their mooring field. We would have to drop anchor close to the marina but outside of the mooring field. No big deal.
After five days in the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Shirley and I had not yet seen the beautiful Cape Florida Lighthouse close up, so, upon our return from Coconut Grove, we remedied that situation. With Zoe feeling better after a day-long nap, the four of us headed for the Lighthouse hoping for a few good photo opportunities. We were not disappointed.
We were also not disappointed with the beautiful sunset on our last night in No Name Harbor.
On Sunday morning we decided that it was time to move on. Our next destination would be the anchorage just off of Marine Stadium. This anchorage offers the very best view of downtown Miami and, on a clear night, the skyline is said to be a fantastic.
By 10:00am we had weighed anchor and were tied up to the sea wall at No Name Harbor. Shirley wanted to do a load of laundry before we departed and I needed to top off our water tanks. We departed No Name shortly after noon and were anchored off of Marine Stadium by 2:30pm.
Shirley and I had been to Marine Stadium back in February when we attended the 2019 Miami Boat Show. At that time the anchorage had close to fifty boats in it and the Stadium was surrounded on three sides by huge white tents full of new power boats and countless marine product vendors. There was a huge temporary dock in front of the Stadium with many fingers supporting row after row of shiny new power boats, big and small. The entire scene was crawling with people. Now there were less than a dozen boats in the anchorage and the stadium area was a ghost town. This was perfect place to enjoy a beautiful, quiet evening, or so we thought.
We enjoyed our tranquility for a few hours. Then, just after 6:00pm, and much to my dismay, a big party boat blasting rap and hip hop music, full of loud and obnoxious millennials, dropped anchor not 50 yards from us, and launched two jet skis. The extremely loud and monotonous beat, the often obscene lyrics, the shouting and laughing, the unending wakes from the jet skis; this collective madness destroyed our evening; it put us all on edge. We retreated into the cabin, turned some real music on to mask the noise, and started a game of 'Hand & Foot'. The offenders finally departed shortly after 9:00pm and the silence that followed was a real relief. We all agreed that we would spend only one night at Marine Stadium.
I did get some good photos before the party boat arrived and a few after it left.
It was a short cruise to Dinner Key, less than 5 miles, so we had a somewhat lackadaisical approach to the next morning. We dropped our anchor in 7 feet of water (at high tide) on the north side of the entrance channel to Dinner Key Marina. The mooring field was on the south side of the channel and stretched away from shore well beyond our position. Many boaters in the mooring field had a dinghy ride into shore that was twice the distance of our commute.
Carlee and Zoe were anxious to stretch their legs so we motored to the dinghy dock soon after securing the boat. The girls decided to catch a trolley to a shopping mall that they had identified, while looking at Google Maps, somewhere on or near Brickell Avenue so, after walking them to the bus stop and making sure that they got on the right trolley, Shirley and I did our own thing.
We returned to the boat at low tide and found her sitting 2 feet higher than when we had left her, on the mud bottom, perfectly upright. The bottom step of the stern ladder, which is usually a good 30 inches under water, was now a few inches above the water. It was strange to see so much of the hull exposed. No harm though, she floated nicely at high tide and sat back down again at low tide.
That night, as we settled into bed, Shirley told me that Zoe appeared to be getting a bit home sick.
The next day would be our last with the girls and we all decided that we should celebrate our successful cruise by going out to dinner. We were back in downtown Coconut grove, a quaint little area encompassing about 6 blocks, by 1:00pm. The girls decided to do some window shopping so I headed for The Home Depot to pick up a few things for the boat. We converged on a Starbucks a few hours later, ready to eat.
A dive bar, of all places, is where we ended up. It was late afternoon but still too early for the regular crowd so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. There were two gentlemen and one lady sitting at the bar, otherwise the place was empty. It was actually quaint in its own way; we liked it. The food was excellent, and fairly cheap. We left satisfied.
Carlee and Zoe had a flight out of Miami International Airport at 11:00 the next morning, Wednesday, April 10th. We left the boat at 8:30, said our farewells and loaded them into an Uber by 9:00; the airport was 20 minutes away.
Shirley and I completely agreed that the girls had been model guests. None of our shared concerns about makeup and hair spray and a trashed forward cabin and a clogged head and teenage boredom had been realized. We really enjoyed having Carlee and Zoe on board.
This had been Zoe's very first time on a boat, of any size, for any length of time, and she was great. Carlee, in particular, showed real interest in the process of maintaining a boat and the planning and preparations that cruising requires. I told Shirley that Carlee has the makings of a real 'boat girl'. We look forward to the next time that she joins us onboard.
With the girls gone, it was time to head north. We had had our fill of the craziness of Miami. By 11:30am our bow was pointing towards Ft. Lauderdale.
Until next time, may your tomorrow bring fair winds and following seas.