Haulover Beach

We spent Thursday night in Lake Sylvia at anchor and left around 9:30 on Friday. We had not before traveled this section of the ICW. As you can see from the picture it has a little more local color then the section above Fort Lauderdale. The picture is of a bar on the water front, a real bar.

Docking at Haulover Beach Marina was interesting given the wind was clocking as much as 25 knots. This marina had been wiped out by the hurricanes. There are no finger piers left just poles and a concrete wall. I'll take anchoring any day of the week. We did it, we backed into the slip so we could get off the boat in the stern instead of the bow.

Larry started his captains course last night and I hung out on the boat. This morning he left early and I did some cleaning then Diane and I took the bikes for a ride to the Health Market where we had an absolutely delicious lunch. We had planned to golf this morning and spend the afternoon at the beach but the temperature had dropped down into the 50's this morning and the wind is still howling. We are planning on golf tomorrow morning and the beach in the afternoon. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. If not there is always Monday.

No Name Harbor

Things are still not working well with Blogger, it took about 25 minutes for this picture to download. I'm not sure what is going on but it gets frustrating. At any rate the picture is of sunfish racing at Dinner Key.

We left there on Monday and went to No Name Harbor. We attempted to leave No Name on Tuesday but the wind was more than I was willing to handle. After about an hour we went back to No Name Harbor. We decide to stay put on Wednesday but the noseeums (bugs) decided against us. After being bitten several times we decided to go outside the harbor and anchor in the bay to catch a breeze so they would leave us alone. After several hours of enjoying the sun, breeze and swimming and working on the computer we looked up to see we had drug anchor and were almost at Mike and Diane's boat. Enough of that and we came back in the harbor and set anchor for the night. The temperature was a high of 90 degrees about 4 Pm this afternoon and a low about 70 early this morning. No wonder the bugs are out.

Tomorrow the plan is to go North to Fort Lauderdale, spend the night in Lake Sylvia and then head South on the ICW to Haulover Beach (North Miami). North Miami is where the captains course is being held. We will go outside in the ocean instead of the ICW because of a bridge that is not high enough for us to get under.

Anchored in Dinner Key

Apparently there is an issue with Blogger, I have been attempting to update our site for several days now and have been unsuccessful. Hence no picture, sorry about that.

We are anchored outside of Miami in Coconut Grove. The sun has been strong and hot for several days now. We have been seeing more animals venturing out. I guess there is a dormant season here also in Florida. Spring seems to be arriving quicker than up North.

We did anchor in Lake Sylvia for two nights and then in No Name Harbor for a few nights. We plan to sail around the upper Keys this week and then return to Miami. Larry has decided to take the Captains Course taught by Mike M. The course will be for a total of four weekends including the test. We were planning on a trip to the Bahamas after the course ended but time won't allow it. We will start our journey back up North at about the end of April. It should take us approximately six weeks to return to Lake Ontario. We have secured a slip on Oak Orchard Creek for three months. If all works out we will do some sailing charters on the lake this Summer. We also plan a two week trip to the 1000 Islands and of course the Hunter rendezvous in Toronto.

Back in Fort Lauderdale

Hi everyone, we are back from a great cruise on the Costa Mediterranea. We spent 2 days at sea then a day in St Martin, then a day in the Dominican Republic, a day at sea, then a day in Nassau in the Bahamas. The first night and day at sea was a little rough, a front moved in but after that it was glorious. It sure is nice to be waited on. Having someone cook and do the dishes! We are back to reality at least our reality.

We arrived back at Fort Lauderdale a week ago today. We rented a car and drove to North Fort Meyers to visit Mom and Dad for a few days. We got back in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday after doing some provisioning. Thursday we went north to Boca Roton and anchored in Lake Boca. Their Lakes on the ICW are like over spills on the canal up North. The picture is of Lake Boca on Saturday afternoon. Locals come with their boats and anchor near the sand bar. If you look close you can see someone walking on the sand bar in the water. It brings back memories of last summer in Sodus Bay. We spent many sunny afternoons with our friends Michael G. And Karen and Tom W. at the sand bar in Sodus.

We are on the move again today. We are headed back to Fort Lauderdale, we will anchor in Lake Sylvia if it's not to crowded. If it is we will get a mooring ball at the marina. We will be keeping you updated on a regular basis again.