Except for a two week respite at home, we ended up spending two months and ten days wintering in Marathon. We had originally intended to spend some of that time in the Bahamas, but because the weather over there was no warmer than the weather in the Keys, and because communication home is difficut in the Bahamas, we decided to stay put. After our grandkids, Jordan and Corey, flew back home, our long-time friends and boating buddies from Grand Haven, the Nickels, spent a few days with us, one of which included a trip to Key West. While there we rented a glorified golf cart and explored the city, taking photos of ourselves next to the mark which indicates the southernmost point in the U.S., and next to the sign showing mile "0" marking the end of highway 1. While in Marathon we also helped host a "looper lunch" for forty to fifty loopers wintering the the area. We also rode our bikes pretty much every day for fifteen to twenty five miles, and watched a lot of sunsets from the tiki hut on the waterfront at the end of our marina
Leaving Marathon, we cruised for two days on the outside up the Keys, meaning we traveled up the Atlantic side of the islands. The first night we anchored off the small island of Rodriguez Key, and the second we anchored in No Name Harbor, a state park anchorage in Biscayne Bay with a good view of the Miami skyline. The next day we cruised through the city, then left it through Government Cut, the inlet used by cruise ships and freighters moving in and out of the Port of Miami. This inlet is wide, long, and well protected, but here is where we learned a lesson we won't soon forget. We already know that an ebb tide ( a tide going out) in an inlet can be dangerous if it meets opposing wind or waves, but we thought the moderate wind we were experiencing wouldn't be a problem in such a wide channel. We were wrong. Halfway through the inlet we came upon steep eight foot waves so close together that even at idle speed we submarined four times with green water going over the bow, reminding us of some of the scenes from the old T.V. series, Victory At Sea! Once out to the side of the channel, we found smooth sailing, but we promised ourselves to take the ebb tide in the inlets thing more seriously in the future.
Our next stop was Ft. Lauderdale with its over-the-top homes and megayachts. There we met a nice couple from the area who were about to begin the loop. After picking our brains for a while on our loop experiences, and after learning we held a common interest in biking, they offered to take us on a bike tour of their home town. Thanks to their generousity, we saw areas of the city we would not have seen on our own.
Next, we traveled inside up the intracoastal waterway to Stuart, where we spent much of four days with long-time friends and associates, Bob and Carolyn Holmes, who have had a condo there for over thirty years. Dave and Bob went fishing on a party boat one day, and the four of us played golf, explored the area, and ate very well. Bob and Carolyn couldn't have been more gracious, and we had a great time catching up with them
Leaving the ICW at Ft. Pierce, we went outside eighty miles to the Cape Canaveral inlet and entered a small lock. We anchored that night between that lock and a picturesque island. From there we went inside to an anchorage in Daytona before continuing on to St. Augustine.
St. Augustine is a gorgeous town and proud of its Spanish roots which trace back to 1565. The seventeenth century Spanish fort, Castillo de San Marcos still stands, and Spanish architecture is prominent throughout the town. Flagler College, originally built as a hotel by oil magnate, Henry Flagler, is a particulary good example of the Spanish style.
We next moved up the ICW to Fernandina Beach, our last destination in the state of Florida. Bottle nose and other types of Dolphins were particularly playful on this leg of the trip, surfing, rolling and jumping in our bow wave. Fernandina Beach is a small seafaring town of 11,000 whose legacy includes being traded, annexed, or conquered by foreign countries no less than eight times. It boasts a small art community, beautiful Victorian homes, and the state's oldest bar. It was a pleasant place to spend the last days of our stay in Florida!
