Coming to Miami

By evening the wind picked up to 15 knots out of the west (it had been predicted to be from the Northeast) but this was fine. The seas settled and we were able to motor sail at 6.5-7 knots

After midnight we encountered the western fringes of the Gulf Stream and we had as much as 2 knots against us, which meant we might not make Dinner Key till after dark... Not good. So we hoisted all sails which helped a little, but we were only doing 5.3 knots. I finally decided to come in closer to shore and had to go to about 500 feet off the beach till we were out of the Gulf Stream and could achieve speeds of over 6.5 knots!! I could almost peak in the windows of the condo's we were passing!!

Views of Miami 

More Miami

South Beach. You can almost make out Loews hotel in the middle

We finally made "Government Cut", then internists Miami, motored past Smith and Wilensky, past downtown Miami,  and then into Biscayne Bay

We stopped for fuel at Crandon Park, a small marina, and to my amazement we took 78 gallons. The tank holds 85 gallons and I figured we were one or two gallons shy of that when we left Charleston  so we had maybe 5 gallons left in the tank!!  Now I had two 5 gallon jugs of diesel in the lazerettes and if we had run out we could have refilled, but bum glad we made not. Going forward I will  raise my estimate of fuel usage to 1 gallon per hourl rather than the 0.8 I had been assuming. 

It was another 25 minutes across the Bay to Dinner Key and we got our slip assignment (pier 6, slip 40). I backed in because they have short docks and it makes it easier to get on and off the boat. Backing in was easier with the bow thruster I had added in the spring

We had a "good By" dinner at the Chart House restaurant next door to the Marina and the Bruce and George drove off in their rental car to drive back to New Jersey. I was alone again

This morning I cleaned the boat inside and out, mopping every surface and putting things away. It needed it

I then took a 15 minute walk into Coconut Grove, dropped off the satellite phone and GPIRB location beacon I had rented at the FEDEX to be shipped back  I then found a nice outdoor cafe for lunch (there are many in the Grove). It was 80 degrees so i took an outdoor table to enjoy the weather and the nice people walking by and then. After lunch I wandered around -!its a really neat place - and the stopped for a Gelato.  I may never leave this place

To get to Coconut Grove from the boat you just walk up the dock,!turnnleft along thenwaterbpast the mooring field, then ontobBayshorebdrivebtobMarybstreet which brings you to the corner of. Grand avenue and Main Street which is the center of town  there is a Cheesecake Factory restaurant at that corner, but if you walk down either street you pass many nice outdoor cafes which are more pleasant. The total walk is about 15-20 minutes

I'm gonna love it here