Feb 21st 2017: Miami, FL to Fort Lauderdale, FL

After a rough night on the mooring ball in rough water, we prepared to head for Ft. Lauderdale. We called the marina again to pay for the mooring ball but were told the person wasn't available to take the payment.

We needed to take on diesel fuel. We left the mooring ball and pulled into the Dinner Key harbor right next to the mooring field and went to the Coral Harbour Marina's fuel dock. We took on 222 gallons of diesel at $2.80/gallon. [Note: the trip so far has averaged 1.76 miles per gallon and 4.85 gallons per hour.]

We left the fuel dock at 0909 to head for Ft. Lauderdale. As we pulled out the channel past the mooring field we passed the marina's water taxi. The taxi driver chastised us for not paying. We explained what happened and could tell she didn't believe us. Joan called the marina again and this time got a woman who did take the payment but also didn't believe that we had called earlier. The reviews of this marina indicated staff communications problems and we can certainly confirm that. Won't be coming back here.

It was a beautiful and interesting cruise past Miami to Ft. Lauderdale. We went under several bridges and had to wait for two of them to open. The first one we waited for about 15 minutes for the top of the hour for it to open. It actually opened a few minutes early due to a barge coming through. The second one we sped up to at our high speed (15 mph) to arrive on the quarter hour when it opened.

When we passed through the Port Everglades area we encountered a very large, very long freighter coming in through a pass and across the AICW. It looked like it was headed towards us so I sped up to get past it's course. The pilot boat leading it in seemed to come out playing "guard" to keep me at a distance from the freighter. We made it past him and went on up the AICW.

The Ft. Lauderdale area is beautiful. Joan said it reminder her of Venice Italy with all the canals. We found the Hall of Fame Marina on Ft. Lauderdale Beach and got into slip 206 at 1340 after 34.2 miles. We are surrounded by so many larger, beautiful, and interesting yachts. We are across the street from the Ft. Lauderdale Beach drive which reminds us a little of South Beach in Miami. We walked to Coconuts Restaurant right at our marina for happy hour and some really good food. We're going to stay here for six nights. We have gone 425 miles to get here from Riviera Dunes. This marina is completely protected from wind from all directions so we are really looking forward to some quiet nights and good sleep.

Coconuts Restaurant, Ft. Lauderdale Beach

Tuna Salad

Red Pearl at Hall of Fame Marina, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Feb 20th 2017: Key Largo, FL to Miami, FL

We raised anchor at Key Largo at 0845 and headed north for Miami. We had originally allowed three days to get from Marathon to Miami but were now doing it in two days. We didn't have a marina reservation in Miami and were having difficulty finding a slip because they were all booked because of the Miami Boat Show happening the upcoming week. We made note of some anchorages in Miami and had calls in to some marinas waiting for return calls. We kept retrying the marinas while we cruised north. Eventually, we learned that they were all full except for one on Miami Beach that could take us at $6/foot. I decided to take a mooring ball at Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Dinner Key Marina, Miami. Later, I would wish I had chosen the $6/ft marina.

The stout easterly breeze and choppy wave in the mooring field made picking up the mooring ball quite difficult. We started with Joan down at the bow with a boat hook. Once she snagged the mooring ball pennant she had a very difficult time hanging onto it as I had a difficult time keeping the boat on station. Eventually I quickly went down to the bow to help pull the pennant up and connect our bridle to it. Unfortunately, while I was leaning over the bow the wind knocked off my eyeglasses (prescription) and I watched them sink. A very costly mistake. We logged our arrival at 1500 after 49.5 miles.

Because the water was so choppy we didn't want to take the dingy into shore. The marina's water taxi only had one more run for the day so we didn't want to take it in. We decided to stay on-board and fix dinner on Red Pearl. We called the marina to register and pay for the mooring ball by phone but they couldn't do it then and said they would call us back. They didn't.

We had a beautiful view of the Miami skyline but couldn't really enjoy it. The wind and waves strengthened during the evening and the wave slap against our hull was so strong that we couldn't sleep in our cabins. So Joan slept on the salon sofa and I slept on the upper helm bench seat. It turned out to be our worst night so far. We felt hammered in the morning.

En-route on the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway (AICW)

Red Pearl at Miami, FL

Red Pearl on mooring ball in rough water. Dinner Key Marina, Miami

Sunset over the mooring field.

Feb 19th 2017: Marathon, FL to Key Largo, FL

Yesterday, Saturday, we returned our rental car to the Marathon airport and prepared to depart Marathon after our week long stay. We filled the water tanks and emptied the holding tank on Red Pearl, made sure all our handheld electronic devices were charged-up, and checked the weather and made our float plan for the next day. We were ready to get on the move again.

Sunday we departed Faro Blanco Marina at 0830 and headed north. We planned to head for an anchorage at Islamorada but had shorter and longer alternates as we couldn't predict how fast we could travel up the shallows of the AICW waterway.

Most of this section of AICW was 6-foot deep or more but there were several sections down to 5-1/2 foot. This slowed us down only a little so we reached Islamorada around 1330 and decided to keep going. At 1450 after 51.6 miles we reached the Sunset Cove anchorage in Buttonwood Sound at Key Largo, FL and dropped anchor in 6-7 feet of water.

Sea birds feeding on bait fish en-route in the AICW.

Red Pearl at anchor at Sunset Cove, Key Largo, FL

Snook's Bayside Restaurant

Our dinghy, Blake Bay

 We lowered our dinghy, "Blake Bay" and went to shore at Snook's Bayside restaurant for happy hour. After eating there we walked to Walgreens for a few necessities. We returned to Red Pearl and settled in for the night. I once again set the anchor watch app on my iPhone to monitor our position all night and sound the alarm if our anchor didn't hold. There was a little breeze during the night causing a little wave slap on our hull, but no worse than we encountered inside the Faro Blanco Marina.

Feb 17th, 2017: Still at Faro Blanco Marina, Marathon, FL

We had planned to stay here at the Faro Blanco Marina on Marathon Key for a week.

Our first night here was rough. When the winds is out of the north the waves come in through the harbor entrance and strike Red Pearl with nothing to slow them down. We heard loud water slaps against our hull and boat movement all night long. It was not the restful night we were looking for. I investigated moving to a different slip but most in this marina are affected by the waves. The few that aren't are back in a corner that gets heavy seaweed accumulation that clogs their air conditioner water strainers. So, we'll stay here in this slip and hope for better wind directions.

Northerly winds at Faro Blanco Marina

The first couple of days were spent: picking up our Enterprise rental car; getting provisions at Publix and Kmart; cleaning and maintenance on Red Pearl; laundry; post office; etc.. I thoroughly inspected the engine room on Red Pearl. I found that I needed to tighten the fan belt on both engines. They had loosened since they were installed new late last year. Otherwise everything looked good from our run down from Bradenton.

We checked out our surroundings eating at few local restaurants and shopping at local shops.

Burdines Waterfront Grill

Surf n Turf Burger

Key Lime Pie - chiffon style

On Wednesday we drove our rental car to Key West. We used our Gypsy Guide iPhone app to give us the tour guide narrative as we drove down the keys from Marathon and around Key West to the city center. We parked near downtown and set out afoot seeing the sights and then returned to Marathon late afternoon.

Lunch at Caroline's on Duval Street

Visited the famous Green Parrot bar

Took the guided tour of the Hemingway Home. Notice one of the 35 6-toed cats!

Back at Marathon, here are some pics around the Faro Blanco Marina:

Today we are: planning the next leg of our trip; doing laundry; taking care of some banking; waiting on the icemaker to be returned and hanging by the pool. This evening we will go back to Publix to provision for the next few days. We will probably be anchoring out at night as we go up the keys so we'll need something to eat! Tomorrow will be our last full day here at Marathon. We'll return the rental car, prep the Red Pearl (empty the holding tank, fill the water tanks, fill the cooler with ice; etc.); and relax before our Sunday morning departure. We plan to cruise for 4 straight days to get to downtown Fort Lauderdale and then stay there for five nights.

Feb 12th, 2017: Little Shark River to Marathon, FL

After waking up at anchor in the Little Shark River we used the generator to prepare breakfast and prepared to weigh anchor. Luckily, it came right up without snagging on anything. It didn't even have mud on it. We departed at 9:40am. We made our way out of the Little Shark River and went offshore to deeper water just outside the Everglades National Park boundary line. Then we headed south toward Marathon. Seas were only a foot or less and on our bow so it was a pleasant ride. Skies clear. Later in the afternoon the seas built to about two feet as we were in the center of Florida Bay but the waves were still on our bow so the ride was easy. However, Florida Bay must produce half of the world's crab meat. I say that because for over 30 miles we kept having to dodge crab pots. They were everywhere. It was a lot of work. Not setting the autopilot and resting back at the helm in these waters. After 46 miles and 5 hours we arrived at the Faro Blanco Marina at Marathon Key, FL. 

A breeze and stiff current through the cut in the breakwater and heavy traffic of boats in and out made our entry interesting but everything went fine getting into our slip. It took a little while for the dock hands to reconfigure the slip hardware for Red Pearl. We checked in at the resort ship's store and briefly explored the resort. Tired from the days of travel we had dinner at the resort's marina restaurant bar. There is a small operating lighthouse here at this marina.

Red Pearl at Faro Blanco Resort Marina, Marathon, FL

Feb 11th, 2017: Everglades City, FL to Little Shark River

We departed the Rod & Gun club about 10AM which was at a low but rising tide. One of the other boaters warned that we might not have enough water depth to get out, but based on my observations coming in I though we'd have just enough, so we departed. As it turned out we had just enough water depth that by going slow, we were able to get out Indian Key Pass to open water. We went offshore to deeper water and then headed south to the Little Shark River on Cape Sable. We arrived at our anchorage spot 47 miles and 5 hours later. The first attempt to set the anchor didn't hold but the second one did. We got everything ready for the night and hunkered inside the cabin before dark when the mosquitos swarm. We ran the generator and used the microwave to heat dinner. We had no cell or internet signal in this remote place. I used and "anchor watch" app on my iPhone to monitor our postion all night in case the anchor didn't hold. It held, even as the current reversed direction during the night.

 Red Pearl at anchor in the Little Shark River

Feb 10th 2017: Naples, FL to Everglades City, FL

A Very Low Tide

During the night, while in our slip at the Naples Boat Club, there was an extremely low tide due to offshore winds and a full moon. The dockmaster said the lowest he'd seen in 30 years. It was a floating dock but we had one stern line attached to a wood piling. Not expecting the low tide, I happened to get up once during the night and noticed the boat was listing to starboard. I went out to investigate and saw the line to piling was as tight as a guitar string. I needed to use my mariner's pocket knife with marlin spike to get the line loose from the cleat on the boat. The boat settled quite a ways when the line snapped loose. We were in only about 4 feet of water at low tide, so our keel was nearly touching the bottom. But the tide was rising and would be higher by the time we left, so I went back to bed.

Under Way

There was a fresh breeze affecting the marina and I was in a tight space among other boats so I asked the dockmaster to come assist us in our departure. Everything worked out fine and we got underway a little after 10AM. Once out of the Naples inlet we went a short distance offshore and headed south past Marco Island and toward Everglades City. We entered the Indian Key Pass and wound our way through the everglades to the Rod & Gun Club in Everglades City. They have a 1,000ft seawall and told us to just tie up anywhere and come inside. When we arrived after 48 miles and 5 hours some other boaters already there assisted us in tying up.

Red Pearl at Rod & Gun Club, Everglades City, FL

The Rod & Gun Club dates back to the 1860s with many presidents, Hemmingway, famous actors & actresses, and other notables as guests.

It just so happened that it was the Friday when the Everglades City Seafood Festival and Carnival was on. The entire city center was full of vendors of all sorts and the carnival rides and games. We walked just out front of the Rod & Gun Club to shop the various vendors and to find some seafood to bring back to Red Pearl.

Coconut shrimp, crab cake & jambalaya on the party deck

During the night we were awakened by a very loud "twang." I had to get up to investigate. One of the fender boards we had out had gotten caught under some skirt boards on a wood piling when the tide went out and came back up. Under pressure it let go with a twang. Oh well, back to bed.