Blues and Greens

 

Bill and I left Miami around 11:00 on Wednesday in order to arrive in Key Largo at high tide. As we were taking the lines off and leaving the dock, Bill realized that the bow thruster wasn't working. Another blown fuse? 

About 10 minutes after we left the dock, Bill also noticed that the "charge" light was on on the engine console. There were -18 amps going into the batteries -- meaning that the alternator was not working. Since we only had a four hour trip, it wasn't a big deal; the batteries would stay charged enough until we got to the dock and could plug into shore power.  

 

While we were underway, Bill brainstormed about the alternator and changed the fuse out on the bow thruster, but it still didn't work. He thinks that maybe there is something stuck since we sat at the dock in Ft. Lauderdale for so long and there was a lot of growth. 

Despite our few issues, it was such a beautiful day on the water. The colors were amazing. The ocean would change from navy to light blue to almost neon green within seconds. In parts it looked like the water was polka dotted. 

Molly and her brother-in-law met us at the dock at Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo around 4:00. Bill docked the boat bow-to since we are without a bow thruster at the moment. We had a perfect lasagna dinner with Dave, Molly, Dave's sister and her family, and Dave's brother and his family all of whom are visiting. 

 

Today we washed the boat and then went for lunch at the pool side restaurant here at Ocean Reef. Bill is about to start on more troubleshooting. 

 

Leaving Miami

 

The sights, sounds, and amazing colors of Miami have been fabulous. Neither Bill nor I realized how BIG Miami is -- not just in population numbers, but in area. Miami is spread out and there are actually several sky lines. We took a cab from South Beach to downtown Miami and drove through the city. There are honestly more sky scrapers than Boston. It is a great place to visit and we are glad we have had a few extra days here. 

We are off to Key Largo to see Dave and Molly in about a half an hour. There is very little wind but it is sunny and hot. 

 

 

Miami Seaquarium

 

Bill and I are still in Miami. We decided to stay here in South Beach until Wednesday, which is when we will leave for Key Largo to see Dave and Molly. Yesterday Bill and I went to the Miami Seaquarium in downtown Miami. It was a beautiful day to walk around and see several shows -- including a Killer Whale show! 

Today we are doing boat projects (cleaning sumps and strainers, troubleshooting the AC, etc.) and doing laundry. We met a liveaboard couple on a blue hulled IP last night at Monteys, the marina restaurant where Bill has feasted on oysters and crab claws almost every night we have been here! 

 

 

 

Botanical Gardens

Here are some pictures of the botanical gardens in Miami, which I visited today. Bill and I continue to have a great time here. The weather has been very nice -- and hot. We are looking forward to having dinner and experiencing some of the night life tonight. 

 

 

 

 

South Beach

South Beach is great. Yesterday Bill and I walked around for about two hours. We walked through a newly opened park along the beach down to Ocean Drive, which wasn't 'happening' yet in the afternoon. Ocean Drive is lined with lots of old hotels, restaurants, cafes, and lots of people walking around. We walked through beautiful neighborhoods and Espanola Way before ending back at the marina for oysters and fish tacos. We'll be in Miami until Sunday morning, when we will head for Key Largo to see Dave and Molly. 

 

 

 

 

Hello Miami!

 

Well, we finally left the dock at Ft. Lauderdale (after three months!) and started to cruise again. First destination - Miami. OK, so we had an easy three hour trip -- but neither of us have been here before and we are looking forward to finding a cafe and people watching! The weather is beautiful and hot. We are staying at Miami Beach Marina in South Beach, which several people told us is rolly (so far so good for us though). We decided to stay here since we are only about two blocks from Ocean Drive. 

 

 

 

Goodbye Ft. Lauderdale

 

Leaving Hall of Fame Marina

 

View of downtown Ft. Lauderdale

 

The 17th Street Bridge opening. We met the bridge tender Ron a few days ago. He is a fellow Bostonian who moved to FL a few years ago. 

 

Last glimpse of Ft. Lauderdale beach. 

Last pictures from Ft. Lauderdale....

 

 

 

 

The last week and a half....

 

Well, the last week and a half has been full of interesting tidbits for us here in Ft. Lauderdale. 

The good news is that both Bill and I have finally received our Florida drivers licenses, which means we are officially Floridians. Yeah! 

We had a lovely Easter in St. Petersburg with Bill's mom. Mary Alice cooked a delicious Easter roast, potatoes, and green beans and we feasted. There were a few games of Skip-bo as well as a movie for Mary Alice and me (while Bill watched the Masters) and lunches in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg. 

Saturday night Bill and I celebrated our anniversary at Berns Steakhouse in Tampa. It was one of the most fun experiences we have had at a restaurant. We had a delicious dinner and then had a tour of the kitchen and wine cellar. Afterwards we went to a separate area and had dessert and coffee. We had reservations at 7:30 and didn't get home until 11:00! It was quite the experience. 

Bill and I drove back to Ft. Lauderdale on Monday afternoon in a rental car. We left our car in St. Petersburg (thank you Mary Alice!) so it will be there in June and we don't have to worry about it while we cruise the Keys for the next few weeks. 

 

On Friday on the way to St. Petersburg Bill and I stopped in Sarasota for a few hours to check out a marina. As we wrote before, we looked at 9 marinas in the St. Pete area but didn't find anything that we really loved. Since we are going to be on the West Coast of Florida for at least the whole summer, we really wanted to find somewhere that was close to everything and had the facilities that we have grown used to (pump out, laundry, secure marina, etc.) Well, we found that and more at Marina Jacks in downtown Sarasota. We are excited about our new "home" and look forward to arriving sometime in June. Sarasota is about 45-50 minutes from St. Pete so we will be making plenty of visits to see and stay with Mary Alice. 

 

Last week we were woken up by someone banging on the boat telling us our car had been vandalized. We went up to the parking lot to find the passenger side window of our car smashed. The police had already been and filed a report. Apparently someone smashed the windows of five cars in the parking lot in the early hours of the morning. The vandals took only what was in the glove compartment -- the registration, proof of insurance, car manual, and our AAA membership. We are very lucky in the sense that they did not take Bill's golf clubs, which were in the back seat!!! We called the glass company and they fixed the window that afternoon. 

 

Bill played golf last week with a few buddies and shot an 87, which he was very excited about. I went to the beach for a few hours. We also saw Amy and Juan for dinner last week, which is always fun. And of course we now have the Red Sox to keep us busy at night. We signed up for the MLB package again so we can watch all the games on the computer. We are still loving the Mac. 

So today we provisioned and are ready to leave for Miami tomorrow morning. We will spend a few days in Miami and then head to Key Largo, Marathon, Key West (and points in between) before heading up to the West Coast of Florida. 

We know we haven't been good about keeping up the blog (sorry!) and promise to be better about posting pictures and keeping everyone up to date with our travels. 

Hope everyone had a great Easter! 

 

This week Bill and I broke down and got a new computer. And this time around.... we got a MacBook Pro!! We love it and it is surprisingly easy to work on a Mac after years and years of a PC. The three very cool things about our new computer are: it has an 8 hour battery life (no more cords, no more turning on the inverter to get a charge for the computer), it has an anti glare screen (I can even sit in the sun topside and use it) and lastly, there is this really cool application called Garage Band where Bill can practice and learn the guitar. 

I love this picture of Bill transferring all of our pictures and documents from the other two computers we had to the new MacBook. 

The marina is starting to slowly but steadily empty. Most people either go back to their home states or travel on the boat somewhere other than Florida for the summers -- too hot. The weather here in Lauderdale has been in the high 80s, which is about as hot as it ever gets in Boston and it is only April!