Day 80 - 24 February

Today was one of the more relaxing days we've spent on the trip. The sky was blue, the sea was green, the wind was on our nose again, but it was light. The captain even got a chance to take a power nap about halfway between Rodriguez Key and the turn into the channel leading to Boot Key Harbor and the town of Marathon.

We elected to tuck into the Marathon Marina which is just before the bridge. The marina is pricey and a bit "down at the heels" compared to other marinas we've stayed at. However, the people are friendly and almost all the showers, laundry and heads are working, so we aren't complaining too loudly. Also, there doesn't appear to be any other marinas that are any better...less costly, but not better...and we are close to the showers, head and laundry, have fresh running water, cable TV, and power to run our air conditioner.

It's tempting to pick up one of the many mooring balls in the inner harbor at $20/night with dinghy docking privileges, showers, heads and laundry all included. By comparison, Marathon Marina charges $2.50/foot which includes showers, heads and laundry, and cable for a daily transient cost of over a hundred dollars/day, tax included.

About an hour after we arrived and were in the final stages of organizing our lines, etc., our friend Phil arrived. Phil is a former coworker of Sarah's and a sailor..that/s Phil and Sarah on the right. We've been trying to get our cruising non-schedule and Phil's work and travel schedule aligned and we think we may have done so. Phil will be accompanying us aboard our cruising home for the next week and we hope to get the sails raised again soon. After our guest's arrival, we hailed the Marathon water taxi, Smorgasboat One (http://www.smorgasboat.com/), to pick us up at our slip and take us downtown to Docksides, a popular local water hole for some camraderie and dinner. Unfortunately, Docksides also has live entertainment each evening and we were gathered right behind the bandstand. So, we probably missed some interesting conversation. We had cruisers from six different Whitby Boat Works boats and more combined cruising experience we could measure.

After dinner, we caught a local taxi to take us back to our boat which is west of the harbor area by approximately 4 miles.

Day 79 - 23 February

A nice day on the Atlantic. 75 degree temperatures, a south wind, sunny weather, and 1 foot waves.

We departed Elliott Key at 9:30AM on a rising tide to be able to negotiate Angelfish Creek at high tide (approximately 11:00AM). We motored south on Biscayne Bay and into Card Bay and the entrance to Angelfish Creek on the north end of Key Largo. The Creek exits into the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and we hugged the east coastline of Key Largo until we arrived at Rodriguez Key at 3:30PM.

It was an east run of just six hours, but just enough time for Joe to demonstrate...again...his skill at underway Racor changing. We are averaging about 1-1/2 days per 2 micron Racor and Joe is already planning to install the fuel polishing and management system he has had on the back burner for several years now. Let's see, how many Racors equal a new fuel polishing and management system? Gotta be at least two boat units and $2000/$20 per Racor filter = 100. Changing filters underway over a hot engine with belts spinning, etc. is priceless, so it almost balances out. Let's do it!

We anchored in 5 feet of water again this evening and we can even watch the anchor settling into the sand. Boating is certainly different in Florida. Tomorrow we plan an early departure to let us get into Vaca Key and Marathon by late afternoon.

Did we mention the 75 degree temperatures, the south wind, and sunny weather?

Day 76 - 20 February

Flowers from Judy and Lucie! While walking along the waterfront in Lake Worth, Judy and Lucie brought back some flowers they found growing wild along the way. the bud was tightly closed when we received them, but opened up into the glorious display on the photograph at right. Sadly, they didn't survive the ocean off Key Biscayne and had to be discarded when we arrived at the Miami Marine Stadium anchorage. Fortunately for us there were two other natural spectacles for us to enjoy after we arrived at anchor.

The first was watching the sun set at Lake Worth South. Each anchorage has at least this one even in common. The sun sets and rises at each one and the natural spectacle is always a wondrous demonstration of a simple event that is always impressive and humbling to witness. The second event was a total lunar eclipse that was observable from the anchorage. The event began promptly at 8:45PM and continued on until after midnight when the moon's disk was finally full and shining again.

Day 78 - 22 February

What a contrast between yesterday and today. The weather was almost the same, but we kept to the inland ICW route from Miami to Elliott Key. We only had about a 3-1/2 hour leg to complete today so we allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping late and enjoying the "pleasures of the harbor"...not the same meaning that phrase had a couple of centuries ago! The anchorage was picturesque and the weather was a balmy 75 with the same southerly wind that beat us up yesterday.


We eventually departed in the early afternoon and headed south across Biscayne Bay in a relatively flat expanse of sea-green water that was about 10 feet deep for most of the trip. We followed the proverbial "magenta line" for the afternoon and turned left after passing through a narrow cut identified by two sets of red-green marks.


We arrived at Elliott Key which is the largest of the 25 keys that make up Biscayne National Park. The anchorage...which hosts hundreds of boats in the summer...was almost empty and ours for the enjoyment. The water shoals quickly and we anchored about a half mile from shore in about 5 feet of water...we could even see the bottom and that was exciting!

Day 77 - 21 February

We anchored at Lake Worth South yesterday afternoon, the same ground we anchored in almost a week ago when we aborted out trip to the Bahamas. Instead of the Bahamas, we are now headed for the Florida Keys. The initial leg...Lake Worth to Miami...is about 65 miles and with a 7:30AM departure and conservative speed of 6 knots, we will be anchored in Miami by the end of the day...piece of cake!

However, the planning was excellent except for the water conditions which were exceedingly unpleasant. The Atlantic Ocean was choppy with 3-4 foot waves on our nose...where else would they be in a sailboat? We were able to motorsail for about half the trip with a close-hauled jib until the wind moved further south and headed us. At least the ocean was a lovely shade of green typical of South Florida waters.

For the first half of the trip, the sail helped stabilize the boat and gave us about a one-knot lift. We kept within a mile of shore to try to find some southward-bound current to further boost us. But by the time we hauled the headsail down, the combination of wind and sea from the southeast made up for a most unpleasant and bouncy ride to Miami. Even Windreka's fuel tanks weren't happy and all the accumulated sludge and dead bugs from more than 20 years decided to rise from the bottom and appear in the fuel pickup. The Racor filters that Joe changed yesterday in Lake Worth clogged and...once again...Joe had to crawl into the engine room, get personal with a hot engine and...this time...change both Racors to keep the engine working.

What made this memorable is that Joe changed both filters while the boat was bouncing and moving and while the engine was running...makes one want to say without the engine skipping a beat, but the reason the filters had to be changed was that the engine was skipping beats! Once the clogged filters were replaced, the engine purred all the way to Miami.

After what seemed like two days of travel, we entered Government Cut as a cruise ship was heading out in a northerly direction. We made our way past the containerships, the harbor tugs crossing back and forth, a good portion of the Miami cigarette boat fleet...or was it just the noise that made it seem like there were a hundred of them? It was not a pleasant way to end the ordeal of being abused by the ocean, but we made our way past the commercial section of the waterfront and back to the ICW and Rickenbacker Bridge. We turned left just in front of the bridge with several emergency vehicles on it and two water rescue vessels in the water near the bridge. After another few minutes we were at anchor near the Miami Marine Stadium which was the setting for water shows until 2005 when it was severely damaged by a hurricane. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about this Miami-style venue:

"The Stadium was host for many world class powerboat events including Unlimited Hydroplane, Inboard, Outboard, Performance Craft, Stock, Modified, Grand National divisions as well as other special event races...The last major race in the Stadium was the 1987 Inboard Hydroplane national Championship.

"The Stadium utilized a floating stage in front of the grandstand for diverse activities such as classical concerts, Rock and Roll shows and the annual Easter Sunrise Service.
Due to restrictions in use, political pressures from within the City of Miami, and the lack of proper promotion the Stadium saw a gradual decline in events...By the early 1990s powerboat racing in the Stadium was in reality only a memory.

"In 1992 Hurricane Andrew struck the Miami/Dade County area. Engineers for the City condemned the structure...Since that time the Stadium has been allowed to sit with no attempt at maintenance..."

Read the full story at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Marine_Stadium

Whatever it's history, the anchorage was a tranquil end to a decidely "untranquil" day with the skyline of Miami in the background. Now if only the airplanes taking off from Miami Internationaly had a different flight path...

Days 71-75 - 15 thru 19 February

We are still at Lake Worth, having arrived here almost a week ago. Initially, we were waiting for a weather window to open up which it did and we were poised and ready to head out for the Gulf Stream on Friday, the 15th, but as we all know...Murphy Lives! My Destiny developed a leak in her high pressure fuel injector pump that we all decided should be addressed before getting caught in the Gulf Stream with no engine. So we moved from the Lake Worth South anchorage back to the Lake Worth North anchorage while My Destiny pulled in to the Old Port Cove Marina nearby. After a nice day laying quietly at anchor, we also moved to the Marina and have been here for the past several days while the repairs were completed in a Palm Beach injector diesel repair shop nearby.

Greg reinstalled the injector pump and successfully tested the engine. Meanwhile, some problems began showing up with My Destiny's new refrigeration system and house battery bank...did we say, "Murphy Lives?" So here we are at the Marina, watching the weather and getting the mechanical and electrical work accomplished.

Since we've lost almost a week, we've collectively decided not to head for the Bahamas. The $300 cruising permit would be mostly wasted since we only have a limited amount of time to cruise before heading home for a date with the IRS in April...what's wrong with this picture?

However, both Team My Destiny and Team Windreka have complicated income tax returns this year. For our part, we have income and owe taxes to two states...Ohio and Virginia; we retired; we sold a house in Virginia and purchased a retirement home in Ohio; we began drawing social security income; we rolled over our 401K retirement funds to a new financial manager; etc. So, we don't know how to complete our income tax returns without the assistance of a tax accountant.

So, we've decided to defer Bahamas cruising until next winter. Instead we plan to spend the rest of this cruise in the Florida Keys. We haven't been there and all reports say they are the equivalent of the Bahamas without a cruising permit and without the internet access gaps we expected in the Bahamas.

If all goes well...and if Murphy has had his share of fun with us...we'll head south on Thursday morning. The good news is we have almost achieved the conditions described by the title of our weblog...Hauling for Better Weather. The mid-70s temperatures and sunny, warm days make us believe we are nearly there. When we think about the frigid, stormy weather back home, we think we've succeeded...and hopefully, the best is yet to come. Stay with us!

Day 70 - 14 February

More quotes from the log of Windreka: Thursday, 14 February. Temp @ 6:30 AM is 45 degrees. Barometer 2975 rising. Underway @ 7:30 AM. Wind E <7

Lake Worth North is a large anchorage with a depth of 10 to 15 feet. Convenient to dinghy to nearby dock for shopping and sightseeing. There are many interesting boats anchored here and the one we anchored nearest to was a yellow steel boat named Essential Part from Wilmington, Delaware. We didn't see anyone on her until a day or so ago and she was still in the anchorage today.

Tomorrow, we plan to move to an anchorage near the Lake Worth Inlet and head off shore at approximately 10 PM for an overnight crossing of the Gulf Stream and arrival in vicinity of Memory Rock, Bahama Islands at dawn, then on to Great Sales Cay (pronounced "Key") by midafternoon; anchor for night and then on to Walkers Cay to clear through Bahama customs, purchase cruising permit, and become legal visitors to the Bahamas.Our general plan is to move slowly south toward Marsh Harbour in the Abacos, then work our way slowly back to be back in Florida near the end of March. After tomorrow evening, we will be internet deprived and the weblog will be kept offline and uploaded as may be possible

While we may continue to be "hauling for better weather," this week our weather has been considerably better than the freezing rain and bitter cold and wind chill numbers reported to us by family and friends back home. We wish you could all be here with us and we wish we could share some of our "better weather" with you.