VIEWS FROM HERE

Along with a few boats we are anchored in Hurricane Harbor here in Key Biscayne. This is an anchorage near the opening for us to cross. We are all waiting for the weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. There is no access to land in here so the only reason to be anchored here is for waiting. There is a restaurant to go to by dinghy but it is expensive and usually very crowded. We did not enjoy it the last time we went there.

We have been anchored here for a week now and I had no bread on board. The freezer is full of important stuff like meat! So, I decided to make a loaf of bread in my mini-crockpot..... hence the loaf turned out mini. Mmmmm, it turned out delicious and made great toast with peanut butter.

Paul took this picture with his phone. It is of our dinghy at night with our 
blue lights shining down on it. He thought it was cool . 

MACERATOR PROBLEMS

A boat (or R.V.) may have a macerator on board. We have this when travelling to the Bahamas. We don't need to get a "pumpout" as they are very few and far between. Many boats would have one on board.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvSiGgQmWFk
This youtube I hope will work to explain the small machine we have onboard, similar. This is for those that have never heard of a macerator.

This really could not be tested in the waters of Florida (by law). While anchored out Paul did a quick test here when all the boats had left and bam! No luck. Turns out that a repair kit was needed and/or new pump. We took down our dinghy here in Key Biscayne and took a nice bumpy hour drive to Coconut Grove, a West Marine is in walking distance ... a nice hot walk of 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) there and then another 3 km back. We took the dinghy to Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, the oldest suburb of Miami. Paul had his handy phone that gave us commands how to get there. We needed the exercise just did not like the 1 hour in the dinghy in rough waters there and back.

There is a sandbar nearby and on weekends this anchorage is packed. I counted 120 boats here yesterday. Check out the pics below.

86 FOOT boat beside us anchored. Beautiful

Sunset last night

p.s we are in Key Biscayne but did indeed try the Gulf today, 6 foot waves at the opening. We turned around and came back to the anchorage.

VIEW FROM OUR "BACK PORCH"

In an anchorage at Key Biscayne, see Miami skyline in the distance but this is more interesting than the lights and buildings in the distance. Waiting for a "window" of good weather to go across the Gulf to Bimini.

26 BRIDGES TO FORT LAUDERDALE

YES, we have left Stuart, Florida, we are on the move finally. However, when one travels to Fort Lauderdale on the Intracoastal Waterway there are BRIDGES. Yes, I did indeed put this in capitals. Most bridges are too low to go under for us (and for 99% sailboats), we had to have 17 open for us. 26 Bridges we encountered on our way. We left at 8am and motored until 7pm (just before dark). The bridges are scheduled openings, ie: on the top and half hour OR at the quarter and 45 after the hour. Yes, this sounds like it could work to get to next bridge opening, nope, there are Manatee speed zones or many marinas so we cannot "floor" the gas pedal down and get there!! Out come the binoculars so I can read the speed zone sign up ahead and tell Paul to slow it down or speed up. One bridge is actually under construction and the lanes are packed with cars, ONE opening an hour! Even the website I was on did not have that update! Yikes, a long day. However, good news, we are not near snow!! Our city had a record breaking snowfall, yes, of all time! Now, I really feel sorry for our family and friends, I should not be "complaining" about the bridges, hahhahahahaha.

Yes, it is the indeed the capital! We took our dinghy around this morning. Our motoryacht seems so small compared to what we saw.

We went under a couple of bridges close to the edge and guess what we saw??

Iguanas under the bridges on the wood in the sun, I got so close for the pic, I told Paul they could jump right in the dinghy and 'freak' me out. There were about 10 or so under the bridge. Hmmmm, am thinking what their food source is? Homeowners nearby complain about their "poop" that is left behind. You see in our city we complain about deer eating our bulbs etc and here in Florida they have other creatures that wreck havoc.

Natives arrived in the Fort Lauderdale area 4,000 years ago

WAITING GAME HERE IN FLORIDA

All boats are waiting, the game begins! The Gulf Stream is not passable right now. So, we are sure there are many boats in anchorages all around watching/reading the weather forecasts. Paul is checking a couple of times a day. It will be days away before we can cross. We have paid for this marina so may as well just stay put until we are confident we can cross. We would like to head down the Intracoastal Waterway to Key Biscayne and then leave from there. But no time soon! The fridges, freezers and pantries are packed so we are prepared, store the car and off we go when Paul says "tomorrow we leave for warmer waters".

Snug in marina in Port Salerno. Notice the fantastic job Paul did on the railings up in the flybridge.

Stainless steel railings on the sides of the flybridge will make it much safer up there. We have bought a round table to put up there once the inflatable is down. It is like a whole new room up there.

This tool is the one that saved us alot of money as Paul cut the stainless steel tubing himself. And, knowing Paul he is happy as it was done right! If we want to cut anymore stainless steel we have this great small tool onboard.

This young pelican was hunched beside this outboard motor as it was very windy today. He was not sleeping, he was watching me closely. I noticed he is tagged. The pelicans are fun to watch especially when the fishermen return, the scraps get thrown to them.

This small dish was a gift from a son
at Christmas time, we love it!

GENERATOR WIRING DIAGRAM

It is not always fun on a boat! We have been having problems with our generator, sometimes it works, then sometimes it doesn't. There is no way we are travelling to the Exumas, Bahamas with this on our minds. This small diode, the black thingy in the middle of this wire, was the whole problem! It is like finding a needle in a small haystack, not exaggerating at all. See the diagram below. I put a pen pointing to the small black dot of that diode. Paul had to read, analyze and diagnose the problem. He was successful!! Here we come Exumas.

I am the one doing the provisioning for the Bahamas while Paul is dreaming about fixing the generator problem. Needless to say the $5 diode has been replaced and no problems with the generator now. This was a week long "project" for Paul. I wanted to share because I put all my posts in a book at the end of the season and this was a major headache for Paul. In and out of the engine room (or basement as we've named that lower portion of the boat). He is having wonderful sleeps at night now. No more generator nightmares!

Some posts are of blue waters and some are of boat problems.... aaaah all boat owners can relate. The weather has been iffy here, but warmer and sunnier than Ontario. However, it is like Spring up there right now. The provisioning is almost completed! We are just days away from leaving Florida to Bimini, Bahamas.