Riding the Bus, Miami

Day 173, January 29th, 2010

Today's excursion involved a trip to Walmart and KMart!!! I know, we lead such an exciting life! However, Walmart was about 20 miles away. Funny really - when we looked up on our Garmin Nuvi where the nearest Walmart was - it was right by Maule Lake!!! Paul and Sue wanted to look at Memory Mattresses and we wanted a shower bag.

So, the four of us set off around 10:00 a.m. and walked down Washington Avenue till we came to a funny little place where we could buy a $5.00 Transit Day Pass each. Then we caught the bus that goes all the way up the outer islands of Miami to Sunny Isle Boulevard. En route we passed where they are setting up for the Miami Boat Show in two weeks time. There were lots of gorgeous hotels on the beach front including Trump Towers. At Sunny Isle we got off the one bus and transferred to the next which went West across the waterway and up Oleta Drive all the way to Walmart. It took a couple of hours but we were happy sitting there watching the sites. There was always someone on the bus to help and show us where to go, except the very unfriendly bus driver, that is!! They didn't have the right mattress there is Walmart but John and I did find our shower bag (we bought two because we know they don't last very long). The boys wanted to go to McDs for lunch but I wouldn't let them - we'd already eaten in McDs once this week! So we walked a little further into the mall and found a Caribbean Cafe. Much more interesting. Variety is the spice of life!! I had chicken, rice and peas and beans!!! Ooh I ate too much and then had a belly ache. Sue complained of the same problem. Then we caught another bus which took us all the way down Biscayne Blvd. to downtown Miami. The bus was busy and we had to split up. I ended up talking to this fella from Chicago who had lived in Miami for the last 6 years. Strange conversation - he told he was on Social Assistance. I rather put my foot in it when I told him I was sorry to hear that and hoped things would improve for him. "Oh No! I'm happy. I'm not looking for work - its like being retired!" I didn't quite know how to reply to that one so I just smiled and nodded!! Then he went on to say he didn't realise you could go swimming in Miami and didn't realise there was a beach in Fort Lauderdale. Extraordinary!!

We arrived at the bus terminal close to 4:00 p.m.and then caught the bus along Venetian Causeway to home. Passed the boats at the anchorage and took a picture. It was a long day but fun. You sure meet some characters on the bus!

Back at the anchorage, we joined Paul and Sue for a drink and a piece of pie and chatted about our day!!

Maule Lake

Day 172, January 28th, 2010

We had a hard time getting Chris Parker this morning. Very poor reception on the radio so that we missed the first half of his forecast and were only able to get him clearly when he started talking to his sponsoring boats.

John was called over to our immediate neighbours first thing, "Aquavit". They told John they were dropping down to No Name Harbour today and would be crossing to the Bimini Islands tomorrow morning , starting at 5:00 a.m. They wanted to know if we would like to join them.
The forecast on NOAA was winds out of the NE, up to 10 knots, with seas of 2ft or less. John was still leery. "Nothing with an N in it" is a common rule of thumb. I radioed Pea Soup and asked for their input. They agreed that the window would be very short and although they had crossed once with a north wind, they advised it might be better to wait. That made us feel more settled. We will stay in Miami until we feel confident to go. Aquavit is considerably larger than Periwinkle too, and it would have a much bigger engine. They would be able to push harder if conditions were uncomfortable but that would not be so easy for us!!

So John and I continued with our original plan for the day. We had looked and looked for somewhere around here to fill our empty propane tank, without success. There are places where you can exchange tanks but nowhere where you can get a small 10 lb. tank filled. We remembered though that there had been a place right by the anchorage in Maule Lake, so we decided to go back there and get both tanks filled. We left at 9:00 a.m. only doing about 4.6 - 5.0 knots against a north wind and the tide. It took us 3 hours to do a little more than 12 miles!
However, we reached Maule Lake around 12:00, gobbled down a peanut butter and honey sandwich and set off to walk up to the propane place. It wasn't very far but those tanks get heavy, especially on the way back! Good thing I'd furnished us both with a pair of gloves!
We didn't stick around at Maule Lake. As soon as we'd got back to the boat we brought the anchor up and set off back to the Venetian Causeway again. This time we anchored on the north side again, with Suncast and Twice 's Nice. Very cosy! Barbecued a steak for supper, with baked potatos and cole slaw. Yummy.

Once we'd cleared up, John got busy with the wifi booster and tried to hook us up with the internet. Its a good thing he's a persistent kind of fella. It took him 2 hours! The silly thing would get so far and then spit him out. We couldn't get connected at all when we were anchored on the south side. However, he was finally successful!! And now I'm up to date again!

The Movies!!!

Day 171, January 27th, 2010

Went over to Suncast in the morning for a cup of coffee with Barb. Another couple we'd met in 2006 were there too - Sharon and Reg from "Pea Soup". We'd met them in Marsh Harbour, in the Abacos. They have a place in Manitoulin where they spend their summers, cuise the Caribbean in the winters. Its was so nice to meet up with them again! John and Bill returned from a couple of chores after a short time and we had lunch together aboard Suncast.

In the afternoon, Sue and Paul joined us and we walked to the movie theatre. We saw Meryl Streep and Alex Baldwin in "Its Complicated". What a wonderful movie. We laughed ourselves silly. She really deserves an Oscar for her role in this one. We all agreed you pretty much have to be at this stage in life to really appreciate the dialogue!!! It was great fun.

Sue and Paul joined us for a drink and munchies after the movie before we settled in for the night.

Miami

Day 170, January 26th, 2010

We woke up to lovely sunshine, and decided we should go for a nice walk in the afternoon.

Paul and Sue joined us, so we walked down Lincoln Road Mall again to South Beach. It was windy but quite warm. We sat on the beach and watched the comings and goings. There were a few people swimming but not many. Walked along the beach a little and then home via Washington Ave., stopping at McD's for supper. It was a lovely afternoon.

Miami

Day 168, January 24th, 2010

Time to go to the library again. We left around 10:30 but when we got there the sign on the door said it didn't open till 1:00 p.m. We had some time to waste. There was a lovely farmers' market set up in the street where we bought some yummy French pastries and some Avocado Honey!!! There were lovely veggies and fruit too, but that just looked too healthy, and besides I had lots on the boat!!!

Then John and I walked up to the beach and along the promenade to Ocean Drive. Its a lovely walk, all along the back entrances to the hotels. Gorgeous swimming pools and patio areas, opening onto the beach. It would be fun to stay in any one of them. Windy but a lovely sunny day.

We spent all afternoon in the library, catching up with stuff, and then went home for supper.


Day 169, January 25th, 2010

We're going to be here a while it sounds. Chris Parker still reckons on one cold front following another!! No good for crossing to the Bahamas.

Miserable day today. It rained heavily. I was chicken and stayed on the boat all day, reading my excellent book. John went off to buy us a wifi booster so we could pick up wifi from the boat instead of having to go to the library all the time. He tried to order a really good one on line but they were all back ordered. So, instead he went to Radio Shack and bought a different kind. He was able to get us hooked up in the evening though. We're hoping this will be better and more convenient.

Around 5:00 p.m. after he got back, there was quite a north wind so we decided to move the boat around the causeway to the south side of the bridge. It was more sheltered there and we were glad. Probably would have been just fine where we were though since it was quite difficult to get the anchor up. Paul and Sue decided to stay put.

"Its my Birthday!!!"

Day 167, January 23rd, 2010

60 today!! Bit scary!!! My dear husband cooked me scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast which was a nice treat. Didn't only do the cooking but all the cleaning up too, while I had another cup of coffee and read my book. Pretty nice way to start the day.

Lovely day, warm with the sun shining. Paul and Sue joined us and we dinghied up the canal a little way, then walked down Lincoln Road Mall to the beach. We were able to sit on the beach and suntan for a while. John watched the scenery and I read my book. Was sorely tempted to try paragliding but these big black clouds rolled in and it seemed better to wait for a clearer day.
We were able to stay there for a couple of hours though and it was lovely before we found a restaurant on Ocean Drive. Just as we sat down on the patio it started to rain heavily. They were able to find us a table inside and had a nice meal. No birthday cake but a shared piece of Key Lime Pie seemed appropriate!!!

On the way back to the dinghy, you can see a picture of me by my new car - a Lamborghini!!! Don't you love the beautiful sunny orange colour!!!! Vroom Vroom!!!! It didn't fit in the dinghy though so I thought I'd leave it right there!

We finished off our lovely day with a drink aboard Twice 's Nice. Good to be together again.

Twice 's Nice!!!

Day 166, January 22, 2010

Twice 's Nice is in town!!!! We left the marina this morning and Twice 's Nice caught up with us just north of the Rickenbauker Bridge where they'd anchored for the night. Two little ducks in a row again!!! We motored back up to the Venetian Causeway and dropped our anchors. The wind was out of the SW though and no soon had we set the anchor when an old boat beside us dragged its anchor and was headed for the concrete wall - fortunately the fella was on board, thought quickly and dropped another anchor, stopping just before he wiped out!!!! That was enough for us, we up anchored again and moved through the East Venetian Causeway bridge to anchor again where it was a little more sheltered on the other side. Hopefully we'll be good there. No real sign of good weather for a crossing yet. It looks as if we may be here for a while.

Its good to be together again. We visited the Post Office this afternoon and then came here to the library to get connected!! We'll have supper together tonight and catch up with all the news. John and I were delighted to hear all about the New Year's Day party at CYC!!! Hi, you guys!!!

The Fitting from Napa!!

Day 165, January 21, 2010

Well, it wasn't a day of relaxing on the beach after all. Instead we set off on the bus to find the Napa Auto Parts Store in Miami. Things started off well with the bus ride across the waterway on the Rickenbauker Bridge to the Metrorail depot. We paid for a day pass each and joined the northbound Metro rail. The Metrorail is just like the El in Chicago except a lot more modern.
We ended up seeking some advice from a passenger who recommended we get off at the Okeechobee stop and then take the #73 bus southbound to 58th Street. No problem. We were waiting for the bus at the Okeechobee station when we got into conversation with this nice old boy. First he warned us to be very aware of people around us. That this was an area of Miami where nasty things happen. He advised John to take off his gold necklace because people get mugged for that! It was kind of a lonely spot beneath the metrorail tracks!!! "Don't do anything that makes it more obvious that you're tourists!!!" Oh Great! Then we went on to have a nice chat about how he used to be a captain on one of these motor yachts and some of his funny experiences.

We managed to get on bus #73 and ended up in a not so smart area of Miami called Hialeah. Very Spanish, very seedy. However, we found the Napa Store and were thrilled to find they actually had the fitting we needed in case we have problems with the refrigerator again!!! We shall guard it with our lives. Then back on the bus, this time southbound to the metrorail, Dadeland, where there's a big Mall. Took the metro up to Bricknell and we were back to the original station.

We were starving hungry by then and found a lovely little roadside cafe where we enjoy a great sandwich and shared a yummy piece of chocolate gateau!!!

We found our way back on the bus to the marina without any problem and were glad to sit and have a cold beer.

Walked over to where the charter and fishing boats were moored. They sell fresh fish from there and fillet them how you like, right infront of you. I bought two yellow tailed snappers for supper and they were delicious.

I was interested in these birds I hadn't seen before which were hanging around there waiting for scraps along with the pelicans. The young guy told me they were Black Crowned Night Herrings. If you look carefully you can see one long white thread like plume hanging from the back of his head. Apparently they almost became extinct at a time when the ladies liked to have these plumes in their hats. A good thing we don't wear hats like that any more. They are common now.

In the evening, we were invited over to one of the other boats. A group of Jamaicans, old friends, who have all lived in Florida for years, hang out there at Crandon Marina. What a nice bunch of guys. We had a lovely evening with them while they barbecued the pork, with Jerk sauce, sausage and asparagus, washed down with beer!!!

Key Biscayne

Day 164, January 20th, 2010

Beautiful morning. We're still trying to listen to Chris Parker in the mornings but its still very crackly and we're not hearing him clearly.

After breakfast we both had a cold shower!!! Pretty bracing. The other funny thing is that the two showers are outside at the back of the washroom building - not even a shower curtain, so we each held up a big towel for the other one, for decency's sake!!! What a funny place! The laundry machines worked well though, so I spent the morning doing that.

John got all the fuel and water filled up again.

This afternoon we took the bus to Key Biscayne to the library to catch up on correspondence and the blog. All is well. I think tomorrow we shall be able to walk on the beach and relax!

Its Fixed!!

Day 163, January 19th, 2010

Shortly after breakfast, Bill and Barb stopped by to say hi and we happened to mention our refrigeration problems. Bill reckoned he'd experienced exactly the same problem back in Stuart and he'd got exactly the right adaptor to get the recharger thing to fit on the compressor. Within five minutes he was back with the fitting and John was able to make it work!!! How lovely! We sat and watched the thermostat cycle between -12 and -8!!! Once it had gone through 5 times we were happy it was fixed! We called and thanked Dan the air conditioner guy, but told him we no longer needed his services. He was happy anyway that the referral had come through the marina.

Then we figured it would be a good idea if we could buy our own fitting so off we set around the auto parts shops, the air conditioning place, but we couldn't find one like it anywhere. That will have to remain a job for the future!

One thing was good - I got a hair cut!

When we got back we took the anchor up and moved south 8 miles to Crandon Park Marina - a Country Marina, on Key Biscayne. It looks lovely from the outside with very nice docks and a very nice building on the dock! Its half the price of other marinas in the area at $1.50/ft/night.
Perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised when we subsequently found out there was no wifi and no hot showers!!! The lovely building has been there for three years but they still haven't moved in - nobody knows why - "Huh, that's Miami!" we were told. Administration operates out of a prefab trailer on the property!!!

Anyway, we had a nice chat with a couple of locals and its still a gorgeous spot!

Refrigerator Problems

Day 162, January 18th, 2010

The fan beside the compressor for the refrigerator was definitely not doing any good at all. The fridge still was not cycling and the temperature was getting higher and higher. We were getting frustrated with it.

We were listening to the Single Side Band radio in the morning, trying to get Chris Parker but without a whole lot of success. However, we did hear a conversation between two boats, one of which was just arriving to the Bahama banks. The other boat happened to be right beside us in the anchorage and we heard he was delayed due to refrigeration problems.

John got in the dinghy after breakfast and went over to "Early Out" and had a chat. He came back all enthused and said that they had been experiencing exactly the same problem as us and had bought a "recharge kit" at the local Auto Parts store and it had worked! So, off John went and bought all the bits he needed and came back enthused to get the refrigerator sorted out. His enthusiasm was squashed though when the recharging gadget wouldn't fit onto the nipple on the compressor! Sometimes, it seems, nothing is easy. We had a phone message out to the distributor in Toronto but he wasn't returning the call. We did some phoning around and found an air conditioner guy who was recommended by a local marina, who would come out to the boat the following morning. We were pretty happy with this and hoped it would get fixed the next day. That was all pretty exhausting for poor old John, so he took a nap in the afternoon, while I got busy and scrubbed the water line - it was getting pretty hairy with sea weed!

Windy Night

Day 161, January 17th, 2010

It was a windy night. I got up about in the night at 1:00 a.m. and sat in the cockpit for a couple of hours. Wasn't long after I got up when there was a bump!!! It even woke up John! Turned out it was a Sea Do that had come lose and was floating across the anchorage on its own!!

After breakfast we moved north of the Venetian Causeway to another anchorage where it was more protected. On arrival we recognised another Canadian boat there already "Suncast" with Bill and Barb Layzell from Toronto. We had met them in 2006 in the Bahamas.

We spent a lovely afternoon listening to a concert by the New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy, on Lincoln Road. Every year 100 applicants audition for 30 positions. It was wonderful. We heard "Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet, Op.30" by Paul Hindemith, and then Quintet in C Major for Two Violins, Two Violas and Cello, Op.29 "Storm" by Beethoven.
We both really enjoyed it.

In the evening Bill and Barb came over for munchies and drinks and had a good old chat getting up to date.

Miami,Fl

Day 160, January 16th, 2010

It was pretty warm in the night, back to throwing off the blankets not adding!!! Windy though, out of the south east.

We seem to be having a bit of a problem with the refrigerator system. It is meant to cycle, turning on and off as required. However, the motor seems to be on all the time when the weather is warm. This drains the batteries and leaves John concerned. We run the little generator for hours at a time and often put the engine on for short periods as well, in order to keep the batteries from getting too low. The solar panel works when the sun is shining but thats not all the time. Anyway, using Herman's wire, John installed a cooling fan beside the compressor for the fridge. Hopefully this will help but did not seem to have immediate results. We will watch and see.

This afternoon we've spent in the library, catching up to date with e-mails and banking etc.

When we get back to the boat we may consider moving over to a more sheltered anchorage. All is well though!

Miami, Fl

Day 159, January 15th, 2010

We are just starting to tune into Chris Parker, the meteriologist, on the Single Side Band Radio, each morning at 6:30 a.m. He gives excellent forecasts on the local weather and the Atlantic and the Bahamas. He is the local guru - you don't cross to the Bahamas without first getting his recommendation that all is good!!! We couldn't pick him up yesterday, too much interference on the radio. However, today we heard him fairly clearly. It seems as if Tuesday/Wednesday there might be a weather window enabling us to cross. We will continue to tune in each day.

We left the boat in the morning and went walking. Ended up on Lincoln Avenue where there are some pretty trendy little shops and restaurants. Miami is full of chic people and places.
Our best purchase of the day was at the Croc Shop - yes, new Crocs!!!! We've been looking out for Crocs for ages and they were nowhere to be seen, but here was a complete Shop of their own!! Crocs are apparently now made in China, Mexico, Bulgaria and other places!!! But lovely new pearly/pink crocs are so lovely!!!! John's are plain black!! We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up more stores.

A nice fella came over to chat for a short while when we got back. "Herman" lives aboard his 40ft Bristol and was passing in his dinghy when he noticed our registration in Thunder Bay. He used to work for Ontario Hydro for a while and worked in Thunder Bay. Couldn't manage the cold though and now cruises mostly in the Caribbean!

Miami, Fl

Day 158, January 14th, 2010

Finally the weather seems to have improved. No longer need the little heater at night and actually changed into shorts this afternoon!

It was a day of business. We left the boat at 9:00 a.m. and headed out to find the HSBC Bank in Miami. Our little GPS Nuvi works wonders and we had no trouble finding it. Walked through some lovely homes, only about 20 minutes from where we could leave the dinghy in the canal. I wanted to open a sterling account with the Branch in Barrie, ON. They looked a bit surprised but ended up being very helpful. HSBC is truly the World Wide Bank! After a bit of difficulty the Barrie branch faxed us down the signature papers to the Miami Branch, we signed them (had to go back to the boat for our passports for ID) and the papers were faxed back!!

There was quite a bit of waiting but we had lunch up the road and visited a hardwear store! I really do like Miami with its multi ethnic culture.

On our way back we stopped at the grocery store and bought more stores to squish into our already packed boat!! I'm beginning to think we could live for months on all this stuff!! If I can remember where any of it is!!

Not Distressed

Day 157, January 13th, 2010

We were sleeping like logs and then both of us were awakened by a bump. At first we were so groggy we hardly realised what had happened. Then gradually I seemed to get the message - flew out of bed (almost tripping and falling over the table as I tried to extricate myself) and saw red lights shining in through the starboard windows. I thought we'd ran aground. "Oh God! What's happened?" John is more upset by me doing strange stuff "What's the matter?" I opened the hatch only to find the Coast Guard boat alongside. They asked me to come out to the cockpit and announced that a distress signal had been sent yesterday afternoon from this vessel. I assured him we were fine but my husband had installed a new radio yesterday. John meanwhile was rushing to get his pants on!!! We eventually understood that they had not got our location with the call and it had taken sometime to locate us. That would have been because the chart plotter was turned off and the lat. and long. had not been transmitted. Anyway, it was all quite surreal. We heard that they had contacted the Cdn. Coast Guard, had read our Blog (haven't got a clue how they knew of this) and with the help of the Blog, our Spot device, and our son James, they had figured out exactly where we were. "This was the first boat we came to!" I was so upset that our poor family had spent such a worrisome few hours. John hasn't got a clue how the distress call went out. He did not press the red button. The coast guard kindly assured us that this didn't matter at all, they were just happy it was a false alarm and at least we know the system works very well!!!

After saying our goodbyes and thanking them for their concern, we immediately went below and called James. Poor guy got the first call at 2:00 a.m. and hadn't slept since then. He already knew we were okay - the coast guard had called him even before the fellas left us apparently. He'd just had time to call his brother Graham to say that all was well! Apparently, James had had to give them our VISA number and that was another method they had found our location - by checking our purchases. They knew the West Marine where we'd picked up the radio!!! This just seems so like George Orwell's Brave New World!!!! Mr. Orwell wasn't far off the mark. We also called our son Chris to assure him all was well. What a dreadful worry it must have been for them all. We are so sorry.

It took quite a while to calm down and warm up again. (Spending 20 minutes out in the cockpit in your pyjamas was a chilling experience!!) This trip is fraying my nerves!!!!

Anyway, we had an uneventful day after all this. Tootled down to the Venetian Causeway in south Miami and we're anchored nicely close to the canal. Almost as soon as we'd stopped a dinghy approached and it was the couple from Myosotis who had spent the better part of a day with us on our way to Middle River. They had heard the distress call sent out by the coast guard on their VHF last evening, asking if anybody knew of our whereabout. Kindly, they had called the coast guard at 10:00p.m. giving as much information as they could. We heard their caption of the story when they came on board for a chat!!! Oh, I forgot to mention that the first bridge we came to this morning also asked us if we had spoken to the coast guard as they were trying to locate us at 1:00 a.m. "Yes, thank you," I answered, "we spoke to the coast guard at 5:00 a.m. this morning!"

Hopefully, things will be a bit more boring for a while!!!

Got the New Radio!

Day 156, January 12th, 2010

We got up in the morning hoping we would be able to pick up the radio before noon. Unfortunately, we weren't able to pick it up until about 3:00 p.m. However, the day was spent usefully doing odd jobs. The knotmeter had got gummed up in Stuart so John took the thro- hull out and cleaned the little wheel of barnacles. Worked fine after that. He also took the windlass apart, as it had been slipping again, and fixed that. I continued knitting and did prepare the evening meal!

Once we got back to the boat, John installed the new radio and registered the MMSI distress number into the unit. (I should explain a little perhaps - our VHF radio has a special feature where you enter this specific number for your boat and then, if you press the red button when you're in trouble, it will send a distress signal to the Coast Guard giving your location.) We thought - no big deal!!!!

We spent a quiet evening, glad to be able to move on in the morningi to Venetian Causeway.

Another Radio

Day 154, January 10th, 2010

We meant to carry on to Maule Lake today but the weather was miserable. Freezing cold winds all night with driving rain, etc. etc. Just didn't feel like moving at all. So we holed up again and stayed put all day. We played Scrabble, read our books, John practiced Ukulele and I started another little sweater. We watched old movies in the evening. Used up more of the little gas propane bottles on Mr. Heater and were generally warm and cosy.

Day 155, January 11th, 2010

We left our nice anchorage in Middle River and tootled along to Maule Lake. John's GPS Nuvi, he got for Christmas, has turned out to be a very useful gadget. We asked it to show us the West Marine's in Miami and got various locations with phone numbers. John was able to get a good deal with the one near Maule Lake, only a short walk from the anchorage. Working with the Nuvi and the charts we had no trouble in locating where we needed to be. (And I wondered why on earth he brought it back to the boat with us!!!) We arrived in Maule Lake on Monday around 1:30 p.m. so we had lots of time to dinghy to a nearby park and walk to the West Marine to get our bearings.

That cold North wind had been with us again all day but it was quite pleasant by the time we got back to the boat so we had a chance to have a rum and coke and sit and relax before supper.

Radio Troubles!

Day 152, January 9th, 2010

Well, two days o f lovely weather was very nice!!! It started to rain just before 5:00 and didn't quit. The temperature seemed to go down every hour. Then when John got up to check the weather on the radio, he found the main radio had died!!! The ram mike out in the cockpit was working fine but the speaker had given up on the main unit in the cabin. We both agreed we did not want to go across to the Bahamas with a faulty radio! John spent sometime on the phone and finally managed to find a West Marine that would bring in a new radio on Tuesday and would take ours back under warranty. However, by the time we had it all settled, it was still raininig and freezing cold. We figured out the nearest anchorage to the West Marine, just about 13 miles south of us here. We decided to stay put today and move on tomorrow.

We are presently in a Borders Book Store just a short dinghy ride from the boat. They have free WiFi here so we're getting the Blog up to date. Its nice and warm in here too! Will shortly go back to the boat for supper.

Fort Lauderdale

Day 151, January 8th, 2010

We were looking forward to seeing Sharon and Nev at their hotel tonight for supper. We thought we'd spend the day on the beach before meeting them there. We took our computer to the marina first thing to check our e-mails before setting off. However, there was an e-mail from Sharon to say they had had to cancel their trip at the last minute. We understood, of course, but were disappointed. We will be thinking of you all Riddells!!

So we took our little picnic to the Beach. The weather was gorgeous. I was able to go for a swim. John loved the scenery! I had a lovely time reading my book and sunbathing!!
We had supper at Hooters. (I'd never been in a Hooters before.) Returned to the boat about 7:00. It had been a lovely day.

Fort Lauderdale

Day 150, January 7th, 2010

I felt better in the morning, having had a good cry in the middle of the night!!! John is absolutely right - we didn't get hurt and the boat only got minor damage! Time to move on.

We dinghied over to Las Olas Municipal Marina, just five minutes away on the ICW. We were expecting to have supper the following night with old friends, Sharon and Nev Riddell. We located their hotel on John's GPS Nuvi (GPS Plotter he received for Christmas for the car) and found it was a short walk from the marina, right on the beach. It actually turned out to be a lovely day. We were still dressed in warm clothes but it was actually warm enough to sit on the beach. And what a lovely beach it is. We had fun scouting about and stopping for a bit of lunch and then dinghied back again to the boat.

Middle River, Fort Lauderdale

Day 149, January 6th, 2010

We left early at 7:00 as we expected to go all the way to Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale with 19 bascule bridges to go under! Most of them only opened on the half hour, a couple by request.
It was freezing cold again so we both wrapped up warm and actually it gradually did improve a bit in the afternoon.

As we got further south the homes became more and more palatial, with the fountains and the swimming pools. It did seem a little strange with clear blue skies, palm trees and freezing cold temperatures.

We had a nasty experience in the afternoon. I was at the helm. We had the jib out to help get us to the next bridge opening. There were another couple of boats just ahead of us. We had one more bend in the waterway to come around when all of a sudden the engine started "Putt, putt, putting!!!" and John said "Turn the engine off - she's not getting any water!" He ran down below to diagnose the problem while I continued on. Remember the waterway is not that wide with beautiful homes either side. We came around the bend and I could see the next bridge just a short ways off and there were the two other boats idling, waiting for the opening. I knew we couldn't continue down there as there wouldn't be enough room to manoever. I decided to come about. Meanwhile John had dug in the locker for a piece of pipe, took off the intake water strainer lid, inserted the pipe and blew for all he was worth to free whatever had blocked the water strainer. However, when I came about the jib sheet caught on something and I couldn't free it up. The wind was fluky and all of a sudden I had no control and we were headed for somebody's beautiful retaining wall. I screamed "John!!!". Just at that moment he got water coming water coming back into the engine and called out to me to restart the engine which I did. He came up to help. I had the helm hard over to starboard but I was scared still we were headed straight for the wall. As he jumped up on the deck, the boat suddenly, just at the last moment obeyed the helm and we slid into the retaining wall on our port side. "Shove it in reverse!!!" "It is!!" and poor little Periwinkle backed up on command. I was so shaken!!! John took over just as the bridge opened and we continued on without a minute to collect ourselves. It was awful. We ended up taking two chips out of the beautiful wall. The two port stancheons are slightly bent and the strap to the bimini split at the toe rail. The black paint on the toe rail is scraped off just at the midship cleat but really we were so lucky!!

I felt so awful though and kept going over it again and again in my mind. These things seem to upset me more and more. Thank God John was able to think so quickly and get the engine running again. Kudos to him!!!

We ended up stopping at a lovely anchorage in Middle River, surrounded by more gorgeous homes and beautiful boats. We had omelets and salad for supper. I went to bed early, feeling like a bit of chewed string!!!

Happy 64th Birthday, John!!!

Day 148, January 5th, 2010

Happy Birthday John!!! He got his card (Firedog Max lifting his leg to help extinguish the miriad of candles) and a new shirt from Sunset Bay Marina, Stuart.

We let go the mooring boy shortly after 9:00 and headed off again! Our destination - Lake Worth, i.e. Palm Beach. It was freezing cold, the wind being right out of the North. We had quite a wait for the railway bridge and the bascule bridge at Stuart, but were finally on our way.
I should note that Stuart was voted the best place to live in the whole of the US last year!!!

It really was very cold. We added clothes as the day progressed. I was wearing two fleece jackets, my all weather gear and a touque and was still freezing. Even John had a fleece, a jacket and a hat. Other than the cold though, it was a good day. Very little traffic, just tootling along through all the beautiful homes with gorgeous boats on their private docks. We anchored just about at the very spot where we stopped 4 years ago. It was just an anchorage then but now there are mostly mooring buoys. Still the same old recks here though - one beside us is in pretty awful shape - only half a mast, jerry rigged with the boom, and an old reck of a dinghy tied to the mooring behind us!! Lake Worth hasn't changed much!!

John barbecued 2 steaks for supper, with baked potatoes. I made a salad. And we finished off the birthday cake. All washed down with a bottle of wine. A birthday feast. With our little heater we were warm and cosy at last. We were able to pick up somebody's wifi signal here and were able to chat with all three sons on Skype!!

Our last day in Stuart

Day 147, January 4th, 2009

Today was our last day in Stuart! Several things to do today. We left the boat just after 9:00 with the laundry, the computer, washing tackle and the garbage to drop off! Again it was chilly - the hot showers felt so good. Then we got the laundry started and went upstairs to the common room with the computer. John quickly gave me a lesson on how to download books from e-books to my new treasured "Sony Reader", my Christmas present! Not too difficult, even for me, being technologically handicapped. I really am coming to love this gadget! Unlimited books - I feel spoiled!!! John then borrowed a bike and hightailed it off to buy more propane bottles for our little heater. The weather was forecast to continue cold for the coming week. When he got back he found the laundry piled on top of the washing machine. I'd completely forgotten all about it as I was steeped in the nether regions of computery!!! Good man - he took care of the drying and the folding!!! Then we switched, he took over the computer while I snuck off and bought him a birthday cake. My miserable efforts at surprise were pretty pathetic but he diplomatically managed to look the other way!

Back at the boat, we had a quick lunch. John plotted the course on the GPS to Lake Worth for the next day while I put the laundry away and cleaned house.

After supper Bev and Dave, from Back Roads, came over for a goodbye chat and a piece of birthday cake. We got up to date with our news and had a good laugh.

Stuart, cont'd

Day 146, January 3rd, 2010

Still freezing cold!

Today we walked up to West Marine to replace our dinghy light which had fried, even though it was meant to be waterproof. We'd hoped to bike up there but the bikes were all taken. It took us 50 minutes at a good pace!! I was wearing my new "Canada" T shirt I got for Christmas. I was working up so much energy with our fast walking that I had to take off my fleece and tie it round my waist. One lady we passed, all muffled up in fleece, jacket, hat and mitts, remarked "that's what can you expect from somebody from Canada - wearing just a T-shirt in this cold." Our legs were wobbly by the time we got back, but just had time to return our stuff to the boat and get more warm clothes before heading off to the Jazz Concert on the Riverwalk just a short walk from the Marina. Its held the first Sunday of the month and is free!
It was fun!

By 3:30 or so we were pretty much chilled to the bone so went back to the boat, lit our little propane heater and curled up for the rest of the evening.

Stuart, cont'd

Day 145, January 2nd, 2010

Its cold down here now!!! The sun was shining but the wind is from the North and its chilly.
However, we definitely needed to get off the boat today so we walked up to the grocery store for a bit more meat. By the time I packed all the meat in the other day, we still had room for more! That little freezer is really amazing!!!

We had a lovely evening. We were invited over to "El Rio" owned by Sean and Bev from Nova Scotia. We had a good laugh together and shared some munchies and a couple of drinks. The evening sped by. It was cold back on our boat, so we piled on more blankets and hopped into bed. And to think we'd taken the goose down duvet home to Collingwood thinking we wouldn't need it anymore!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Day 144, January 1st, 2010

Oh what a change in the weather! It poured with rain all day and the temperature dropped steadily!! We holed up in the boat and didn't get off all day. We spent time onthe internet, read books, played Scrabble and by the end of the day were getting a bit of cabin fever!!!

Back Again!

Day 143, December 31st, 2009

We are back again! We had such a lovely Christmas holiday with our family. But it seemed to whiz by in a blurrr!!!! We found everybody well and happy, we ate too much and just loved catching up with everybody!!! I wished we had booked a later flight but it was so hard to know when we made the booking. Oh Well! It was lovely and we were so glad we did it.

We arrived back by rental car at exactly midnight on the 30th. Luckily there was a gentleman in the common room, sitting watching TV, who kindly gave us a ride back to the boat in his dinghy. The boat was fine and we slept like logs back in the V-berth!!!

December 31st was hot and humid. Ah Florida!! This made coming back a little easier!!! We spent the day reprovisioning - going to WalMart and the Grocery stores, buying up food for a couple of months!! We know its going to be expensive to get groceries in the Bahamas so its easiest to do it this way. It took quite a while to pack it away in the boat. Pretty much every nook and cranny is now packed with something!!! We took the car back and dropped off the key and walked back to the boat, stopping at the IHOP for supper en route.

Back on the boat we watched a couple of movies and shared a glass of wine to bring in the New Year!!!