Miami Beach

We are in Miami Beach at anchor in a beautiful location. After leaving Stuart on Tuesday morning we motored down the ICW to Lake Worth. It was a great day and we arrived early so we tried to find an alternative anchorage from the recommended one but every spot was taken and the anchorage behind Peanut Island where we thought we would have good shelter from the winds and a place to walk Moose was very small and full so we motored back to North Lake Worth and dropped the hook. It was the first time we used our new anchor and it preformed like a champ. The predicted t-storms arrived and although others in the anchorage dragged we held tight. The landing area for the dinghy where we went in to walk Moose and others use to get to shopping is known for theft. A friend we met in Stuart had their outboard stolen a few years back and all of the guides caution not to leave your dinghy unattended even if locked. We decided to only stay the night and left early the following morning. We had hoped to jump outside of the ICW into the Atlantic and head to Miami but the weather was iffy so we stayed inside and motored through Palm Beach and onto Ft. Lauderdale. This area of the ICW is called the canyon as the sides of the canal are all concrete and lined with homes some quite opulent. North of Del Ray Beach the temp alarm went off and smoke started pouring out of the hatchway. John shouted to turn off the engine as he raced below to see what was up. We had broken an engine belt and blown out a hose. We dropped anchor in the middle of the channel and John spent over an hour below making repairs. There are 20 bridges to get through in this 50 mile stretch and most are restricted to certain opening times. Some are only a couple of miles apart and you go through one at quarter to or after the hour and the next on the hour or half. We don't quite go fast enough to make the quick openings and spent a lot of time waiting for the 2nd opening. That combined with the time lost on the repairs put us into Ft. Lauderdale too late to find an anchorage and we were forced to stop the night at a marina. This morning we left and made it through the final two bridges to Port Everglades Inlet. John noticed that our oil leak that he thought was fixed when he tightened every bolt in sight is worse than ever perhaps due to the belt episode and the heat that generated. We decided however to push on to Miami so we motored out into the Atlantic passing a few huge cruise ships at dock and hoisted the sails and took off south. The wind died shortly and we motored on to Government Cut a big shipping channel into Miami. We passed by a huge cruise ship at dock awaiting and made our way slowly up the cut being bounced around and side to side constantly by all the big and small power boats that don't know the meaning of "No Wake"

New Year's Eve was great. We had fireworks all around us in the anchorage. There were some over Miami and some over South Beach. It was very exciting. We have found the Publix, Ace Hardware and Post Office. We can walk to all of those as well as into South Beach and the upscale shops there. The street with the shops is closed off for pedestrian traffic only and it is line with outdoor cafes and filled with people speaking spanish. We love the mix of cultures here and the excitement of the city There is a lovely little park where we take Moose for his twice daily walks. It has a fenced in play area for the children and is right on the water.

We tried to use the Alfa antenna that we had purchased but after loading the software and wiping out our 'easy tether' and gmail, we took the Mac and antenna into an Apple store for help. As usual the store was full to the brim with people shopping for Mac products. Pretty incredible. We were able to get our gmail back but could not get the antenna to work so we sent the antenna back and will try to order another brand that can work with the Mac. The parts for the oil leak are not going to arrive until Jan. 9th so we will remain here in Miami until we can get those and meet with the mechanic. Once they arrive we will have to go into an expensive marina to have the work done. The good news is I will do laundry and we will take real showers. Looks like it will be the middle of January before we leave. Our next adventure will be to take the bus to the West Marine store to purchase some more spares in case they are needed in the Bahamas. From what we are told it is very hard and expensive to get parts there. We are anchored very close to South Beach and the West Marine stores are all in Miami so we will try the bus. Here in Miami there are no special rates for seniors as we have found in other locations unless you have a special card which requires a bus trip in order. to apply for the card. More trouble than it is worth.

We had a cold snap for a couple of days. One night the temps dropped to the high 30's but today it is back to the 70's with a nice breeze. Just lovely. I shall send this now as our wifi coverage is very spotty and I may not get an opportunity to send an update for a while. At least until we spend the night at the marina.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying life.