George Town tale: I was knifed on Volleyball beach

Elizabeth Harbor in George Town, nicknamed ‘Chicken Harbor’ for the amount of boats that are semi-permanently anchored (and don’t go anywhere else), is full of boats during high season (Jan-April).  The anchorage is actually across the harbor from the George Town settlement and has a life of its own- for better or worse.  Many anchored here do not and will not interact with the Bahamians on the mainland unless they are ordering a drink or paying for propane.  The hub of activity on the boat side of the harbor, not surprisingly, is centered around a beach bar named Chat n’ Chill.  There are permanent volleyball courts installed next to the bar and daily volleyball games (giving the beach the name volleyball beach).  There are also plenty of picnic tables to lounge around and open space for kids and dogs to play.  (There is also a conch salad shack- which makes the best conch salad around!  The discarded conch attracts sting rays- which swim right up to the beach- pretty cool.)

Our stay in Elizabeth Harbor has included quite a few trips from our anchorage to Volleyball beach.  And although we don’t really participate in the PLETHURA of organized activities, we did get caught up in the week of the cruiser’s regatta. The regatta is a 7-10 day blitz of activities ranging from very serious big boat racing to a whacky coconut harvest to coconut boat races.  The coconut boat race is where my foot and a blade crossed paths...

During the lead-up to the coconut boat race, a fellow cruiser organized a coconut boat making workshop.  Not really the workshop you might imagine, but more like 4 picnic tables full of power tools, sticks and coconuts, and kids and adults everywhere…using powertools…with bare feet.  Sweet 8-year-old  Eli, Cyrus’ best buddy on Whistling Cay, was standing next to me, trying to pry the flesh out from an opened coconut with a mutli-plier knife. I remember Eli saying, “Oh no!” and looking down at my foot where the knife was sticking straight up from what looked like between my 3^rd and 4^th toes.  I thought at first that the knife was simply between my toes, but when I bent down to pick it up, I noticed that it was stuck through my foot.  Eli, who is the nicest kid around, and of course would be the last person to ever hurt anyone, was mortified and more upset than I was.  Nathan, Eli’s dad, and Tyler came over and offered to pull the knife out, but I knew that I had to do it myself.  I removed the knife and looked up and realized that I had a 400 meter trek across the beach to clean out the wound.  Wendy, Eli’s mom, helped me across the sand and eventually out to her dinghy and boat and their amazing first aid kit.  There is a clinic in George Town, however, it was closed-of course- emergencies do not happen during normal business hours.  My treatment on Whistling Cay was awesome, however, and I don’t think the George Town clinic would have served me rum drinks with my ibuprofen.

..and now I can say I was knifed on Volleyball beach.

G-Town

It is 8am and everyone on the boat is still asleep- except for me of course.  A typical morning on Mirage begins with me quietly making coffee and straightening up the boat while everyone, including Zander, snores away in the V-berth.    This morning I am sitting in the cockpit, looking back at the boats we played on last night.  We are currently anchored in Red Shanks, which is about 5nm south of George Town in the Exumas.  We are here to wait out some crazy weather that is predicted- which, so far, we have not seen any part of.  This smaller anchorage feels remote compared to where we’ve been for about a month- more on why that happened later- but there are still about 18 boats anchored near one another, wind generators whipping away, kids playing, VHF radios on, and I can see cars driving by on the mainland.  “Remote” is relative here.

So is time, which is truly the reason why my blog posts have fizzled.  I’d like to say I haven’t posted because of major internet problems or lack of battery power on my laptop, but in actuality, island time has a good hold on all of the crew of Mirage.  Days melt away somehow here- it has nothing to do with Rum or margaritas- but there is a “Jimmy Buffet song” sense to cruising the Bahamas.

We are anchored in Red Shanks with four other “kid boats” – which seems high, but is actually a fraction of the kid boats in the main George Town anchorages.  The Bahamas are very much a kid and dog paradise.  You can imagine kids swimming, zipping around on dinghies, running around exploring beaches and islands- endless opportunities for fun.  It was very easy to get “stuck” here in George Town after seeing only 1-2 kid boats travelling down the Exumas.

We all know that our time here is fleeting, however.  We, and everyone else we’ve been getting to know, must move on soon.  Some boats will be lucky enough to be able to sail further south.  Some, like us, will turn north and head, slowly, back to the states to work and look forward to another sailing season. 

But, for the moment, we are talking one more little trip south and west to the Jumentos.  I’m not sure if it will actually happen, but the diving and fishing is supposed to be some of the best in the Bahamas.  Tyler has been diving more often- free diving- not scuba- and has yet to spear a fish.  The temptation to travel just a little further and find that illusive ‘big one’ is great.  We shall see if reality or fishing wins.

 

Wardrick Wells or Zander's dark side

We arrived in Wardrick Wells tired from our rocky night.  Luckily, we found and tied to our mooring quickly, and were able to get off the boat and on to the beach in a short time.  We had planned to hike the ragged hills to get to the park headquarters, but were sad to read that Zander was not welcome to travel past the beach at Wardrick Wells because of the protected wildlife (this will be very relevant later in the story).  So we took poor Zander back to the boat before embarking on our trek.


Our hike became what is now known on our boat as a "Pam death march" (PDM).  The PDM is a regular occurrence in our cruising lives, referring to a "walk"- usually in hot or rainy weather- that is supposed to be short and lead to a restaurant, grocery store or somewhere rewarding, and ends- sometimes unfinished- after 1-100 miles with our tongues dragging and Cyrus ( and sometimes Tyler) having a cow.

This particular PDM resulted in a spectacular hike through ironshore and poisonwood trees, past 2 beaches, with views of both the eastern and western shores- but no park HQ.  We ended up taking a wet dinghy ride to park HQ- but we were rewarded with $2 movie rentals....hooray!


The real stories from Wardrick Wells involve Cyrus and Zander, however.


While visiting park HQ on our second day in the park (dinghy ride- no death march), Cyrus and I saw children playing on the beach.  Cyrus flew down to greet them, seemingly a bit tired of his mother.  While I was finishing my business at park HQ, I recognized one of the faces of the other cruisers- but could not place from where.  She recognized me as well, and we eventually realized that we had met, not on boats, but at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale, when Cyrus returned to Florida from Denver.  Cyrus had flown as an unaccompanied minor and met a family from Alaska flying to Florida to refit their boat and sail to the Bahamas.  At the time, Wendy (the mom) had been traveling for 24 hours with 3 children and a plethora of flight/airline issues.  She was so frazzled that we were not able to exchange contact information, and I thought we would never see them again.  The cruising world is small, however, and there was Wendy, her 3 children (and husband) aboard Whistling Cay once more.  Needless to say, we spent the better part of the next 3 days onboard Whistling Cay, or playing with Lily, Eli and Jedo.  Cyrus had such a wonderful time that he stopped talking to me on the day we left. 
While visiting Wardrick Wells, we also met Jennifer and Royce on Cerca Trova- also first time cruisers learning things the hard way (although their boat is a beautiful catamaran with a refrigerator, water maker and oven among other lovely amenities).  We would follow Cerca Trova to Staniel Cay and then to Blackpoint Settlement and hope to see them again soon.
On our final night in Wardrick Wells, Zander was allowed to go off-leash on the beach during a cruiser cookout/ birthday celebration for the park manager.  All was well until Cyrus came to me and asked, "What happens when you touch a rodent?"  I answered (typical mom), " Well... a rodent is like a mouse or a rat..." Cyrus: " I know that...just answer me," Me: "Well nothing usually." Cyrus: "Good- because Zander has one in his mouth."
The Bahamian hutia- https://www.google.bs/search?biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&q=bahamian+hutia&revid=280812034 - sorry no pictures- my connection is too slow
Yes- our little Zander had found the protected hutia-either chased and killed it, or (I believe) just found a dead hutia and dragged it out to the beach...in front of all the park management...and guests....good thing it was dark.  The park workers encouraged me to allow Zander to keep chasing the hutia- apparently they are over-running the island and impacting the plant life.  We had no idea he was anything more than a lap-dog.  More on that in the Staniel Cay post....

Hawksbill Cay

After leaving Norman's Cay, we did a little provisioning and headed toward the Exuma Land and Sea Park- a 25+ mile stretch of protected cays.  No fishing, shell collecting or hunting allowed- the stretch of islands are a beautiful example of the natural Bahamas.
Our primary destination was the park headquarters on Wardrick Wells, with its protected moorings- we knew that a pretty nasty northern wind was headed our way in the evening and wanted to be tucked away safely for it.  Unfortunately, as we headed south, having to motor because of strong headwinds, our engine began to have trouble.  At first, the engine was losing rpm slowly, and then, randomly, the rpm would dive- never quite fully quitting, and then rev back up to our original speed.  Reluctantly, we made the decision to take our chances on a mooring outside of Hawksbill Cay- still within the park, but not as protected as we had hoped.
The water was rough and it took 3 tries to hook the mooring ball: Tyler yelling at me from the bow and while I tried my best to steer a 10,000 lb. tub slowly toward a ball that I could not see.  Tension?  Yes.
After recovering from grabbing the mooring, we decided to enjoy the weather and the island before the evening winds came in.

Hard to believe that bad weather was headed our way

As we explored, we found a lovely trail- marked by cairns (piles of rocks) and winding through ironshore (amazingly hard volcanic rock) and mangrove.  While wading through a shallow creek, we spotted a nurse shark- about 2 feet long- that sent Tyler out of the water quickly.  Cyrus, on the other hand, was excited to wade more and try to find another shark.  The trail led to a beautiful and untouched beach on the eastern side of the island.  The entire family played, chased crabs (Zander) and enjoyed amazingly clear water.  

As evening approached, we went back to Mirage, watching clouds approach from both the west and north.  The wind prediction we had said that the winds would be "clocking around" from south to west to north and the come in strongly from the north by 6pm.  The weather we were watching, however, told a different story. During the hour before sunset, we watched 4 boats come in to our same mooring field- escaping the approaching storm.  By 6pm, westerly winds and a strong storm were beating down on Mirage.  In the waning light, one last boat made an attempt to hook a mooring ball, but the storm and waves were too strong and the light was too dim- they ended up anchoring nearby.  Completely unprotected from the west, our mooring was now a roller coaster ride.  We were happy-now a relative term- to be tied to a strong mooring, however, the waves and storm made for a sleepless night.

In the morning, the wind and waves had died down somewhat, and we crawled out to the cockpit.  Sadly, our dinghy had flipped over in the waves during the night- spilling its contents into the sea.  The motor stayed attached, but the flippers and yet another dive mask and Cyrus shoe were lost.  We learned our lesson to never leave anything in the dinghy overnight and counted our blessings that we did not lose the outboard.
We licked our wounds, made a bunch of coffee, and headed toward Wardrick Wells.

A few snorkeling pics

Between Norman's Cay and Hawksbill Cay, we snorkeled some nice coral heads.  I will again post pics entitled, there really are fish in this picture...and they were so bright!  I also can't find a pic of the barracuda we found...just sitting...alone...creepy.  Enjoy:

No fair!

No wonder so many people were asking about the blog.  I had been using an app called BlogGo to post when wifi was not working well and apparently my posts were not posting!!! The app is now "undergoing complete restructuring" and I lost 4 posts uploaded in January.

Many apologies... I will try to recall and retype our travels to Nassau, Harbour Island and Spanish Wells. 

Down the Exumas part 2: Norman's Cay

We were able to anchor for an afternoon and overnight in Norman's Cay.  A former haven of a drug cartel, Norman's Cay has one of the best airplane wreckage dives in the Bahamas.  The plane is still mostly in tact, but has become part of the marine life.  The water is shallow enough that the wreck can be seen above and below the water at almost any tide.

The little sergeant major fish are very used to people and not only swim right up to you as you snorkel, they follow you throughout the dive.  Cool...and a little creepy.

Norman's Cay also has a little one-palm-tree island with a bench that is dedicated to a couple that loved to cruise the Exumas.  We left Norman's because of an approaching front, but we would have loved to stay for more than one night.

Our journey down the Exuma Islands part 1

The Exuma island chain is approximately 120 nautical miles long, and some of the most beautiful scenery and diving in the Bahamas.  Compared to our earlier travels, the Exumas look more like the Bahamas in the media- stretches of white beaches, brilliant turquoise water that is crystal clear, palm trees and millions of fish.
The first part of our journey took us from Current Settlement in Eleuthera to Ship Channel Cay. Overall, it was a beautiful sail and we were able to practice something called "visual piloting"- an essential skill for the Exumas- which involves watching the water for coral heads, rocks and other hazards not marked on the chart.  Tyler stood on the bow and shouted directions to me at the helm, "Starboard, 20 degrees....Port- 10 degrees..,"  we felt a bit like pirates, however, after about an hour, our nerves were a bit frayed.
At first, we planned to anchor at Allen's Cay, where a group of protected iguanas live and come out to meet visitors on the beach.  Our anchoring plans had to change, however, as we found the first large group of sailboats we had seen since arriving in the Bahamas.
Our second choice for an anchorage was secluded and beautiful, and proved to be well protected over night.

Tyler had a fun exercise for us to practice in the morning- we picked up our anchor and left the anchorage entirely under sail (no engine used at all).  Because it worked, I can say that it was great and I felt very accomplished afterward...during the exercise, I thought I might pass out....
We sailed south to Highbourne Cay in the morning- never quite making it to Allen's Cay....the iguanas can wait.

Update 2/1/2014

Our journey so far-December 1 to February 1

Leg 1: crossing from Florida to Bimini: 54 nautical miles

Leg 2: Bimini to the Berry Islands: approximately 60 nm

Leg 3: Chub Cay to Nassau: 40 nm

Leg 4: Nassau to Spanish Wells: 43 nm

Leg 5: Eleuthera (Current Settlement) to the Exuma Islands: 35 nm (Down the Exumas: appx. 120 miles)

Time Out

Many apologies for the lack of blog updates.  A series of technical difficulties, culminating in the complete loss of function of the laptop space bar, have made blogging more difficult.  That said, we also just had a lovely visit with my parents on Harbour Island.  Much merriment was had by all- eating, drinking, beach-bumming- so writing was clearly not a priority when any free time and wifi was available.

The end of the holidays signifies a change in approach and priorities for our adventure, however.  Since leaving Seven Seas marina in October, our clear goal was to make it to Eleuthera by Christmas.  Our traveling approach will now change to moving according to the wind and our will.  Our desire to visit new coral reefs or see a new island will become our new goals.  Our attention is also now shifting toward adventure: Chapter 2.  Our boat and budget are only large enough to sustain us through the Exuma islands, after which we will be deciding what is to come next.  Pull anchor or try to continue?  We love the water, cruising and traveling, but always knew that we would have to go back to "real life" at some point.  As I write this, Cyrus and Tyler are riding in a fellow cruiser's dinghy- playing in the harbor.  How will we retain and implement the lessons we have learned through this adventure?  How will we continue to make joy, play, nature and living in the moment a part of each day?

I will post more about our journey through Devil's Backbone and Harbour Island before we move out of wifi range.  

Chub Cay

After running aground off of Stirrup Cay, we moved our boat to a slightly less rolly anchorage and tried to recoup a bit.  After coffee and a swim, we checked our weather window for traveling north to Sandy Point on Abaco.  As luck would have it, the best day for sailing was that very day.  We considered the possibility, and then changed our route to Eleuthera- opting to go south to Chub Cay, cross to Nassau and then make a last 35-mile trip to Spanish Wells.
We anchored in Bullocks Harbor and left at first light, in a light rain, for Chub Cay.  This route was actually back-tracking a bit, however, back-tracking is simply not the same in cruising terms.
We arrived in Chub Cay at around 3:30pm- with 5 other boats already anchored in a tiny curve in the beach away from the tidal surge and wind.  Luckily, our boat only draws (length below the waterline) 4 feet 4 inches, so we can sneak in a bit further than other boats.
We tucked into our spot, set the anchor (in 2 tries) and then SWAM!!!
Cyrus insisted that I swim with him.  At first, I was hesitant because I was tired and brain-dead from a long trek- but, as you may know, Cyrus usually gets his way.  We played and swam until sunset- finding giant starfish and pledging to repeat the swim first thing in the morning.
That said- Chub Cay has nothing but a marina with an over-priced restaurant (not uncommon in the Bahamas)- so Tyler's dream of a burger and beer was replaced with homemade spaghetti bolognaise and red wine....such is the life!

Swimming with Mirage in background

Starfish and our anchor- notice it is sitting on it's side- not really how it is supposed to work
thank god for 100 feet of chain- Thank you Keath!

Stirrup Cay

It is 10:40pm and everyone on board the boat is snoring...including Zander- the perfect time to write a blog post.  When I started the blog, I had hoped to be able to somehow update every day.  The realities of data roaming on a cell phone and ability to connect to wifi have set in, however, so I will try to update as often as I can.  Honestly, I wish I could update more often because I tend to write more about observations and less simple rehashing of our travels....
Much has happened since the last post!
  We sailed around Little Stirrup and Great Stirrup Cays- where the large cruise ships pull in early in the morning and their guests explore an "island paradise."  Ironically, the beaches on these Cays have been bulldozed to create a fake Bahamian paradise.  We anchored on the other side of the Cays from the cruise ships, hoping to spend a couple of days swimming and relaxing before sailing north to Sandy Point....

   We were wrong.

As we were sitting on a small (real) beach watching the sun set, Tyler said, "I think our boat has hit the ground- Just look at the water line (painted on the boat)."  I told him he was being paranoid, but after a few more minutes, I noticed the boat was rocking much more than it should be on the waves...

Mirage had run aground.

We ran the dinghy back to the boat just as the sun slipped away at 5:30 and the bad news was that low tide was not to come for another 2 hours.  Tyler sprang into action trying to get Mirage to heel (tip to one side) so the keel did not bare the load of the boat each time it slammed into the ground.  We put out the sails and took turns leaning off the port side of the boat to tip it as far as possible.  And then, we just waited.  At about 9:30pm, Mirage started to drift loose bit by bit and as the tide came back in, she was released and we were able to pull up the anchor and find deeper water.  To make matters worse, somehow our dinghy came loose during the commotion of anchoring and started to drift away.  Tyler had to make a mad dash for it using the kayak.  I offered to go after it, but he wouldn't let me- saying something about this is how people get lost at sea and killed...which I know was meant to protect me, but left me thinking...EXACTLY!! Where are you going??

After a very rolly night, we decided to head back to Bullocks Harbor and rethink our travel plans- which led us to Chub Cay and then Nassau...but more about that tomorrow- time for me to snore too.

Connected

Today 12/8, we are in the Berry Islands, happily connected to wifi.  The long lapse in communication was due to our trip across the Great Bahama Bank from Bimini to the Berrys, and then anchoring outside of Bullocks Harbor.  Our wifi antenna is almost completed- Tyler did his part and now I have to make all the components talk to each other...I hope I can make that work!
Details of our trip:
After leaving Alicetown in north Bimini, we anchored and played in Nixon's harbor in south Bimini.  We snorkeled together for the first time and were able to see the anchor under water.... not sure that really made ME feel better... but it is cool to see how the anchor actually works.

This sea star was actually super huge... he was hanging out near the anchor

After a very rocky night in Nixon's harbor, we pulled anchor and visited Turtle Rocks nearby.  We were a little shy about snorkeling around a shipwreck in the seas we had, but we were able to dinghy around and take some cool pics.

Shipwreck!

Turtle Rocks was great for some shallow snorkeling, and we began our new photo series entitled "See those tiny white things- those are fish!"

I swear there are fish in this picture and the one below...

We spent the night in Honeymoon Harbor- had a very nice sunset snack on the beach and managed to leave Cyrus' snorkel gear on the beach...bummer.  We had a much calmer night with great protection from the wind, and awoke at 5am to begin our journey across the bank toward the Berry islands. 

We knew that we would not be able to make the trip in one day (sailing only in the daylight) and hoped that we would be able to anchor near the shallows in the twilight and have a pretty calm night before heading in to Bullocks Harbor on Friday.
We motored into a head wind the entire day with waves bashing against our bow- Cyrus had a great time sitting at the front of the boat for the roller coaster ride- but those waves also meant that we barely made 5 knots- a 50 mile trip at less than 5mph...we soon realized that we would be anchoring in the dark.
Traveling over the sea at night is actually quite beautiful.  The stars are amazing and even the sliver moon is bright.  Anchoring at night is not beautiful- nonetheless, we hooked up and rocked and rolled all night- our theory about the shallows killing the waves was not correct.
The last leg of our trip took us northeast 20 miles to Bullocks Harbor.  Because of our new heading (not dead-on into the wind) we were able to sail the entire leg.  Tyler set up his fishing rod for trolling and...success!!.. he caught a rather large mackerel!  The whole family was in the cockpit as we tried to haul the fish onto the boat, remove the hook and then....we weren't sure what to do.  We ended up "storing" our catch in a bucket until we made our destination and then Tyler used his fish cleaning skills (learned on an Alaskan salmon boat) and we had a terrific lunch.

Tyler caught a 25 inch Cero Mackerel en route to Bullocks Harbor.



Mackerel fillets!

While in Bullocks Harbor on Great Harbor Cay, we have explored the island a bit while staying in the marina for a night.  We rented a golf cart- which provided some entertainment for all of us...

Cyrus driving the golf cart

 Perhaps a foreshadowing of the future (teenage years), Cyrus accidentally started the golf cart while waiting for Tyler and I at a restaurant.  When we heard the golf cart motor start, Tyler and I leapt from our table to the restaurant doorway- nearly getting stuck as we both tried to get out the door at the same time.  Karma was good to us, and Tyler was able to stop the golf cart before hitting a house or the restaurant.  Heart. Attack.
Cyrus was able to safely drive the golf cart later that day... even staying on the left side of the road.

Finally, we met another sailing family last night at dinner.  We had a very enjoyable night chatting about sailing misadventures while Cyrus played LEGO video games with the kids.

We plan to move on from the marina today, anchoring in protected water and hopefully snorkeling an airplane wreck.  If all goes well, we will make a passage from the northern part of the Berry islands to Sandy Point in the Abaco islands on Tues, Wed or Thurs this week.

Mirage from afar- on my kayak:)

Bahamas!

At approximately 2:30pm yesterday, we arrived at Bimini island in the Bahamas!

 
Our journey began at 6:45 am as we left No Name Harbor and turned southeast toward Fowley Rocks. 
We turned toward Bimini an hour later in 15-20 knot Northeast winds and 2-3 foot seas.  Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful, minus the thrill of seeing cargo ships appear on the horizon, grow larger and larger...and larger, and then pass safely in front of u
Our total time on the water was just under 8 hours.

Clearing immigration and customs was another small adventure because someone (Tyler) was honest and answered "yes" to having a pet onboard and someone else (me) did not have the exactly correct paperwork....no surprise there.
The bureaucratic gods were smiling on us, however, and I was able to solve the situation with a last minute email this morning.  Lesson learned.

Now what?  We are very excited to anchor around Bimini today and snorkel and explore.  We may attempt a longer passage (71nm to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands- the longest passage we will make until 2014) tomorrow.
For now...as Cyrus said this morning, "Day 1 in the Bahamas has passed...Day 2 in the Bahamas has come!"

Making an attempt

Today we are making our attempt at crossing the Gulf Stream and going to the Bahamas.  My suggestion to offer Zander as a virgin sacrifice to Poseidon was met with sneers... 

Hopefully I will be able to recount our journey for the blog this evening- but wifi may be a problem.

Bad pic of the Florida channel lighthouse

Sunrise

Lots of boats out today!

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

A windy, but beautiful day on Key Biscayne...

 
 

 
 
 

Lessons

On Sunday, we pulled into Biscayne Bay just as one of the worst northerners (multiple days of high winds and some rain) hit the Miami area. 

Lessons we learned from Sun-Tues:

1.  When a review of a mooring says "no protection from northern winds," they're not kidding- you'll rock and roll and wonder why you're paying $22 a night to be so uncomfortable- like roller coaster in your bed uncomfortable... Well the bad kind of roller coaster in your bed...

2.  It's not a good sign when you have to use your manual bilge pump on your dinghy in order to pump out the rain water from the night before.

3.  Miami has the best food in Florida- hands down.

4.  Trust your instincts about anchorages, moorings etc - and never (or try to never) arrive in a location so late in the day that you don't have time to make a good anchoring choice.

4. I love dog-friendly, covered, coffee shop book stores with free wifi.

 

By Tuesday we had had enough and we ventured across the bay to the Bill Baggs Florida state park and anchored in No Name harbor.  The water was calm, the anchorage was protected from strong wind and there was a great Cuban restaurant at the end of the harbor.

Lessons learned from Tues- Thurs:

1.  Trust your instincts about anchoring (theme?)

2.  Just because other people haven't anchored by sunset doesn't mean they won't show up at 9:30 at night and try to anchor right next to you in the dark.

3.  Golden silk spiders are super creepy- but generally harmless. ( mostly they're creepy because they make giant webs in the trees and hang out right above your head...shiver*). 

 

4. Don't needlessly suffer through rough weather- find a better shelter if possible.

Fort Lauderdale to Miami: ICW: Bridges of Dade county

After spending a calm night in Fort Lauderdale, we decided to motor south on the ICW to Miami and Biscayne Bay.  Predictions of 25-30 knot winds kept us from the ocean and we needed a mental break after our ocean experience.  

The ICW between FtL and Miami is a tour of multi-million dollar homes, yachts and draw bridges.

Bridge 1:Las Olas- opens once per hour at quarter past the hour

Bridge 2: 17th street bridge-a tall draw bridge which requires no opening (for us).

Bridge 3: Dania Beach bridge- opens every 30 minutes on the hour and 30 past the hour.

Bridge 4: Sheridan Street bridge- notice the timing - it opens on the quarter hour- so you have to time your arrival from the last bridge to make this bridge neither too early ( sitting and waiting is difficult) or too late (wait 30 more minutes).

Bridge 5: Hollywood Boulevard bridge- opens on the hour and 30 past- same timing issue...

Bridge 6: Hallandale Beach Bridge- draw bridge

 

Bridge 7: William Lehman Causeway bridge - fixed

Bridge 8:Sunny Isles Causeway bridge- draw bridge

Bridge 9: Broad Causeway bridge- draw bridge
 

Bridge 10: Venician Causeway bridge- on demand draw bridge and gate to South Beach

Bridge 11: MacArthur Causeway

Success! Miami skyline from Biscayne Bay