To Miami

From St. Croix to Miami

We set off for Miami on April 6th with at least three days of good weather in the forecast and the wind behind us. Our trip through the more northern Virgin Islands was fast, the only challenge being the heavy traffic between the islands - ferries, charter boat, sailboats, work boats, small freighters. By our second day out we had sailed into windless patches and a squall. Over the next few days we practised all our light wind sailing techniques: using the drifter, motor sailing when there was not enough wind even for that (and we needed to charge our batteries) and poling out the jib -the wind stayed behind us. Then there were more days when light winds mixed with squalls - nothing like sitting there watching the weather come. Our plan was to follow a route which would take us past the Bahamas on their northern side, and then go south and cross the Gulf Stream. Then we started to hear Herb on Southbound II talk about heavy weather developing north of us and in the area we were planning to sail through, and we had had enough of squalls already...

And so we changed our route - our consensus was that a more southern route over the Bahamas banks and through the islands would be a wiser and certainly more comfortable choice. We approached the islands from the East sailing toward the Dotham Cut, which we chose because it offers an easy passage between islands to the Bank side. We were still some distance away from the cut, off Cat Island when we had what started off as an odd encounter. When we need to asses whether a boat is on a possible collision course with us we take a series of bearings on it. But this time we could not do that, because the boat kept weaving as it approached. We were beginning to feel a little apprehensive when we were hailed and realised, to our relief, that it was a US Coast Guard cutter. They were boarding boats in the area, and we were one of the elected. So there followed a very professional boarding by a party which included personnel from the US Coast Guard and the Bahamas Defence Force. They checked our papers and our equipment and we shared a little conversation - an unexpected and in the end pleasant diversion after eight days out. Then we went our way, and they continued on theirs. We heard them on the radio hailing other boats in the area...

The next day we sailed through the cut, with our engine on for extra power. Our new route took us across the banks and Tongue of the Ocean in increasing winds. The sail across Tongue of the Ocean was rather bumpy and uncomfortable, but much less so than it would have been further north. We were glad when we were travelling over the bank again through calmer seas, and the timing for approaching the cut through which we would leave the Bahamas worked out well.

We planned to make our exit from the Bahamas through a cut north of Cat Cay which the chart showed was wide enough and deep enough for our boat, and straight. With our engine going it should have been an easy exit to the ocean. The was only one flaw in the plan - our engine decided not to start, and with no time and place to turn back our safest option was to keep going and sail through. There were a few tense moments, but with a good wind to help us and Richard working the helm we were quickly and safely through. After that we had an exciting ride across and through the Gulf Stream with the wind rising and changing direction (at one point we suddenly found ourselves going north instead of south), and finally arrived in Miami twelve days after we set off. We tacked up the Biscayne Channel and sailed into No Name Harbor, attracting some attention when we dropped anchor under sail. This was one of those times we were glad we already knew the area! We stayed there while we checked in and sorted out our difficulty with the engine. In a couple of days we had it running again with help from a friend we were happy to find anchored there, and then we started into our usual routine of alternating anchoring and mooring, depending on what we needed to do. Thanks for all your help, Ken, and if you really have swallowed the anchor we hope you have found a comfortable place to make your home ashore.

In Miami

When cruising, you’re never sure when you will get to the next place. Once you get there you don’t really know how long you are going to stay - even if you think you do. Plans are always altered by whatever is happening with and around you. In the end we spent two months in Miami, visiting with family and doing the usual round of boat maintenance. This time there was a lot to do, including oiling and cleaning and re-arranging and putting stitches in and patches on various bits of our sails - sailing day after day tends to wear them out. Then there was the saga of trying to get our radio fixed. In the end we had to give up on that, since even after we had packaged it up and sent it off to one of the only two authorised repair centres run by the manufacturer it could not be fixed. In fact it ended up in a worse state than when we had sent it. And meantime time passed...

Florida in May and June was going through interesting times. On the surface all looked well. There was more tree cover and fewer signs of the hurricane damage that had been a noticeable part of the landscape on previous visits, so we saw a greener city. Trees looked bigger and healthier in the park around No Name Harbor and in Hurricane Harbor we were surrounded by well maintained lawns and gardens. There were birds everywhere and iguanas and lizards in abundance, and we saw manatees swimming through the mooring area of a marina which was Into The Blue’s weekend home.

But we soon found that winds blowing out of the west across Biscayne Bay were laden with ash from numerous wild fires. Before we left Lake Okechobee had gone down to its lowest level since records of its height were kept; in June there was a fire on part of the exposed lake bottom which burned organic matter left behind as the lake dried. The drought was taking its toll on farmers and businesses in mid-Florida, and people even talked about the rain a hurricane would bring. The ash in the air left a sooty residue on the boat and filtered the rays of the sun, creating strange atmospheric effects.

Before we left the summer thunderstorms had started. Almost every afternoon the skies would cloud over and there would be the snap and crackle of lightning and the rumble of thunder, sometimes very close by. Because it is so flat, we could see the storms coming across Biscayne Bay or over the land. One afternoon things got interesting as No Name Harbor suddenly filled with powerboats trying to tie up or anchor as a squall went sweeping through. If ever a cruiser needs encouragement to leave Florida thunderstorms like these will certainly help. We took the hint, thought about the quickly approaching hurricane season, and finished getting ourselves ready to leave so we could set sail as soon as the next good weather window appeared. We set off for Halifax, Nova Scotia shortly after the middle of June.