January 2 Cooleys Landing Marina Ft Laud to Anchorage NE of Belle Isle Miami Beach 35 6 Miles

Backing out of the slip was complicated by my failure to untie the steering wheel or the line securing ILENE to the port aft piling. But these got done at 6:45 a.m. at slack water and we were off in dawns early light, down the New,

under the 17th Street bridge without a substantial wait and into the Atlantic for the run down the coast. We were near close hauled on port tack in ESE winds and I had put a reef in the main and used the small jib at first until we switched to the genoa for speed. We were 2/3 of a mile off the coast in water that was 20 to 30 feet deep. And it was a rough ride for the 25 outside miles. The kitties lost their breakfast and had to wait till we got in to be fed. I had thought to be able to sail in through Government Cut, the deep wide channel through the beach into Miami, but the seas were very turbulent with wind-built waves opposing out flowing current and the main could not be kept from jibing so we pulled the sails down and motored the rest of the way. Here is a view out to sea after we were in, with friend Rhonda and Marcs apartment among those on the left side. (See more below.)

The Main Channel through Miami Harbor to the city of Miami is a straight shot continuation of the Government Cut and had five cruise ships lined up on our port side. We got about one third of the way through this wide deep straight two mile long channel when a loud speaker from a power boat with blue flashing lights (law enforcement) got our attention : "TURN AROUND! THE MAIN CHANNEL IS CLOSED EXCEPT TO AUTHORIZED VESSELS!" So we did, and went counterclockwise around the other, south side of Purdy Island, which is loaded with commercial vessels including this large dredge (water is cleaning its teeth),

and west to the City of Miami and the ICW, on which we went north for about a mile under two open low bridges and one high bridge before having to wait ten minutes at the low Venetian Causeway bridge (all bridges to the right).

During the wait, a Towboat US boat came by and hailed us: "Arent you from City Island and the Huguenot YC?" "Yes", I said. It was Billy, formerly in charge of hauling boats at the Huegenot, now working here in Miami. Then it was two miles west to this nice little free anchorage NE of Belle Island, the easternmost of the islands strung together like beads by the Venetian Causeway, where we anchored in ten feet of water with 50 feet of snubbed chain. We are just SW of the huge Sunset Harbor Marina.

Dockage there is $4.00 per foot (and these guys run a whole lot of feet); we pay nothing. At about two pm as we were anchoring, inherently a very busy time, we were hailed by a large white trimaran that was leaving: "Hello Ilene!" We said hello and the lady aboard said "I know you from your blog!" Well lady, if you respond, I will be very pleased to edit this post to include information about you and your boat, where you are going, your home port, etc. Here are some of the other anchored boats, there were a lot more here when we arrived.  You can see a bit of the Venetian Causeway, the low horizontal white line, behind them.

Once settled we were hailed for the third time in an hour by our friend Jerry who with his wife Louise, sailed with us for a week in the British and US Virgin Islands early in 2012. After launching the dink I went to the dock, which Dean had told us about, and brought Jerry aboard for a cup of coffee. On rfeturn i saw a sign on the dinghy dock said that you cant tie up for longer than 20 minutes. Jerry suggested that I ask the police. I did so politely, told him that we were visiting for a few days with friends who live here and wanted to go to dinners, the beach, sightseeing, shopping, etc. He said that the sign is to inhibit live aboards who stay here all year and those who leave their boats at the dock for a week while they fly north for the holidays: "Dont worry, you wont be towed." "Thank you very much officer."

The twin engine police boat is at the dock, the police station to the right and a ramp to the left is used by stand up paddleboarders.

That evening we were picked up by Rhonda and Mark and taken to their condo overlooking the Atlantic,

Government Cut, Fishers island, Biscayne Bay, Coconut Grove (our next stop) and the city of Miami. 
Wow what a view! And the apartment is the height of luxury.They let us take showers, lubricated us and we had dinner with them at Ciba, an Italian restaurant that opened less than a month ago. It has lovely decor, great service and, in our opinion, food that is just not remarkable. Rhonda is a friend of Lene from grammar school; they go back a ways. The girls had a good time together and we guys kept each other amused.

They were flying back to New York for a week the next day and gave us their last night in town, our first, at the end of a full day.

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August 25 to September 10 Getting Ready to Cruise

Well the Labor Day weekend was spent in the Berkshires, welcoming Liannes new puppy, Finn,  who I call "two pounds of cute fluff"

and visiting her new grandson, Jude.

Ilene climbed with me to the top of Monument Mountain, just north of Great Barrington so we know that her recovery from the removal of the tumor from her lung is making great progress. And I spent at least a day trying to get her medical insurance restored after a foul up of monumental proportions. But this is a sailing blog so lets get to it.

Well actually I did more working on the boat than sailing during this period: 24 hours of work spread over five days, two of them with helpers: Peter, who sailed with me from Virginia to Tortola in November 2010, at the outset of this blog, and our nephew Mendy, who washed the black streaks from the freeboard with salt water while

standing in the dink, and got a sunburn  (and my gratitude and a steak dinner) for his efforts. This working time compared to only 11 hours underway on four days. Such a sailing ratio, once per four days, is below average, but an unfortunate necessity when preparing to go cruising

We got the dink fully inflated after obtaining its parts and accessories from several places, and got it hoisted and secured to its davit bar after Mendys work. I did a lot more sanding and varnishing of the teak cockpit table, the 13 new brass switch plates and the 21 old brass trim rings for the overhead lights after the green corrosion was sanded off. The single biggest task involved the handles used to protect against accidental turning on of the cabin sole lights by brushing against that switch at the companionway, for which new holes had to be drilled.

Another major project was the installation of a "T" valve to be able to divert fresh water from the water maker to the starboard water tank. Peter helped me on this which required removal of the cabin sole to run the pencil thin low pressure black hose from port to starboard, tie it to larger hoses with wire wraps, figure out how the valve worked and attach it to a much bigger and more solid hose so it wont bounce around, and removal of  the aluminum viewing port from the top of the starboard water tank, drilling holes in it, and using blue liquid gasket material to seal the fitting to it and it back onto the tank. Peter also winched me to the top of the mast to inspect and adjust the genoa halyard and this time I got in a photo op of the Club from about 62 feet above sea level, but at low tide.
I also refilled the propane tank and re-installed it in its newly waterproofed locker and took the life raft off the boat to Westmarine to be sent to the repacking company which should be done every three years -- but we have "used" it for four. And while in such a mindset I checked out the inflatable life vests. Ive learned his should be done annually but had never done this before! A decade! The CO2 cartridges are corroded beyond repair and one needs to be replaced. But even worse, the other vest, when inflated by blowing through the tube, failed to hold air -- it was down to 1/3 of its air after an hour. So a new one has been ordered plus a two million candlepower flashlight for finding ones mooring at night.

Getting the dink hung aft and the propane filled really reminded me that cruising is right around the corner.

Oh yeah, some sailing days were fun too.
First with Lene, Cynthia, who sailed with us earlier this summer and has moved to Israel, and Rhonda,

a friend of Lenes since third grade, shown here at dinner at the Black Whale after sailing. The three ladies chatted the entire time, moving gracefully out of my way from time to time as needed for my sail handling. In modest winds we hit a tide assisted 8.1 knots under main and small jib enroute to the far side of Manhasset Bay.
Next, Lene came with me and Peter, who later spent a day working with me and Debbie,

our Rabbi, during which we got to Matinecock and back, with Peter at the helm most of the way.










The excitement on this trip was a "hat overboard" drill during which we successfully retrieved Peters expensive Tilley hat. This picture was taken before it went swimming.

The ever lovely Lene on the leeward side, with Debbie and Peter

I also sailed for a couple of hours aboard Bennetts Beneteau, to Great Neck on the east side of Stepping Stones, and back, in about four knots of wind. Upon returning I joined Morty and Clara, Mike and Sandy and Richie and his friend Charley, a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, for refreshments aboard "Easy Living." The Wednesday afternoon ritual.
Finally, on one of the work days, after completion of the chores, Rhoda came out and we had the best sailing, due to stronger winds from just a bit east of south. After close reaching it out of Eastchester Bay on port tack, we got on starboard and made it to green can "1", NE of Stepping Stones before returning via Hart Island Sound.

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Deember 8 24 Slow Steady Progress But There Is a Lot Left To Do

Three visits to ILENE for a total of 14 hours during this period.  I lowered the chain from the boat to the ground, loaded it into a yard cart, and from there to a cardboard box in the cargo area of our mini SUV. An estimated 200 pounds, but easily movable, a few feet of links at a time. A few days later I drove to Jersey City and located Nicholas Galvanizing, in a thoroughly industrial area by the Hackensack River. Its staff slid the box off the back of my vehicle onto a wooden pallet to be moved by fork lift. The chain should be nice and shiny and protected for another 16 years soon after 2016 starts. While in Jersey I enjoyed a delicious, leisurely, Thai lunch in Berkely Heights with Jim, formerly of s/v "Aria", who is now sadly too disabled to sail. He gave me three excellent sailing books including Nigel Calders maintenance bible.
On the first of my three boat visits I also took most of the three bladed feathering propeller off its shaft, to be sent to its manufacturer, PYI, on the west coast, for refurbishment. Before going, I watched PYIs how-to video -- four times -- took notes and called the company to speak to the demonstrator, three times. But he demonstrated the disassembly of a shiny new prop and the video left out some pre and post steps. The parts are held together with ten Allen Head bolts. These are locked in place with tiny cut-off half length cotter pins inserted through holes in the sides of their heads, which pins were encrusted in place with layers of paint. By use of the scraper, ice pick and needle nose pliers, the pins came out. Also, I knew that unlike his model, my prop was loaded with heavy grease because I had pumped it in each year through zirc fittings. So I had a lot of rags and paper towels and Fantastic to get the grease off and into a plastic bag. And after the end of the video, the props central hub has to be removed by first removing two rods that hold a locking bolt on the tail end of the shaft in place, unscrewing that bolt, which required no tools, and then sliding the hub aft, off the shaft. The bolt removal was accomplished during my second visit, and that is when I ran into a problem for want of a tool that costs several hundred dollars but that I needed to use only once: a prop puller. But I met with Fernando at the boat to plan a big job that he will do with me: sanding off and spraying on primer and two coats of Awlgrip paint to renew the dark blue decorative boot stripes around the boat, just above the water line. Fernando did excellent work in repairing ILENEs stainless steel and fiberglass which were damaged by a hit and run at the mooring one night in the fall of 2013. In addition to telling me that the bottom is not ready for barrier coating but requires thorough sanding, a lot of sanding, he put me onto the man who does the diving work and other work for many folks at the Huguenot, Brian McCauley, who was present and who has a prop puller. The job will take only ten minutes and of course I was prepared to pay for his services, but he said he would just leave the tool under ILENE, so I could do the job myself and would pick up his tool later -- at no cost! Thanks Brian!
On my third trip the tool was there but I had to loosen the Spurs line cutter to fit the forward end of this tool at the forward end of the hub. This required a spraying of penetrant and then heat from the heat gun, but was accomplished and then the puller did its job, easily. Here are the pieces of the prop, except the bolt, at home, awaiting shipping.

I have also taken out four of the smallest pieces of the cabin sole, and done two of them, the ones that collar the mast. I sanded them down on the sides to make them a bit smaller so they will fit better, let them dry thoroughly and applied two coats of spray-on low-gloss polyurethane to their sides and bottoms, to seal out water, which drips from the mast boot, making this a damp area, and finally, lightly sanded their top surfaces, and applied the plastic paint. It looks good, so I can now do the rest of the cabin sole, piece by piece.
Also, the new teak flagpole, to which I had previously applied many coats of varnish, is finally complete: I got a 5/16th inch Phillips head bolt and after first using the Dremel tool to grind a flat spot on the side of the chrome plated brass base into which that bolt goes to hold the pole in it, I drilled a hole through the base at that flat spot,  and into the wood. A snug fit resulted, but removable, so that the new flag will not get torn to shreds in storms. And pole and flag will not be blown away again, as the combination did during a windstorm in Fort Lauderdale last winter.

I had two other ashore days in addition to the day of the drive to New Jersey. One consisted of about six hours at home on the computer and phone. In addition to learning from PYI about the prop disassembly, I called three potential sites for this winters Harlem winter excursion. The US Merchant Marine Academys Museum at Kings Point, directly across Long Island Sound is not available this year. The other two candidates were the National Lighthouse Museum, a short walk from the ferry terminal, and the Noble Maritime Collection at the Sailors Snug Harbor, about a ten minute bus ride from that terminal on Staten Island. After reading as much as I could and talking with all three places, I spent a day on Staten Island checking out both sites for that I have now called "The Harlem Yacht Clubs Fifth Annual-ish Dead-of-Winter, Out-of-Clubhouse, Salt Watery/Maritime Learning/Social/Dining Excursion".  The Lighthouse Museum is planning a major expansion over the next couple of years so I decided to wait until it is complete. For 2016 The Noble Maritime Collection is the winner and the event is being offered with an additional attraction -- two optional free boat rides -- on the Staten Island Ferry! For those who prefer to drive, it requires getting to Long Island and then crossing the Verranzano Bridge with its $15 toll, though parking is free.
The Noble Maritime Collection is a little gem of a museum located on the site of the Sailors Snug Harbor, formerly an old age home for destitute, family-less, worn-out seamen. The Snugs, as residents were called, were offered a comfortable somewhat spartan free ride. I have characterized it as a way station on their route from their life at sea to Fiddlers Green. Ciro, the Associate Director, opened the place for me on a weekday, when it is normally closed, so I could scope it out to describe it to the Harlemites. More on this place after Sunday, February 21, when the excursion is now scheduled. Ciro also put me onto Blue, a nice waterside (to the Kill van Kull) restaurant less than a quarter mile away, where the dining portion of our excursion will take place, at prices that are comparable to those at the Clubs dining room.
I checked out my friend Bobs blog: SailPandora. When I left him in Hampton, VA he was excitedly planning his cruise to the Caribbean. But a delayed start due to weather and then possible mechanical problems early on the route to Tortola forced him to divert to Beaufort NC; he had lost the availability of his crew and the good weather and was compelled to change his destination to Florida and the Bahamas, where he has been the past two seasons. He did find friends to help him jump the boat from Beaufort to Florida and is now back in CT with Brenda and family before rejoining Pandora in the first days of 2016. As a man of my own passions, he likes to have new horizons in his sights. Currently he has an application pending with the US Government for a permit to visit Cuba. He is applying under the journalism category and has submitted his blog as the journal in question with the hope that the government reviewer of his application has a sense of humor, because he injects a lot of humor in his postings; would that I could be so witty. He also hopes that the reviewer is a sailor who can understand the difference between beating into the wind and letting it push you from behind; due to the prevailing winds being almost always from the east, he prefers a clockwise circumnavigation of Cuba, departing from the Bahamas and returning to Key West. However, the regulations seem to suggest that at a U.S. registered boat he can only visit Cuba leaving directly from a U.S. port, without a stop in another nation. I sure hope Bobs plans work out.

And speaking of plans, I also spent some time learning more about ILENEs proposed summer cruise to the Bras Dor Lakes at the NE end of Nova Scotia. The SCCAs journals include one account of a voyage to Nova Scotia from Mount Desert Island, Maine, in 2002. Old, but while the shoreside amenities may have changed, the waters and rocks do not change that fast. The 18 foot tides of the Bay of Fundy, which we experienced on our voyage to Eastport, Maine in 2013, do not extend to the ocean or Atlantic side of that Province, where six foot tides, comparable to those at the Harlem, prevail, I am told. And  the distance from Northeast Harbor in Mt. Desert Island to the check-in town in Nova Scotia is 165 nautical miles, which I compute as about 24 hours at 6.5 knots. So an overnight sail is in order. With tidal currents running swiftly around Nova Scotias SE cape, its a passage that has to be carefully timed and on a good weather day. I think we can get nearly a month in Nova Scotia between our scheduled arrival in Maine in late June and the beginning of the Corinthian cruise in Mt. Desert Island starting July 25. My mate is not yet totally committed to this summer float plan

(the other two crew members do not have votes) but I am continuing to plan for Nova Scotia and my gal usually comes around once she can see the fully thought out plan with enough safety lay days to avoid problems. Wish us luck, both Pandora and ILENE.

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Dinghy Cruising Around the Eye of Quebec

This is a good video if you can block out the time - 40 minutes. A duo spend two weeks going around a natural circular body of water in central Quebec, formed by the impact of an asteroid.

From the blurb accompanying the video:

"The Eye of Quebec (Lac Manicouagan) is visible from space as a perfectly ring-shaped lake. Its center island is far larger than the water that surrounds it. 100km in diameter, it is the fourth largest meteor impact site on earth. We sailed around it and think that was the first ever circumnavigation of the reservoir under sail and oar. (We can find record of two other sailboats that have attempted the trip. While were not sure of their success, both appeared to carry auxiliary engines. If it wasnt the wind pulling us it was our backs.)

Three years ago, when John and I drove the Trans-Labrador highway, we camped one night on the shores of the great Manicouaga and it captured our imaginations. Finally, this year, aboard the expedition re-fitted Wayfarer 4610, we made the voyage. We were on the water for about twelve days after a two day drive north. It is an astronomically great lake.

We camped ashore every night, and packed nearly 100 Ibs of dried food for the journey. We wore drysuits most of the time, cause the weather was typically cold and wet!

Circumanic Higher Res from Scott McDougall on Vimeo.

More information on the "Eye of Quebec" from Wikipedia.

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Classic Moths in the Mist

At this years Classic Moth Nationals we had a marine layer settle in Saturday night, giving us fog on Sunday morning, a rare event for Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The fog started to creep out towards Pamilco Sound around 9 a.m. and racing commenced, on time, in sunshine.

I took a couple of photos.

The fog didnt stop the sailors kibitzing about Mothboats.

Two transoms in the mist. The Laser transom of the Maser and the wide Europe Dinghy style transom of the Mousetrap Mistral.

The view from the Pughs pier.

The original post of the 2015 Classic Moth Nationals can be found here.

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Annapolis and the Rhode River October 11 13 11 3 Miles

A study in contrast: Annapolis is a hub of bustling high powered big money sailing activity, especially during the sailboat show, which this year coincided with a big Navy football game and the Columbus Day weekend: the busiest weekend of the year. The Rhode River, where this is being written, is the antithesis of this: no hustle, no bustle, we are on our anchor in complete solitude far from any other boats, after a twelve mile motor passage in light winds on a cold day in varying heavy to light rain. No wind ruffled the waters here last night or this morning..

The Rhode River was also the destination of the first voyage we ever made aboard ILENE -- at the beginning of our first season with her, also from Annapolis to here. But that night, in late April 2006, was a rough one. The wind turned from south to north, putting us close to the lee shore instead of sheltered in its lee and big wind caused waves that clanged our unsnubbed anchor chain against its roller, sounding like someone was taking a sledge hammer to the boats metal bowsprit. Last night, with better weather forecasting, all was calm, and the same lee protected us from the gentle southern winds.

In Annapolis we had breakfast both days at Grumps, discussed in the prior post, with Manu and Michelle, the sailing duo who we met in St. Martin, on several other Caribbean Islands, up the Hudson and in NYC where they have stayed in our apartment and sat our cats. They were staying on a catamaran with Vince but moved to our boat’s aft cabin for our last night in Annapolis before driving their car south to rejoin their boat, “Teepee,” which is on the hard in Florida. Saturday was rainy and drizzly so we stayed aboard for the most part, did a lot of paperwork that we brought from home and took in a movie in the evening.

Sunday we went to the boat show and it is far too big to see in only one day, much less in the five hours I spent there.  I had planned to dink across Back Bay to its north side and then walk for 20 minutes or so to the show. But the dinghy engine was still not fixed and I recalled the mechanic’s voice: "it might still have a problem in its fuel pump". So I hitch hiked and Lene got a ride from Manu and Michelle after they helped her drop off the one-way rental car from NY.  The water taxi brought us back for only $6 per person.

At the show, I boarded only two of the hundred or so boats present: One was the Jeanneau 44 RDS (raised deck salon), similar, I would have thought, to the Jeanneau 43 RDS we saw -- and thought of buying -- when we were at this show in 2005. But not really, because the concept of a RDS has apparently changed in the last nine years. Then, the boat’s cabin’s salon sole was a step or two up, permitting the persons seated at its dining table to look out of wraparound windows on both sides and forward.  The new concept RDS does not raise the sole and the windows, though large, are only on the two sides, not forward. Persons seated at the salon dining table have to stand up to see out. I’m glad we got the Saga.

 The other boat I toured was the Moorings 48, a catamaran: These are immensely popular in the islands but I had never been on one and Lene met a guy who talked up catamarans so I had to take a look. The big advantage is that the tremendous width of the boat means it does not heel much. Each of its two hulls is divided into two cabins, one forward and one aft,  each suitable for two persons and each with its own identical head and shower. The second deck is the living space which is huge -- I’m guessing about 800 square feet. It has a different feel when sailing. And we don’t know enough people to run a four bedroom hotel. I’m so glad we have ILENE!

The bulk of the time was used visiting a few of the hundreds of vendors of things nautical or tangentially nautical. Lene fell in love with extra absorbent thin cotton towels and they will call to see if they have one left in her color. We bought red LED bulbs, a good paring knife, a waterproof pouch for a cellphone and a scrap of navy blue tape to patch up scratches in out boats name lettering as well as polarized UV protectant inexpensive sun glasses. I met Paul, of our Club, a sailmaker at the booth of Doyle, one of perhaps a dozen sailmakers and sales reps for Pantaenius, our insurer.  I met the manager of North Summit Marina, where we went aground. He told me we could pay half price if we stop there on the way back.

The manager of River Dunes Marina, where we stayed on our way back in the spring of 2012, offered us his card with a two nights for the price of one offer.  A south island New Zealand winemaker gave me samples of her Sauvignon Blanc: first her regular fruity and second the premium dryer wine, while another booth offered a sweetened creamed rum.   We got the name and number of customer service for the manufacturer of our side ports to obtain a replacement for a dog for one of them that broke about four years ago. Numerous publishers of magazines, books, charts were present, as well as manufacturers of specialized hardware, clothing fashions and shoes.
But the potentially biggest purchase for us could be a new Rocna anchor, like the one on Pandora. We have been offered the boat show price, about ten percent off, with free shipping. Lene really went for this item which means greater peace of mind when at anchor because of the way it grabs the bottom fast and holds. We have a call in to Pandora’s Bob, to determine the proper size and hence weight and to find out if the pattern for the specially made brackets is available. No trade in because the Rocna has become so popular and highly recommended by impartial sources that no one wants the old ones.

Jim and Ann invited us to a delicious dinner at their apartment and also invited Manu and Michelle as well as Ann’s friend Carolyn. A lovely land base evening spiced with talk of the sea.

Michelle, Manu, Ann and Jim

With help from the mechanic at A&B Yachtsmen, we have ordered a new carburetor to be delivered to us by Fedex, care of John, a former Harlemite who was part of the group that took Nick out of the Hebrew Home for the Aged for a sail during the summer (See Blog).  John lives in Cambridge Maryland, on the eastern Shore, and that town is our next stop, about 34 miles from the Rhode River.

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January 3 9 SEVEN Lay days in Miami B each Zero Miles

Miami, including the separately incorporated city of Miami Beach, is the largest city on our trip, by far. It is very much like New York, except for the temperature. Chock a block high rises, crowded urban density, traffic and parking problems, construction blocking streets frequently, lots of high income and low income people, lots of culture and a heavy Hispanic and Jewish component of the population. And while there are lots of old folks like us
down here, there are also a lot of young people in Miami Beach. Possibly the similarities are because so many retired New Yorkers have moved here -- also a lot of Canadians.
What made our stay so special -- and so long -- was the hospitality of our friends, Jerry and Louise. We swam in the surf and the pool of their condo. Those are kite board sails not gargantuan seagulls

We did our laundry there, took several showers and were ferried everywhere by auto. We had one dinner at their home, one with them and their friends, Harvey and Phyllis, at a new eclectic restaurant on Indian Creek Road at 27th Street.

From the left: Harvey, Phyllis, Jerry, Lene and Louise

and were invited with them to a lovely party of about forty people in another apartment in their building. We also had pizza with them one night and burgers at the highly rated B&B restaurant near us, which took two hours! So thge place is not highly rated by us.
They introduced us to stand up paddleboarding (SUP), which Lene frequently malaprops as "waterboarding;" Vive le difference! This was at Oleta State Park, several miles north of the city. Lene proved adept at this new (for us) sport. Im a slower learner. I had no problem climbing up onto the board, raising myself to my hands and knees and then to an erect position. But each of the ten times I did this, after a few strokes with the long paddle, I tilted it and fell off. Next time, Im told, I should keep my feet closer to the center of the board rather than toward its sides. And there will be a next time because we have rented an inflatable board (lashed to the starboard rails) and paddle until we get back here in about six weeks on the way home. Pictures of it, on board ILENE and in use, will be shown in next post. Jerry and Louise are also avid cyclists and Jerry is to lead his bike club on a 26 mile bike tour from Coconut Grove soon. One afternoon I rode shotgun with him in their car, calling out the 45 turns to be made during this bike trip.
Our anchorage was very close, walking distance, to many of the attractions of the downtown area in addition to both Publix and Fresh Market, a gas station, Chase Bank, dry cleaners and many restaurants.  The sights we visited were the dramatic Holocaust Memorial

and the Miami Beach Botanical Garden











 (very small but well done with about fifteen stops where you hear a recorded explanation about the fauna at that location on your cell phone).

Lene with giant banyon

We also saw The New World Symphonys hall, where they show movies for free on the huge white wall to people like us who sat on the lawn in front with a terrific audio system, and Lincoln Road Mall, a street closed to vehicular traffic and filled with shops and restaurants. We had lunh at Yuca, (Young Urban Cuban America). We are urban and American so meet only half the requirements, but they let us in and the food was good, including. for me, a  Media Noche sandwich which though called "midnight" they served for lunch.
The movie, shown for free en plein air on the large exterior wall, was "Hole In The Head", a Frank Sinatra comedy of the late 50s, which seemed uniquely appropriate to the setting because Frank played a down and out widowed playboy hotel owner in Miami Beach with a young son. The titles were aerial shots of the beach with banners towed by those beach banner planes spelling out such things as "Directed by FRANK CAPRA." It was not a great movie, saved by the performances of Edward G. Robinson and Thelma Ritter, but the experience was terrific.
At the near end of Lincoln Road, which is only about five blocks long, is a eighteen screen movie house in which we saw Unbroken, Top Five and Selma; a movie binge after a long drought along the way.
Boat chores accomplished during our stay here included sewing the sides of the zipper at the top of the stack pack to the sides of the bag. The stitches got torn out when I forget to fully open the zipper and raised the main with the electric winch; it is so strong that the sails leach pulled the stitches out, which is not god for the sail either!
I also had to take out the interior panels of the big lazarete to locate and fix the fresh water plumbing which is hidden behind the largest and lowest such panel. We noticed that the fresh water pump did not shut off after the faucet was shut off (because, due to the leak, pressure never built up) and Lene heard a flow of water after we turned that pump off. Yes, one of the short pieces of hose that I had attached last winter had come off, so the pump was pumping our fresh water into the bilge. I added a second hose clamp to each end of that two inch long piece of rubber hose and put back all the wood panels with the eighteen screws.
While the title of this post says we traversed zero miles, we actually did motor about 2.5 miles, from one side of Belle Island to the other.

First we went west along the north side of the the Venetian Causeway (the road connecting the row of six man made islands across the center of the chart) to its low opening bridge, at its Miami (left side) end, and then back east along the causeways southern side to the Miami Beach end (right side). We started a bit northeast of Belle Island, the easternmost of the string of man made islands that the causeway connects, to end up just south of Belle Island, just .4 miles away. We passed the Flagler monument, on the tiny island to the northwest of the blue (shallow spot in the middle of the right side of the chart.

Before the move we were about 100 yards west of the police dinghy dock (just below the small rectangle in the upper right) and afterwards we were almost half a mile south west. The reason for this change of venue was the weather.  The original anchorage was crowded making it difficult to put out enough chain to feel secure without bumping into nearby boats when swinging on the anchors. And with predicted winds gusting to 30 knots from the north, this problem would have gotten worse. On the south side, there is a lot more room between the boats and we were in the lee of the island which protected us from the strong winds.
Next stop: Dinner Key, known as Coconut Grove to land people, less than ten miles away.

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