We departed our anchorage somewhat early and headed south. This took us back along our path until we got to the Ft. Lauderdale inlet, also called the Port Evergaldes Inlet. This inlet accommodates naval vessels, container ships, freighters and cruise ships and is where we entered from our journey back to Florida from the Bahamas. We are also warned to be aware that larger vessels will often be escorted and have an enforced security perimeter, so we cannot go within one hundred yards of them. In the news lately more cruise ships are having health issues and the word Coronavirus is being associated with them too. We made our way through the channel taking care to stay in the channel but away from the huge ships that were docked. We saw several cruise ships docked here too. We continued along and went through Hallandale, Hollywood Beach, Miami Beach and several other beach-side towns along the way. We eventually came through the Port of Miami and into Biscayne Bay. The weather today was fairly windy, but it didn’t affect us as we were in the ICW. Once we came out to the open bay though, it was a different story. The waves were kicking up and there was a lot of sailboats and kite surfers out enjoying the wind. We were planning on anchoring out, but with the weather we had decided we would see if a mooring ball was available. We radio in and were told yes, we could have a mooring ball and they gave us directions to it. We found our number and got secured.
The winds maintained at a high level and we were getting bounced around in the boat. The waves continued to roll at us and they weren’t far apart. Looking out into the bay, whitecaps were frothing off the top of every wave. The ride to the dinghy dock was about a half mile, and half of that was going from the unprotected mooring field to the small islands surrounding the marina itself. Once you get behind the islands, the water was calm flat and it felt like another world. Unfortunately for Frank we had to wait until it was safe to dinghy in until the next morning. I had called the office and told them we were secure but couldn’t come check in and they weren’t worried about it at all- “just come in tomorrow when you can and check in.” they told me.
The next morning the winds were a little less, but not much. Knowing Frank had to get to shore I put his life jacket on him and loaded us into the dinghy. Lauren wasn’t too thrilled we were going, but he really needed to go. The trip in wasn’t quite as bad as I expected, but the wind and waves were coming from our back. We would just dip up and down as the waves rolled under us, and once we rounded the corner of the island it was flat. I went to the office and checked in, got our key cards and paid the small fee. Once all of this was done we started walking toward town. Coconut Grove is a cool city: “Hugging the shoreline of Biscayne Bay, Coconut Grove is an upscale, leafy neighborhood with relaxed sidewalk cafes and chic shops in and around the CocoWalk mall. The area’s several green spaces include bay-front Barnacle Historic State Park, home to a mangrove forest, and the iconic Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, centered on a lavish Italian-style villa. Sailing clubs and marinas dot the waterfront.” This pretty much is accurate- casual, upscale, lots of shops and cafes and we had a good time walking around, exploring the parks, cafes and a tap house/brewery, but they did not have their own beer yet as it had just opened. We spent the afternoon in town and eventually made our way back to the marina. The wind was still blowing pretty good and we didn’t feel like going straight to the boat, so we went to the ‘boaters lounge’ that the marina office has. It has books, magazines and wifi so boaters can hang out there for some time off the boat. We hung out for a bit, charging Laurens’ phone and reading while deciding what to do tomorrow. We don’t want to stay on theses mooring any longer getting bounced around, so we decided we will jump across the bay and go to an anchorage called ‘No Name Harbor’. Our only concern is we do not know if there is room in the harbor for us to anchor, and if that is full- where would we go? The trip is only about five miles across, but with the choppy conditions, that could be about an hour of hell. Do we really want to do that? We debated back and forth, then walked down to load into the dinghy for the trip back to the boat. It started out well, but as soon as we rounded the corner, the waves were hitting us straight on. Frank actually moved to the back, by me and behind Lauren- to get out of the spray of water we were heading into! We’ve never seen him do this before- he usually sits front and center so he can see where we’re going and what’s going on! We finally reached Klondike and Lauren was soaked! I had tried to angle into or away from the waves to minimize the spray, but she kept taking water over the bow. I was cracking up behind her with Frank and by the time we finally reached the boat we were both laughing pretty hard! Dinner was made and we retired still without a definite if we should stay or leave tomorrow…