We left Miami Beach after wandering down to the South Beach area and taking a photo or two of a sand castle there. (Photos of the sunbathers do not belong in a family journal such as this.)

This sand castle is, the artist claims, made solely of beach sand and water, and took 2 weeks to complete. It is about 8-9 feet tall at the peak.

We left Miami, where we were anchored north of the city, and went to a protected anchorage called No Name Harbor, at the south tip of Biscayne Key. Although only a few miles from Miami (as you can see from this photo of Miami’s skyline from here), it’s almost impossible to detect much in the way of civilization here! Trails through a lush jungle wind through the area and parallel the beach.

Lots of boats headed to the Bahamas stop here. It’s a quick run from Miami, but only minutes from open ocean, so many boats will come to No Name Harbor once they have bought all the groceries they need and done whatever else they wanted to do in the USA. By getting here the day before they depart for the Bahamas, they cut a couple of hours off the crossing time.

When we arrived in mid-afternoon, there were dozens of boats already anchored, and more arriving. By dawn the next day, all but 3-4 had already departed for the southern islands of the Bahamas.

A few days later (2/28) we arrived at Key Largo. From there we motored to Islamorada, where we stayed for about a week waiting for mail. The beautiful weather made us think of those up north in the record snowfall areas, but somehow we were able to overcome our concerns.

Early February: We finally left old and new friends at Vero Beach and started south. We’re traveling with our friends George and Jackie who are aboard Sea Otter II, and plan to cruise with them for the next several months.

We stopped for a weekend in Palm Beach Gardens before continuing to Miami Beach. (Slow boats like Dory and Sea Otter II don’t travel much on weekends. The hot shots on their “go fast” boats are all over the waterways, and they care little that their high speed wakes will rock other boats tremendously.)

There is some conspicuous consumption here. In a 45 minute walk from where we landed the dinghy to a nearby ocean beach park, we were passed by three Rolls Royces. We also wandered by the first grocery store we’ve ever seen that had valet parking and a courtesy golf-cart shuttle from the parking area to the grocery store entrance — all of 100 feet. 

The sights along the waterway from Vero to Miami are amazing. There are homes that rival small hotels in size, and odd decorations every where we looked.

Doesn’t everyone have a full-sized model of a helicopter on their roof?

Below: I guess these two decorations might represent love and hate. We’re not sure who the owner of the second statue might have been mad at.

Late February: We anchored in Miami Beach, and spent the better part of two days seeing about 1/3 of the boat show. We also met up with Mojo, Vagabond, Longtayle, Rusty Nail, and a few other cruising boats we’d met earlier.

Take a look at where we anchored in Miami Beach, at about the middle of that photo.

We stayed in Miami Beach for a few more days, completing minor errands and waiting for good weather to move on.

Early November: We pulled into Brunswick, GA, and docked at the local marina. We tried the local specialty, Brunswick Stew. It’s an acquired taste, and we haven’t acquired it.

Next, we anchored off Cumberland Island, a Park Service-administered wildlife refuge with wild horses, lots of isolated beach, and the remains of a mansion from when this island was owned by the Carnegie family. JFK Jr. was married here. After hiking a few miles among the Jurassic Park-like Cumberland Island and touring the ruins of the mansion, we hauled anchor and went down to Fernandina Beach, where the fuel was reportedly the cheapest in the southern ICW. We added 200+ gallons, for the slightly roughly 500 miles we’ve gone since we started. Then we continued to Fort George River, where we dropped the anchor near the Kingsley Plantation, another 1800s place now run by the Park Service. Oh yeah, the cheap fuel? It would have been, except for 7% “impact fee” and 6% taxes added on top by Florida…

Sandy the boat-dog was alert to prevent attacks from dolphins.  Ever since he was splashed by dolphins when we first encountered them, Sandy goes completely nuts when he sees or hears the ever-present dolphins.

Thanksgiving: We spent Thanksgiving with 128 other cruising boaters in a giant pot-luck dinner in Vero Beach. The turkey was purchased, and everything else came from the galleys of all these boats. Lots of great food!

Christmas: We rented a car and drove to North Carolina to spend Christmas with family. A great visit, but 700 miles each way made for a long drive for such a short trip!

Late October: We anchored with perhaps a dozen other boats in Mile Hammock Bay (within the limits of the Camp Lejeune Marine base in NC). Ron and Karen on Seadancer invited many of the boaters over to their boat for a happy hour. (We met Seadancer and some of the others repeatedly during the next few months.) Leaving the next morning, we were second in line coming out of Mile Hammock Bay in the cold, rainy, and dark morning.

The lead boat took a wrong turn, and lemming-like, we followed. We were only aground 5 minutes or so.

Along with several dozen other boats, we stopped at Barefoot Landing, a free dock at a large shopping and entertainment area at Myrtle Beach, SC. The afternoon of the 27th, the boaters had an impromptu pot-luck happy hour on the docks, and got acquainted.

For Halloween, we stopped at Beaufort, SC. (The first syllable rhymes with “you”.) No trick-or-treaters came to the boat, but maybe that was because we were 200 yards from shore…