Bienvinedos a Miami!
22 December 2008 | Dinner Key, Miami, FL
Mariah
We made it to Miami! We arrived on Saturday afternoon with a warm welcome from Captain James Sauers. He was on duty for TowBoatUS and came and met us about 15 miles away from our final anchorage in the ICW and escorted us the remainder of the way.
We had about 5 more bridges to go through...out of the 53 we had on our list for the trip! And with James tied up next to us, he was able to use his great benefits and just call the bridges and have them open up for us on demand. It was a great way to arrive after having to scurry though the past two days of 17 bridges a day, trying to time them just right and to make them on time.
When we got in and anchored up, James took us for a little joy ride on the boat and Dave tested his skills on the surfboard on a much faster boat. James got going to 25 knots before Dave gave up and let go. Pretty damn good for not having your feet strapped in.
Pegasus has been anchored up at Dinner Key so we can run our errands and do our final provisioning. James took us out on the boat again on Sunday and showed us what route we would take out of No Name Harbor into the Gulf Stream. We accompanied him on a tow of a boat that broke down in the Gulf Stream so we were able get the feeling for what it was like. Definately a little rougher waters than the harbor, but the water went from crystalline blue/green just outside the harbor, where we could see our shadows on the bottom of 20 ft to the deep deep blue of the Stream that dropped off to about 200 ft. I can only imagine what the Bahamian waters will look like.
I have been watching a weather window for Thursday of SE winds and 2-4 ft seas in the gulf. Looks like a pretty good window so we may be pulling up the anchor and heading out on Christmas Day. Yesterday and today have been pretty bad weather, 20-25 knot winds from the NE (not a good time to cross the gulf with contrasting current and winds). And it has been pretty uncomfortable to sleep at night with the boat bobbing around.
We got our wireless internet up and running so it should be working when we get to the Bahamas so Dave and I can both be connected to the real world. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holidays!