...has it's challenges, especially when 3 cruise ships are leaving via Government Cut just when we want to enter. While it seemed daunting for a moment, there was plenty of room and we dodged the out-going ships, as well as two ferries. In between all of this, we sent a message to Dustin that we were in the turning basin, and from Jary's and Diana's apartment he was able to see us behind the ships.

To fill you in on the day, we left Lake Worth Inlet with a bunch of fishing boats at 6:55 am on Monday, Jan. 7. It was an excellent day for an ocean ride – 63 miles from Lake Worth to Miami. Seas were calm and while winds were supposed to be in the 11-16 knot range out of the NE, promising to be a good ride for us, they never really materialized. Still, it was a warm day and pleasant to be on the water. We stayed 1-1.5 miles off shore. It was amazing to see the MANY tall buildings along the shoreline as we traveled south. So in the morning we were a sailboat once again, but within 4 hours a band of rain caught up with us, we got wet, and the winds changed, then died. The rest of the day we sailed, motor-sailed, and motored, arriving at Government Cut (entrance to Port of Miami) just before 5pm. After our little encounter with the cruise ships, it was an easy motor back to the ICW to go north a mile or so, and then into the anchorage near Belle Isle on the Venetian Causeway. This was our spot on the last trip. With Jary's apartment in sight, it's an easy dinghy ride to the dock and a short walk to his place.

Although I didn't fill in the details about the engine repair, suffice it to say, Mike, with the help of Dave on Tropical Breeze, finally got the engine coolant circulating through the whole system and the engine over-heating problems went away. With that worry behind us, we decided to stay in Stuart to ring in 2013. Our friends, Kathy and Jim on Charm arrived on Sunday, and with Dave and Joanne and a few others on moorings at the marina, we celebrated ringing in the new year with a bar-b-que/pot luck and a collection of bottles of champagne. It was an appropriate celebration for a bunch of sailors!

Stuart is a fun place to be and we found other things to keep us busy – seafood and farmers' market shopping, JOKER game night, more bike rides, some R&R (a.k.a knitting), and of course, another trip (one of many) to West Marine for a “much needed” part. Anxious to spend some time in Miami and make use of a possible weather window, we left Stuart on Sunday, Jan. 6, and fought our way down the ICW between bascule bridges and crazy boaters into West Palm Beach. Lesson learned – avoid this leg on a week-end; there are way too many cigarette boats out having their “fun”, sometimes at our expense. Still, we enjoyed the anchorage in Lake Worth – 75 degrees (much different from our last stay in 2010 when it was 31 degrees, and blowing 35 k.)

We're glad to be back in Miami, even if only for a few days. Next stop is Marathon.