Not satisfied to have escaped the fates of Friday and the Ides, we decided to see if we could shorten the trip back out “to sea” by going under the Powell Bridge. The bridge is charted at 78’, and we have always believed our mast with the lightening rod is 78’ as reported by the builder. Given a chance to sail down Biscayne Bay and save 10 miles Scott decided to take a series of precise measurements (as precise as sailboat measurements can be at sea!)on Saturday morning. He checked twice and determined that we are only 75.5’-76.5’, and likely on the lower side with our full complement of fuel, water and stores, so off we went to see if we could squeak under that bridge. At worst Scott was sure we’d only bend the lightning rod… We made it!!

Safely under the bridge, we headed to the Hawk Channel and the Florida Keys, but first you go by Stiltsville – an area in Biscayne Bay with about seven houses built on stilts.

http://www.stiltsville.org

Some were former clubs and the entire area has a wonderful “rumrunner” feel to it. Scott hadn’t been here in years, and I never had; we took lots of pictures that we will post when more bandwidth appears (see the gallery).



Other than Stiltsville, we had an uneventful motorsail to Rodriguez Key in light airs and moderate quartering seas. Rodriquez, a little uninhabited island, is well known in that it provides relatively good protection on both sides, depending on the wind direction and is halfway between Miami and Boot Key Harbor (Marathon). We had our anchor down late afternoon, and watched several other boats fill in the anchorage by sunset.

The fates were beginning their “paybacks” here. Our generator was humming along for about half an hour and suddenly shut itself off. Initial diagnosis was the cooling system. It was late, Scott was tired, and it was left for another day.

(Scott’s comments)

CHARDONNAY is a very self-sufficient boat. We carry significant food and water onboard and can desalinate seawater using the diesel generator. The generator also makes hot water, something Admiral Freddi insists upon in daily doses. All other needs (light, refrigeration, radio/stereo/etc) are met by our 630-watt array of solar panels and deep cycle batteries. The genset is important but only for hot water when sailing near sources of fresh water like the US Coast. It’s been very reliable for years so I planned to tuck into a repair upon arriving in Marathon and expected it to be a simple fix… (I see you smile)