Today was no doubt the shortest leg of our voyage south. It took us about 2 hours to cover the 8 miles from our slip in Miami to a mooring at Dinner Key, thus allowing us to enjoy the spectacular Miami skyline as we slowly slid by on the water. After rejecting the first mooring provided due to depth, or the lack thereof, we settled in comfortably in this large 225 boat mooring field.

So why did we only cover 8 miles today? Well, it was because of our late start. Why a late start? Well, there were 2 unrelated reasons, both involving yours truly.

First, while washing the boat in it's slip late yesterday, I found the top of a
sheared off bolt. The light of day revealed it to be 1 of 2 that secured our 10
foot high radar topped Scan Strut to it's deck fitting. Sylvia had noticed the gimbaled radar dome swinging wildly as we left our bulkhead tie up in Fort
Lauderdale. Apparently we had bumped one of the high decked mega yachts surrounding us when we pulled out, resulting in the bolt shearing off. So after
taking everything out of the aft locker and climbing in, we replaced the bolt with a temporary spare and re-secured the deck fitting until we can complete the job
later. Sounds easy. Of course, on a boat, these things always take longer.

Next, I took a bath. Since I was feeling kind of dirty I thought it would be a good idea to jump off the stern swim platform and spend 10 minutes enjoying
the fresh water in the marina. After which I took a cold shower on board to end up feeling completely refreshed. What a great way to start the day!

Oh, Sylvia wants me to mention the part about my removing a dock line and
losing the boat hook overboard in the process. And, yes, the part about me reaching from the swim platform for said boat hook. And then the part about
falling into the water and uttering the famous words of, "I'm falling into the water", followed by "I'm in the water". And of course the immortal words of
"turn off the engine, turn off the engine now". Since our swim ladder was not available to bring me on board, we deployed our emergency ladder. All I can
say is that it was a good thing we were able to practice this emergency procedure in a non-emergency situation and learn how to handle this better in
the future.

Also, I am always looking for ways to entertain Sylvia and thought this might start the day off right.

We enjoyed our time in Miami and are excited about finally being in the Keys.