miami boat show

we finally left marathon on february 8, 2015.  like tom said, we finally found the elusive exit!  dolphins joined us as we cruised north on florida bay to tarpon basin (key largo) where we had spent christmas and we met up with our friends, mike and ann of TRAVELING SOUL who were working their way down to key west.   the next day, it was north to miami for us, stopping first at no name harbour on key biscayne to pump out and chat with wally who happened to still be there. from no name, we headed up to miami beach to find an anchorage and wound up at the infamous sunset lake - where one of the waterfront homeowners has taken it upon himself to wage war against cruisers who anchor in front of his house.  the story is that he asked the marine police to tell people to leave and if they don't, he shines spotlights and plays very loud music to annoy the boaters, and then finally, he had a whole bunch (19) of little pico sailboats moored all over the place so that no one could anchor there.  what a sad, pathetic man.  it seems that he has some kind of political pull because what he is doing is illegal.  in any case, all those little sailboats (with no masts) are full of bird poop.  i'm surprised that no one has cut their lines or dumped garbage on them.  the whole thing is way over the top in my opinion - i can't understand why we can't all get along.  i can understand how a few bad apples can make it hard for everyone but this big bully needs to realize that not all of us cruisers are floating homeless here!

different shades of blue, florida bay

back to the big bad city, miami

we are the blue dot on sunset lake

moored little boats saying don't anchor here

so we settled down on the other side of sunset lake where there were no moored little boats preventing us from anchoring.  there is a little landing for the doggie run which is not particularly ideal but it will do in a pinch like late at night or early in the morning.  for consuelo's long afternoon walks, though, we like to leave the sunset islands and go around to the boat ramp/police station/park in town, although we didn't do that the first couple of days because it was so windy.  i have just been working my little heart out here at home while tom has been going to the boat show as a journalist for chesapeake bay magazine.  i have to say - this is the first time we've anchored anywhere where we were completely surrounded by homes, albeit million dollar homes!  makes me long for good old little bay where there is room to breathe.  but this is miami beach and, well, it is different. 

on wednesday, the day before the boat show opening, tom had an assignment at marine stadium for the unveiling of something new by volvo.  i just stayed home and worked but tom  came back mid-afternoon after which we went exploring by dinghy and entered a canal that apparently goes right by the convention center where part of the boat show is held.

collins canal

house along canal

on thursday, the first day of the boat show, i dropped tom off at the landing.  he was going to be gone all day so consuelo and i were on our own and i decided that i simply didn't want to deal with the landing here at sunset lake.  there is no dock - just a concrete wall - and well, simply put, it was going to be complicated for me singlehanding it with consuelo so i decided to take the dinghy around past the sunset islands to the "police station" dock and walk her in the park over there.  i took the 5-gallon jug with me so that i could get some water while i was at it.  unfortunately, i forgot to take my phone with me so consuelo's walk got cut short - i was afraid that tom would call for a pickup and that i'd miss the call, so it was  back to the boat, hauled out the jug and emptied it into the water tank, got my phone, put the jug back in the dinghy and motored back to the police station dock where i filled it up again and then took consuelo for a nice long  walk.  i found the sushi place, the ice cream place and the publix for future reference.  then it was back to the boat for a little bit before tom called to be picked up.  that was fun except - why is my right shoulder so sore?  that jug sure was heavy once it was filled with water and i hauled it twice!  but hey, 10 gallons of water is 10 gallons of water, right? 

on friday, the second day of the boat show, i dropped tom off at the police station dock and brought home another 5 gallons of water and did the same at the end of the day when tom was was ready to come home.  yay!  another 10 gallons.  water is  a precious thing when one is not tied to a dock at a marina.  we hit the ice cream place on the way out.

tomorrow, saturday, is valentine's day and i am taking the day off and going to the show with tom - finally, my turn!  i am looking forward to it :)  our plan is to spend the day at the convention center then come home and pick up consuelo and head to the police station dock, have an early sushi dinner and then home.  years ago, when tom and i used to go to the miami show every year, we always had a valentine's day dinner at sushi rock in south beach.  we would order a "love boat!"  hahaha....  traditions are a good thing and we hadn't followed this one in a while.

we are supposed to leave for fort lauderdale the next day but that will depend on the weather.  cruising requires planning which then changes constantly.