M/V MAERIN

We left Coral Ridge before noon on Monday and headed out Port Everglades inlet bound for Government Cut at Miami. We had a very pleasant run, with sparkling clear skies, and light winds. No wind chop, just gentle rollers. We’re finally getting into water where we can see the bottom! Not the clarity of the Bahamian water, but in 25 ft you can see there’s a bottom going by. In the Bahamas you can see the blades of grass on the bottom in 30 ft!

We had an uneventful run, and since we were outside, happily avoided a whole slew of bridges between Lauderdale & Miami, many of which have restricted openings that require loitering ahead of the bridge to wait for the appointed hour of the opening. Never a good idea to try to tell the tender that they’re not on time for an opening. South Florida has a slew of bridges, and the names and schedules can be confusing to try to keep track of. Some of the tenders won’t respond if you don’t use the locally accepted bridge name. The one we’re closest to is “Venetian East” – it’s listed in the cruising guides as the Venetian Causeway Bridge South Span, but the tender responds to “Venetian East”. I’m sure they sit in that tender’s house and probably get into a zone where they don’t hear much on the radio except what they’re tuned to respond to. The locals know the drill, and how to keep the tenders happy!

We entered Miami via Government Cut, just ahead of a large container ship. Our entrance was greeted by some topless girls perched on the rocks of the jetty. Not a terribly unusual sight for South Beach, but unexpected enough to have me reaching for the binoculars, just to make sure I wasn’t mistaking what I thought I saw…. uh-huh!!

We saw Don & Ellen aboard Sirius Endeavour, we saw them returning to the boat in the dinghy with Bella as we waited for the bridge, but couldn’t get their attention, so we dropped by after we were set and had the dinghy dropped. Bella was overjoyed to see her buds, and even Sammy was squealing a bit. Being the enforcer, he is not usually impressed with snot-brat puppies, but he seems to have taken a shinin’ to Bella. She & Molly had a happy reunion, and bounced around the cockpit of Sirius as we enjoyed a libation and some candied jalapeño’s with Don & Ellen and Chris & Karen, friends we met in Brunswick. Cocktail hour was followed by shore time, and more dog socializing at the park that overlooks our anchorage. We met Dewey, a yellow lab who our friends the Seigel’s mentioned in a note a week ago. They were here for the Miami Boat show, and travel with their yellow labs Dylan & Dyna, who spent some time with our dogs at Vero. The park here is not an official dog park, but there is a group of regulars who show up every evening for a dog social. Very friendly folks, and a very social group of dogs. All off-lead, all very well behaved!

Today, Tuesday began sunny and warm, a bit windy, but now after noon, a front that was predicted has moved in with increasing wind, rain, dropping temps and a few thunderstorms. We’re supposed to have a few days of less than ideal weather. But we took advantage of the nice weather this morning and walked to Lincoln Rd. in South Beach. If we get another nice day, we’ll take the couple of mile hike to South Beach to the beach walk and Collins Ave. where all the famous art-deco hotels are located. It’s a very interesting area, lots of sights to see!