Summer Wind: Heading North for Fort Lauderdale

Sunday March 27th - 8:00am at Plantation Marina, Islamorada, we untied the lines at slack high tide. In order to get out of the marina Dick turns the boat 180* degrees, there's not much room for drifting because the shallow area is very close. We are a single screw (engine) so thank goodness for a bow thruster (motorized propeller at the bow of the boat that pushes the water opposite what direction we'd like to turn. Our decision was made to try to get back to Fort Lauderdale in 2 days, so our first stop was going to be Boca Chita State Park. It's a small Island with several spaces to tie up on a wall for the night. We should have known better it was a gorgeous Sunday and every local boater was out. The wall was full and boats were rafting up ,, ok onto plan 2. No Name Harbor was only an hour away and we knew we could drop a hook for the night. Upon arriving to No Name Harbor we looked towards Key Biscayne and noticed hundreds of boats anchored out,,, oh oh this didn't look promising. There was a major Tennis Championship match going on and every boat in Miami seemed to be vieing for a spot near the Island. When we entered No Name Harbor we were absolutely shocked, there was no room to be had anywhere. Dozens of local boats were rafted up along the wall in the small harbor. What made it very tricky for manuevering were the dozens of swimmers in the water around their boat. No there are no pictures, while the captain was on the wheel, I (first mate)was on the bow as a Scout for stray swimmers,,, YIKES!! So we decided to anchor outside in the Bay for a few short hours until the 'locals' went home. Sure enough around 6 pm it was like a parade of boats exiting the harbor. We would have stayed put for the night but the winds were supposed to pick up so we decided to anchor back inside the harbor for more protection.

Hundreds of boats anchored for Tennis

Another Great Sunset

Monday morning we weighed anchor and slowly we made our way out of the harbor and into the bay. There were wind and waves, and we were glad that we made the decision to relocate because it would have been a very rocky night. From a distance we could see the storms approaching,, better make tracks as they say. Sure enough the storm front was moving faster then we were and it caught up to us as we were waiting for a bridge opening. Our destination today was Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale where we'll be able to plan our arrival at the River Walk for slack tide the next day. Early afternoon we dropped the hook and relaxed the rest of the day. Just before dinner time the skies opened up again into a ferocious wind and rainstorm. The downpour was so heavy we couldn't see the boats nearby until we noticed a person on a sailboat valiantly trying to re-anchor.

Miami Skyline

Fast Moving Front

Tuesday March 29th- Thursday April 7th Slack tide was around noon so we enjoyed a relaxing morning. OK why are we back in Fort Lauderdale, well, we had discovered a few problems with the Summer Wind and our mechanic was scheduled to come and check it out. We discovered our holding tank had a leak, yes our one year new tank was leaking,, YUCK!!!! As most of you know the new tank had been placed under the generator , so you can't really see what's going on underneath, but there is one way to tell and that's when something just doesn't smell right, EWWW. Very frustrating because the captain ordered a much more solid tank thinking about strength and permability, unfortunately it wasn't flexible enough with the movement of the boat and cracked at the seams.The second new tank was ordered and it is a little smaller to allow for room more movement and then installed using a rubberized foam insulation with braces. Keep your fingers crossed this one lasts longer then a year! We had our rudder stuffing box tightened and the 'burned wire that the first mate discovered turned out to be a gooey pliable tape,, who knew?