Key Biscayne

Yesterday morning we dropped our mooring in Marathon at 6.30am and set our course for home. Jane had checked the weather and it looked as if we would be stuck for a week if we did not leave. We decided that if the day remained half way decent we would travel as far as possible. Fourteen and a half hours later we dropped anchor in Key Biscayne outside the ‘Nixon White House’. Nixon bought this house with the help of renowned banker ‘Bebe’ Rebozo. That is food for thought. It has been reported that plans for the Watergate break-in were discussed here. It is the record that Nixon stayed here over 50 times during his presidency and spent a lot of time here licking his wounds after Watergate. It brought back memories for Jane and I, five or six years ago we took a sailing course in Ft Lauderdale and we anchored here on our first night of the course.


Just in case anybody got the crazy idea that the day was a walk in the park, it was not. The first 10 hours were beautiful. We cruised along at 7 or 8 knots with a following breeze and waves. The sea was full of Man-O-War jellyfish. As you may or may not know Turtles eat jellyfish so we were fortunate to spot 4 Loggerheads on the surface throughout the day.

Darkness overtook us about five miles from the entrance to Biscayne Bay. The channel is not very well defined so the anxiety level increased to a high level as we approached. Peter’s eyes were glued to the GPS and Jane sat at the edge of the cockpit with the spot light picking out channel markers. Of course Murphy’s Law took effect and the wind increased to over twenty knots. Just what we needed after fourteen hours on the go! The channel passed through an area known as Stiltsville. The area has many low lying land masses and people built houses on stilts there in the era of Capone and prohibition. The law stated you had to be one mile off shore to gamble so a large boat was run aground there and the gamblers ferried out from Miami to party and play. Wow, what a country!!! Several years ago most were destroyed by hurricane Andrew in 1993 and only half a dozen ruins remain. It was very eerie passing through the area in complete darkness and picturing what it must have been like when they were first built. Needless to say we were both relieved when we set the anchor and sat back and reflected on the day.

This is what the buildings looked like
in Stiltsville.

This morning we had our coffee and then moved just a short distance down the island to ‘No Name Harbor’ in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. We will hold up here for a few days to let the weather settle before moving on to Ft Lauderdale and points north. One of the sites we are going to visit while here is the 19th century working lighthouse, the oldest structure in Miami Dade County.  The park also has one of the top 10 beaches in the United States. And lest I forget, you are looking right across the bay at beautiful Miami and Miami Beach. The price is right...state park $15 per night, on the honor system!!

The harbor can hold about a dozen boats at anchor.
This restaurant is just at the dock.

We hope to keep the boat in Cape Canaveral for a month or so while we return home to do taxes and entertain some family visitors from the US and Ireland.