Bill Baggs State Park

No Name Harbor is marked with an anchor on the right.

This anchorage in No Name Harbor is probably one of the best we have been in. It is not free...they ask for $20/night honor system. But it helps to keep the showers and laundry clean and in good shape.  there is room for 14 boats maximum, is protected in all directions, and just pretty. Yesterday we walked to the lighthouse, which is not a working one anymore because they built lighted towers along the reefs to warn boats of the hazard.  But they have done a beautiful job restoring the lighthouse and keepers quarters. There are hiking paths, bicycle paths, and fishing stations along the bay side. Lots of wildlife but we have noticed a lack of birds!!

Cape Florida Lighthouse

Replica of original keeper's quarters

New reef towers built to replace lighthouse

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.

Back in Marathon

It was a beautiful morning so Kinvara left the dock at 7AM and proceeded out of Key West Bight Harbor. It was too early for boat traffic so we had the seas to ourselves for a while.  We went past a large Carnival cruise ship docking for the day. There is at least one cruise ship in this port every day.  Once Kinvara turned east toward Marathon, the sun was rising, the winds were blowing a balmy 12knots and the seas were choppy...apx. 1' waves.  As we got further east the wind picked up to 13-14k from the east and the waves increased 2-4' every time we came out from behind the reefs.  Our total trip today was 6.5 hours. We paid for a month in Marathon, which finishes tomorrow so we had the mooring ball to return to.  As we motored slowly to the mooring a dolphin came swimming alongside and rode in our bow wave before dipping underneath and moving on. It was an exciting return! We await the weather tomorrow to see if we leave to head back north again.

Last Day in Key West

After 2 very long busy days in Key West we decided to rent an electric car for the morning to see the parts of Key West we could not walk to. We found a French restaurant at the end of Duval St. for breakfast then moved on to the southern most point in the US, marked by a large land buoy. In this little corner there were dozens of man o war jellyfish washed ashore. We drove by the Key West lighthouse then through some neighborhoods to see the houses. The morning ended with a stop to reprovision at a grocery store. Once the food was put away we took Pretzel in her backpack, again, returned the car, and browsed around the cruise ship docks, stores, an art fair, and the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum. When the day was done we returned to Kinvara to watch the sunset and commercial tour boats come back into dock. Tomorrow we return to Marathon to prepare to head north and home again.

Our little car

Man o war

We have now travelled the entire East coast of the US!!

St Augustine Lighthouse

Every person is a statue..except the one in front of the dancers!

Pirate Heaven!

Out & About in Key West

Today we put Pretzel into the backpack and hit Duval Street.  Shops & bars & shops & bars & dogs!!  This is the most dog friendly town we have ever been in!  The streets were mobbed since we were sharing the space with 3 cruise ships.  One was exclusively for Ohio State alumni. Talk about a sea of red!!

Duval Street

Shopping

Bars

Chickens on the street

Dogs!

This dog takes money out of your hand.

Then he puts it into a bucket.

Pirate dog

Pretty storefronts



Today's lunch



Mile 0....Key West!!!

Easy sail to key West!

Relaxed Admiral

On Wednesday morning we decided to drop the mooring ball and travel a short way to the Boot Key Harbor entrance to Burdines fuel dock.  We breathed a sigh of relief to find our engine and propeller worked after getting caught onto an old crab pot rigging when we arrived 3.5 weeks ago!!  After filling with fuel and water we went back to our mooring.  Well, since we had come this far along the Florida coast we decided it would be a shame not to go all the way to Key West. Jane made a quick phone call to Key West Bight marina and got a slip for 3-4 nights right in the heart of the old city. So first thing yesterday we dropped the ball at 6:45 and had a terrific sail into Key West by 2PM.  This is definitely quite a place. There are boats everywhere, resorts, shops, restaurants, etc. We wish we had been here a month!  After checking in we put Pretzel into her bag and started to explore the Harbor walk. We ended up at the cruise ship area where there is a sundowner festival every night. There are street performers, local craftsman stalls, and bars!! There must be more bars per square foot than Ireland.  Exhausted and hungry we returned a tired Pretzel to the boat at 7PM and then had a delightful dinner at the end of our dock at the “Raw Bar”. Delicious!!! Today we will get our bikes out to explore further…and tire Pretzel out so we can do the Duval Street Crawl tonight!  Enjoy the pictures!!

Big Fish!

Really Big live fish!!

Might try this tonight.

Notice the sign next to Jane!

Love this bar! rivel the one in Bury St Edmunds, UK!



Should we add Franklin, MA to this sign post?



Turtle Hospital

On Monday morning we set out early to have breakfast at 'The Stuffed Pig'. After breakfast we took a bike ride along route 1 to the seven mile bridge. On the way we passed a sign which brought back a lot of memories from across the sea.

For those of you who are not aware of this my home, Kinvara,  in Ireland was on the south coast of Galway Bay.

At 10 o'clock we had an appointment at the Turtle Hospital. It was a bitter/sweet 90 minutes. Only days before I had swam with a Loggerhead turtle in the wild on the reef and experienced something that so few have the privileged to do. Looking at the effect that humans have on these beautiful creatures is devastating. We were shown items such as fishing line with the hooks attached that have been removed from the intestines of the ones that were lucky to have been rescued. Many more are hit by boats and propellers every day and most die from their injuries. The impact of plastic in the ocean is beyond comprehension. We were reminded of the huge skeleton of the whale we saw at the sea park in the Bahamas who's stomach was full of plastic bottles which eventually killed him. The ironic part of all this is the fact that there is no effort in most places we have been on The Keys that have recycle programs. 

How about their very own ambulance!

Born with a bent spine he has weights
 attached to keep him upright.

Some of the items removed from rescued Turtles.

Turtle X ray room

Turtle surgery



The largest is a Leather Back and the smallest is a Green Turtle.