Key West to Miami

Our sail from Key West to Miami was nothing short of fabulous. Hebe and Ute left together on a picture perfect morning with turquoise seas and baby-blue - almost lavender - skies overhead. A swim stop was mandatory for both boats....the string of keys looked tantalizing and we promised each other we'd come back and explore someday when we have more time. We were halfheartedly racing in very light winds and Hebe was winning - that is, until we deployed our secret weapon - the spinnaker! They claim this was cheating but have since confessed they were just extremely jealous.....


We spent three very fun days in Miami, which turned out to be a much more sailboat-friendly town than we'd expected. Our first stop was No Name harbor on Key Biscayne, where we finally saw our first manatee! so exciting! he popped up right next to Ute while munching on weeds. The park around the anchorage was beautiful and we took advantage of the cold showers and the great running path.......

The next stop was Hurricane Harbor, which is a tiny cove surrounded by some very hoity-toity real estate. the beauty of being on a sailboat is you can drop your anchor and park your scrappy little messy boat right off the backyard of some of the world's fanciest homes, and share their oceanview, and it's totally legal. and free. Ya gotta love that. One of the homes we anchored near was Brad Pitt's, but despite our great vigilance in watching the propoerty, neither Ariel nor I were rewarded with even a glimpse of the hunk. It was a great anchorage nevertheless.....




Next we enjoyed a quick sail across beautiful Biscayne Bay to Dinner Key anchorage. Biscayne Bay reminded us of Belize: there was a nice stiff sailing breeze but the water was flat and bottom-of-the-pool green as far as the eye could see. Great sailing grounds! Who knew?

After a couple days in Miami we finally tore my cousin Nat away from his work long enough to hang out with us. In his defense he was working round the clock doing last minute jobs on a gorgeous Formosa 56 that was about to leave for the Bahamas. His employers were generous enough to invite us out for lunch and then over to their boat so we could admire Nat's hard work. Even Ariel, who has been certified in soldering by Nasa, was oohing and aahing over the systems Nat installed. Nat is from the "real sailors" branch of Cora's family and as such, knows as hell of a lot more about boats than probably ever will. We learned a lot hanging out with him! Thanks Nat! We wish we could have stayed longer, but evidently we had a date with a lightning bolt that we just couldn't miss. Next time Nat tells us we "just have to" stay longer I think we'll pay better attention!