We spent a couple weeks hanging out in the Miami area enjoying the warm Florida Keys temperatures and breezes of February. Initially we anchored off the tip of Key Biscayne, one of our favorite areas. Sue finally had a chance to try out the kites she purchased years ago for the kids to fly off the boat. They work great in the Florida Keys trade winds.
One of the great joys of Key Biscayne is the "locals" you find yourself sharing the sidewalk with. In addition to the egrets and herons, as well as pelicans and cormorants in the harbor, there are numerous noisy parrots that live in the palms along the main street.
And the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Bill Baggs park is not to be missed. Unfortunately for Rivah dogs are not allowed on the beach or in the lighthouse. (There is a nice beach on the other side of the lighthouse, one of the best beaches on Key Biscayne)
Anchoring just off No-Name Harbor provides easy access to the island of Key Biscayne. The harbor is located within the Florida Bill Baggs State Park and for a nominal fee you can land your dinghy and tour the park grounds and walk to "downtown" Key Biscayne where we did some shopping at the Winn Dixie, stopped by Starbucks, and picked up a Cuban sandwich at the Oasis Cafe. You can anchor inside the protected Non-Name Harbor anchorage for $20/night however, in February it is quite crowded.
One of the great joys of Key Biscayne is the "locals" you find yourself sharing the sidewalk with. In addition to the egrets and herons, as well as pelicans and cormorants in the harbor, there are numerous noisy parrots that live in the palms along the main street.
A new addition to downtown since our last visit in 2012 is the rental bikes that are distributed throughout the island. A pretty convenient means to get around quickly.
The large public parks along the north and south ends of the island are especially enjoyable to walk through.
And the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Bill Baggs park is not to be missed. Unfortunately for Rivah dogs are not allowed on the beach or in the lighthouse. (There is a nice beach on the other side of the lighthouse, one of the best beaches on Key Biscayne)
Every 10-14 days or so a strong cold front blows through southern Florida and boaters have to figure out where they are going to anchor for protection from the strong northerly winds. We decided to head for Miami South Beach, an area we had heard plenty about but never visited before. Our friends gave us instructions for entering into the anchorage area which showed too shallow 4ft depths to get into but they assured us it was deeper than shown on the chart. Since they were also heading there, we decided to follow suit. We followed their recommended route through the Venetian Causeway passage which was a safe 6ft deep and anchored off the main South Beach Island. We were protected from the northerly winds and seas but not so much the boat wakes from the numerous boaters and ferry boats. Safely anchored, we hunkered down for 24hrs of rain, then the sun was back out.
While a bit busy, the anchorage area provides good access to downtown Miami Beach. The dinghy approach to downtown though was difficult to find (and use) without instructions from those with prior experience. We scouted around the area in our dinghy on our first day and decided that the narrow canal entrance we passed couldn't possibly be the way downtown. Wrong, that's the way in and down to the public dock just across the street from Publix. And, we were told - ignore the "No Docking" signs - this is where boaters tie up (not at the public boat launch site where you will get towed away).
So, we toured around south Miami for several days waiting for the north winds to blow through. Sue checked the beach for shells (no good ones) while I walked Rivah who is not allowed on the beaches. We did learn that the only Miami beach that dogs are allowed on is the nude beach in North Miami Beach, but that was outside our dinghy cruising range.
One of the local hot spots for boaters was Monument Island, just to the west of our anchorage. This is a small island with no inhabitants except the busy beaches on the weekends. Unfortunately there were plenty of "No Dogs Allowed" signs prominently displayed.
After a few days at Miami Beach and the return of favorable weather, we decided it was time to start moving on to Key West. We would first head back to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne and fill our water tank and pump out the holding tank along with a bit of laundry before moving on down the Keys. We were pleasantly surprised to learn we could pick up a mooring ball at Crandon even though the Miami boat show was going on a couple miles away. Seems the crowds were using the ferries from downtown rather than the relatively isolated Crandon Park (just the kind we like).
Next - off to Key West!
