While sitting onboard at Vero Beach during a rainy day, it was the opportunity to get most of my tax data entered into TurboTax. I'll just have to update in April when all the financial data is available.
Sure is a step forward from cruising in 2010 when we had leave the boat in Florida and get back home by early April to get the taxes done, then return to the boat to sail back to Yorktown. Now I can do everything online using my laptop and cellphone hotspot even in the Bahamas.
Heading out to sea at Fort Pierce. We do this 100mile run from Fort Pierce to Miami offshore avoiding all the bridges and congestion along the ICW. It is a 20-22 hour run to Miami offshore but 3-4 days if you transit down the ICW. Last year we took the ICW to Stuart to stop and see friends, then went out to sea at West Palm Beach. We vowed never to do it again.
The weather looks very good for our 24hr run, but there are always surprises.
Sunset as we pass by West Palm Beach. We are making too good of time and our ETA to Miami is now 0300 in the morning. We will have to slow down.
Initially, the seas were much rougher than we expected but they settled down after a few hours. The wind was supposed to die down this evening but it continues to blow at 14kts. We will have to significantly reduce sail and speed to delay our arrival until dawn.
The crew is taking a well earned nap. It was a bit rougher than expected but both Sue and I made it through the trip without any serious seasickness. Maybe Sue is getting her sea legs?
The temperature on the other hand was definitely not Florida weather. Was 48 degrees when we left Vero Beach.
Rivah normally sleeps most of the trips offshore but perhaps she could smell the shore. We transit down the coast about 1 mile offshore along the 30ft depth contour to keep away from the Gulf Stream. We were fortunate to have a half knot of favorable current behind us most of the trip (also contributing to arriving too early).
Welcome to Miami with a crisp, blue sky morning. We ultimately had to reduce sail to a single triple reefed mainsail and no headsails. This enabled us to sail from West Palm Beach to Miami at a slow and steady 3.5kts arriving at 0700am. The second half of the passage was very comfortable but it is always good to make landfall. Rivah will especially be happy to take care of business in some soft grass, not the rocking fiberglass foredeck.
The Miami skyline from Biscayne Bay. This is always an amazing site, reminds you of the Emerald City in the land of Oz.
We anchored the first night off Dinner Key in southwest Miami in Biscayne Bay. There were a couple hundred boats in the area within the mooring field and anchorage area. We found a good spot to anchor not too far from the public dinghy landing.
Then it was off to Trader Joe's and Aldi's for last minute provisioning.
The next day we moved our anchoring spot over to No Name Harbor on the other side of Biscayne Bay where we will depart from tomorrow for the Bahamas.
Here's a picture of Rivah sitting beneath Tides Inn out at anchorage. It was another nice day with light winds and we walked into Key Biscayne for some lunch sandwiches.
Sunset from No Name Harbor anchorage. The north winds finally died around noon today and hopefully the Gulf Stream waves will die down. The wind is supposed to rise up tomorrow morning from the south and we will depart for the Bahamas. A south wind blowing the same direction as the Gulf Stream current won't raise the waves as high and hopefully we'll have a good crossing. Fingers crossed.
We head out tomorrow morning.
