Post #54: We’re Going With Plan B

Monday, January 18 to Thursday, January 21

High-rises and palm trees lined the sugar sand beaches of southeastern Florida for miles and miles until we turned into Port Everglades, the entrance to Fort Lauderdale on Monday. If Palm Beach is all about golf and tennis, Ft. Lauderdale, the “Venice of America,” is all about huge motor yachts and canals lined with opulent homes.  It’s difficult to capture the extravagance in photos. But, again, the natural beauty of the beach is what appeals most to me.

On Tuesday, on the way to Miami, we passed by Hollywood Beach.  My parents had brought my brother David and me to live for two winters in Hollywood Beach back in the late 1950’s.  My father’s plan was to work in Florida during the school year and then come back to West Boxford to run Benson’s Ice Cream in the summer months.  I sent my brothers this photo of Hollywood Beach taken about a mile offshore.  I doubt that the little 3-room bungalow they rented just off the beach is still there!

When we came to the entrance of the Port of Miami, David high-fived me—“WE DID IT!” We made it from Mattapoisett to Miami—almost 2000 miles!

Although “Miami” often conjures images of a long sandy beach, Art Deco hotels, Cuban sandwiches, and Latin music, (to name just a few) it is also a bustling port for cargo ships and hub for the cruise ship industry.  We must have seen a dozen of the passenger behemoths at rest in the cruise ship terminals, biding their time until the pandemic can be tamed.  We also got up close and personal with the container ships as we moved along the channel into Biscayne Bay.

Our destination for Tuesday and Wednesday was Dinner Key Marina on Biscayne Bay, just south of Miami. We were greeted by this friendly athlete—a member of the USA National Sailboarding Team.  He makes it look so easy but as anyone who has ever tried it, boardsailing is really difficult!

We’re now in the land of tropical saltwater anchorages which bring their own delights and challenges.  It was certainly the first time we’d seen this sign: 

But it’s also the first time we’ve really been able to see the ocean bottom so clearly:

Here in Coconut Grove we took our first Covid tests (negative) and filed all the necessary forms for the next leg of our adventure.  We’ve decided to go with Plan B and not continue to Key West. We have obtained our Travel Health Visas and are sailing on Friday to the island of Bimini in the Bahamas!  Then it will be on to Nassau and finally south, hopping along the Exuma chain of islands. Our ability to communicate will be more limited but I'll try to keep posting on this blog as often as possible.  We hope you’ll come along with us. Onward we go!