We departed Deerfield Beach at 7:30, expecting to make Cranden Park by mid afternoon. On our way down the ICW we came across a dinner cruise ship that had the greatest cartoon figures on the outside advertising its current show, so I took a photo. Probably would have been much more colorful at night with the lights on, but still worth a look. We cruised on the inside until we reached Fort Lauderdale, then we stuck our nose out of the inlet to see what conditions were like outside. It was relatively flat with NW winds 15-20 knots, which meant we would be going with the wind, so we decided to finish our cruise on the outside. As we cruised through the Ft Lauderdale harbor we were amazed at the number of mega-yachts that lined the harbor. I have included a few photos.
The Miami coastline was dotted with skyscrapers in every shape, size and color imaginable. As the clouds rolled in their shadows danced across the buildings which seemed to give them motion. For some reason I could not get the Miami Vice theme song out of my head...lol.
The Miami coastline was dotted with skyscrapers in every shape, size and color imaginable. As the clouds rolled in their shadows danced across the buildings which seemed to give them motion. For some reason I could not get the Miami Vice theme song out of my head...lol.
As we passed Key Largo the clouds were beginning to fill the sky only allowing the sun to peek through on occasion (there goes my tan maintenance!) the winds picked up and changed direction (SW 20-25 knots), but the waves were still a 1-3 so the ride wasn't bad. At this point we made the decision to go on past Cranden Park, since we were making good time, and try and make Marathon today. This is also where we started seeing crab pots. They were everywhere, with no specific pattern (just like home!). For the next three hours the only words spoken were, "Crab pot dead ahead", "go right", "go left"! This went on until we entered the harbor at Marathon Cay.
We made our way through the sea of mooring balls and moored boats being very careful to follow the channel markers....this can be a very shallow harbor. The dock master at Sombrero Marina met us at the dock, along with our friend Mel, to helped us tie up. This would be home for at least the next few days. Mel is from the same marina at home and arrived in Marathon a couple weeks ago. After washing the salt off the boat and ourselves we headed up to the Sombrero Bar & Grill where we met Mel and Tom (another fellow boater from home) and had a well deserved cocktail. After sharing individual sea stories about our journey's south we ordered dinner and listened to the local band playing.....another great ending to another beautiful day on the water! (you didn't think I was going to get through this and not say that did you??? LOL)
We made our way through the sea of mooring balls and moored boats being very careful to follow the channel markers....this can be a very shallow harbor. The dock master at Sombrero Marina met us at the dock, along with our friend Mel, to helped us tie up. This would be home for at least the next few days. Mel is from the same marina at home and arrived in Marathon a couple weeks ago. After washing the salt off the boat and ourselves we headed up to the Sombrero Bar & Grill where we met Mel and Tom (another fellow boater from home) and had a well deserved cocktail. After sharing individual sea stories about our journey's south we ordered dinner and listened to the local band playing.....another great ending to another beautiful day on the water! (you didn't think I was going to get through this and not say that did you??? LOL)
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