Much ado at Dinner Key Moorings Coconut Grove, FL

 Miami                                                        a  New Hampshire driveway hmmm

         Jane Ansaldo and Korty Church's photo




I have been reading (New York - Rutherford, All Our Names - Mengestu) and lazy; not keeping up with the blog blurb.  
Soon after we arrived at Dinner Key we walked over to the Coconut Grove Sailing Club where Hayden Cochran of the Island Packet Yacht Owners Association organized a meet and greet with Judith Jacobson, a Danish captain on an Island Packet 350 and her husband, Hakon, who sailed to the 80th latitude, to Svalbard, 600 NM from the North Pole, north of Norway.  She is speaking at several seminars at the Miami International Boat Show, one of the best in the world.

Check out her youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yaWGWdYlSY

Pretty amazing to see the wildlife in Svalbard, former Spitsbergen.  She said it is the law to carry a gun when anyone walks out on the tundra because of the Polar bears - not to shoot them, but to scare them and for self defense if necessary.  Others on the Cruising Northern Latitudes panel who  spoke explained what they did to reinforce their boats for the ice.  However, Judith just bought an Island Packet and sailed up there in the summer - no reinforcements to the boat.

Here we are at the meet and greet with friends.

We took the metro, an easy ride to the free Inner Loop in beautiful downtown Miami on the waterfront at Bayside to attend the Boat show, Strictly Sail, and then a bus ride over to Miami Beach (power boats) to view a new AB dinghy that we think we are going to purchase - yellow, of course.  Old Tweety is getting old, and is an item to replace before she implodes while we are in her on the water.

Another huge spectacular event is the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, one of the top 5 in the country according to the vendors.  I have never seen a greater variety of art, 2 D, 3 D, paint, all mediums, sculpture, jewelry, wood working, fiber, wood cuts, etc.  It's huge.  We spent the whole day there.  We could have had our own tent with all the people who stopped us to ask about Mazu.  She was allowed in only because we had her Pet Partner papers.   She is a therapy dog and she worked today.  So many smiles from everyone and lower blood pressure.

Mazu watching Drew eat a turkey leg.

 Mazu next to the poster for the Coconut Grove Arts Festival taking a break.

Fortunately there isn't much boat info.  We haven't fixed anything or gone for a sail since we got here.  We have taken Tweety, the dinghy, daily to go in and out of town.   It's been nice to have a car to shop, and maybe we'll see AJ, my daughter-in-law when she comes down on business.
Any sailing plans?  We may go over to Boca Chica, a state park, recommended by Hayden Cochran, for a night, 14 miles away and more protected from the winds that are predicted to hit here beginning Thursday.  We seemed to be living minute to minute with few daily plans.  All is well.

traveling outside from Titusville to Dinner Key Marina, Miami

 Our house in Exeter, NH after the storms. 

We have a device controlled through an app "Wink" that tells us the temperature in the house. Last night (Wednesday night after we arrived.) while having a beer with friends on Island Spirit, another Island Packet, I showed them the app and how it works.  My daughter gave it to us last Christmas.  As I showed it to them I was surprised because lo and behold the indicator showed 46 degrees (instead of the 55 it's been since we left), 2 hours later 44, and now it's down to 42.  From afar Drew has called shovelers to shovel out the furnace vent that was covered with snow on the outside of the house and the heating company to start up the furnace again.  The forecast for tonight is -7 in Exeter.  Hope the pipes don't freeze.  We'll drain them next year before we leave.

The winds were just right Tuesday through Wednesday, just in time for us to leave Titusville and motor/sail south OUTSIDE.  We took it.

Before we left I finally captured one dolphin on video.

I took Mazu jogging with me through a nice little park before we left.  Osprey on top of pole in the park.  The palm trees look like Dr. Seuss 's Trafulla  trees.

Before we move we figure out exactly how fast we must go and how many hours it will take to arrive at our destination during daylight hours.  Our rule - never enter a harbor at night.  On  Navionix we type in a route from Titusville to Miami.  Going 6 k would take us 34 hours. 
4 hours down the ICW to the Cape Canaveral Inlet that opens to the ocean.   We went through a canal and had to wait a half hour for one bridge that opens on the hour and half hour.  We arrived at 12:03, and we waited a half hour for the opening.  I took a little video of the area while we bobbed around.

 
I'm at the helm with swirling currents, looking back quickly and took this picture of  the three lifted spans.  The bridge tender told us workers are closing the lock ahead from 1 to 5.  We immediately radioed the lock to say we would be there by one.  At full throttle we thought we could make it.  Birds were flying around behind the boat I guess to get some lift from the 18K winds across Banana River out from Port Canaveral.

We arrived at the lock at 1:02, and they held it open for us. After the lock we unfurled all the sails because of favorable, fair winds.  Love sailing in the evening.  Sails stabilize the boat and give it the extra lift.  We were going 8 K so some of the time we could turn off the engine.  6 k is the usual speed and route estimates are used with 6 k.

A full moon to Miami. 

 We picked up the mooring ball at 4:00 pm in Dinner Key Marina 30.5 hours after we'd left Titusville. Mazu at end of trip.

     

To show the hardiness of an Island Packet I've included a link (9 min youtube) of a boat, the same model as ours sailing above the Arctic circle.  fox, polar bears, walruses, icebergs.   This woman is scheduled to talk at the Miami Boat Show this month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yaWGWdYlSY

However, we plan to stay in warm waters.  The water is 74 degrees here.  It's a rainy day and the outside temp is 70.  We'll be staying here in Dinner Key for the month of Feb.

Inside on ICW watching depth or Outside on N. Atlantic close to shore in higher seas?

I just added a new page on the blog: "Recommended places" that will include places we found especially fun in different cities,  also parking options if you have a car, and dog places if you have a dog.  "Marinas and anchorages" is the most visited page.  I keep adding to "boat words" as I use one that seems to crave definition, like maybe I'll explain why boats have zincs.

This was one of the 8 bridges we passed through as we motored down the ICW from Daytona Saturday.  This is a RR bridge that stays up almost all the time.  Other times we call the bridge tender on the VHF, "This is sailing vessel Shawnee requesting an opening."

We came into the slip Saturday late afternoon and tied up.  (Titusville Municipal Marina $1.44/' a night with Boat US discount.)  We can plug-in and can use our new heater. I must say it is much warmer here and less need for it.  Mazu loves a tie up.

We walked into a cruisers Saturday night pot luck that was fun with so many friendly people.  Good party. They are planning to do them monthly at Titusville.

DO NOT PAT, FEED OR GIVE WATER TO MANATEES.  Of course we all want to pat the manatee.  They love fresh water.  These signs are everywhere, but we fail to see them.  Seen a few dolphins.


Sunday night saw the Seahawks and Patriots play it out on the Arizona field for Superbowl XLIX (49) with a rousing, suspenseful interception at the goal line by the Patriots to save them from defeat in the last 30 seconds of the game!  [I hear next year the NFL isn't going to  use Roman Numerals because it would just be L.]  We watched at Dixie Crossroads Bar on a big screen TV by ourselves until the bar closed before the end of the game.  We walked 20 minutes back to the marina and finished the game with 4 people gathered around a tiny TV on a screen porch. 
  During the day today Drew looked at the auto pilot that had been rattling and tightened things up.  This did require emptying the entire cockpit locker and placing everything all over the cockpit and taking out all the tools in the salon occupying every surface there as well.  I read.

Monday:  We need to decide how to proceed south.  There's 15 to 20 k winds today with seas to 6', a spot of rain and spotty blue skies.   That's rather our limit - 6.'  If we go out it will only be 36 hours on the water to Miami (200 miles) v. 4  eight hour days.  Not sure yet.  Mazu always votes for the least amount of time on big waves.  I always want to try to sail, but I can't remember the last time we unfurled a sail; sometime in November I believe for a few minutes on our way to St. Augustine.  We say we don't want to sail on a schedule but even without people to meet or things on land to do we are scurrying to avoid weather or forced to catch a weather window that only lasts a few days. Or if it isn't weather it's repairs to attend to at a certain marina.

   Slow going today except for the diver who came and cleaned the bottom of the boat  - $60 for an hour and half underwater.  "Wasn't too bad," he said, and he also replaced the prop zinc that was worn down to the nub and loose.  Here's Drew, Mazu and the diver with his baby stroller full of fins, hose, scrapers, and one air tank.  I worked on this blog.