Just like the Americas Cup racers. That’s how we arrived here in Ft. Lauderdale…
We waved goodbye to the beautiful Keys last week, but not until enjoying a couple more anchorages after Boot Key. At Shell Key we tried our luck with the two-day Keys lobster mini season, but lobster was not to be on our menu. Rod did find a lobster laden trap that had lost it’s float. But since it’s clearly stated in the fishing regulations that it is a felony to take from a trap, we decided we could resist the temptation. We then spent two additional nights anchored at Elliott Key, swimming and snorkeling in the amazing water. We also thanked Zeus, Poseidon, and Neptune for protecting “Palachar” as we pulled that name off, and then asked for continued protection as we put the new letters of “Lucky Peek – Boise, ID” on the stern. It looks great!
We had thought we would stay at Elliott Key through that last weekend of July and arrive in Miami on Monday to avoid the additional weekend boat traffic. But the winds were in our favor to leave on Saturday. We sailed to Key Biscayne and anchored under sail in an anchorage in front of a house once owned by President Nixon that had a beautiful view of Miami across the bay. It was not by choice that we anchored under sail power – we do prefer to use the engine for maneuvering around other boats and then setting our anchor, but since our engine died and wouldn’t start we didn’t really have a choice. This was actually a repeat of how we had to anchor at Elliott Key. Houston, we have a problem. Rod had changed the primary fuel filter at Elliott Key, which seemed to fix the problem. Now he would change the secondary filter. Success! The engine started and ran just fine. We left Key Biscayne the following morning to sail “outside” (on the Atlantic, not the Intracoastal Waterway) to Ft. Lauderdale. We were relieved when the engine started easily that morning to help us out of the anchorage and then out the channel to the Atlantic. The winds were 10-15 knots and from the east, so we were in for a great sail north. We made good time during the first 4 hours, getting the boat sailing over 6 knots! Woo-hoo!!! The winds did drop off and shifted to the southeast which slowed our progress, but we still made it to the Port Everglades entrance channel to Ft. Lauderdale by 3:30pm. The seas were rocky from the wind and the boat traffic in the channel, but the engine started right up and we dropped the sails with confidence. That confidence lasted about 15 minutes. Then right as we are in between the break walls of the channel, our engine died. Hmmm… Not good. As in true sailor form, we shouted some choice expletives. I then used the momentum we still had to turn us into the wind so Rod could raise the main sail and unfurl the 150% genoa sail (whom we fondly refer to as “Jenny”). With the rocking waves and by now our slowed momentum, we were having difficulty getting the boat moving in the desired direction – back out to safer water. Of course, we had an audience of fisherman on the shore and onlookers from the charter fishing boats coming in around us. Then we got a personalized visit from the boys of the Coast Guard who must have been monitoring the channel from their small run-about boat. They came up alongside us and asked if everything was all right. Hmmmm… is everything all right? The answer to that was “No. Everything is not all right.” They were very, very nice and stayed at our side while we hailed the Boat US tow guys on VHF. Within just minutes the tow guys were at our side. We got the sails down, and the tow lines hooked up. Thus, our arrival in Ft. Lauderdale was just like the America’s Cup racers! They always get towed in! The only thing missing from our arrival were the cheering crowds welcoming us with sprays of champagne. Oh well. We were towed into the Bahia Mar marina, which is where we are now making arrangements for a mechanic to find the pesky air leak in our fuel system that’s causing the problem.
I should mention that the channels of Ft. Lauderdale are lined with multi-million dollar homes with mega-yachts parked out front. Their dinghies would surely cost more than our boat. We’re feeling a bit out of place here, but hey, our egos can take it. For a few days anyway. In the mean time, we are going to enjoy the local sites and rub elbows with the rich and corrupt.
Lisa
