I Made IT! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

(Current Location: 25' 47.219N/ 080' 10.094)

And that is right off of the Venetian Causeway and right in front of the Miami Yacht Club. I made it!

The journey down from Fort Lauderdale was semi-uneventful. Getting fuel was a bit of a hassle as I miss the marina I wanted to hit in Fort Lauderdale. I was just stunned by the Ocean liners and the huge, unbelievably big private yachts that are all over the place. These are big boats with big appetites. I was talking with one of the delivery people who noted that when they get that big, fuel is delivered in "tons" not gallons! For me it is a little bit more down to earth. Missing the marina I wanted to hit, I ended up at a place called the Haulover Marina just not of Miami. Cosying up to the dock was a thrill a minute as the current and the wind were contrary and caused some tense moments getting to the dock. In addition, it was small and really move for small powerboats than for sailboats, let alone one 39 feet. Still, with a little effort and a little luck and a little skill, I was able to tied up to the dock which turned out to be shorter thyan ABISHAG! I took on 25 gallons and paid $101.97!

As this marina was not really set up for sailboats or even large boats, I literally could reach the pumpout station and had to go hunting for one. I am surprised that for a state with such strict discharge law and rigged enforcement, that they don't have scores of "honey barges" cruising around or that every marina is not required to have pump out facilities.

I finally found one just north of Miami in Pelican Bay which is not really a bay. According to the chart, it is but a wide spot in the river. I had to cross through water that was not supposed to be passable to get to the marina but made it and got pumped out and got back to the ICW without touching the bottom.

I passed under the Julia Tuttle Memorial Bridge that is the only fixed bridge on the entire ICW that doesn't have the 65 minimum height. It is only 56 feet and even though I knew the mast of ABISHAG topped out at 53 feet, plus and other foot for the radio antenna, I was still nervoius going through. Looking up at the mast passing under the bridge from the cockpit was not a good idea. No matter how slow I was going there was no way that I could avoid serious damage if I hit. And from the cockpit, it look like I would hit, but there was no contact.

The next bridge was the West Venetian Causeway Bridge, a bascule bridge, which I weekends opens on request and I requested and it opened. I hung a left and went up waterway along the causeway and anchored of San Marino Island, in front of the Miami Yacht Club. Once everything was secure, I celebrated that I had really made it to Miami, basically the end of the ICW in the sense that the ICW Channel ends and now it becomes merely a course with the odd little canal to transit. And boy did I celebrate! That was the reason there was no blog yesterday!

Today it was hot and sunny and wonderful. It was the type of day that I have been looking forward to sense the fall. And I did littel or nothing all day but work on my tan. Actually, I did smoe planning for the possibility that they might actually enforce the "7 day anchoring rule" by looking for places in Biscayne Bay to drop the hook and also courses for the Keys.

I have found that I will have to go outside if I want to go the Keys. The inside, ICW route is not doable if you have a draft of more than 4 1/2 feet which rules ABISHAG out by a foot! There is access to the Hawk Channel along the Florida coast in several places which all seem to be about 30-40 miles or so which would allow me to duck inside at night after sailing outside during the day. This would require the right weather and especially the right winds and wind direction, North West is the ideal. I will have to lay out the courses in more detail and then begin to check the weather, that is if I really want to go any further south. I may just stay in the Miami area. I might get to meet Horatio Cane!