Underway from our friend's marina, at 9:30 on Wednesday. Passed through Boca Inlet at high tide at 10:00. The curved inlet is tricky, with constant shoaling and dredging, but our friends assured us that we'd pass safely if we kept to the right and crossed the bar at high tide. Had plenty of water under the keel with about 3' waves crossing the inlet and 4' "0cean-rollers" off the port bow as we turned south for Miami.
Headed two miles offshore, under sunny skies, cruising at 15 knots in water depths of 230-280 feet. We passed many sportfishing boats off Ft. Lauderdale's entry channel. They were trolling back and forth where the bottom dropped from 40 feet to deeper water. They also violated the "rules of the road", cutting off traffic. We had to avoid several of those boneheads.
A few miles further south, we were met by a pod of over 100 dolphins. They were leaping out of the water, diving under the boat, some pasing under us with their lighter-colored undersides showing. The leapers were all at least six feet long. The pod appeared, raced around the boat for about five minutes and then left. MAGNIFICENT !!
We are moored in Miami's Bayside Marina for two nights. The marina sits in the heart of Miami, next to Biscayne Boulevard. It abuts a large indoor/outdoor mall with many restaurants. The smells of ethnic cooking, beautiful night-time lighting and sounds of Cuban salsa music made for a very pleasant evening on our fantail. We ate lunch at a Cuban restaurant today. Temperatures are in the mid-80s during the day and drop into the low-70s at night
Tomorrow, we'll head for Key Largo for one night, then take a mooring ball in Marathon (in the middle of the keys) for two nights. On Monday (January 28), we'll run to Key West for a two week stay.
Ebb Tide II underway
