The boatyard we were at is a den of thieves. They aren't the folk who repaired the transmission, who in fact were quite good. Robbie's Boatyard was just the Hell Hole we were stuck in. It should be Robber's Boatyard. In the end they even tried to charge an extra day for the day we were leaving. This was after the manager had asked the fellows doing my transmission if they could drag the job out over a couple of weeks!
I paid for the correct number of days and we didn't return after the sea trial. When all was counted in, including the tow in from the Key West channel, it was around $5,000!
While this was on the go, Tom flew home and picked up a couple of heavy anchors, paper charts, and Edie. If we get overtaken by a hurricane, or a nearly one, the more anchors we can put out the better. Tom and Edie haven't been going out all that long and for Edie it was all a huge adventure. She was only able to join us from Key West to Miami, but she fitted right in, even though a little green around the gills at times.
By the way, key West is an interesting place. It's quaint and has a mixed population made up of all kinds of strange folk, boatmen, fishermen, Vietnam Vets who have really never been able to fit back into normal society, hippies, tourists, back packers etc. The lifestyle is relaxed, eccentric and colourful.
On Friday evening the weather for the next few days was looking good so we decided to push through to Miami, confident we could be there late on Sunday and we'd be right there for our appointment with Immigration on monday, the last day we can legally be in the country.
Assuming we don't get jailed or deported, we'll continue up the coast on Monday night as fast as wind and current allow. We are very conscious of the close call we had, spending so much time in the Cayman Islands and now they have Ernesto snapping at their heels.
We had a long chat with a lady who stopped by the boat. She knows these boats intimately and will be a great resource for all kinds of information. She also happened to mention that going to Miami via the Hawk Channel would be a daylight only trip. August is the start of the lobster season and 400,000 lobster pots have been dropped. They have a float on the surface and getting the lines around the propellor could be disasterous. There is no restriciton on where they can drop them.
We had a dead calm day and motored out of the marina where we had spent our last night. The sea was like glass, but it was only a few miles before we realised we would be struggling to hold our course and it would only be a matter of time before we hit a pot. We decided to go through the reef and motor up offshore.
As usual, the day was hot and humid and the navigation simple, just keeping 5 or 6 miles away from the line of islands and reefs that make up the Keys. The current was giving as a bit of a free ride and we were confident we'd make Miami by Sunday afternoon.
Later in the afternoon we could change direction enough as we rounded the Florida coast to get the sails up and we motor sailed on reduced revs. That afternoon I could cut the engine completely and we sailed along beautifully at 6 knots, plus a couple of knots of current.
We had a glorious sunset with red, purple, pink and orange dramatic amongst towering grey cloud formations. Later a bright moon, just a wobble off full, lit up the sea all around us.
As is often the case here, we ended up with variable winds and had to run the engine again. At midnight I was wakened with "We've got to slow this thing down. We're going to get there before daylight!"
We dropped the main and stays'l and carried on with just the Yankee (high cut heads'l) and Mizzen. This configuration is referred to as 'jib 'n jigger'.
We were getting 4 knots of pure Gulf Stream, and before reducing sail were doing 10.6 kts over ground (as opposed to our 6.6 kts through the water).
We still ended up off Miami a couple of hours before dawn. In fact we over shot it and had the strange experience of our actual track being 90 degrees to the direction we were pointing. The traffic going into Miami picked up as we got closer. A cruise ship, huge container ships, coasters and fishing boats. The radar is now our friend and we can't believe how sailors in busy areas manage without one.
Eventually we joined the shipping channel for a very rolley approach. The swell was not kind.
Miami is a difficult place to navigate. There are 'barrier' islands like Key Biscayne and Virginia Key, and there are few passages in. Once in there are a lot of very shallow areas, and salvage operators who are quick to 'help' by getting a line to you, and then claiming 30-40% of the value of the boat. We picked our way through channels, under a bridge that looked certain to snag our mast, past waterfront condos that I certainly wouldn't want to be in should a hurricane come this way.
I'd arranged ahead to get a marina berth at a city council marina with enough draft to take us. Slowly we approached and tied up. We are definately getting better at this.
Edie flies back tomorrow, and we go to present our case for an extention to an ajudicator at Imigration. We've been warned that they will very possibly be migrants themselves, with poor english skills.... great!
May the gods that look after sailors who blunder their way unwittingly through a thousand self inflicted crises, be in a benevolent mood tomorrow.
Until next time...