Merry Christmas from sunny Florida



Enjoying a hike on a island in the Keys

It's been a couple of weeks since my last entry.  We have been anchored out in Miami completing jobs onboard and waiting for Kathleen ( Als daughter) to visit.  We spent an enjoyable day with Benno and Marlene aboard their trawler Diesel Duck.  They are experienced cruisers and have a wealth of knowlege and shared their cruising experiences with us.  Al and Benno discussed water makers, anchors and other equipment.



This is our anchorage in Miami



This past week we were busy with family visits.  I flew to Tampa to see my Dad and sister-in-law and Al's daughter was visiting so we took some time out from boat improvements to do some sightseeing.



Al and Kathleen took a trip down to Key West where they enjoyed some of the sights.

When I returned from Tampa we sailed down to Boca Chita Key where we tied up in a well maintained marine park.  The small island was once privately owned by the Honeywell family and there are still some of the original buildings standing including a lighthouse.  We collected coconuts, walked the island, talked to other boaters and took the dinghy out to do a little scuba diving.
On Friday morning the winds were quite strong and we decided to wait until high tide to make our way out of the channel.  A number of kite surfers showed up and we enjoyed watching them catch some serious airtime as the winds
were gusting to 40 knots in the morning.  We had an opportunity to talk to a number of them about the equipment and learning curve required and both Al and I agreed we would like to try this sport.


The solar panels are installed and it is delivering about 36 amps in the full sun. I need to install a preventer to keep the boom from shadowing one of the panels. 

Our first dive to check out the gear on a reef off Sand key.

We returned to Miami Friday night and as we were entering the anchorage we hit one of the sunken boats.  Luckily there was no serious damage to our boat.  We spent the day Saturday touring Miami Beach before Kathleen left for the airport.

This Christmas Grinch is made entirely of sea sponge.


Sunday Al ran into Michael and Rene from Lagoon City Yacht Club.  We joined them for lunch and they very graciously offered us the use of their car to do some shopping.  Monday was spent grocery shopping and we are now stocked up for the next few months - just need to find room to store it all :).

Later Michael and Rene joined us for dinner and Michael shared some of his experiences sailing in Thailand and Georgian Bay.