Coconut Grove - Miami (March 8 - March 10)

Saturday March 9th, 2013
25 43.119 N
80 13.661 W

My hair is so thin!

I donned my dive gear and went under the boat first thing. Much to my relief the keel was fine - maybe it had lost a bit of paint, but that was it. So I warmed up in the shower and we were underway at about 10AM. Other than me stewing about the keel, it had been a great anchorage and a peaceful night. Today we would reach Miami.

Mangrove lined creek

We only had a bout 40 miles and it was a pleasant day. Some of the route took us along "rivers" thru mangrove islands and I found that quite entrancing. Every now and again we would come across civilization in the form of a fishing marina/hotel or a road bridge. The last stretch was across Biscayne Bay, and we could see the Miami sky line in the distance and pick up Miami radio stations.

Our destination was a large marina with a mooring field at Coconut Grove, a suburban town arbout 5 miles south of central Miami. As we later discovered, it was "Sailing Week" and as we got closer we got mixed up in hundreds of small racing boats. I paged the "Race Committee Boat" on the radio to get advice on the best course of action and to my great surprise they responded.

Bloody sailing boats

We were all secure by 5PM and after cleaning up we went ashore and explored the town. Turns out to be a pretty upscale place with a busy entertainment center. We found a place with "2 for 1 drinks" and "50% off appertisers" and a live band and settled in. To my complete surprise Deidre took her two "Mojitos" and finished them both off. She was a lot of fun, but had a bit of trouble getting back into the dinghy later on!

Saturday March 9, 2013

My laptop refused to boot this morning. It has been acting up for a month or so. Last night I dribbled some wine on it and that seemed to be the last straw. My desktop computer in the pilot house cannot find the Internet. Time to buy a new lap top.

On the people mover - free

We headed ashore at about 10 AM. It was a nice day, sunny and warm. We headed to the bus stop to go into town. Today turned out to be an exercise in urban mass transit. We took a bus to the railway station - 25 cents. We bought a rail/bus day card for $7.00 and took the elevated train down town where we swapped to a free monorail "people-mover". After looking at a couple of computers and enjoying a cup of coffee we took a bus to "South Beach".

Happiness

South Beach was hopping. Turns out it is "Spring Break" season and there are "millions" of college kids in town. The people watching was spectacular. At one point I said to Deidre "Does this remind you of Rio?" Her answer "If everyone lost 100 lbs, maybe!" We had lunch on the sidewalk under umbrella. My lunch was the best I could remember - only $8.50 for the plate and "beers two-for-one". South Beach is now my favorite destination. It is a spectacular and vibrant city.

Tired Deidre

I bought a computer and left it to have my files loaded (I had the solid state back up with me) but they had some trouble and we have to go back tomorrow. We did not get back to the boat till after 6PM. A bit of wind had arrived and we got wet.

For the moment my lap top is working again - sorta-kinda..







Sunday March 10, 2013

Bacon and eggs for breakfast to celebrate daylight saving. We were ashore by about 11AM and started the trek across town to South Beach where I dropped off my old computer so they could remove the hard drive and copy files. Then a cab up to Lincoln Street for lunch.what a happening place. The road had been converted to a mall with out door eating - 60 restaurants in a mile - and lots of people in all sorts of get-ups. We have decided that Miami Beach is the "look-at-me" place. Saw a Mercedes that had been totally chrome plated.

We bought one and split it

We had lunch, did a bit of shopping and wandered around till the computer was ready to pick up. Of course it was not really ready, but the files had been transferred and the rest seems to be up to me. Then the trek back - bus, people mover, rail, bus and dinghy. Same as yesterday the wind was up again and Deidre got soaked in the dinghy.

Monday March 11, 2013

We are staying another day. The sea conditions include waves up 9'! So we have decided Deidre will go ashore for some "by myself time" and I will try and sort out some more of Windows 8.

Overall I am super impressed with Miami. It is a clean, modern, attractive and vibrant city. There is a lot of construction going on. Public transport seems really good. But it is a bit disconcerting that English is very much a second language here. Miami Beach is really good fun.