Leaving Marathon headed to Miami Boat Show & Bahamas February 15 to February 22, 2011

This was an exciting day we were moving again and seeing new sites and exploring new places. Our first day back on the water with Bama Belle moving along the ICW again was celebrated with dinner and drinks while watching a beautiful sunset at Loreleis Restaurant in Islamorada Key, Fl. This restaurant is a very popular place to watch a sunset. We pulled up to the dingy dock with about 100 people sitting in chairs in the sand they were waiting for the sunset and watching us dock. These folks would get a good laugh if I fell out of the dingy. lol.... We were tied to a mooring ball at Shell Key and surrounded by mangrove islands and sparkling clear water. This was a small mooring field with only three mooring balls. No other boats were in sight. Today was a 6 1/2 hour run and 35 miles, another awesome day on the water .

Our plans are to be in Miami for the Miami Boat Show on Saturday and Sunday and meet the MV Crawdad Crew with Captain Gloria and Jim Crawford.

A short day with only 20 miles to a protected anchorage in Tarpon Basin at Key Largo. The AGLCA Harbor Host in Key Largo is Captain Sterling and Admiral Judy Kennedy. I have exchanged emails and several phone calls over the last two years with them. We finally get to meet them  and see there newest boat a 38' Marine Trader Trawler which was docked  at there home. We were welcomed with the warmest hospitality and of course a bad ass rum drink. Sterling can make a mean Rum drink. We shared boat stories and lots of laughs. Sterling gave us directions to a mangrove tunnel that you can explore with the dingy.  This is a unique 2 mile narrow waterway through the mangroves. A few places
you have to stop to lift up the branches to get through. I was looking up in the branches over our head watching for snakes.  Thanks to Sterling for the local knowledge we were able to enjoy this unique mangrove tunnel cruise.

Today we are headed 35 miles in 4 hours to Boca Chita Key in Key Biscane Bay near Miami Beach. I guess by now you can tell we are traveling at warp speed. Yeppers, at this speed you do not miss anything. The water is emerald blue and the lite winds made for a smooth day of cruising. We can see the Miami Skyline in the distance. This is a great view and I am delighted and thankful to get to experience this  awesome site. Boca Chita Key is a Federal Park that is located on a barrier island about 7 to 8 miles from Miami. The Ocean on one side and Biscane Bay on the other. The park has a rectangle turning basin that you enter from the bay. There is room to tie up 40 to 50, 40' boats boats along each wall. We were told that on weekends this place becomes "Little Havana" and the music would be blaring. This is one of my favorite places so far.

We are headed to Haulover Park Marina in North Miami Beach for 3 days to attend the Miami Boat "Show. This is the largest boat show in the world it is unblievable. We got to see every type of boat and equipment imagineable. Took a tour of a 130' Wesport Yacht that is priced at 12 million. lol lol A mega yacht at its best. Lots of fancy cars too. Rolls Royce, Lamborgina and my favorite Bentley.
We joined our looper friends Jim & Gloria Crawford for drinks and dinner at a waterside restaurant in Miami Beach. This is a happening place with a swimming pool and boats docked all around the restaurant. It was nice to have such good friends with us to have dinner and discuss our travels and adventures. We will say goodbye and head towards Fort Lauderdale in the morning.

Went to Walmart to get provisions for a month long visit to the Abacos. This took more than one shopping cart. I hope we can find a place to store everything. I already had 10 cases of beer and wine stored in the lowest place on the boat. We were getting ready for alot of sunset celebrations and looking forward to having C.J. meet me in the Bahamas.

We get into Ft. Lauderdale 30 minutes before dark and anchored in Lake Sylvia. We are surrounded by multi million dollar mansions. This is a mile from The Bahia Mar Marina that has lots of Mega Yachts. I am checking the weather websites and NOAA to get a current weather report. We want to make the 79 mile crossing to West End, Bahamas in the morning. The gulf stream is on my mind. I am thinking what is it going to be like? Are the waves going to surprise us and kick our butt or have we made the right decision? I have been trying to find a buddy boat to make the crossing with us. After 2 weeks and no buddy boat I decided we would go on our own. Most boats were waiting to cross in 2 to 3 weeks. We have all the safety equiptment and a EPHIRB. We should be good to go. The weather forecast is 5 to 10 knots of wind from the South East, seas 2' to 3' and swells from the south. This sounds great. And for the Famous words "Yah But", there is a hazard warning for the gulf stream 5' to 7' waves. This does not make any sense. I decide to get ready to cross in the morning and wake up early to check the weather again. Ya Hoo, the gulf stream warning says, NONE. Conditions are just right. We pull out of Port Everglades at 7:00 am after watching a beautiful sunrise. Chart plotter says 79 statue miles and 9 hours to West End, Bahamas. About 20 miles out we found a buddy boat. The cruise ship "Discovery" is running on our same compass heading and a mile away. Cool Buddy Boat...the AIS says they are going 18.30 knots. The seas are laying down to 1' to 2', we are getting a push from the gulf stream and the south swells are helping to boost our speed to 11 to 13 miles per hour. This turned out to be a nice day to cruise in 2000' of water. I am grateful and thankful that my prayers for calm seas were answered. Arrived at Old Bahama Bay Marina at 3:00pm. We averaged 10 miles an hour for 8 hours. We tied up and checked into customs they gave us a 90 day cruising permit.