We had arrived at Dinner Key in Miami a little before 3 PM Tuesday and rode the launch in to the office, but were unable to sign in because the power was out and nothing was working. It was particularly exciting trying to use the windowless bathroom without power...thank goodness for the iPhone flashlight! We did try taking the dinghy in a few times but the dinghy dock was jam packed with what looked like mostly derelict dinghies, so we used the launch whenever possible. The wind piped up as predicted on Wednesday, so we weren't interested in venturing out into Hawks Channel yet.
After two days at anchor at the Dinner Key Mooring field we made another sunrise departure
(Thursday AM).
By the time we had crossed Biscayne Bay and entered the channel through Stiltsville, the day had shown its true colors and it was pleasantly warm and a gentle breeze was blowing from the Northeast. We noticed that some of the houses of Stiltsville seem to have a new coat of paint.
We had left before the first launch service and Dory didn't get a trip ashore before our morning departure, so Martha spent a good bit of time trying to convince her to use the green "grass" on the bow. She was finally successful mid afternoon!
We entered the Port Largo Canal at 3:30 PM (right at high tide) and were directed to the same slip we had occupied on our previous two trips!
A few changes tho, Candy the dockmaster was no longer there, but the new guy, Brian was very nice and helpful. The other change was that the African Queen was bought by someone who "fixed" her up and sells rides in the iconic movie star.
This morning we had breakfast on the veranda at the Marina Del Mar Resort and Marina and got re acquainted with some of the regulars who spend their winters on their boats, many from Canada...no French Toast tho...that's another change!
Robby and Carol have been one or two days behind us since we left St. Augustine, but they caught up today. They came down the "inside" through Florida Bay (too shallow for Brunelle) and called to say they were having lunch with Patrick and Carolynne Ellis-Jones and we were invited to join them. Patrick is our third cousin once removed and thanks to our Granny Robinson the families have made a connection. They live outside London, but have a house in Islamorada, just south of here, where they escape for the winter months. Patrick collected us after picking up Rob and Carol at Gilbert's Marina and Tiki Bar just north of here and drove us down to Islamorada where Carolynne had prepared a feast for us. It was great fun to finally meet them, as we have heard about them from Rob and Carol.
The view of ocean from Patrick and Carolynne's front yard in Islamorada includes this magnificent flowering bush.
We left Port Largo on the high tide tonight and are anchored off Rodriguez Key with several boats that are ready to jump off in the morning to head across the Gulf Stream as we head off on our way south. ~~~_/)~~~M&D
