Anchor Down: Hurricane Harbor, Key Biscayne

Weather: Most of the day was overcast, except that there were a few rays of sun on occasion. There were more clouds today than we have had all winter. The temperature range 74 – 78 degrees. The wind was out of the east northeast and clocked to the east and at the time we anchored was east southeast. The maximum apparent wind was 15.5 knots. True wind speed averaged about 12 knots, but dropped off substantially by 1800 hours. We had light showers several times today. We motored in light chop until the northern reaches of Biscayne Bay when the water became flat calm.

Comment: We were up at 0715, had breakfast and were underway at 0735. Our speed (6.25 mph) was much improved as compared to yesterday (5.0 mph) and allowed us a longer than usual run. We motor sailed for four and one-half hours and reached speeds of 8.3 mph with just the jib unfurled.

Yesterday was sort of a melancholy day for the captain, but today he is back in good spirits and looking forward to more adventures. Neither of us can wait to see our kids and grandkids in less than two weeks! Yipee!! We can’t wait. We’re keeping a tight rein on the budget so we can splurge with them (and Mickey Mouse)!

The trip from Lignumvitae to Key Biscayne was delightful despite the overcast sky. We saw several boats heading south and wondered if any were headed to Boot Key Harbor. As we motored past Tarpon Basin, our last anchorage before arriving at Boot Key Harbor back in January, we noticed another PDQ at anchor. She was too far away to read her name.

The autopilot did a fair amount of work today, giving the captain a break for hours at a time.

On the way to No Name Harbor, our cohsen destination, we passed Stiltsville and snapped this photo. I call it "Stiltsville in Blue." We planned to anchor in No Name Harbor… even had the anchor down. But it was crowded and the anchor didn’t set properly so it was hauled back on deck and we motored to an anchorage about a mile away and just outside of Hurricane Harbor. While in No Name Harbor, someone on a catamaran welcomed us back to the harbor. He soon realized that we are a different PDQ named SUNSHINE. I believe the Phil McGovern on his PDQ "Sunshine" was in the neighborhood. He may have even been the boat anchored in Tarpon Basin that we passed this morning.

We took this photo of Miami from our cockpit.