Our month-long stay in Marathon is over, we have enjoyed the hospitality of Marlin Bay and all that the Key had to offer. We will make our way around the tip of Florida and up the West side for the last leg of our Winter trip 2021.
Sat, 3/27/21 - Marathon to Tavernier, FL (39 nautical miles). We casted off from Marlin Bay early for a nice cruise to Mangrove Marina, where we fueled up and made our way to our slip for the next 2 nights. Mangrove is appropriately named - between the ecology and very shallow water, we were delighted to see lots of exciting marine life from the dock. We enjoyed daily visits from nurse sharks, manatee, barracuda, jelly fish, live coral - that looked like snowflakes laying on the bottom, and lots of others that we can't name!
Amenities include clean showers, laundry facility, pool. There is a strip mall with fast food and grocery within 1/2 mile, just past the Mariner's hospital. Another 1/2 mile over the bridge, we were welcomed to Islamorada.
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| Mariner's Hospital |
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| Live Coral |
Mon, 3/29 - Tavernier, FL to Miami (50 nautical miles). This was probably the most exciting and delightful cruise thus far. The weather conditions were perfect as we cruised the flat waters of the intercoastal waterway (ICW) - Florida Bay through the Everglades, to Biscayne Bay and downtown Miami. We couldn't get into the highly recommended No Name anchorage so we anchored out at Blight Anchorage in Key Biscayne, facing the "Scarface house" for the evening. It wasn't as protected as No Name, but the conditions were perfect for a calm evening on the hook. The sky delighted us with a gorgeous sunset followed by Miami's dazzling evening wear!
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| Scarface House |
Tues, 3/30/21 - South Miami to North Miami (14 nautical miles) - Through Downtown Miami to University Cove anchorage - part of Oleta River State Park.
This area is noted for being directly across from the famous Haulover Inlet, (99) baker's over haul inlet - YouTube. Our Lyft driver told us that it is also the location for the filming of Porky's (1981)!
Soooo much to see as we cruised the ICW through Miami - architecture, works of art, yachts, and literally boat-loads of people - LOL! Check out the Gene Machine Fleet, owned by Jonathan Rothberg, a scientist who invented a machine "for massively parallel DNA sequencing human genome" - you'll have to google that yourself!
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| 5 Outboards!! |
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Haulover Inlet
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| Sandbar Party |
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University Cove Anchorage
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| Billy's Stone Crab |
Wed, 3/31 - Oleta River State Park to Hollywood, FL (6.4 nautical miles). A short trip to join Doug & Pat / Talisman on the hook at Hollywood Marina. We fueled up and got some much-needed water. Port-A-Gee's 30-gal water tank and only gets us 3 days at anchor - if we're very careful. Doug picked us up in their dinghy and we hopped on Talisman to go across the channel to Billy's Stone Crab where Doug & Pat treated us to a lovely dinner. After dinner, Doug took us on an amazing evening cruise back up the ICW. What a great evening - Thanks Doug & Patricia!
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| Evening Cruise on ICW |
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Talisman
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Thurs, 4/1 - April Fools! - Mon, 4/5 - Dania Beach: Talisman & Port-A-Gee pulled their anchors and continued north on the ICW. Port-A-Gee's destination was just 3 miles where we parted ways to pull into Dania Beach Marina. Talisman continued another 5 miles to Marine Bay.
Cubs Opening Day - Let's go!!
As soon as we turned off the channel to get into Dania, there is a 17' bridge. We lowered the antenna and got in without a problem. Dania is a City-owned marina right on the beach. Despite several calls earlier in the week to arrange our arrival, no one was at the marina to check us in (at noon). We pirated a dock, plugged in and relaxed for the evening. Friday morning, the dockmaster knocked on our boat to greet us. He was very accommodating and allowed us to remain in the secured portion of the marina, instead of the transient dock that is not gated. Dania has a nice shower and laundry facility. It's rates were the cheapest we've encountered in Florida. The location is fabulous; unfortunately the high winds did not make for a pleasant beach visit, but the terrain was perfect for running. OMG - the iguanas! We've been seeing iguanas ever since Goodland, but they are getting bigger and more prolific.
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Quarterdeck
Bahama Roll |
We had a nice Good Friday dinner at Quarterdeck on the beach. It was quite entertaining watching the wind surfers catching big winds! On Saturday, we Uber'd to Rustic Inn Crabhouse, Ft. Lauderdale, where we met up with Doug & Pat to hammer open delicious Dungeness crab legs.
4/4/21 - Easter Sunday - For the 2nd year in a row, we're having a non-traditional Easter. At least this one comes with a beautiful view. We enjoyed a small, boneless ham and scalloped potatoes on the boat.
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| Rustic Inn Crabhouse |
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| Easter Dinner |
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Port Everglades
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Mon, 4/5 - Dania Beach to North Palm Beach, FL (50 nautical miles). The day began perfectly, as we passed Port Everglades home to international shipping and cruise ships. So many huge yachts that I became bored with capturing photos - Oh there's another, huh. After leaving the industrial portion of Main Turning Basin, we came to the gorgeous residential area of Palm Beach. My head was on a swivel as I tried to imagine living in any of these homes. Today's cruise took us through Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and finally West Palm Beach.
Back in Goodland, our friends Ron and Debbie warned us to be "sportfish ready" when going through Palm Beach. WOW, we had no idea how bad it would be, and indeed we were not ready as Brian navigated our way out of a 5' wake in a very skinny channel. They just blast by with no consideration - unbelievable. This made the Miserable Mile on the way to Sanibel look like a picnic. We were relieved for the sanctuary of the marina where we were just slightly rocked by the cascading wakes.
Our port of call was Old Port Cove Marina, a safe harbor marina that had some incredible boats, including Tiger Woods' yacht, Privacy! It is a beautiful marina with fantastic facilities - Showers, laundry. Full disclosure, this is the first time we felt a little insignificant in a marina.
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| Spot Port-A-Gee! |
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| Privacy |
Upon check in we were gifted with a bottle of wine, which was a nice gesture. We weren't sure if it was our unusually small boat or the short duration of our stay that found us on the fuel dock for 2 nights. On the positive side, we had a great view of the ICW instead of being in the shadow of yachts. Old Port has a nice restaurant, Belle's, with a nice happy hour and dinner menu. We enjoyed a delicious meal to celebrate our anniversary.
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Belle's Bar & Grill
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Sat, 3/27/21 - Marathon to Tavernier, FL (39 nautical miles). We casted off from Marlin Bay early for a nice cruise to Mangrove Marina, where we fueled up and made our way to our slip for the next 2 nights. Mangrove is appropriately named - between the ecology and very shallow water, we were delighted to see lots of exciting marine life from the dock. We enjoyed daily visits from nurse sharks, manatee, barracuda, jelly fish, live coral - that looked like snowflakes laying on the bottom, and lots of others that we can't name!
Mon, 3/29 - Tavernier, FL to Miami (50 nautical miles). This was probably the most exciting and delightful cruise thus far. The weather conditions were perfect as we cruised the flat waters of the intercoastal waterway (ICW) - Florida Bay through the Everglades, to Biscayne Bay and downtown Miami. We couldn't get into the highly recommended No Name anchorage so we anchored out at Blight Anchorage in Key Biscayne, facing the "Scarface house" for the evening. It wasn't as protected as No Name, but the conditions were perfect for a calm evening on the hook. The sky delighted us with a gorgeous sunset followed by Miami's dazzling evening wear!
Tues, 3/30/21 - South Miami to North Miami (14 nautical miles) - Through Downtown Miami to University Cove anchorage - part of Oleta River State Park. 
As soon as we turned off the channel to get into Dania, there is a 17' bridge. We lowered the antenna and got in without a problem. Dania is a City-owned marina right on the beach. Despite several calls earlier in the week to arrange our arrival, no one was at the marina to check us in (at noon). We pirated a dock, plugged in and relaxed for the evening. Friday morning, the dockmaster knocked on our boat to greet us. He was very accommodating and allowed us to remain in the secured portion of the marina, instead of the transient dock that is not gated. Dania has a nice shower and laundry facility. It's rates were the cheapest we've encountered in Florida. The location is fabulous; unfortunately the high winds did not make for a pleasant beach visit, but the terrain was perfect for running. OMG - the iguanas! We've been seeing iguanas ever since Goodland, but they are getting bigger and more prolific.
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