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December 27-29
The weather has been fantastic, and shows no signs of changing. We spent another fabulous day at the beach, and in the evening walked down to Los Olas Boulevard for dinner and gelato.
Brett’s birthday was on the 28th, and the kids made plans to go to the Panthers hockey game in the evening. Ribs were on the menu for dinner, so in the morning we headed out in the dinghy to find a grocery store. 
This turned out to be quite an adventure, confronting dragons (well, pretty big iguanas), rescuing damsels in distress (another story) and ended up taking much of the day.
Try as hard as we might, we still had leftovers for another day.
On Saturday we headed down to Miami. It was a beautiful day with a 15 knot wind, but basically ‘on the nose’. This made for a rather bumpy ride motoring into the waves. While not unpleasant, everyone generally has a different idea of what is fun, except for the end of the sail drink, which we all agreed tasted pretty good.
December 26
I remember having to wait forever for it to be Christmas morning, but this was getting crazy.
Brett and Kristi were to arrive at 11:30 Christmas night, but were again delayed and did not get to the boat until after 3:00 am. It was fun to see the ‘goofy grin’ on their faces that always seems to accompany palm trees and warm temperatures.
After a relaxing start in the morning, and checking out the stockings, we headed down to the beach for the afternoon. Quite a stretch from the cross-country ski trails, and you will notice that Kristi appears to be much happier with this option. She maintains that after we made her ski 10 miles to the cabin, and back again, when she was only three, she has never been that fond of the skiing option.
The motel/apartment complex where we were able to get a slip had a barbecue, and so we returned from the beach in time to grill a turkey breast for dinner. Bill, who took us under his wing, joined us for dinner.
Although Corinne and I had already received our best present the previous night, it was still fun to gather around the Christmas tree.
December 23-25
It’s been a whirlwind couple of days. When it comes to boating, they say if you can’t find it in Fort Lauderdale, you can’t find it anywhere. We have been putting that to the test, and have probably been way too successful.
Terry and Deb, friends from Bay City, joined us Saturday through Monday morning and were great ‘sports’, chauffeuring us around and exploring the sights. When they left Monday they dropped us at The Galleria, a large shopping mall, where we planned to pick up a few final things. I guess no matter where you are, there are still too many things to do at the last minute, and nobody’s even thought about Christmas baking.
As we were waiting on the bus to get back to the boat, we checked the phone messages only to hear that Kristi and Brett were not going to be arriving Christmas Eve as planned. Their flight had been cancelled. What a disappointment!
On Tuesday we rolled the clock back a day and it was Christmas Eve Day all over - a time for cleaning, getting the last of the presents wrapped, and finishing the baking. Well, that’s all true except for the baking. Corinne stopped at a French bakery yesterday and we are pretty well taken care of.
In the afternoon we walked down to the beach, which was packed.
All in all it was a rather surreal day - no family, no snow and no turkey. We miss you. Merry Christmas!
There is only one way to end a day like that, and that’s with a giant margarita and burger for dinner.
December 21-22
Earlier in the week there was a promising weather forecast for crossing to the Bahamas, but as the week has progressed, the forecast has deteriorated.
This has shaped our plans as well. Originally we had been thinking to ‘bump out’ into the ocean to sail from Lake Worth to Fort Lauderdale. Not only would this have been a great opportunity to get another taste of ocean sailing, but it also would have allowed us to bypass the 18 bridges in between. However, with winds forecast was for 15-20 knots, basically on the nose, we opted for the slow and scenic option along the waterway. This section is particularly noted for the spectacular houses along the shores of the waterway.
We stopped for the night in Lettuce Lake, a little bump in the waterway just short of Fort Lauderdale. Did I mention that the houses are pretty nice? They all have a slip in front of them, and the boats aren’t bad either.
On Saturday morning we were up early and on our way. We have arranged to stay in a slip attached to a small apartment along one of the canals in Fort Lauderdale. The couple that we shared a mooring ball with in Vero Beach put us on to it.
The location has turned out to be spectacular. There is a small pool as well as all the amenities of a marina. Emma keeps an eye on things from her perch at the end of the pool, and has a hankering for the handsome sailors. At the end of the block is Las Olas Boulevard with very trendy shopping and restaurants, and we are less than a mile from the ocean beaches. This is going to be fun!
December 16-20
It wasn’t until December 18th that we continued on to Stuart, which is about seven miles off of the ICW down the St Lucie River. Stuart is a popular spot to sit and wait for good weather for those planning to continue on to the Bahamas. Like Vero Beach, it is a very comfortable anchorage with mooring balls, ready access to good shopping and a comfortable shore-side facility.
Upon our arrival we made a beeline for the dock where we were able to get a pump out (still the bain of our cruising experience), take on water, and spend a couple of hours washing down the boat. Saltwater is very hard on things and it can be disheartening to see the rust and salt accumulate right before your eyes.
The other boat tied up at the dock was Siggy’s Dancer. They maintained a website of their first trip to the Bahamas seven years ago on a C&C 30, and so showed that this whole thing really was possible on a smaller boat. I used to check their site every morning at work. Towards the end of March there were no more postings, and I always wondered what became of them. We introduced ourselves and had a nice visit.
On the 20th we were off to Lake Worth. This is perhaps the most popular spot from which to head off to the Abacos, the northernmost part of the Bahamas. It was a long day getting there, though, made even more so by the cantankerous bridge in this picture. Through the southern section of Florida we are encountering an increasing number of bridges which open on a schedule, not necessarily aligned with ours.
After waiting for fifteen minutes for the bridge to open, and then carefully timing our approach to coincide with the bascules being fully open, it came as a bit of a surprise to have the tender radio us saying, ‘Cap’n, better slow DOWN, I’m having a bit of a problem with the bridge.’ It seems the arms stuck when only partially opened.
Two and a half hours later they were able to fully raise one arm and we were on our way to Lake Worth.
December 10-15
Vero Beach is euphemistically known as ‘Velcro Beach’, and we are beginning to understand why. In our last update, we said we would be here for a couple of days, and it is almost a week later. We are still planning to leave in a couple of days, but who knows.
This is a comfortable place to spend time, and interestingly, we are feeling for the first time that we do not need to be mindful about continuing on. We are only 100 miles from Fort Lauderdale.
Vero Beach is a protected harbour, and so a comfortable place to tackle some of the many tasks that we have been putting off. The bus system is convenient and connects us to all of the shopping options we could wish for. Not a day goes by that we don’t hop on the bus to one place or another. There is also a great bar only a short walk away, and we have been known to stop for ‘happy hour’ drink. Last but not least, it is a nice walk to the ocean, and apparently there is a great ice-cream store on the way home.
Another couple of days and it will time to continue on.
The day was again fabulous, so we set out to explore the beach and shops in the area known as South Beach. This is the popular and trendy area of Miami Beach. One of the highlights was the Lincoln Pedestrian Parkway, approximately an eight-block section of the street closed to traffic and full of great shops and restaurants. Kristi had some good shopping, and we all enjoyed a great supper at Nexxt.
South Beach was so much fun on Sunday, we just had to go back and check it out on New Years Eve day. It appears that this is ‘the’ place to be for New Years Eve, and it was fun to see all the preparations.
How quickly a year goes. How quickly this week has gone. We have been having a great time and wish the same for all of you. 
