Stock Island to Miami

February 15th we left our home of 4 weeks at Perry Hotel and Marina in Stock Island headed to Marathon, where we plan to stay for the weekend, then working our way east until we get a good weather window to cross over to Bimini. 

We stopped in New Found Harbor again, which is a good halfway mark between Stock Island and Marathon.  We got settled in about 2:30, then headed out to explore the area.   We had dinner at the dog friendly Kiki's Sandbar.  We lucked out because they had a live band.  We ended up staying until after dark.  

The colors of the water is amazing!

Quick dingy ride to Picnic Island.  

This place was probably awesome back in it's prime!!

Dinner a Kiki's

Friday morning we moved on into Marathon where we had a reservation until Sunday, which was extended to Tuesday morning due to weather.  We had dinner with friends from the marina at Burdines Waterfront bar.  Saturday was amazing!  We took the dingy to Sombrero Beach, where we had an great  day with a stop at Dockside on the way back to the boat for happy hour.  We also enjoyed Lazy Day's happy hour a couple of evenings. 😊

The best sunsets so far are in Marathon!

From Marathon we had a 6 1/2 hour ride to Rodriguez Key anchorage where we stopped for the night. 

You never know what you will find when out exploring for a place to get Roxie to land. 

When it comes to finding some place for Roxie to do her thing, some places are better than others......no sand here.....just really sharp rocks!

The next morning we had a 4 hour ride to Caesar Creek anchorage which is part of the Biscayne National Park where we stayed the night.  It was an easy dingy ride to Adams Key where there is a ranger station and park.  Even better, they had a dingy dock!

Next stop was No Name Harbor in Miami. 

Look at that sunrise!

 

We arrived in Miami's No Name Harbor Thursday afternoon 2/22.  The harbor was full so we anchored outside along with at least 20 other boats.  We had the day to get down the dingy and go into the harbor to explore the park.  We planned on leaving the harbor a 4 in the morning to start our trip to Bimini due to the short weather window that was showing winds and waves picking up in the afternoon...so it was early to bed!

That's Miami down the beach!

 

 

Miami

On the hook outside of No Name Harbor. 

 

The park has a restaurant and dingy access!  Yeah Roxie! 

Beautiful sunset....they just keep getting better!

 

   

January 2024 Summary

 Below is our Nebo log for January along with numbers from our log. 

Main Hours	Gen Hours	Fuel Used	GPH Average	Statute Miles	MPG Average
11.8	30.9	40.0	0.93	56.8	1.42

Marathon

We spent 2 weeks in Marathon.   December 27 through Jan 9th.  Half of the time was spent at a dock in  Safe Harbor Marina and the other at anchor in Boot Key Harbor.  The marina was very nice with a pool and restaurant on site called Lazy Days.  Turns out they have the best happy hour we've found so far!  

Boot Key Harbor is a city marina that has 226 mooring balls, all of which were taken, with some limited room for anchoring.  We did manage to squeeze in to the anchorage, but when the winds came out of the south, we had to pull up and move outside to South Boot Key Channel anchorage.  This anchorage has no protection other than south winds and is located close to the mouth of the channel into Marathon from the Pacific.  Good thing we only had two nights out there. 😊

Two weeks flew by so fast.....

Visitors in the marina!

Views from our anchorage in Boot Key Harbor

Marco Island to Marathon

Christmas morning we pulled the anchor in Marco Island headed to Indian River, near Everglade City.  This will position us a third of the way to the Keys.  If all goes as planned, we should be in Marathon on Wednesday!  

We knew it was going to be a bumpy ride so we gave Roxie a Dramamine.  We didn't know if Toulouse would get sick or not, so decided to not give her any medication and hope the bumpy ride didn't bother her.  Turns out, yes she does get seasick. 🙀  

The anchorage we settled in was Russell's Pass just off the Gulf in the Everglades.  Once inside the mangrove islands the wind disappeared and the water was flat.  What was really cool was the tide currents that came and went every 6 hours!  It was a 3 1/2 foot tide and the current went about 2-3 knots!  Bill took Roxie for a 3 mile ride to Everglade City in the rain for a potty break while I stayed on board pulling Christmas dinner together. 

Tuesday morning was calm sunny and warm.  We took Roxie back to Everglade City before heading to our next stop.  Then it happened.....we've heard lots of stories about how bad the Mosquitoes and No-seems are in Florida, but we had yet to experience it until I stepped into the grass with Roxie.  I got ate up!  I got at least 20 mosquitoes bites in less than 10 minutes!  

The Rod and Gun club in Everglades City.

White Pelicans!

Our next stop is Shark River.  Reviews say that the wildlife is abundant, including the bugs!  I'm armed with plenty of Thermacell cartridges and spray repellent!  As we made our way to Shark River the fog rolled in so thick we could not see a thing!  Thank goodness for our electronics.  The fog didn't lift until after dark....so we didn't see any wildlife there!  

The next morning we were up before sunrise and pulled anchor for our next leg to Marathon!  Thank goodness the skies were clear and we were looking forward to a pretty smooth ride.  

Early morning in Shark River anchorage 

Sunrise in the east on the port side of the boat....

Moon setting in the west on the starboard side of the boat.....

Coming to the 7 Mile bridge

We made it into Safe Harbor Marina on Wednesday the 27th with plans to stay until Saturday morning, then we will anchor somewhere in Marathon for a few more days before making our way to Key West!