Southeast Florida - Stuart to Miami - Feb 2007
Stuart is a wonderful town to visit - especially by boat. The city has
put in a huge mo
oring
field with mooring balls for over 100 boats. Unfortunately, due to it's immense
popularity this area us usually full, as it was when we arrived.
Fortunately, there is still plenty of room to anchor on the other side of the
river from town, which is what we did. It was a long - and sometimes wet -
dingy ride to get to town, but at least we had somewhere safe to keep the boat
while I took off on my quilting conference in Hilton Head.
Stuart has many lovely parks and squares, each with its own distinctive fountain. These were two that we saw while we were wandering around exploring one day.
I have to say that sunsets on the east coast are pretty spectacular - and we were treated to some beautiful ones like the one shown below.
Leaving Stuart, Jeremy and I turned out little tug south and headed for Miami. We had signed up to work in the booth for the America's Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) in the upcoming Miami Boat Show - which started only a little over a week after I got back from my quilting conference in Hilton Head, so we needed to make tracks for Miami. We've met many wonderful people through the AGLCA. The information shared by its members - both by folks who've done the trip and those currently doing it - has proven invaluable to us along the way. We wanted to give something back, so when the opportunity to help out with the boat show presented itself, we jumped at the chance.
On the way down, we spotted these two American Tugs docked on the Intracoastal Waterway. As we later found out, this is the home of Greg and Monica Clark - the east coast dealers for American Tug and these were two boats that they currently have for sale in their brokerage. The red one sports the new optional fly bridge. This was the first time we'd seen one with the fly bridge, so it was really interesting to see what it looked like. Fortunately we still like the boat without a fly bridge. Never having had one, we don't know what we're missing - and that's probably for the best!
The second picture below is of a huge Banyan tree. These grow like crazy down here - we used to have one in the backyard of the house I grew up in in Miami. They are really interesting, as they drop roots from their branches and so tend to spread outward about as fast as they grow tall. They are pretty, but the roots can cause havoc with sidewalks and foundations.
We spent a few days anchored in Lake Worth. More beautiful sunsets.
We went for a walk around Lake Worth and spotted this cool dog hanging out in a sidecar on a motorcycle, patiently waiting for Dad (or Mom) to come back and resume the ride. He still had his ears flapped back from the wind. I particularly loved the cool red goggles.
Leaving Lake Worth and heading south, we passed by some pretty spectacular homes on the waterway, including this one which seemed to span an entire block along the waterfront.
There is a fleet of fuel barges that deliver fuel to the ever-increasing number of mega-yachts in the area. They also provide fuel for the rest of us. The price is considerably less than the marinas, so we called to see if we could get some while we were in the area. Unfortunately, on that particular day the mega-yacht he was tied up to was taking all the fuel he had to offer.
Speaking of mega-yachts - we saw this one a bit farther along. Of course he has a helicopter on board - doesn't everyone???
As we passed through Fort Lauderdale, we saw several 'Yacht Transport' ships loading up yachts to transport across the Atlantic - or over to the Pacific via the Panama Canal. I knew it was a big business in Fort Lauderdale, but I confess that I was a little surprised at just how many of these ships I saw loading up when we came through.
One of the AGLCA members, Tommy Graham (aka 'Tommy Terrific' on the Looper e-mail list), offered to let us anchor behind his house on Palm Island in Miami Beach so we could land our dingy behind his house. This worked out really well for us since it provided a safe place to leave the dingy while we were working the show. (Thank you again, Tommy!!) This helicopter made a really low fly-by while we were anchored there. Probably someone off of one of the local mega-yachts.
One of the islands nearby Palm Island is Flagler Memorial Island, complete with a 110 foot high obelisk memorial. The island was built in 1920 along with the other Venetian Islands (including Palm and Hibiscus Islands) of Miami Beach. The obelisk has sculptured figures around its base and stands as a monument to Miami pioneer Henry M. Flagler, who died in 1913. Unlike the other Venetian Islands, the original round shape of the memorial island was not protected by a sea wall. The powerful tidal flow from Government Cut, as well as hurricanes and other forces, have dramatically whittled away at the island's shape over the years.
We had booked a couple of nights at Miami Beach marina after the boat show - primarily to pick up a couple of new batteries for the boat. These suckers weigh about 150 pounds each - so we definitely wanted to be in a marina when we were hauling the old ones out and the new ones on. Since we used to live on our sailboat in this marina, we thought it would be fun to go back for a few days to see how the 'old place' is doing. My, oh my how times have changed! It used to be a funky little marina at the end of South Beach. There were two full docks of live-aboard boaters back then - mostly on sailboats, but some on power boats as well. We used to have 'happy hour' on the dock every evening and a group pot-luck cookout on the weekends. It really was a great group of folks to have as neighbors. In addition to a couple of small buildings with bathrooms and laundry to support the boaters, there was only one large building by the marina - a retirement apartment complex called "Rebecca Towers" - full of interesting wrinklies that used to love to come out and watch the boats. The rest was just a huge gravel lot which served as the marina parking lot.
Now the marina is FULL of mega-yachts. As the picture below sort of shows, we may not have been the smallest boat in there, but it was pretty close. In those days we paid $350 a month for dockage including live-aboard fees. This year, at $3.50 a foot plus electric plus tax, we paid about $400 for only 3 days. "Rebecca Towers" is still there, but it no longer towers over anything. It's surrounded on both sides by huge new luxury condos. There's almost no public parking left - just one small lot that services the marina and a Monty Trainers Raw Bar and Restaurant that's also new here. As I said, times have changed... We were able to get our batteries, though - and got them hefted on board an all hooked up.
We still like Miami Beach - even if it has gone a bit up-market. We were especially happy to see that Lincoln Road has recovered and is now back to being a a great place to go for a meal or just a stroll. Lincoln Road has been an open air mall (pedestrians only) for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I remember it being a treat to come here and look at the fancy shops and have lunch at one of the out-door cafes. As I got older and the beach started to go into decline, so did Lincoln Road. There was a time in the 70's and 80's when most of the shops were closed. We were happy to report that it's had a great come-back to it's former glory. Jeremy's enjoying a beer at a German restaurant on Lincoln Road.
We left the marina and tried - unsuccessfully - to head for Bimimi in the Bahamas for a few days. The forecast was for 10-15 knot winds and 2-3 foot seas. Wrong answer. We found ourselves bashing into 5-6 foot seas as soon as we were in the Atlantic. The Gulf Stream is always higher, so discretion being the better part of valor and all that, we did a 180 and headed back down Government Cut towards Miami and Biscayne Bay. Along the way, we passed the old Chalks Airlines terminal. The airline went under after their one and only crash. Before that, they had the best safety record of any US airline. It's a shame. They ran the only commercial float plane service to the islands. We took it many years ago when we were still living in Miami. What a blast!
Coming up to Miami through Government Cut, you have a good view of the Miami skyline. One new building that has provides a distinctive addition is the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts. Designed by Cesar Pelli, the center has a 2400-seat opera house, a 2200-seat concert hall, and a 200-seat theater linked by a pedestrian bridge over Biscayne Boulevard. Seemingly nestled in the front of the new building is the old Sears tower, an Art Deco tower with fluted piers, which Pelli preserved as part of his design.
The Miami skyline certainly changed over the years. The Sears Tower used to be prominent is now crowded out by many new business towers as well as the ubiquitous condo. There are so many buildings under construction, that the large construction crane is considered the new 'city bird' of Miami.
One building that's still standing is the Freedom Tower. It holds a a special place in the hearts of many of the Cubans here, as it was the 'Ellis Island' of Miami where many of them were processed into the United States when they fled Cuba on the heels of Castro taking power in that island nation. The building was originally completed in 1925 as the headquarters and printing facility of the Miami News & Metropolis newspaper. It is an example of Mediterranean Revival style which was popular in Miami at that time. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on September 10, 1979.
Passing by Bayfront Park along the city front, I saw the Challenger Memorial - dedicated to the crew of the Challenger space shuttle which exploded in 1986.
We anchored off Elliot Key (one of our favorite spots when we lived here) for a few days, when our generator decided to stop working. Fortunately we were still close to town, so we headed back to the city and up the Miami river to an Onan repair facility (Adams Electric) with a dock on the river. They were able to fix the problem (broken brushes) before we headed off south down to the keys.
Traveling up the Miami River even a short distance proved to be quite exciting. We were tied up at the Adams Electric dock when we saw this ship being pulled backwards down the river. I've seen this before when the river is too narrow for a ship to turn around. They bring it in backwards, so it's pointing the right way when it comes time to leave. The first picture below shows the front tug pulling on the back of the ship. The second picture is of the back tug pulling the bow sideways to keep it from hitting us as it made a turn on the river. The last picture shows the convoy heading off down the river safely past us. Nothing like a huge ship swinging past you as you're tied to a dock on the side of a river to get your heart pumping. I nearly called the tug skipper and thanked him for not 'squashing us like a bug!'
Updated March 27, 2007