Christmas felt strange this year. Its a first for both of us away from the classic snow, family & friends, lots of food, parties, decorations and gifts. And being that it is our absolute favorite time of year, we were a little sad when Christmas came this year. Living aboard Bosco has made us feel so far-removed from the rest of the planet most of the time. We were SO EXCITED to be invited to spend Christmas day (dinner) with the Shearin family (my best friends growing up who live in Miami).

Once that was all said and done, Jake and I were itching to hit the road. We didn’t really want to stay any longer in West Palm Beach than we had to, but the weather was not cooperating with our desire to cross over. We missed our ideal weather window by just a handful of days and it looked like it would be another week or two for the next. UGH.

So we made the decision to move south down the ICW. The weather seemed better down south and it would be much easier to cross over into Bimini (which is where we really wanted to go) from either Miami or Biscayne Bay (Florida Keys area). That also meant we will have to deal with about 30 more bridges, all of them set on specific time restrictions. Plus many of them get very backed up with the mass quantities of recreational & powerboats, cruising boats, etc… you name it. It was not our favorite option, but we needed to move.

We left on Sunday, December 27 figuring we could break the trek into 2 travel days. We were hopeful that it would not be super crowded on the water (wishful thinking). The plan was to leave early in the morning to beat the crowds. Unfortunately, we had a setback from the get go.

Jake decided to take out one last load of garbage to shore, since we weren’t sure when the next stop would be. He dinghied to shore, no big deal. But on his return, the dinghy would not start. He attempted to row back against strong current and it ended up taking him about 45 minutes to go maybe 100 yards. He couldn’t even reach our boat, but a fellow boater who was anchored behind us gave him “a lift” back to Bosco. From the outside, it would seem a comical thing, but Jake was pretty grouchy after that.

So now we are an hour behind schedule and the first three bridges in our series managed to be out of sync with our timing and thus we made very little progress before noon. The journey for the day was a combination of some really gorgeous sights and homes amongst some areas of crazy boat traffic. The bridges were a huge pain, because we could never go quite fast enough to catch them on their openings. We would often have to circle around to wait for the next opening, putting us even further behind. We did manage to get through 17 bridges today, leaving us about 11 for tomorrow.

The anchorage we chose was said to be a very quiet and peaceful spot in Pompano Beach, which is just shy of Fort Lauderdale. Sadly it was full of boat traffic all afternoon up through midnight, leaving us rolling in wakes most of the night. Even after traffic died down, somehow it continued to keep us rolling through the wee hours of dawn. Needless to say, we did not sleep very well and our intentions of leaving early were shot out of the window.

Monday (Dec. 28) we were hopeful to make it through Miami and into Biscayne Bay north. We kept our plan loose since we weren’t sure if we would be stopping to visit our friends (The Shearins) or if we would just keep pushing. Even though we had a late start, we managed to make many of the bridge openings. Plus there was very little boat traffic all the way until we passed the Ft. Lauderdale inlet. Once we crossed the channel (and the several gigantic cruise boats) traffic started to pick up.

In general, boat traffic isn’t that big of a deal if there is room to maneuver. The hard part is when you have to stop to wait (for a bridge to open) and you are in a narrow channel with a lot of other boats. Most of them are power boaters with no sense of anyone but themselves. They would often kick up wakes or cut us off, forcing us to maneuver just to avoid a collision. Its hard enough trying to manage a full keel sailboat (i.e. – stop and hold it in place) without the other inhibiting factors. Somehow we managed to avoid any issues and get through all of the bridges.

Once we crossed our last bascule (yay!) we were in Miami proper. Our friend’s house was just on the other side, right off the ICW! We pulled into their “back yard” and dropped anchor in 9 feet. We were just outside the channel, so it wasn’t an official anchorage, but we figured we would stop by for a visit if they were around. It was SO NICE to be on land, even for just an hour, and get a tour of their newly renovated home. Before leaving, they provided us with cold beverages and some yummy ham to take with us for dinner!

We would have loved to stay longer but had to keep moving to make anchor by sundown. There were 2 anchorages very nearby. One of them was a little too close to the channel, so we bailed and the other one we couldn’t get to, because it was so shallow (And we actually ran aground – our very first time). By now the sun was behind the city but we kept on pushing. Once we cleared the last of the city, the bay really opened up. We found a few rather large anchorages just a few more miles ahead, and chose the widest/closest of them all.

The “Marine stadium” anchorage was our home for the night. It was huge, very protected and completely out of the way of everything. It also had the most spectacular view of the city. There were a few other derelict boats out here but in such a huge space it didn’t feel cramped at all. We were so happy once we settled in. Jake whipped up a little treat of mac n cheese with ham and broccoli – it was absolutely delicious (sometimes the simplest food is the best). And it also let us catch up on some much needed sleep.

Tuesday, December 29 would be our last day state-side. We awoke refreshed and ready to go, though we were only moving about 5 miles down the way to No Name Harbor. Jake was going to dinghy to shore to get fuel, but we decided to simply motor to the next closest marina, which was slightly out of the way, but would be much faster and less hassle (in theory). We had to motor around a huge shoal to get through the entrance, but the fuel dock was positioned in such a weird way, making it really difficult to line up the boat. My gut was telling me to pull in on the port side, but we were all prepped for a starboard side landing (with dock lines and fenders). I should have followed my instincts because it took us about 20 minutes and several passes to get the boat settled, with a lot of help from the fuel dock hand. Oh well.

As we filled up (it was slow going) we started chatting with another sailboat that pulled in behind us, salty paws. They had been living aboard for 15 years and were super friendly. We picked their brain about our crossing attempt and for any last minute advice – which they happily shared. We were back underway in about an hour and only a handful of miles to our next anchorage. It was a beautiful day and the water was a gorgeous aquamarine-green color. We could have sailed a bit, but being that we were so close (and basically upwind) from our anchorage we opted to motor.

We dropped anchor just outside of no name harbor (northern Biscayne Bay) before noon. There were a handful of other boats anchored, probably with the same intent of making a Bahamas crossing. This area is a perfect jumping off point, with easy access to the inlet. Our plan was to stay put for the day and make our getaway attempt by nightfall.