Days 297

John Pennekamp State Park - Miami Marine Stadium Harbor, Miami FL

• Start 9:45 AM
• End 3:30PAM
• Underway 6:05 Hours
• Distance 39 Miles
• Total Miles on Trip 4723
• Av Speed 8.0 knots
• Weather Sunny , 80 Degrees, Wind 8 Knots ENE

Publishers Note - I am running a little behind in updating the blog, between having company and a couple of one night stops it is easy to fall behind. I am working hard to catch up.

Another late start, This time because we did not want to get to Miami to early. We had a couple of anchorages picked out that would offer us good protection from the incoming winds. We knew there was a good chance one or more of them might not have room for us to anchor.

The trip was perfect, the winds were light, it was sunny, and the seas were relatively flat. We did have some beam seas, but they were not too bad. What did make for some uncomfortable times were other boats. It is very easy to tell we are getting closer to Miami both by the size of the boats, and total lack of common courtesy. Large boats that would not alter course any more than they had to, to avoid a collision with no regards to their wakes. There were two that passed us, that were towing their second boat behind them. The boats that they were towing had to be 28-30 feet long with triple outboards.

The first anchorage that we tried to get into was No Name Harbor. It is part of the Miami-Dade County Park system. There is room for about 25 boats anchored, and there is a wall you can tie up to for free. You have to be off the wall by 11pm, and cannot tie up before 8am. When we got there it was completely full. We could have anchored outside the harbor, but it was completely exposed to the open ocean and the incoming winds.

Our second choice was Miami Marine Stadium Harbor, this harbor is extremely well protected but is known as party central. We very quickly found a spot with enough room to comfortable anchor, among the many other boats. If I had to guess there were between 100 and 200 boats at anchor. They are a mix of weekend partiers, cruisers, permanent live aboard's, and derelict boats and jet skis buzzing around the anchorage. There were also at least police boats constantly pulling over boats, one sure way to get stopped was to speed through the anchored boats. It seemed like every fourth boat had a sound system that would rival a small concert venue. Music was coming from everywhere, and it was loud. When we anchored we went towards the back where it seemed there were more cruisers and live aboards. Most of the partiers seemed to stay towards the front of the harbor. As the night went on more and more of the partiers left, but at midnight there were still several boats going strong. I cannot imagine what Saturday nights are like. Normally I would not be happy anchoring in such a wild party, but it is all part of the adventure.

One advantage of Marine Stadium Harbor over No Name Harbor is the view of downtown Miami. You will not find a better view anywhere and the darker it got the better it got. It never got completely dark, between the glow from the city and the lights from the shore behind us it was much brighter that any anchorage since The Statute Of Liberty.

Dinner was BBQ chicken, baked potatoes and broccoli, compliments to the Dan for cooking. After dinner we planned tomorrows travel picking several anchorages depending on how far we can travel. it was time to relax our adventure through Miami is going to be fun. There are two reasons we are anchoring instead of stopping in marinas in this section. First is, it is very hard to find an open slip, second the slips in this area are extremely expensive. So far the average price per foot we have been paying for slips has been $1.57. The prices we have been seeing range from $3.50 per foot to $12.00 per foot. We are much happier anchoring out.

Tomorrow's trip will take us through Miami and possible Fort Lauderdale, it will depend on how many bridges we need opened and how long we have to wait for them.