Biscayne Bay, Miami     

 

We have now left Indiantown and caught up with our friends Steve and Ann in their Taiwanese boat called 'Tai Ann' in North Lake Worth. It was hard to leave Indiantown as we have made so many friends there, but it was beginning to get very hot in the middle of the day and definately time to stop working on Swiftwing and get her back in the water. We launched last week and then spent the week fitting sails and sorting out the rigging, also, Duggy did all the engine servicing and I continued to paint the deck. We have also sanded and fared the cockpit and painted it with a paint called Awlgrip, which is  a two part, very hard paint. It was very difficult not to stand in either deck paint or the cockpit when they were wet  but for the most part we managed and we now have some beautiful new stainless steel hatches in the cockpit, which give more ventilation to the corridor, galley and aft cabin. All our canvas was in good condition and Swifwing now looks like a proper yacht again with her sprayhood on and the white waterline back in place.

One of our new stainless steel hatches.

Swiftwing filled, sanded and ready for painting.

 

Heading for the water with fresh new shiny paint and the white waterline back on after an absence of three years.

 Steve wishes he had a chopper

Steve, Ann, Duggy and I had a day out at the Indiantown Bike and Rod Show.

Duggy and I drew some admiring glances as we roared in on our Compass, single speed folding bikes and padlocked them to a nearby light stand.

 

 

Only in America!

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This 1930's Ford hadn't been restored but the floors and door panels had been replaced in the fifties with old metal Coke signs.

 

Steve had one of these when he was 18.

 

Driving Miss Daisy.  Ann and I were invited to have a seat  in a 1920's car. I think it is a Ford.

During the last week we met up again with our friends Roma and Martin on 'Apple'. They are from the Isle of Wight and have only been about 60 miles away on the other side of the Okoeechobee Lake. It was good to get together again over dinner on Swiftwing. They are now setting off for home via the Azores.

The Intercoastal waterway is an interesting place to travel and should be tried even by  hardened sailors as it's an incredable piece of water. We are now in Pompano Beach, just outside Fort Lauderdale In a place called Santa Barbara Bay. It is a very busy piece of water at the weekends, but mainly with power/fishing boats. However, this morning we have seen canoests and also somebody out rowing. The waterway is lined with houses, all different, and mostly worth Millians of dollars. The gardens are beautful and they usually have a boat parked on the waterway in front of the house. Sometimes these boats can be the same size as the house.

 

Nice house on the ICW worth about ten million dollars.

The main difficulty with going down the intercoastal is the number of bridges you need to go through. Most open at a specified time so we tried to time ourselves between bridges so that we didn't have too long to wait. Here is Tai Ann motoring through ahead of us.

Santa Barbara Lake at Pompano Beach.

 

The Lucie Canal has a few bridges that don't open and as the water level is high this year we had a few heart stopping moments as we went under them. The one that we were especially worried about at 55 feet was in a tidal area and we passed it at low water and it was fine. A passing speed boat stopped to take our photograph and congratulated Duggy on his manouvering. We then instantly went aground on the other side into soft mud and  had to slowly plough through it for about 50 feet or so before gaining deeper water again.

Anyway, we are now sitting in Biscayne Bay, Miami and will be here for a week or so before we move on to Bimini in the Bahamas. So far we have visited South Beach where all the thirties Art Deco houses that appeared in Miami Vice and other films are situated. The area is very sheik and touristy with the poseaurs cruising up and down the strip in their open top Bentleys and Ferraris. We are also verging on becoming locals as we hop the $2 busses and elevated trains around downtown Miami. However we'll tell you all about Miami in the next blog

That's all for now,

Bev