Miami Part 2
Ambler Isle
V and S
Wed 25 May 2011 12:58
|
A marine flea market was being held at nearby Watson
Island here in Miami. Watson Island is near our anchorage. So we
climbed into the dinghy and went in search of a place to land it. The flea
market was on the west side of the island, and although there was no dock, a
cement seawall provided a smooth surface to tie up. It was 90 degrees and
there was no breeze. Ah, Florida. We went ashore and
began looking for deals. Much of the stuff was junk, some was new,
but we found a few treasures. It was swelteringly hot and after a few
hours we left to find some breeze. Tiptoeing through the maze of jet skis
and other water craft, we made it back to the boat and ate lunch. Next
stop, South Beach Marina. A small "mall" at the marina has a ship's store,
restaurant, dive shop, convenience store. We hoped to tie the dinghy up at
their dinghy dock, then walk to the nearby Publix grocery. But first we
had to take a peek at the Ships Store. We bought a few items there, and
the sales man carried them out to the dinghy for us. At Publix we had the
usual sticker shock when we first go to a US grocery store. Stuff seems
free. Compared to Exuma Markets. But it was too far to carry any
heavy items, so I stocked up on lighter goods and we carried four sacks of
groceries home. We could not buy ice cream, we feared it would not make
it. Back at the boat we sat out front on the bow, enjoying the
seascape. Several dolphins swam by. Funny how they
seem to like enclosed canals and rivers.
After we'd rested, Valt invited me on a dinghy ride. This
time we went down the nearby Collins Inlet which followed South Miami
Beach. A second Publix was located right off this canal. I ran
in and finished the rest of my shopping list, including several flavors of ice
cream. It is often difficult to get to a grocery store along the trip
home. So I hoped the supplies I bought here would get us to Panama
City, some 2 weeks away.
Monday morning we checked fuel prices, first on the computer, then by
phone. The highest price for diesel was $5.76 at nearby South Beach
Marina. The lowest listing was Peterson Fuel Barge at $3.85. We set
up an appointment with the barge to meet them off Fisher Island at
11:15am. We would take some 500 gallons. At nearly $2 per gallon
cheaper, we would save nearly $1000 on this fillup! We approached the
barge which secures itself with huge temporary posts anchored to the
sea floor. There were two boats at the barge, and one was just
leaving. We set out fenders and lines and were soon secured to the
barge. It is able to fill two boats at once. The second boat
was an Azimut and could only receive fuel at a very slow rate. Soon
another boat was waiting its turn at the barge. Finished, we headed south
into Biscayne Bay, opting to stay inside the calmer side for this leg of the
trip. At 5:30pm we were just off the Ocean Reef Club and dropped
anchor. Several other boats were already there. It was good to be in
calm water.
Next morning, the winds was even calmer, but we decided to stay on the
Intercoastal Waterway route (inside Florida Bay) another day.
Although very shallow at spots, the waterway was well marked and appeared to
have minimum depths of over 5' at low tide. Tides were not very helpful on
this interior waterway: high tide was a mere .7' above and low tide only
.1' above mean water. If grounded, we could not expect much higher
water. Our other options would be to exit Florida Bay and run inside
the Hawk's Channel. Hawk's Channel is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by
a huge reef that follows the Keys. Water is calmer here than the
ocean. We could also exit the Hawl's Channel through a cut in the reef and
run the ocean. The benefit to this would be fishing. But the waves
were too high today. Small fishing boats dotted Florida Bay.
At times, the waterway snaked its way through dredged creeks that divided
mangroves. Big white egrets rested in the trees or hunted for their
breakfast. The charts showed 2-3' water along the dredged channels.
We could easily walk to shore.
|