Looking at the weather forecast, we saw conditions favorable to cross to the Bahamas from Miami/Key Biscayne three days out. We used Friday Feb 4th to restock the fridge and to make a last trip to West Marine for boat supplies. To get to Miami, we would need to leave the Lake Worth anchorage at 2AM Saturday Feb 5th, motor out the Lake Worth Inlet six miles to the south of us, then sail or motor the remaining 70 miles to Miami/Key Biscayne..
Thus we slept until 1:00 AM Saturday morning, got the engine and GPS chartplotter fired up, and hauled up the anchor. We also turned on the radar to give us additional visibility of obstacles in the dark as we made our way down the ICW to the Lake Worth Inlet. Sarah, with the keener eyesight, kept a lookout ahead while Harry drove. About 20 minutes in to the trip Harry glanced again at the radar display and it was flashing "Antenna not rotating". Oh no! The radar had worked fine 20 minute ago and we had also tested it in Titusville before leaving. We slowed down and and discussed options. We might not need radar getting to Miami as it was a clear night and we also have AIS which lets us see other boats that also have AIS and this includes all commercial vessels. However we weren't as confident that our anchorage in Key Biscayne would provide as easy access to supplies needed for repairs as we had in Lake Worth. So with much disappointment, we returned the few miles north to the same spot we had been anchored in Lake Worth and climbed back into bed and would deal with the radar in the morning.
In the morning, we took the radar down (a complex task in itself as it sits about 9 feet above our heads on a stainless steel pole) and opened up the radar where we discovered that the motor was stuck. A gentle push and it started rotating properly albeit with a light rubbing sound once each rotation. After that it would start and stop every time but with a bit of hesitation and the regular rubbing sound. Options 1) order a new motor though the process of replacing it meant a lot of disassembly 2) order a used unit of the same type off of EBay, or 3) upgrade all the electronics. Option #3 sounded appealing but also the most expensive and time consuming. Option #2 seemed like the safest and quickest option so we proceeded with that choice and found our “new” used radar in our hands by Tuesday Feb 8th. Once in our hands, we swapped out our old radar for the “new” one and it worked. We thought we were good to go but would first have to look for the next weather window for a crossing since we had now missed the last one.
Looking at the weather for the next few days, we saw a good opportunity for another crossing Friday Feb 11th. This time, we planned to leave from Fort Lauderdale instead of going all the way to Miami. That route would put us against the Gulf Stream (flowing north at 2.5 knots) but would save us from going all the way to Miami. So we went to get our Covid rapid tests on Wednesday Feb 9th as these are needed for entry and must be done within 72 hrs of arriving in the Bahamas. However, when We got our text messages with the covid results. Harry was negative but Sarah was positive!?! This was quite a surprise as the week prior, Sarah’s PCR test had come back negative. Our first concern was about our 90 plus year old friend Bill Straith, who we had seen six days prior in Jupiter. Was she positive when we visited Bill Straith in Jupiter? Where could she have picked it up? She has had cold-like symptoms since Titusville but was mostly over those, and none of the classic Covid symptoms of sore throat, fever, or taste issues. We had both been fairly careful with masks, but we also had become complacent and forwent masks at times back in Titusville. And Harry? He tested negative. That seemed even crazier. We headed back to Juno to assess our options but with the unknowns of when Sarah will be negative, and if Harry will be positive by then, it is hard to think in very concrete terms.
Trying to make the most of our current situation, we found a public park coincidentally called Juno, with a tennis court, where we played some tennis. We also found a nice state park about an hour’s walk from our Lake Worth anchorage. MacArthur it was called, and it had a nice beach and so we spent the day on Saturday Feb 12th at the beach, enjoying some rest and relaxation and the sun and water. We then made plans to take advantage of a north westerly wind for a sail down to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday Feb 13th, a day that started out windy and rainy. We were making such good time, we decided to continue on to Miami but soon after noon, the wind and rain died, forcing us to start the engine for the final few hours. We dropped our anchor around 5 pm off the Venetian islands in Miami, where we had front row seats watching all the activity around us including giant cruise ships departing and turning on a dime, watching the Miami skyline all lit up at night for Valentine’s Day, and in time to catch the Super Bowl.
The Lake Worth dingy parking lot
No comments:
Post a Comment