The Onslow Beach Bridge in Camp Lejeune is still open after we have passed through.  This bridge is operated by the United States Marine Corps.  During the day time, it will open on the hour and half hour for waiting boats to pass through.

We can still see the high-water mark on the gum trees in the swamp along the Waccamaw River just south of Myrtle Beach.  The high water was caused by rainfall from hurricane Joaquin in October of 2015. Seventeen people died in South Carolina during those floods.

Some days the wind blows, and the water is rough.  Other days it is dead flat calm.  We then feel guilty leaving the ripples of our wake behind and disturbing the scene.

The Georgia marshes have a beauty all their own.  Unlike in the summer, in the winter the beauty is not disturbed by green head flies and mosquitoes.

In Fernandina Beach we motored past this barge loaded with wrecks from last year’s hurricane.  It is sad, and they have only just begun to repair the damage.  The city marina there is wrecked and is closed.

In Dania Beach, Florida we passed this spaceship-like boat.  Bill thinks it takes people to Mars on the weekends.

After traveling for twenty-four days, we can watch the sun set in the west behind the Miami skyline.  At last, we are here!!!!   ...and warm.

These two signs greeted us at the tiny dock on Miami Beach’s Collins Canal where we used to tie up our dinghy to go shopping at the Publix food store across the street.  There are more and more of these signs here, and there are fewer and fewer places to tie up our dinghy.

Also, the places that we can anchor have been restricted by an act of the Florida legislature.  Some of the best spots are now off limits.  Well actually, the prohibited places are in front of some wealthy and influential people’s houses.  We just pick another spot.  This chart is from the Waterway Guide.

Greetings from sunny and warm Miami Beach, Florida.  The temperature has been in the upper 70’s or low 80's for the last few days which makes us both happy.

On January 10th Bill and I were ready to leave Kingsport.  Except for our clothes, the car was packed.  We just had to clean out the refrigerator and box up the New Years’ leftovers.  I made us chicken sandwiches for lunch; sliced chicken breast on white bread, chicken I had roasted a couple of days before; with mayo, salt, and pepper… nothing hard, nothing crunchy.  In the eating I managed to break a molar into five pieces.  It was Thursday noon.  I could not get an appointment with my usual dentist until Tuesday.  Bill and I were ready to cry.  Bill decided, with my encouragement, to leave the next morning for New Bern, unload the car, and come back to Kingsport for me on Tuesday.  It turned out that the tooth was past saving.  My dentist made an appointment with an oral surgeon for Wednesday, January 17.  Bill came back from New Bern, he took me to the surgeon, the remains of the tooth were removed, and we were once again ready to go.

The temperature in Kingsport was 6 degrees.  It was time to head south for real.  We had replaced the 1978 Chevy Blazer in the fall.  The annual drive to the coast in the rusted-out Blazer (RIP) was probably the most dangerous part of our trip.  In its place we now have a 2012 Ford Expedition.  We were packed, and we were gone on January 18.  This year’s trip was quieter, smoother, and far more luxurious.

It was cold in New Bern.  The city water to the boat slips had been turned off to protect the pipes from freezing.  On a slightly warmer day, the water was briefly turned back on.  We flushed out the antifreeze from the boat’s fresh water system, and we filled our tanks.  I stocked the boat with food, and Bill went to West Marine to buy his boat stuff. We were ready to go.  

On January 24, a week later than we had originally planned, we untied the dock lines of Irish Eyes and set sail.  Well, that is not really correct, we motored down the Neuse River towards Beaufort, NC.  During our trips south, we actually do very little sailing.  The Intracoastal Waterway is generally narrow, and the wind is not usually favorable, so we mostly motor.  Besides, when the motor is running our boat, like your car, has heat.  It may be cold and damp outside, but it is warm and dry in our boat.

I made two purchases of cold weather gear this year.  I bought myself a pair of fur lined Ugg boots and a wind proof balaclava.  Both purchases have been great.  I was not sure the balaclava was going to work.  It was thin, and I could not imagine it keeping my head, neck, or face warm despite the on-line claims from the twenty-year-old skiers and snowboarders.  Well, a sixty something grandmother endorses the balaclava highly.  Maybe I’ll write a review.

I feel like we have made record time getting to Florida.  We spent two nights in Myrtle Beach seeing my sister and brother-in-law.  One of those days was a rainy day on which we would not have traveled anyway.  The only other bad weather we have had was in St. Augustine.  We ended up spending three nights/two days there.  The first day the temperature as in the upper seventies, and we shopped and ate out.  The second day was foggy, windy, and cool.  Not the best weather for travelling on the water.  That day, rather than continuing on, Bill walked the seven-mile round trip to WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot, and I’m not sure exactly where else looking for still more of his boat stuff.  I am not a WalMart shopper even in Kingsport, so I did not tag along.  We did stop for two nights in Vero Beach.  That gave us time for real showers and a big restaurant meal.  It also gave me the opportunity (?) to catch up on the laundry.  [The winter clothes, long underwear, thick socks and heavy sweatshirts are now clean and ready to send to a daughter.  Once the clothes are gone, we will have room on the boat to store the Bahamian Rum.]

From Vero Beach it was a one-day trip to Hobe Sound.  Starting from there, 34 drawbridges would have to open for us before arriving in Miami.  Since most only opened twice an hour, we had to wait an average of 15 minutes at each one.  Around lunch time on Bridge Day 2, we realized it would be dead low tide when we went by the Bakers Haulover Inlet.  Our information told us the water would be 3-4 feet deep in a narrow spot between a hard coral ledge and a sand bar.  Irish Eyes needs 5 feet to float.  Bill found a lovely place, Maule Lake, in Sunny Isles Beach for us to anchor for the night.  The lake was just down a canal from the ICW and was a large flooded limestone quarry.  There were several local boats anchored with no one on board.  There was only one other occupied cruising motor boat there.  Since it was Friday, I expected lots of boat traffic after 5pm.  That did not happen, and we spent a lovely quiet afternoon and night in Maule Lake.  The anchor was up by 7:30am, and we were underway to pass the shallow spot at high tide and to go through the last three bridges.  The anchor was down before noon in Miami Beach near the Julia Tuttle Causeway and the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Over the next few days we will be buying groceries and the things we have forgotten, and we will sending our winter clothes away.  Then, we will kick back and wait for a good patch of weather to cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini.  Unfortunately, Miami Beach has new rules limiting where one can both anchor and tie up a dinghy, and one of our favorite dinghy docking spots is now a tow away zone.  Bureaucracy !!!!  So much for “the freedom of the seas”.

Cheers and stay warm.