March 17, 2012 - Key Biscayne

Away we go! After six weeks of cruising the west coast of Florida, then six weeks at our “home club”, Marathon Yacht Club, we are off on our second Great Loop, headed north along the Florida Coast.

We had a wonderful time with old and new friends at Marathon Yacht Club in the middle Florida Keys. As has been the case before in our lives, a yacht club has become our neighborhood, with many new and old friends to share time with.

One wonderful surprise was receiving honorable mention for the number of Florida Council Yacht Clubs we had visited in 2011, complete with a FCYC Yachtsman of the Year pennant, which Jerry hoisted proudly on our halyard.

We had a warm stay at MYC, both weather and many visiting friends, and a warm send-off the morning we departed. Life is better on the water! We cruised the inside ICW, north along the Keys, as the east wind has been strong for days. The area is extremely shallow, with shoals visible very near our path.

Our first stop for the night was Barnes Sound, with a quiet anchorage in a natural area – no lights, just the stars, and songbirds to wake us in the morning. Then north up Jewfish Creek into Card Sound, and on to Biscayne Bay, just off Miami. On a sunny calm St. Patrick’s Day Saturday, what a wild place!

As we anchored, we were surrounded by hundreds of boats enjoying the weather and the water. It reminded us of the phenomenon in Lake St. Clair, Michigan, called “Jobbie Nooner” when hundred of boaters gather for an afternoon of revelry at anchor.

Here at Key Biscayne, many boats were rafted-up together, with a fleet of interesting hydrofoil dinghies racing among the anchored boats. By sunset, the fleet had diminished to about eight boats on the hook for the night in an increasingly quiet anchorage.

The Miami skyline reminded us we were back in civilization.