Sailing Kianda: Northern Florida

After the brutal hurricane season that just ended, I'd wager that dock building and boat salvaging businesses in Florida are finding themselves very busy. We've seen so many twisted docks with portions missing and wrecked boats left for dead - it's a sad sight to behold but clean-up efforts are underway to rid the waters of these bad relics.

The bow of a boat protrudes out of the water.

Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove has a whole parking lot repurposed as a temporary boat graveyard. We stayed for a few days in the mooring field. We wanted to refill our water tank and were told to wait while they found us an appropriate dock to tie up to. I commented that plenty of them looked available for this quick task, but we were informed that many of the docks that seem free, are in fact occupied by a sunken vessel that lies just below the waterline. Yikes - good to know!

Dinner Key Marina boat graveyard.

Dinner Key Marina had 137 boats sink courtesy of Irma; 50 of them were in the marina and the rest in the mooring fields. Damage seems inflicted so randomly - one boat can be battered to its demise while another next to it can get through without a scratch. Bella is a beautiful example of a boat that survived unscathed. She's a brand new 2018, 43 foot Tartan that we were anchored close to in No Name Harbor, Key Biscayne. The couple who live aboard bought her only two months before Irma hit. They tucked her in an anchorage and hoped for the best. She came out as perfect as she went in while the boat anchored just behind her sank. I have just a little bit of boat envy for Bella. She's a beauty!

A tug with barge full of wrecked boats.

At least the boat's okay...but how to you get to it?

My only shot of Bella, leaving No Name Harbor.

Another common sight for us now that we're in Florida - which is much more pleasant to see - are the manatees! Posted signs say manatee season is May 1st to September 7th but no one told them that. It's the end of November and the big galoots are everywhere; we kept our eyes open for the telltale bubbles and the hump of a back - always ready to slow down or turn to avoid them. Unfortunately, the scars on their backs and tails reveal that collisions aren't always prevented. In No Name Harbor, there was a huge one munching weeds off the harbour wall and we got a great look at the massive sea-cow.

Cruising Florida has been great, especially since a current has been flowing with us for the last three days, speeding us up for short day passages and leaving afternoons free for visiting ashore. There's so much wildlife to observe, including an alligator sighting which we've never had from the boat before. We thought it was a manatee until it looked too bumpy to be that.

Since the American Thanksgiving holiday weekend was approaching, the perfectly sheltered mooring field at Vero Beach was quite full. To make the best use of space, we were directed to a mooring ball that already had two other boats on it. They say 'three's a crowd' but we had great neighbours and it was fun to chat with them in the evening and pet their boat cat named Blue (who can be seen on deck at night thanks to the blue light attached to his collar). Vero Beach is a good full service marina so we got laundry done, topped up on fuel, did our chores. We also made time to go to the beach. It's really like summer here with lush vegetation and warm water to swim in. Wonderful!

S/V Kianda, First Love and Jule III in Vero Beach.

These three are on the ball!

Walking to the beach in Vero!

We did a day sail on the ocean to get to Fort Lauderdale - in part to avoid the slew of bridges on the ICW and also because we were starting to miss it! It was a great day for a sail and we stopped the boat 3 miles offshore for a quick dip, which is a favourite thing to do when possible on passage. We're now in place in Lake Sylvia, ready for the arrival of a very special guest - my mom is coming to visit.