West Palm Beach to Dinner Key, Miami

Hello!! We're still hanging out here in the Keys. We had to replace our DC driven refrigerator so we went dockside at a private residence. There is an apartment for us to use that has a refrigerator so we stored all our cold stuff in that while we replaced the unit.

We left off at West Palm Beach click here for the old post. We left West Palm Beach on Saturday January 3, 2009 at 3:57 PM. We were treated to a beautiful sunset at sea and better yet, calm seas. The passage was uneventful except for the fact that we were only three miles offshore. We couldn't go out any further or we would be facing the opposing current of the gulf stream.

Michael enjoys his burrito dinner before he goes down for his three hour nap. We take shifts of three hours on and three hours off when we sail at night.

We arrived at Government Cut, Miami before dawn and circled outside waiting for light. We then got in line behind 7-8 cruise ships because we did not want to share the channel with them! There were also a few tankers coming, going and anchored - what a morning that was. We didn't get a picture of

this because we were too busy freaking out, but just as we were finally going in the Cut, the biggest tanker we EVER saw was on it's way out. He called on the radio announcing his departure and we see him coming straight at us. So out of the channel we go into some BIG seas, caused by the wind in the channel, and circle until he is gone- pheewww. We call the Coast Guard to make sure which channel we can take because some channels are closed to recreation boats (Homeland Security issues). We get on the right route and head past Miami Marina where Mike used to live on his boat 20 years ago. We then head to Dinner Key where Mike also lived on his boat and worked. Everything is looking the same according the Mike and the weather is good and water is clear according to Kim.

We arrived in Dinner Key, Miami at 12:00 noon on January 4, 2009. We had a hard time getting the anchor to hold but finally we get it set and took a well earned rest! We stayed in Dinner Key for about 5 days then headed down the ICW to Marathon. We had planned to stop at Boca Chita, for a night and check it out, then do day trips all the way down dot Boot Key Harbour, Marathon.

It didn't quite work out that way, but we did make it to Boca Chita. Click here for the previous details, and I'll add some pics of the adventures.

Off we go to Boca Chita, this was Mike's favorite place to relax at when he lived here before. We couldn't take Ka'imi in because we draft too much. But we did anchor outside by Sand Key and dinghied in. It is a very beautiful place. The lighthouse in the pictures has an interesting story. The guy who bought and lived on the island built the lighthouse. Now the Coast Guard comes along and tells the guy he can't turn the light on because it shines on the Bay side of the Key. The Coast Guard wins and the guy cannot light the light!

To the left is a beach on Boca Chita and to the right is one of the original buildings.

We also took the dinghy over to Sand Key to explore. We took this trail and there were a million spiders! They had webs crossing the path and they were hanging right above your head. Kim wouldn't go until brave Mike cleared the path :)

Mike the brave spider hunter. Here is the cove inside the Key where we landed the dinghy.

The weather was good so we decided to get on our way. Kim was going to visit family and she had a flight out of Key West in a couple of weeks. After leaving Sand Key we headed down the ICW until we hit Buttonwood Sound. We started bumping the bottom pretty bad and even went hard aground once. We had to have a boat turn us around and tow us off. We found out that we could not make it to Marathon via the ICW because our draft was to much. We turned around and headed back to Dinner Key where we could go on the outside and get to Marathon. Once in Dinner Key the weather kept us there longer than expected so Kim had to rent a car to get to Key West and catch her flight. While Kim was away, Mike's friend Tim came to visit. We'll share that visit in the next update.

Cheers and hope everyone is enjoying warmer weather....Mike and Kim

In the Keys

Wow, we were just reminded that it has been two months since our last post....time flys when it's hot :).  Sorry about that but we have a terrible internet connection and can't get any pictures up right now, but we are working on it.   We left Dinner Key for a nice ride on the outside sometime in February, stopped at Roderiquez Key overnight, then headed into Boot Key Harbour the next day in the midst of Pea Soup fog....that was a real treat.  Here we are and will be for awhile.  All is well and we are working on a full update with pictures.    Cheers to everyone, Kim and Mike on Ka'imi (with a tan :)

Miami Beach

We are back in Miami and will be here for a few weeks then continue on to Marathon around the beginning of February. We have no internet only sailmail, occasionally we come to the libarary and use their computer if the wait is not too long. We will update again when we leave and things get more exciting. We are exploring Coconut Grove right now which is kinda neat. There are cold fronts coming in one after the other and although we are warmer than we were it does get a bit chilly sometimes.

We are well, cheers Kim and Mike on Ka'imi.

Boca Chita

We left Dinner Key for Mike's Island (Boca Chita) on Wednesday, not sure if we could get inside with Ka'imi because of our draft. We called Tow Boat US for some local knowledge and they said that we would probable not be able to get inside. We took their advice and decided to anchor outside at Sand Key and dinghy in. The winds picked up considerable on the way their as a front was just passing so we decided to anchor at Elliot Key which had better holding. We set anchor at 1334 at N 25 27.498 W 08012.582. The next morning things quieted down so we motored south about 3 miles to anchor outside of Sand Key at 1057 at N 25 30.657 W 080 11.780. It turned out to be a beautiful day.

We took the dinghy to Sand Key and found the keyhole anchorage. It's a shallow draft hole in the island that is good protection from Hurricanes if you had a small boat. We explored the island that was covered in spiders - Mike led the way :)... After lunch we went into Mike's Island and checked it out. It is really a beautiful spot, we will explore it more today then head south, possible ending up in Key Largo tomorrow.

All is well, Mike and Kim in the sunshine on Ka'imi.

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Miami

We left Palm Beach, Saturday 1/3/09 and arrived at Miami the following morning about 0500 to the sight of 7 cruise ships waiting in line to enter the channel. It was still dark so we circled until the sun came up and the ships had cruised in. We only had one huge tanker come out while we were going in - we left the channel until he passed and then went right in. We went by the Miami Marina where Mike used to live in his 30 foot Hunter sailboat back in 1985. We kept going until we came to Dinner Key and anchored out at N 25 23.149 W 080 13.728. This is where the Chart House restaurant is located where Mike used to work while he was in Miami. Him and his friend Tim ended up staying in this anchorage for about 6 months before their trip to the Bahamas.

We had dinner at the Chart House on Monday, Mike says things have changed ALOT! It wasn't the casual, fun place it used to be. We stocked up on groceries here and fixed a connection from our alternator to our instruments. We had lost power to the instruments and the starter, but all is well now.

We are heading out to Mike's Island (Boca Chita Key) this morning (Wednesday 1/7/09) were we will play for a few days. Oh Yah, we are in bathing suits now :)

All is well, Kim and Mike on Ka'imi in the keys

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Lake Worth, Palm Beach, Florida

Happy New Year!! We didn't quite make it to Miami but we are in Florida and we wore shorts yesterday :)). Our weather didn't hold and the Gulf Stream came in to meet us, so we didn't make very good time. Our speed through the water was 6.5 knots but our speed over ground was only 1.0 knots. We realized this when a fishing boat came out and was kind of eyeing us and circling then he went away. He came back a couple hours later and asked us when we were going to leave cause we were still in his fishing spot.....time to go closer to shore.

We didn't want to get that close to shore but we had too, so we turned in until the current wasn't against us so much. By this time we checked the weather again and there was a small craft advisory for after midnight. The winds were going to pick up 20-25 knots from the North. That would mean that the seas would really pick up, at least 5-7 but probable more. North was on our aft and we just did not feel like riding waves all night so we made the decision to head to Lake Worth in Palm Beach. We have been here before, when we came from Bimini in the Bahamas, we new the inlet was big and well light and also knew the anchorage so we went in at night.

We arrived at the inlet at exactly 1200 on New Years - Palm Beach puts on one of the biggest, best and longest fireworks show I have ever seen, unfortunately there was a lot of greens and reds exploding in the channel. Mike would say, I found the green - oops no it just exploded. I found the red - nope it just went 200 feet in the air....great. We actually made it in fine and once inside it was dark but we were able to see well enough to go into the anchorage and set anchor. At this point it is about 0200 and we are both exhausted. Kim goes to toss the anchor and realizes it is stuck, the chain has collapsed on itself as it often does when we are at sea. Finally, Kim frees it and lets it drop, pheeeww, we are anchored and its New Years Day and we have ourself a well deserved Beer!!!

We will get some rest, fuel and groceries here then set off for an overnight trip to Miami in a few days.

Hope everyone enjoyed their New Year celebration. We are well, cheers Kim and Mike.

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Happy New Year

It seems we will be spending New Year's Eve at sea which means at least one of us will actually be awake when midnight rolls around. We had a quiet day yesterday with calm, variable winds. We motored all day in calm seas. We saw Portuguese Man of Wars all day with their little sails up carrying them past us and one lone dolphin who rode our bow. He/she was huge the biggest either of us has ever seen with a few scars on it.

The wind shifted and picked up early this morning at about 0300 so we set the sails and turned off the engine :). It is currently 0912 and we are at N 27 48.688 W 080 02.382 winds are 17-20 kts coming out of the NW at 310 with seas 2-4 ft.

If our weather forecast holds we should be in Miami Beach tomorrow, what a great way to start the new year!!

We are well and wish everyone a happy and safe New Year, cheers Kim and Mike.

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Ka'imi at Sea

Yahoo, we made it out of the ICW :). Sunday 12/28 we motored in clear weather to Jekyll Island and anchored right outside the marina. We traveled 28.5 nm for 7.05 hours at an avg speed of 4.0. Holding was good but the Jekyll Creek pass is BAD very, very shallow.

We left Jekyll Creek at 0745 this morning, Monday, 12/29, passing Cumberland Island and left the ICW via St. Mary's Sound at 1230. The weather is calm as are the seas, we have a light breeze of 4.2 knots and are running our spinnaker. At this moment 1647 this evening our position is N 30 28.534 W 081 08.160. Right Whales have been spotted in the immediate area, they are an endangered species, we are keeping our eye out for them.

Tuesday, 12/30, had a wild ride last night with north winds at 20 knots, it must of kicked up the gulf stream a bit, rock and roll, clear skies today, at 0841 we are N 29 24.135 W 080 36.657.

Cheers from the Atlantic, Kim and Mike :)

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Day 11 still inside the ICW

We thought we were going to be fogged in all day but by 0800 it looked like it cleared up. We upped the anchor and headed out. By 1045 it rolled back in THICK oops - our bad - next time we wait longer. We did a u-turn and dropped the anchor in some deep water. We ate lunch at 1130 as we contemplated the error of our ways and whether we should turn back. Then it cleared completely, we sighed with relief and headed out.

We are anchored in South River N 31 22.107' W 081 19.487'. It's very calm and peaceful here and the holding is good. We traveled 29.6 nm (that includes the turn around - the actual distance was 22.6 nm).

We will check the weather now and see if there is an opportunity to get out of the ICW and into the great blue sea.

We are well, cheers Kim and Mike

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Day 10 same anchorage, same ICW

We had some dense heavy fog this morning and as of this writing of 1245 it is still foggy. We thought it was clearing this morning so we headed out at 0940. We got down the Wahoo Creek and instead of getting better it was getting denser. We tossed the anchor out to wait it out, but as of 1130 it looked like it was getting worse so we pulled the anchor up and went back to our anchorage. We will wait here today and hope that it's better tomorrow.

It's a nice anchorage so we'll relax and enjoy the rest. We have plenty of provisions so no problem there and lots of goodies. Today we'll munch the chocolate covered strawberries - thank you Sherrie. We already ate the Christmas cookies and brownies from Kathy and Frank - (like the first day)- thanks guys.

So all is well here, cheers to all Kim and Mike

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MERRY CHRISTMAS Day 9 still in the ICW

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas. Mike and I are anchored in Wahoo Creek N 31 36.126' W 081 12.941. We stayed in this anchorage on our way north and enjoyed it so decided to stop here for the night. We traveled 29.1 nm today a total of 7 hours. We left at 6:45 am this morning and hit a few patches of heavy fog, but it cleared up to be a beautiful day.

We are looking forward to some burritos for our Christmas dinner and maybe a margarita or two!

Cheers to all Kim and Mike

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Days 6, 7 and 8 on the way to the Keys

The oil leak is fixed :)))))...we are on the hook and will start traveling again tomorrow morning. The winds are still not in our favor so we will stay in the ICW for now.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and we will do the same :).

Cheers and Merry Christmas, Kim and Mike on Ka'imi

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Days 4 and 5 on the ICW

We started the day cold and cloudy, but with high hopes. We had decided to stop at Delegal Marina, our old stomping grounds and have a day of rest and give us time to visit with our friends who we didn't get a chance to see before we left Thunderbolt Marina to head to South Carolina. Jimmy, the dockmaster and our friend, got us safely to the dock, then we visited with Diane on Kindred Spirit and John and Ann on Elixer.

The unfortunate thing is we have developed an oil leak and will have to fix that before we head off....it's a boat right $$$$$$$$ At least we are in good company here.

All is good, cheers Kim and Mike

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Day 3 on the ICW

Today was not the greatest travel day, we fought the current and 15-20 knot head winds all day, and just when the current came into our favor we had the opposing wind of 20 knot, oh well, annoying but life is still good. The scenery was awesome though. Our moving time was 8.54 hour at an avg speed of 3.7 knots and we traveled 33.3 nautical miles.

We scraped our first anchorage pick because there was no room, lots of crab pots and no wind protection, so we motored on for another hour to find the one we are in that is not a recommended anchorage because there is lots of commercial traffic, and there is big shrimp boats and 150 foot booze cruise boats coming by quickly. We are anchored in St. Augustine River N 32 03.643 W 080 59.002.

All is well, Cheers Kim and Mike.

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Day Two on the ICW

Hey all, everything is fine and we are making headway. Yesterday, Wednesday, we had to deal with a little fog in the AM. We left the dock at Bohicket Marina at 10:11 but didn't get very far before a heavier fog rolled in and we pulled to the side and dropped the anchor. We waited until it cleared a bit and upped anchor at about 11:00. Anchored at 15:00 in the South Edisto River N 32.37.153 W 080.23.989 - great anchorage and holding.

Today, traveled 37.5 miles on a beautiful day only had to dodge two barges and open one bridge. Arrived at 15:30 Cowens Creek at N 32.15.686 W 080.45.133.

Life is good and so are we, Cheers Kim and Mike

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On Our Way

We are heading out this morning, destination warm weather in the Florida Keys. We have sailmail up and running so hopefully we can update along the way. If not we will let you know when we get there.

We wish everyone Happy Holidays!

Cheers Mike and Kim

Heading to the Florida Keys

We are off again! We've changed our plans and are setting course for the the Florida Keys. We will be looking for our weather window the first of December and will go to sea for approximately 5 days. We will go in at Miami and cruise down through the Keys, ending up at Marathon. We plan to hook up to one of the moorings in Boot Key Harbor.


We are currently docked at Bohicket Marina, Johns Island, SC. It is a resort area and not many jobs available. It is out of season and of course the economy as it is is making it worse. We are going to try our luck in the Keys, at least it will be warm :)


We will keep you posted, Cheers Mike and Kim on Ka'imi

Myrtle Beach to Bohicket Marina, Johns Island, SC

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We left Myrtle Beach on June 23, 2008 at 7:30 AM and headed south to Bohicket Marina, Johns Island, SC. The first part of the trip was the same as our trip up here, we again overnighted at

our favorite anchorage Bull Creek. Our alligator buddies were still there and the night was alive with creatures again. We left first thing in the morning following our same path to the Wynah Inlet. We did not go to sea this time, we stayed in the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) so we had new territory to cover. This section of the ICW was not very enjoyable as it was extremely shallow in

some parts and crab pots everywhere, even in the channels. We finally anchored in Duck Creek after attempts in two other creeks where we found the crab pots to be too many. From Duck Creek we went to Dewees Creek to anchor and along the way we saw lots and lots of alligators on the shore in the middle of the day. They lined the shores at some places, and the waters here were very shallow. We stayed alert and went very, very slow in some sections. Dewees Creek was a nice anchorage very close to to the ocean and the Isle of Palms area. Our next anchorage was Church Creek where we overnighted before our final journey to Bohicket Marina.


We traveled past downtown Charleston.

An old steamboat along the way.

Fourth of July we spent on the beach here at Edisto Island.

Cheers for now, Mike and Kim on Ka'imi

Back on Ka'imi - Georgia to Myrtle Beach, SC

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Here's Ka'imi at Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah, GA with a fresh coat of bottom paint ready to be splashed! The picture on the right is right after we were launched, notice all the Mega Yachts in the back. While we were in Hawaii we had some work done on Ka'imi, specifically we had the cutlass bearing replaced, new engine mounts, engined aligned, new raw water pump and the stuffing box repacked. We had the stuffing box repaired and re-stuffed at Tiger Point Marina in Florida in June 2007 - but they failed to do it correctly and the paraffin melted out leaving the stuffing material burnt and stuck. The good news is we contacted Tiger Point and let them know what happened. They sent us a check for the cost of having it repacked at Thunderbolt. We were very excited to see a business stand by their work, we would recommend you give them a visit if you need work done in the Fernandina Beach, FL area.


So here we are smiling and happy to be back on the water in our own boat exploring the world, meeting new people and trying to stay out of trouble. We're fine as long as we stay on the boat, just kidding. We left Thunderbolt Marina June 6, 2008 at 8:45 AM heading out to sea via the Wilmington River. It was a beautiful day with winds 10-12 knots coming out of the southeast and we were coasting along at 7 knots. It felt good to be home! It was very eerie sailing along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts because we were 45 nautical miles off the coast with a depth of only 86 feet and wrecks and obstacles everywhere! We decided to enter the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) at Winyah Inlet in South Carolina the next day about 2:00 PM. We wanted to take a few days to enjoy our travels before we settled into a marina. We set anchor about a

mile into the inlet for a nights rest. The next day we traveled past Georgetown, SC a very historical city with a paper mill that smelled awful!!! The rest of the days travels took us past tree lined shores with lots of streams and rivers forking off, strangely some of the streams had gates on them. This stretch of the ICW is the Waccamaw River which our guide book says is one of the prettiest sections and we agree. There were very few houses in this area but the ones that are there are big and beautiful. Some were old and some were brand new and we saw signs of future developments

along the way, so it probable won't be so nice in a few years. The Waccamaw River was the site of many plantations before the Civil War. Unfortunately only a few still exist. These plantations were first dependent on the cultivation of indigo, but later they grew rice. Also along this portion of the River we saw advertisements for marinas and restaurants nailed up to a tree. Some of the houses had their very own docks with there very own yachts!



Our favorite anchorage in the ICW was just off the Waccamaw River on Bull Creek. Bull Creek is one of the largest auxiliary streams on the river, but it was very peaceful most of the time. During the day people would come by in their speedboats carrying skiers, wake boarders or tube riders. Small fishing boats also favored the creek. We found that alligators were abundant in this creek and we could not figure out why people were in the water.......we stayed in the boat. Kim had seen all the people in the water skiing, wake boarding and tubing and had vowed to jump in the water the next day for a dip.

However, we woke up early that morning as the morning dew and fog were lifting we saw several alligators cruising back and forth. Needless to say the swim ladder never came out. Kim will swim with sharks, but not alligators :)....The shoreline of this creek is entirely undeveloped with huge cypress trees along the edges. There were several anchorages along the creek and the protection was excellent. At night the shoreline would come alive with the sounds of frogs, birds and who knows what else, along with millions of fire flies or lightning bugs to create a magical mood.



When the tides flow in and out of the rivers and creeks in these parts, lots of things flow in an out along with it. Now if we were in Scotland we might think these pictures were of the Nessie monster...all we need is a little fog or mist.....what do you think?



Now this picture to the left is very hard to see bu if you click on it to make it bigger you can see an alligator in the river. That is one of the alligators we saw in the morning. We enjoyed this anchorage so much that we stayed a couple days. Every morning we saw the alligators and everyday we stayed on the boat. Actually, we did get to the shore with our dinghy. There was one beach that we could land on and we found tree swings that you could swing into the water with at high tide....I don't know, but everything we ever heard says that alligators will eat you? Are we wrong?



After we left Bull Creek it was a straight shot to the Myrtle Beach
Yacht Club where we settled in. We really liked the marina it had a swimming pool, a workout room and 3 miles of walkable docks. We were here about a week and found out about a County tax that taxes your boat like property after being their for 60 days. The tax was 4% of the value of your boat. That was way to expensive for us so we asked around and found ourselves a new marina. The unfortunate thing is that we would have to backtrack south to get there and we had already rented a car to get our car from Georgia. Oh well, here we go again....next destination Bohicket Marina on Johns Island, South Carolina, 25 miles from Charleston, SC. We are traveling again!

We are still loving life and living well on the water. Our next update takes us back down the ICW. Hope everyone is well.

Cheers Kim and Mike on Ka'imi

THANKS CRAIG!!!!!

We recently had engine problems and instead of calling in the mechanics we decided to tackle it ourselves. We enlisted the help of Mike's childhood buddy Craig. He has been giving us advice and we have dubbed him our online assistant mechanic!

Thank you Craig we appreciate all your help and time.

Cheers Mike and Kim