Started the day in an appropriately luxurious manner: a champagne breakfast on the top deck. Egg salad with smoked salmon and fruit salad and, of course, champagne. The mood quickly changed as we got ready to depart. The electronic charts were completely out. As we tinkered with the screens, we managed to set off an alarm. As we tried to figure out how we did that, we managed to set off an even louder alarm. You are all familiar with the deterrent effect of car alarms — make them loud and obnoxious enough and the thief will run away. Well, we were dealing with the same reaction but needed to stick around and figure it out. Cliff finally did — so the alarm stopped, but the charts still didn’t work. And so, off we went with our paper charts and the out-of-date cruising guide and managed to get to our intended destination (Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coral Gables) without a glitch. We had lots of bridges to contend with and were worried a bit about water depths, but the trip went smoothly. “Smoothly” is perhaps the wrong word. It was Sunday on the water in southern Florida which means that every boater that could was on the water. There were two spots where a hundred or so boats (maybe more) and hundreds and hundreds of people congregated along shoals or small islands — just hanging out and enjoying the day. I was glad we would NOT be there when it was time for them to head home. Coral Reef Yacht Club is a fairly large, active boating community. People are very friendly and the facilities quite nice. An antipasto tray staved off our hunger pangs and we enjoyed several games of Mexican Train up top. Beautiful breeze and fun to watch the sail boats come back in from racing offshore. We are having dinner at the club tonight. We all need a relaxing evening!
P.S. Forgot an opportunity to “name drop” yesterday. When we were on our dinghy cruise, a small fishing boat passed us with a jovial friendly man with a big smile and a hello to match. It was Rex Ryan — ex-coach of the NYJets and new coach of the Buffalo Bills.
What a wonderful way to spend time!! On the water with friends.
Enjoying reading about all of your fun and even with the small trials a little jealous. It all looks so fabulous as do the two of you. Enjoy the rest of the cruise and be safe.
The two of us are both looking even more fabulous in terms of the amount of space we are taking up in the world. All of this eating out is bad for the waistline….or as Cliff says “what waistline?” You need to come on our next adventure. You would love it!!
What a great way to spend time. With friends on the water!
I agree completely. And Jim and Cleo are particularly good friends on the water — and elsewhere!
It was a once in a lifetime cruise for us – from Fort Lauderdale to Miami to Coral Gables. Boat traffic, bridge raising, shore viewing. Coordinating the whole experience – thanks to our captain Cliff and first mate Ann. We’ve shared many a seaward voyage with them but this one lends a new dimension to our boating adventures! Many thanks, Ann and Cliff!