March 18 20 Three Lay Days in Lake Boca Zero Miles

Lake Boca is a large rectangle of water cut into the west side of the beach strip of Boca Raton, from the Boca Inlet north for about  .4 miles, along the east side of the ICW, .2 miles wide. The center of it is very shallow with only the edges navigable for keel boats. Anchorage for sailboats is in the NE corner. Access to land is in a park with a boat ramp and dinghy dock on the west side of the ICW, just south of the Palmetto Park Boulevard Bridge, north of the lake (less than half a mile away). We will have to request an opening of that bridge when we leave to head north.

Craig had a better idea about where to go ashore, because the tide runs fast under the bridge and big boats go too fast and make wakes: his boat, Sangaris, pictured above, is docked in a canal at the back yard of a private home about a mile further north. He picked us up there and we got to see Sangaris again, after all her European adventures.

Ive been saying that when I get too old to sail ILENE, a radio controlled sailing boat on a lake may be in my future. Well Kathy had to work, Lene did her phone work from Kathy and Craigs house, and Craig took me to another gated community a bit further north called Kings Point, which has a lake in which his club races such boats. Beauties, one meter long, high aspect ratio,with 3/4 of the weight in the keel. The control box is worn on a strap around ones neck and the right thumb controls the rudder by pushing its joy stick left of right, while the left thumb controls both sails with back to pull them closer hauled and forward letting them fly for the downwind legs of the course. Below is Craig, demonstrating and Erwin, also a Past Commodore of the Harlem and racer, to the right.

All I can say is that it is a lot harder than it looks and I lost every race; actually I did not finish them. When aboard a boat you can easily see if your bow is pointed to the right or left of a buoy; you feel the tension of the water on the rudder; you can see how close to the wind you are. But offset by 50 to 100 yards and at a strange angle, these critical facts are not readily apparent at least not yet, to me. And rudder control is maintained by constant pressure of perhaps a half inch on the "tiller". But these things can be learned and the fifteen guys had a good camraderie going. Kathy is one of the guys and quite competitive when she is not working. I raced her boat, number 3. Erwin brought some beer for the "after". We plan to see Erwin again before heading north.

And in the evening we had dinner with not just Craig and Kathy, but also Mike and Janet. The latter have a Florida home and we will see them again at their home in St. Michaels, off the Chesapeake on Marylands Eastern Shore, on our way home. I forget to take their picture but they are pictured from when we visited them in the Chesapeake in 2012 if you want to take a look. A nice Greek restaurant.

We rented a car for one day for trips to cousin Naomi to pick up a late arriving bundle of mail from home, the pet food store, Publix, the automotive store for things for the dink, the post office, the bank and the beach.

On our last day we toured around Mizener Village, which is a ritzy shopping mall. I got some new shorts because none of my old ones are unstained. We had lunch out and saw The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which celebrates India and aging. Good but not as good as the first movie. The theater is called Ipic and does not really want to be in the movie business. Seats are very large and comfortable and $14 if you want to sit in the first two rows, or $24 if you want even more luxurious seats with free use of a pillow and blanket and free popcorn. And Ipic has a full service restaurant and bar that you can patronize before or after and provides delivery of food and drink to your seat during the movie. And no reduced rate for matinees or for seniors.  The staff said it is a "good place to impress your date on a special occasion". The film is apparently just a gimmick to get folks to come in and spend money on the "entertainment experience package". This hustle offends me and I hope it fails, though we were the only two in the sixteen "cheap" seats while perhaps ten people sat behind us. We have had nice warm dry calm weather while in Boca. Next stop: Palm Beach.

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January 16 to 18 Three More Lay Days in Coconut Grove Zero Miles

Yes we have been stuck in the Miami area for quite a while -- we got to Miami Beach on January 2 -- not that were complaining. It has been quite pleasant with many friends and family. The day we had to leave the Coral Reef YC because our dock space had been reserved by others, we were informed that we did not have to leave until 4:30. So we took public transport back into the city to visit the Miami History Museum. They had a special exhibit on the Beatles that Lene loved. They had a room showcasing the many cultures that have contributed to the city including this art piece representing the Haitian influence,

and an actual tiny triangular boat, more of a raft, on which seven souls escaped from Cuba. I learned that before Government Cut was cut, Biscanye Bay had no access to the sea except for small craft, and that Key West had been the seat of government of southern Florida, with a courthouse and customs and salvage operations. A delicious and quite fulfilling lunch at El Cacique, a store front looking Cuban place with a big coffee shop style restaurant behind. Clean, fast, tasty and I had yuca and plantanos as sides.  And $22.95 for both of us before the tip. They have been here for almost 30 years in the heart of downtown and now I know why. Our short haul from dock back to anchor was uneventful.
The next day, Lene and I separated. Lene took in American Sniper, which I would not enjoy -- the genre, and I took public transit to Miami Beach to attend part of its Art Deco Festival.

I took in  a youth bands concert of, good mostly Latin jazz




while I laid on my back on the grass under a big coconut palm.

Then I met up with Jerry and Louise, listened to Alina Celeste sing.  So sweet was her voice and the folk-like songs she sang for children with no sexuality, no high amplification and no hype. Ill take her over Lady Gaga, any day.

Lunch at Jerrys favorite Cuban beachfront restaurant and lots of people watching -- of people who had come to be watched. Ocean Drive, from 5th to 13th Streets, with lots of art deco architecture, was closed to vehicular traffic except for a huge antique car parade that passed us. The ocean side of the street was lined with vendors booths the whole way. It started to get more crowded as the day wore on and the festival was scheduled to run to 11p.m. We took the bus back to Jerry and Louises apartment and after resting had a big home made salad and I slept there, my first night ashore since October 7. Lene, on the other hand, the one who calls herself "not a sailor" less and less these days, took the dink back to our boat, fed herself and slept aboard without me. Her first time. And in the morning, when she had to take the dink the .9 miles back to the dinghy dock, the gas line sprung a leak which, with phone advice from me, she was able to fix. Did I mention how proud of her I am?
On our last day here I was picked up by Rhonda, the one who had dinner with us at Montys,

Lene, Janet and Rhonda

at Jerry and Louises apartment. We picked up Lene and went to the Beaux Arts Festival at the Coral Springs campus of University of Miami, where we met up with Janet and Ed, and Janets brother Neal and his wife Sandy, who spend their winters down here.
I saw a lot of nice art and I only had time to visit less than half of the booths.

This construction of two types of wood was my favorite, based on the artists pencil drawing of a lovers embrace, shown in the photo. Knees, arms and torsos are visible. I also talked with an artist from Blue Hill, Maine and one who had watercolored in Frenchboro Maine.

Tomorrow morning were off -- for Key West and beyond!

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October 18 Cambridge to Solomons Island 34 miles

Underway from 8:45 to 3:15 today.   Would have left a bit earlier but I left my cell phone at Johns house and he had to deliver it to us.  Thanks again John!

After motoring out of the inner harbor the still was supplanted by breeze which built during our passage. It soon became apparent that single reefed main and small jib were enough. The Choptank River has several ninety degree bends which permitted us to beat our way out of the river, but slowly. Once out in the Bay we turned increasingly to port, onto more southerly courses which put the wind closer to the beam and eventually, slightly aft of the beam. With those two small sails we hit speeds of 8 knots and averaged about 7.5  for several hours until we had to turn increasingly to the west again, to enter the Patuxent River, which features Solomons Island (no longer an island due to landfill at the upstream end) close to its mouth, on its northern shore.

We put in here twice before -- in 2006 and 2012. The first time we stayed at a marina and explored the town and its restaurants, supermarket, and museum. Solomons is very popular with boaters and has more than ten Marinas on Back Creek (it  runs in BACK of the town?). This time we motored about a mile up Mill Creek, slightly to the east. which is one of the several creeks that branch out from the harbor. We anchored in Old House Cove, off of Mill Creek, in 9 feet of water with 40 feet of snubbed chain out. NOAA predicted a continuation of todays NW winds at 15 knots tonight so we anchored in the lee of relatively high ground. Our newly found friend, Active Captain, sort of like a "Yelp" for boaters, reports this is a nice sheltered place with good holding and we agree. It is inaccessible to the hotels, restaurants, shops and other tourist attractions of this area but that is alright by us. We did not even lower the dink. We have each other, food, books and work to do. We were about 50 yards closer to the boathouse on our bow, this view upstream in the cove. No company tonight.

The Cove is bucolic; foliage just starting to turn here

Looking out from the Cove to the Mill River. Lots of room here.

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