Dania Beach to Key Biscayne | 4.6 Hours | 26.2 Miles
We went to bed early last night, confident that our stabilizers were better than ever and happy to be continuing our journey to The Bahamas. This morning we awoke to find the invoice had arrived overnight via email. Mike, our amazing service tech, arrived at 8:30 make a final inspection and make sure everything was perfect. Before handshakes and farewells we transferred a significant number of B.O.A.T. Units in exchange for his attention to detail. Tim from the marina also bid us goodbye as we brought our lines onboard and moved off the dock into the Dania Cut-Off Canal. The waves were to be a bit sporty on the Atlantic today, so we turned right and headed south down the ICW. We timed our arrival at the Dania Beach Bridge for the 9:30 opening. All systems were working great, including the knot meter (think speedometer). While Crossroads was out of the water Barry cleaned out the barnacles and it was spinning freely. Moving right along, we made the 9:45 opening of the Sheridan Street Bridge and the 10:00 opening of the Hollywood Bridge. We were slowed as a large catamaran was towed across our path.
The private residences were getting grander, with each having a dock or lift. Even the waterside Publix had a dinghy dock to make shopping easier for cruisers. We arrived a bit late for the 10:15 opening of the Hallandale Beach Bridge, but the kind bridge tender kept it open for us to pass. Nearing Golden Beach, the private residences grew larger still and condos towered into the bluebird sky.
The view of the waterside high-rise buildings was much better from our stern. We did not make the 10:45 opening of the Sunny Isles Bridge, but with a clearance of 32-feet we were able to pass under the closed span with five feet to spare.
We closed the gap and joined a line of boats to make the 11:15 opening of the Broad Causeway Bridge. Giant show kites soared above Haulover Park at the 33rd Annual February Kite Festival. The jellyfish and whale were our favorites. As we neared the Venetian Bridge, vessel traffic dramatically increased. On the south side of the span began the Miami International Boat Show, marketed as the largest boat and yacht event in the world with over 1,000 vessels on display and attendance in excess of 100,000.
The Miami skyline was impressive to the west, but the shiny gathering of multi-million dollar yachts to the east was equally so. Small boats cruised by to take a look. Sea planes landed on the water to add to the mayhem.
Multiple boats were beached along the shore of small islands and folks were out enjoying the sun and sand. The Ferris wheel at Hard Rock Cafe loomed over the restaurant in the same manner that the 21-foot tall bronze sculpture of a Tequest Indian blowing a conch shell dominated the mouth of the Miami River. Folks gathered on the seawall to watch as dozens of boats queued up for passage under the Rickenbacker Causeway Bridge.
With the skyline of Miami shrinking in the distance and Biscayne Bay opening wide before us, we breathed a little easier and entered the home stretch to our usual anchorage outside of No Name Harbor. The day's 26.2-mile journey equalled the distance of a marathon. We dropped the hook at the finish line and enjoyed the after party. I read in the sun while also dozing off a few times. Before we knew it, the sun had set on another day. With this stretch of the ICW, we have now traversed the entire 1,090 mile lenght of the waterway. We have also reached our final stop in the United States. This initial segment of our journey has been very similar to a marathon. We started out quickly, slowed a bit, rediscovered our pace, settled into a zone, achieved a high on our offshore segments, hit the wall within sight of the finish line, recovered, and finished strong. I have pulled out our quarantine flag, Bahamas courtesy flag, and Bahamas Explorer Guides in preparation for our next stop ... and the beginning of the next segment of our winter cruise.
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