No Name Harbor to Ft Lauderdale - Day 12

We found a nice place to drop anchor outside No Name Harbor. The chart datum shows the depth in the harbor is 10’ but the controlling depth on the entrance is 6’. Since we draw 7’ we did not challenge the chart. Perhaps we could transit at high tide but twenty boats chose to anchor outside and so did we. The forecast is for light winds overnight. That is an accurate forecast as I write this page of the blog. It is a calm night.

As we cruised north we saw an early 1980’s Pearson 35 sailing on our track. She looked to be in Bristol condition and was nicely making way. Our sailboat Blue Heaven is a Pearson 39 so we enjoy seeing sister ships as we travel.

It is nice to see a vintage Pearson 35 still providing joy to her owner.

I have been aware of No Name Harbor since we passed by here during our Great Loop trip in 2016. This is the first time I have anchored here. The entrance to the harbor is clearly marked with a large lighthouse at the entrance.

A great view of Cape Florida Light as we enter the main channel.

This is our last night of the Key West Sailing Adventure. It has been a lovely cruise. Ken and Lynn have learned a lot about operating their new boat. The last few days they have been doing all the crew work double handed. That is how they will have to do it after Priscilla and I depart. They are doing great.

John and Ken in an unposed photo waiting for the burgers to cook on the grill.

On Friday we will cruise 38 miles to Ft Lauderdale and transit three bridges to Sunrise Bay. Bistari will anchor here for several days until Ken and Lynn cruise north to the space coast.

This is our GPS course which is 38 miles due north to Ft Lauderdale.

My mantra is the blog does not write itself. Everyday I am looking for new content to keep my readers engaged and wanting more, more, more.

Here I am in my floating office creating the next page of the blog. My office has a pretty good view.

We are nicely making way toward Ft Lauderdale. It is not often I have seen 12 plus mph sailing dead downwind. I love long water lines.

We are blasting along for “free” while diesel fuel will soon be over $6.00 gallon. Sailboats may take center stage with live aboards again. Or power boats will stay on anchor long term.

The ICW was a mad house on Friday. It is even worse on the weekends. This is further complicated as we cued up to transit three bascule bridges (draw bridges) to get to our anchorage. Our long time friend and fellow boater Bill Valters has his winter home only a few blocks from Sunrise Bay. He advised there were only a few boats anchored their that morning. By the time we arrived there were over 20 boats jammed in. The forecast is for a very blowy few days so Bistari needs a safe and secure spot to anchor.

Bistari is the red triangle on the edge near the main channel. If other boats depart she might be able to ease her way into the southwest corner for better protection.

Bill and Marti Valters invited us to join them for dinner at the Coral Ridge Yacht Club. This was easily done because the yacht club is a short dinghy ride from our anchorage. In fact the CRYC is the south end of the anchorage. With the population of Florida surging their yacht clubs membership has increased from 250 to 450. Many younger families are joining the club to have access to the bar and swimming pool. One of the CRYC’s claims to fame is the Beatles played here in 1964. They were doing a photo shoot on a yacht owned by the inventor of the Castro convertible sofa and came into the bar and Paul McCartney started playing the piano and the other Beatles sang along.

Here is an arial view of the Coral Ridge Yacht Club. Priscilla and I stayed here on Changing Latitudes during our Loop trip in 2016. This was our last marina before we cruised to The Bahamas for a month.

The plan for Priscilla and I to get our stuff off the boat was a simple. Load all of our gear into the dingy and Ken and I go to the Las Olas marina dingy dock. This was a long ride with lots of crazy boaters and big waves. We were only pooped once (wave splashed into the dinghy). We unloaded all the gear into a cart. Hurray! our car was still in the parking lot after two weeks. I loaded the car and drove to the Yacht Club parking lot. Bill Valters arranged for me to get in. Ken rode back alone in the dinghy and picked me up at the YC dingy dock and we went back to Bistari. That evening we all four took the dingy to dinner at the YC. Ken and Lynn went back to Bistari and Priscilla and drove back to Stuart.

The dinghy is loaded and ready for our treacherous journey to the car.

Drink it up
This ones for you
It's been a lovely cruise
I'm sorry it's ended
It's sad but it's true
Honey it's been a lovely cruise
(Jimmy Buffett)

As the sun sets on our Key West Sailing Adventure we have the wonderful memories for life.