Cruising the Florida Keys - Day 0

The best cruising plans are written in the sand at low tide. We are very excited to cruise with our friends Ken and Lynn Baehr. This is the maiden voyage, the shake down cruise on their Hylas 54 sailboat named Bistari. Ken and Lynn are committed. They sold their business, they sold their house, they sold their stuff, they sold a car and they are live aboards. They have the dream to live the boating lifestyle of cruising the east coast, then the Caribbean and then (perhaps) around the world. We have another friend Gabriel Viti that just completed his four year circumnavigation of the globe. So we know a guy. It could happen. The first step in getting ready to cruise around the world is to sleep on your boat at anchor. This tests all the systems and helps determine what additional items might be needed for a comfortable cruising lifestyle.

This is Bistari. She will be our floating home for the next two weeks as we cruise the Florida Keys.

Bistari is a center cockpit design. This provides more room below by raising the helm area. The raised helm provides improved visibility. If you are a keen observer you noted the name on the stern is Berkeley East. That is the name given to her by the previous owner. Her new name is Bistari.

Ken and Lynn have owned two other sailboats. They had a Tartan 10 (33 feet) and a Catalina 36. This Hylas 54 is a big step up. They are quick learners.

They even let me take the helm from time to time. This is a very comfortable boat.

We arrived at the Las Almas marina in Ft Lauderdale at 5:30 pm and unloaded our stuff for the two week cruise. We have enough stuff to cruise for a year.

This was just the first load.

Ken and Lynn have worked very hard to get the boat ready for the cruise. They have fully provisioned us for the duration. Our float plan is to cruise to Key West in three days. We will cast off at 6:30 am and transit the Las Almas bridge at the 6:45 am opening. This bridge opens every thirty minutes. We will fuel up and transit another bridge that opens on the hour and half hour. Then we will exit the ICW and turn right in the Atlantic Ocean and cruise south past Miami to Rodriguez Key near Key Largo.

Our first day will be our longest day. This will be a 79 mile cruise. We should arrive just before dusk. Our adventure begins.