Back In Florida

We had a pretty good crossing of the Florida Straits and the Gulf Stream on Wednesday, not too rough, fair wind and dropped anchor at 4:30 p.m. in Biscayne Bay just outside No Name Harbor as it was full. Thursday we moved into the harbor then walked out of the park to the bus stop and rode the bus to the very last stop where we jumped on the Metromover to the Freedom Tower exit then walked across the Intracoastal bridge to Customs and Immigration. Friday we left and sailed the Hawk Channel to Long Key and and crossed under the Channel 5 bridge to Gulf side of the Keys and anchored for the night. Saturday we strictly sailed north till about 5 p.m when we pulled into a little bay we've anchored in a couple times at Cape Sable when I thought I had better listen to the weather again. It wasn't good. They were saying that the wind was going to increase to 15 to 25 knots from the SSE then switch to NE and increase to over 30 knots with seas 5 to 7 feet and rough with deteriorating conditions through Monday as a cold front passes through southern Florida. We decided to keep going and carried on until about 2 a.m. in continually worsening conditions and dropped the anchor on the north side of Panther Key as we couldn't see the channel markers to enter the marina and we have to wait for high tide anyway. As the wind swung through to NW and gusted to 36 knots plus, it got a little rough and you had to wonder what with the wind strength and change of direction along with the pounding waves if the little anchor that could was really going to and it did indeed. After daylight I turned the radio on again and heard some lady begging for help saying that they were in trouble and had 2 children on board just a few miles north of us. Later I heard the guy from the same boat tell the Coast Guard that he could smell gasoline and ask if they should jump in the water! Boat US responded and I heard him tell the CG that the boat was grounded and taking a beating and would have to stay in that position until better weather but the 4 occupants were safe. At the height of it, after the wind switched to NW, we pulled anchor and headed around the island and into the channel for the Marina and once inside the Mangroves it was a different world. A couple of fellows were camping on Panther Key and we could see their fire when we pulled in at 2 a.m. in the middle of the tempest. Come daylight we could see that they had no boat and we watched them pack everything up and stand in the wind and rain for a couple hours as the boat trying to pick them up abandoned them twice due to the weather. They didn't seem too distressed or ask us for help in any way and later as we were making our way up the canal to the marina they went past us finally in the boat but less all their gear. When we finally made it to the dock I could've got out and kissed this boat for being so tough and safe and not failing us when we needed her the most. I also gained a new-found respect for the expensive radar we installed in Grenada as during the night I noticed a few unmarked derilect steel posts in the Gulf which worried me till I found I was able to tune the radar and these and other markers showed up brilliantly as well as oncoming squalls from 12 miles which gave us time to avoid the worst of them. We're tied up and back in the real world with a few new items on the "wish list" for next year and work is calling..........