It was great to be met by Jack and Betsy Hardy as we got anchored in Maimi Stadium. We had not seen them since our anchorage with them at Useppa/Cabbage Key. There were stories to tell as we got caught up on our separate adventures over the previous month.

Somehow I had remembered their last name as Murphy instead of Hardy.  It's probably because they come from Boston and, for some reason, I associate Murphy and Boston. Cruisers remember things in an order: Boat type is first (sloop, ketch, trawler, etc.), then the Boat name, then First names of the Captain and Admiral, next is where they are from, and last but not least the Last Name.  I apologized for the mistake and later that evening went back to my previous reports and corrected all of the instances where I had used their Last name.  They don't have Internet or Email so I printed out a copy of the reports to give them the next morning.

Wouldn't you know, I missed one occurrence, and later Jack said, "Ed, I really liked your story. You got it right about our trip to the tunnel of love. But I don't remember meeting Jack Murphy."

"Sorry, Jack, I thought I had gotten them all cleared up."

Jack and Betsy got even with us at the boat show. We were given a pair of Exhibitor passes by an Unnamed exhibitor. The names on the badges were Jim and Katherine. Jack would look me straight in the eye and ask questions like, "Well Jim, what did you think about the Nordhaven trawler?"

We went to the boat show four days. It's the biggest show I've ever been to, of any kind. There are three In-the-water boat shows, ( sail, power, and used boats) plus the Maimi Beach Convention Center is full of gear and smaller boats of all types.  We missed the Used Boat show.

The first day Marion and I went alone to the Strictly Sail show. We took the dinghy across the open water between Maimi Stadium and The Hard Rock Cafe.  We were going at high speed.

"Grass, Grass, Slow Down!" shouted Marion.

I cut the speed back and we coasted to a crawl in about one foot of water.

"Wow, that was a close one," I said after catching my breath. We managed to get through on an idle with Marion moved forward in the boat to raise the stern.

Back in deeper water we stepped up the pace and want around Bricknell Island to get out of the choppy water on the bay.  That turned out to be a mistake because it put us into the Maimi river. The river was more choppy and swirly than the bay and we got splashed.

It was a warm sunny day and we dried out in the sun after we docked the dinghy right at the Show for $5.

The first day we started with the equipment booths at Strictly Sail. We went to the SeaTech booth and visited Steve Bowden and Pamela House from Kemah.  I exchanged a MapTech CD of charts I had misordered, for another one I needed. I told Steve how the Capt'n had given us confidence to keep moving in the fog in Mobile Bay.  We really love the system and the new bright display we bought from them.

The show had about forty Catamarans and our friends Stu and Elizabeth were planning to come down from Singer Island by train to see the show, shop for a new Catamaran and travel back to their house with us. We are not familiar with sailing Cats so we wanted to research them before our guests arrived.

We were also shopping for a catamaran that we could charter for four couples in the BVI. The Moorings 4500 Cat is just right for that coming adventure in 2001.

The next day we went with Jack and Betsy to The Convention Center Exhibits and to look at Trawlers at the In-the-water Power boat show. We took the Key Biscayne bus and transferred to the convention center bus.

"I'm wearing these boat shoes to the show so I can exchange them for new ones," I told Jack.

"Well, I'm not going to be embarrassed watching you do that," he replied.

"Jack, Sperry will be overjoyed to take these back... The sole came loose in less than a month... AND I am a Very Influential Consumer." I boasted.

We parted for a while each with our own agenda. I went to the Statpower Inverter booth seeking advice on ways to hook up their inverter. I had managed to overload ours you may recall. I got $100 worth of free consulting from the product engineer. We also me Charles Cohen briefly. He is from Toronto and we have been corresponding by Email about our respective plans since last summer. He is headed for Seabrook to have his boat transported by truck to Puget Sound. He too is doing a log.

We shopped for a Satellite TV tracking antenna and found one we like. Perhaps I will get it while Marion is off to Norway. At the show we saw Dennis Baker and Beth Hykes, they will wed in March. We also saw Carole and John Kerker, and on another occasion Wayne and Helen Christopher. My how the TMCA members get around!

At 2:00 we rendezvoused with Jack and Betsy to head for the In-the-Water Powerboat show. By then I was sporting my new Boat Shoes.

We tromped on trawlers, drank some wine, and went back to tromp on trawlers again. Jack and Betsy are looking at bigger Long Range Cruising trawlers. We saw some beautiful ones. An all steel one, the 65 foot Real Ship was the one we all agreed was the finest LRC in the show.

"Why don't you sell Antares, we'll sell Remedy, and go in together on this one." I suggested. "It's certainly large enough for two couples."

Well that started a conversation that went on for over an hour. Marion and Betsy are the same size and they, somewhat facetiously, even came up with a clothing sharing plan.

Stu and Elizabeth Visit

It was Friday night and I went to the train station to meet Stu and Elizabeth. We managed to catch the last bus to Key Biscayne and got to Remedy around 8. The next two days we were back at the boat show; this time with Stu and Elizabeth. We did all of the monohulls 40 feet and up while they shopped the cats. They managed to narrow their preferences to the Lagoon 41 and a Norseman about the same size.  We had not seen the Lagoon 41 so we took a last minute to check it out. It is a very spacious boat with a great salon and galley on the main deck. It flows nicely to the spacious aft deck where there is a second area suitable for al fresco dining.  Stu likes the idea of taking delivery of the Lagoon in France... sailing the Med and then crossing to the US.  I told him to reserve a leg for us to crew in 2001.

After four days we were boat showed out so we did not go with them the last day. Insted we took the bus to the Winn Dixie and Power shopped for 37 minutes then raced to catch the return bus. We also went to the nearby gas dock and got a tank full of water. This was the start of our undoing. We had to reset the anchor after the watering stop. The previous set had held firm for a week. We set it lightly, pointing into a south east wind.

Anchor Drags

At 3 AM we were awakened by an Air Horn Alarm from Antares.  Jack happened to be on deck when the wind came around to the north and a front came in. We were dragging anchor. The wind was howling and the rain was blinding.

By the time I got topside and started the engines, we were snagged on a small sailboat. Our bowsprit was hung on her fore stay. The stern was near the shore. With the engine on idle, and the wheel hard to port, I went into reverse, hoping to move away from the sail boat. The engine died... most likely the prop was on the bottom.

Stuart got into the dinghy and ferried the anchor out to the 250 feet rode and dropped it. That would be about 20:1 scope.  Using the power windlass I attempted to get the anchor to set... No Luck. Another try.
No Luck.

Marion was busy boiling water for hot tea. She took a break and said, "Why don't we call TowBoat/US, this is what we have them for."

"Brilliant," was my reply.

Seconds later on VHF 16 at 3:00 AM, "TowBoat/US, TowBoat/US, this is Remedy."

Almost instantly, "Remedy, this is TowBoat/US, Go to 10."

On VHF 10, "TowBoat/US this is Remedy. We are aground in Maimi Stadium and need to be pulled off."

TowBoat/US comes back, "I'm just around the corner from you. Be there in five minutes. Can you get your anchor up?"

"I'm sure we can, because it won't hold," I replied.

Then Stuart, still in the dinghy, retrieved the anchor so it would not snag the sailboats rode. He took it aboard the dinghy, and I hauled in with the windlass.

The rain abated and the wind was no longer howling, it was just cold. (Cold is below 65 in Maimi)

Marion said, "In times of crisis, women always boil water."

Then she offered us all hot instant Cappuccino while we waited for the tow.

The TowBoat/US captain was calm, cool, and collected. He surveyed the situation and opted to pull us off by the Port aft cleat. That cleared us from the small sailboat and dislodged us from the shore. He towed us to deeper water and I drove to a new anchorage he recommended. The anchor set immediately. We were safe.

The next morning we cruised uneventfully up the ICW to Stuart and Elizabeth's house in Singer Island. It was a long 68 mile trip with waits for bridges and Slow Speed Manatee zones. We arrived after dark.  While we were securing the boat Elizabeth went ashore and prepared a banquet.

We stayed three nights.  I almost got caught up on the web page. The mail came, and I got the bills paid. Marion got caught up on ten days worth of laundry. We provisioned and filled up the tanks with diesel. We were expected in St. Augustine three days later so we had to move on.  Thanks again Stu and Elizabeth... We hope to see you in the Dismal Swamp.

Trip Statistics:

By the way we average 1.2 Nautical miles per gallon. Since Houston we have traveled 1934 nm. We traveled on 41 of the 116 days since we left Houston. Average trip 47 miles. We were in marinas 74 nights and on the hook 42. Our long stay at Indian Rocks from Thanksgiving to after New Years, 44 days, dominates the marina time.