Coconut Grove Scene

Overlooking the mooring field....

The Coconut Grove Sailing Club, www.CGSC.org is such a great place to base out of, especially when Olympic Sailors arrive for a few days of practice before the World Cup. Here we are observing world class sailors setting up brand new RS-X windsurfing boards with new 9.5 meter $1,000 sails as we work on grocery shopping, laundry and boat washing. What a contrast! French, German, Spanish, Brazilian, Italian and more languages are all being spoken as rigs are being set up and tested. I spoke to one Brazilian Olympian who has been to 4 Olympics. He told me how these RS-X rigs are all new and that the sails are used for one regatta and then they are retired. You would never arrive at an event of this level with old boat gear. It all is brand new! Amazing to see. Interesting to observe.

Arriving CGSC with Dinner Key Marina to Starboard

Walking around Coconut Grove is a real joy as well, with beautiful well planned bike paths and walkways with landscaping and residential high rise buildings with balconies overlooking the harbor. Beautiful grocery stores, Starbucks, Johnny Rockets, Cheesecake Factory, Chili's, Surf Shops and Ice Cream Shops make for a full choice of shopping and eateries. Add to this a full movie complex and you have a very interesting center of town. We like towns where we can arrive by boat and we like mooring balls where the cost is contained. The Coconut Grove and Dinner Key area has it all, and we consider this location one of our favorites.

Here are a few CGSC photos of the scene....

Here is Jonathan Rudich (USA528) adding his sticker to his new RS-X sail

My favorite model, Radeen, walking Dinner Key Marina

The fork lifts launch boats 24/7

Boats ate stacked 6 high on racks overlooked by the condos

Dinner Key Condos with waterfront balcony views

One cool million dollars will get one of these flats

One of my favorite building overlooking the harbor

Center of town at Coconut Grove, Coco Walk with Starbucks....perfect!

THE WAY to do laundry. Drop it off at 9am, pick it up at 3pm...done
This is 60 lbs! We have been out a while...2 weeks and 2 days since laundry at Burnt Store

Laundry returning to the boat. Time to pack it away and remake the beds!

One of the RS-X sailors from France takes a practice sail

Finland sails an RS-X as well

So here is the current scene at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club and Dinner Key area south of Miami. With the snow and cold storms up north, we are having chilly nights of 50 degrees and days in the mid 60's, topping out at 70 if we are lucky. Miami is fantastic in Dec, Jan and Feb, what a great place to spend the winter.....