Offshore to Miami Wallcast

...Offshore Map..

On Friday, we said good-bye to Ron and Mary Ann of IP380 CAVU who watched our boat and had us over for champagne and delicious snacks when we returned. We blasted offshore from Vero Beach via the Fort Pierce inlet and turned south, running 1 mile offshore for the 100+ miles to Miami. After 21 hours, we entered Government Cut Inlet at daybreak, ran the channel into the Miami waterfront, turned north and then east to South Beach. Arriving South Beach at 9 am, we made breakfast, talked to Jim & Laurie on our buddy boat IP 350 KISMET, and promptly went to sleep.

Our plan, as outlined months ago on our calendar, was to attend the South Beach WALLCAST. The New World Symphony School event is the number one SoBe venue on TripAdvisor. We did it! After all the work with the Boat Show and showing a boat in Hilton Head, SC was over, we were so happy to be here. We have now attended 6 Wallcast concerts and we will make the next one in January, too. This is a NOT TO MISS event if you are in the area. Truly amazing! To learn more about SoBe Wallcasts, see this link.

The South Beach Wallcast at The New World Symphony
Photo Credit; www.NWS.edu

Sailing offshore was a great trip, we had 15-20 knots on the beam all night long. We sailed a jib only and added 1500 rpms on the motor to push through the 3-4 ft waves running at 4 second intervals. This kept our speed at 7 knots as we wanted to make Miami at daybreak, which we did.

Reaching offshore for Miami

Looking west to the Florida coast

A beautiful sunset, confused seas.

Welcome to Miami South Beach at first light.

A cruise ship visible under our jib, returning to port pre-dawn.

Arrival at the inlet, right on schedule

Looking back out to sea past Fisher Island condos with sunrise in the inlet.

Large container ship heading out to sea.

Look at these containers. They are tractor trailers stacked 14 rows wide and 6 to 7 + high.

Arriving City of  Miami in the sunrise, beautiful!

The Miami skyline gleaming in the morning sun

Anchor down off South Beach, 9 a.m, We did it, now time to rest!

Radeen made a great salad for lunch, I rarely blog about food, but this was beautiful.

Dinghy ride along the reflection in the Collins canal

Radeen going to the Wallcast via dinghy in the canal

Hayden, Radeen, Laurie and Jim in our favorite spot for the Wallcast,
Tonite's program was The Music of Vienna, by Strauss and Brahms. Fun, fun, fun!

Looking at the park from the screen, Those blue lights in the back are from the large projector.

Lincoln Road Plaza, a short walk to Starbucks and much more

The 7,000 sq.ft. Wallcast screen on the side of the Symphony School's building.
The guest conductor was Mark Wigglesworth, Britain's National Opera Conductor and
former associate conductor of the BBC Symphony. He gave a fascinating introduction. Very cool!

After only 23 hours in South Beach, we lifted anchors at 8 a.m. Sunday with IP350 KISMET and sailed together on 25-30 knot easterly winds south into the Florida Keys. More to follow!