Spent a couple of days on the hook and couldn't leave the boat since our dingy motor decided to act up once again. We then headed to Riviera Beach Marina and landed a spot at the T-dock, what a mistake with the wind and current, but thankfully no damage.
We were hoping to at least talk with a mechanic . . . but I don't think there are any in Riviera! One guy told us to take the ground wire off the alternator, and if it still worked then we would know it wasn't the alternator! ~!@#$%! Oh, and the next guy, "an electrician", didn't even know what an alternator does, or even better, a voltage regulator. He learned something new, how great for him! What a joke! I don't know how they make a living! Scary!
The Captain ordered (West Marine told us they didn't make the model we had) and installed a new voltage regulator and it seems to be working fine. It helps to do your homework. The alternator is holding its own so we left for Fort Lauderdale mid-morning Wednesday.
We continued down the ICW all day and evening and anchored in Lake Sylvia. Now I know how the other half lives. Multi million dollar homes all along the ICW in Fort Lauderdale. It was really pretty at night and thankfully, deep water! We incurred a hell of a storm while anchored in Lake Sylvia, 45 k wind gusts and were still up at 3:30 re-setting the anchor - don't you just love it! All is well though, found a leaking port, books got wet, but no big deal. Ah, boat life!
We left Thursday morning heading south to Miami. Had hoped to go outside, but weather forecast again was too risky; we heard several maydays, convinced the Captain, the ICW is just fine!
The Captain was very tired, so Firstmate had to learn very quickly to navigate the charts. You would think I would have learned that already, but you know you just coast along sometimes. Sometimes I depend on our Captain too much, but I'm learning and very pleased to say that I did marvelously!
We came upon that beautiful blue-green water and then. . . ran aground! (Sorry Captain, but I have to tell, I was at wheel as the depth decreased to 7.7, got scared and turned it over to you) Hey, you know sometimes you just forget about the tides!
But hey, SeaTow was waiting nearby for that to happen! It pays to be a member; a $20 tip and we were on our way again. Happy to report no damage to New Horizons. The wind and current, as we headed toward the Julia Tuttle Bridge was unbelievable! But we made it! We were quite tired and frantic to find an anchorage close by. Alas, we followed another boat to a little anchorage!
We are anchored near Miami Yacht Club, just beyond the Venetian Causeway. Looking forward to meeting up with our nephew Michael and his wife, Moriah today.
