No Name Harbor to Black Point Marina, FL |
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Monday morning in No Name anchorage was bright and sunny. The wind was brisk blowing out of the south east as it had all night. We had our coffee and Joe did a search of Map Point on his lap top and discovered a West Marine store across Biscayne Bay near a marina at Black Point. I assumed it was in walking distance. We made our preparations to travel today. The route was finalized and we were underway shortly after ten o’clock. The water was quite clam as we were following the channel along Biscayne Key. We entered the ICW channel heading south and the wind was whipping up a light chop. Not an unpleasant ride on Surprise. We passed only a few boats along the way. This is a broad piece of water and today it was quite impressive to see Miami as it grew smaller in the distance. We stayed within the broad charted channel and eventually entered a narrow cut between two visible shoals before turning west before turning west towards the marina. This section of water is charted at four feet at mean low water and we were reading four feet below the hull coming off high tide. It was the first time we had truly been able to see the bottom as the water was very clear. It was a strange sensation and we tried not to look just over the side of the boat but focused on our heading. Our course carried us to the long and narrow marked channel to the marina. At times our depth sounder was reading between 2.3 to 3 feet beneath the hull, enough for the keel to clear. As we reached the channel markers the dept immediately changed to nine feet or more. This was a very well marked channel which we appreciated when we saw rocks on both side of us as well as small trees. There were birds sitting on many of the rocks. I guess they were waiting for the show. There is even a wrecked boat there as a reminder of the dangers in these waters. The dockmaster and his staff were waiting to catch our lines as Joe brought Surprise into a long pier. Black Point Marina is a Dade County state park and I must say one of the most hospitable facilities we have come across in our travels. We were the only transient boater there tied up behind three Dade County Marine Patrol boats. The friendly staff arranged for transportation to West Marine tomorrow where we can purchase electrical cable to improve the alternator installation. The marina has no shower or laundry facilities but it does have fuel, pump out and a local restaurant. We headed to the restaurant after securing the boat thinking about a hot juicy hamburger. As luck would have it, they were in the process of updating the kitchen and were only serving cold food. We each enjoyed a nice salad which was probably better for us and I had the best glass of iced tea ever. We went back to Surprise and did some reading and then we both took a nap. This is something we have not done on the entire trip thus far, sleep during the day. I guess the stress of our experience at No Name had worn on us more than we thought. |