Fryedaze Cruising Adventures: April 15 Tarpon Basin to No Name Anchorage

We got an early start from Tarpon Basin to catch the tide and to try and get in a very popular anchorage in Key Biscayne- No Name Anchorage. Today was much more relaxed than the trip to Tarpon Basin as we had more water under the keel, a working depth sounder and the beautiful clear waters of Key Biscayne Bay! We saw our 13th Nuclear Power Plant- Turkey Point where fellow Loopers Gary and Georgette Stein are completing an outage before beginning their Great Loop.

Just outside Miami city limits- we saw a full sailboat regatta and race. We are used to larger sailboat races on the Chesapeake and see these small boats for kids camps and training. There sure were a lot of them! It was so exciting seeing the Miami skyline for the first time! It was the same feeling as when we saw Baltimore, New York City, Chicago, Mobile and other cities from the water for the first time. It never gets old!

We were a little worried as we made our turn towards the No Name Anchorage at Bill Baggs State Park because we could see lots of tall sailboat masts. We weren't sure there would be enough room for us! But as we went into the basin, one of the larger sailboats was leaving and we were able to go further in closer to the wall. We don't draft as much as the larger boats and that allows us to go where the sailboats usually can't. We quickly put down the dinghy to go exploring in the State Park. There is an honor system that if you are staying the night in the anchorage you put $20 in an envelope. It was kind of hot and humid and there were dark clouds forming near Miami, so we wanted to see as much of the park as we could before the predicted storm.

We walked down a really cool path that was surrounded by tall palm and banyan trees. The foliage was beautiful. There were lots of people fishing along the walls and walking or biking through the park. We went to the Lighthouse but was unable to go up into it as there are two daily tours and we missed both. We just enjoyed walking around the grounds looking at the Lightkeepers house and information about the Underground Railroad and the key role this area played in getting slaves out of America to the islands. We cut our walk short as the wind really started to pickup and the sky was getting dark. On the way back we saw what we thought was our Looper friend Joe's boat- Firebird go bye.

Coming back to the anchorage it was indeed Joe. It was good to see his AGLCA flag flying! He had contacted us to see if we want to cruise outside with him but we had already made the decision to go up the Gulf and left the day before him. We stopped in our dinghy to talk and invited him over for dinner. I was grilling a very simple meal but he was happy to share it with us and compare stories about our travels. As I was grilling, a big 65' party boat filled with 8 guys tried to drop their anchor right beside us. They saw the look on my face and me shaking my head as they attempted four times to put their anchor down. One time I told them that if they swung on anchor at all they would be in to our swim platform. He assured me it would be fine but a little time later they moved further away from us- after Dave got one of our big orange fender balls and put it on the corner of our boat! Our evening ended abruptly as the predicted storm came up quickly and Joe barely had time to row back over to his boat which was parked very close to ours. In the meantime, the big party boat was unable to hold ground so they finally decided to leave right in the middle of the storm- THANK HEAVENS! The thunder and lightening was intense, and while the winds weren't terrible they were bad enough to cause three sailboats to get caught together with their anchors. What a scary sight all three of them swinging in this small area. Finally one of the sailboats got their anchor free and moved (the next day we saw they went and tied off on the wall) but the other two were still tethered together. Not sure how long they took to get loose as we left early the next morning for our long day of bridges!

We had been warned that going up the AICW (Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway) would require us going under many different bridges that required opening because of our mast height. We wanted to get started early so all the crazy boaters wouldn't be out in force yet (yes we were warned about them as well). But going right through the city was an experience we just didn't want to miss and it would be worth the extra effort and aggravation! It was so worth it and we were so very glad we chose to go this way! I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the sights!

Beautiful Key Biscayne Bay

Some of the cool trees and foliage on the path to the Lighthouse

FRYEDAZE on anchor at No Name Anchorage

As you can see, it was quite a full anchorage and this was before the two party boats came in!

We saw these resourceful raccoons breaking into the garbage cans in broad daylight. I was worried because in MD if you see them out and about in the daylight it could indicate rabies. Not down here they are used to getting human food so they don't need to just forage at night.