Sailing north
Our friend Ira joined us for the first few weeks as we sailed south into the Everglades National Park, then across Florida Bay to Key West. We learned to hate the lobster buoys and even caught one on the rudder. I had to swim down to free us. We enjoyed Key West, staying at the City Marina. Ira attempted to circumnavigate the island in the kayak, but the wind and waves thwarted the effort. The Coast Guard came to the rescue, as they had some new recruits and used it as a training exercise. And we bicycled around and explored neighborhoods and shores and parks and such. It's a friendly, progressive town. After sailing and snorkeling along the Keys, Ira left us at John Pennakamp State Park, and left us to turn north into the ICW. Biscayne Bay gave us two days of nice sailing, then we were in the ditch. From Miami to Ft Lauderdale are innumerable bridges, and we had to time our transit between, then wait for each bridge to open and let us and many other boats throug...