Monday, as soon as the riggers left, we left Ft. Lauderdale and turned south towards Miami. We tried a new anchorage this year in a small lake near South Beach named Sunset Lake. It is a beautiful area, but a few years ago one of the home owners did not like boats anchored in front of their house. To keep the boats away, they purchased about 20+ small sailboats and anchored them directly in front of their house, blocking regular boats from coming near them. The little boats even have anchor lights. The photo is a little blurry because I had to zoom in from a distance.

We spent Christmas Eve and Day on Sunset Lake.  Fresh Market was nearby and we shopped for food with friends Cathie and Tom on Interlude. We enjoyed a delicious but easy meal. It was only a few blocks to the shopping area, and naturally there were Starbucks on every corner so I got my last frappuccino before we left Florida. Below are several Christmas photos. Our one year old Christmas cactus bloomed in spite of us not following the watering and light instructions.

We had planned on leaving for Bimini on Sunday, motoring over to get fuel and stage the boats near the channel by No Name Harbor on Saturday, but when we woke up Saturday morning the weather seemed perfect for a crossing. The winds were SE at 15 kts. We would be motoring into the wind and probably couldn’t sail, but the seas would be calm. We stopped to get fuel and then at 1050 entered the channel to leave Miami. Normally we leave at daybreak, so we figured we would be arriving in Bimini in the dark. As we went past the Miami skyline, Sailor checked out the buildings and probably hoped for calm seas.