No Name Harbour, Key Biscayne, Florida

The crocodile

A view of the harbour from the restaurant window.

We are anchored in a beautiful little harbour just across from Miami. Left Gilbert's at Key Largo just after 8 this morning. We were getting ready to leave when someone spotted a crocodile swimming out from under the dock; a man had jumped in for a swim from a sailboat near us, we think perhaps he starled the crocodile. By the time we got a camera going, it was swimming away across the waterway. As we travelled north throuhg Florida Bay, then into Biscayne Bay, dolphins again travelled with us, stayed in our wake for a long time. We also saw a huge ray jumping in front of the boat. We could see the Miami skyline in front of us for much of the day. The harbour we are in is just across from the lower part of Miami. Apparently a huge development was planned for here, but the harbour had no name, so on the plans it just said No Name Harbour. The development didn't happen, but the name stuck. It is now a state park, with walking trails and a nice restaurant. We dinghied in to shore and had lunch at the resaurant, then walked into town to the grocery store. Nice walk. There were quite a few boats anchored here when we arrived shortly after noon, but many left as the day went on. Crawdad is here, as are a couple from Barrie, Ont on their sailboat. They are travelling to the Carribean for the next few years. Sat out on the bow of our boat and watched the sunset. We have made a big decision today. We have been talking about going to the Bahamas, but realized that we would be rushing through this area to be ready to make the crossing by the first part of March. Instead we will explore the east coast of Florida and the St. John's River more fully. Guess we will have to come back another time to go to the Bahamas. Tomorrow we will cruise past Miami, plan to go to Fort Lauderdale