USA - No Name Harbor, KeyBiscayne, Miami. PV T-bones Meshugga

The last few weeks have been quiet, Working on Meshugga, shopping, laundry, cleaning. Normal boat stuff. Very serene. Until……

Easter Sunday, and what a hectic day!

First off, is the fabulous news that our son Kieran, received his USA Citizenship, and we are keen to apply via Family Sponsorship to hopeful get a Green Card via his Sponsorship.

Never one to simplify things, we also reached out to Connor, Nicholas’ younger son (36) who lives in London, and Nicholas’s ex-wife, Michele who lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and with whom I have a great Family relationship with, to find out whether they want to apply as well.

I found out that each application for Sponsorship costs $535, and is increasing to $710 on Easter Monday 1 April. So to save approx $800 (for the 4 of us) it was a rush to get all the Sponsorship document applications submitted.

As I’m know as Admin in the Family, it’s obviously up to me to do the Applications, and send to our son Kieran for verification and signature, as he would be the one Sponsoring all of us.

Lots of chats, and mails, to get the odd bit of info or documents I did not already have, and I submitted 4 Applications. I have a huge pile of printed documents of Instructions, etc on how to complete a multiply page application. About a 4” stack!!! Headache material!

Eventually around 5pm, I’d done all and paid all the fees. YAY!

I’d put the Easter Sunday Lamb roast on in the morning, for a long slow roast to be ready for dinner. No Photo of a Lamb Roast, but it was Superb, with roasted carrots, roasted parsnip, peas, roast potatoes and gravy.

However, whilst chilling and scrolling through miscellaneous stuff on FB, before dinner, we suddenly heard a GREAT crash and looked up to see a boat right outside our Starboard window. Both Nicholas and I rushed out.

Some A***hole on a large powerboat T-boned us on our forward Starboard Bulkhead.

We jumped into the dinghy before they could leave and got various contact details (Drivers Licence),  and took photographs, but not being too savvy, we did not get immediately get their insurance details, but did ask for it, which they promised to send….

We contacted the Miami Water Police telephonically and they were helpful.

The power boat owner/operator was cooperative to, sending us his Insurance details and Marina Berth info, so we can claim on his Insurance as 3rd Party Insurance Cover.

The next week was a whirlwind of Reporting the Accident to Florida Fish and Game Department, (on the instruction from the Miami Water Police), and for them to come to us, per boat, to take our Statements, and then the laborious process of trying to get Quotes for the Damages. 

Here in Miami, all Work Docks are up the Miami River, which has Fixed Bridges at 75 foot, and Meshugga's Mast is 120 Foot!

We’re also having to deal with the Owner of the Power Vessels Insurance Assessors, and with every email they request more and more documents and information. Late this week they sent their Surveyor to do an independent Survey of the damage. Luckily I’ve took numerous photos, and photocopies/printouts of everything, as well as securing the details of independent witness on nearby yachts, and receiving a video taken by a witness of the incident.

Hopefully the quotes will be the last information they need to process the claim, but I doubt it.

Contractors are now looking for Work Docks in Fort Lauderdale, so that they can get costs for our quotes.

I’m chomping at the bit, as it’s now 2 weeks since the incident, and we still have no quotes for repair, and Hurricane Season is around the corner.

They say Bad Luck comes in Three’s;

-    We had Nicholas’s halyard break when he was up the mast,

-    We had a Lightning Blast destroying all our instruments,

-    And now we were T-boned by a Power Vessel, whilst at anchor.

I think we should be good now!

Otherwise, Nicholas is getting to the end of all the new electrical cables he has to replace due to the Lightening Blast, numerous lockers have been unpacked to pull wires around the boat, and we’ve been using extension cords and multi adapters to power appliances whilst sockets are rewired.

Other than that, on a more positive and pleasant note, we have schools of fish in the anchorage with dolphins chasing them

And awesome sunsets

USA, Miami, No Name Harbor - Still here doing R&M

We are still in No Name Harbor. The weather is sublime, and Nicholas is working on the batteries and electricity, and attempting to sort our problems from our Lightning Strike.

We currently have two of our four Inverters not working, and not sure if it is Lightning related or something else has gone wrong. So Nicholas is checking out the possibilities before sending the Inverters to Victron for Warranty Claims and/or Repairs.

I continue to do my daily cycles into Key Biscayne Village to collect packages from our postal box at UPS, and do my weekly shopping at Winn Dixie Supermarket -  looking quite like a Refugee.

We were treated to see the start of the Viper small boat regatta race, which started within No Name Harbor, after their lunch stop. Fun to watch!

We’ve started to see superb Sunsets. Crowds of visitors into Bill Baggs State Park daily, and gather at the Cleat Bar, with lots of cheering each night as the Sun sets

A pod of 4 dolphins came into No Name, and swam to, under, past, back under Meshugga. It gave me a half hour of pleasure!

So, No News,  is basically Good News. We continue daily to try get Meshugga into shape, to sail to Panama and onwards end of this year to French Polynesia. We have quite a lot of Upgrades, Replacements, not to mention the fall-out from the Lightning Strike to get fixed. 

Otherwise, All is well aboard the Good Ship Meshugga.

 

USA - Miami, Maintenance, Repairs and Stocking Up

We are hanging around Key Biscayne, Miami, either just off Crandon Marina or No Name Harbor for ease of access to get ashore. Nicholas is Very busy every day with issues of Meshugga which require attention.

Just before we arrived, our Davit to lift the dinghy stopped working, and he’s had to source, buy and replace the Hydraulic system. Job done.

We had a great view of the Starlink Launch from Cape Canaveral, my first sighting of a Spaceship/Rocket launch! From our Anchorage inside No Name Harbor.

Both our Furlers for the Genoa and StaSail have stopped working. Motors are old and burnt out. Unfortunately, Lagoon Catamarans are built in France and we’ve had to import the motors as they’re not available in USA. And as he was taking the Furlers apart to fit new Motors, he’s doing a Major Service and Replacement of all Bearing, O-rings etc so we should once done get another 10 years of good service out of the Furlers.

Just to add to our problems, our Starboard engine stopped working with the Alarms going wild. Having got a Volvo Service Technician out with his Diagnostic Computer, we were lucky to find we only required a new Battery, and new Outlet Muffler box and flange. Job Done, and Engine working again!

Slowly we are making headway in getting Meshugga ready to make the trip from Miami to Guatemala.

We have a few more urgent packages arriving with much needed spares, and we await our Liferaft from the Servicing agent.

Meshugga is now 10 years old, (we have had her for 7 years), and there have been quite a few major Repairs and Replacements needed, and best we stock up now in USA with Spares as to do so in Guatemala is more expensive, plus Courier Fees, Import Duty and Sales Tax!

I have kept busy with either helping Nicholas (as his sidekick) with fetching tools, and with the my daily cycle into Key Biscayne Village to collect packages, and necessary Victualing required, either online or at the local excellent Winn Dixie Supermarket.

My E-bike with Cart fully laden with packages! I look like an Arriving Refugee.

Nicholas opening one of our many packages

Sometimes I have to return packages and on occasion it’s to FedEx, which is located in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel here in Key Biscayne. Beautiful gardens and buildings, and I was really impressed with this Vending Machine in the Corridor.

Definitely My sort of place!

Kieran, Katie and Arden also joined us for a few days whist Connor was here, so it was great to have both our Sons together with us for the first time in a year.

Ardens Life jacket

With Arden, Katie and Kieran

With Connor, Arden and Kieran

Arden of course is too cute for words at almost 2 years old, and this was her first visit to Meshugga.

I think her highlight was driving Meshugga.

Fun with her magnetic building blocks, providing many hours of entertainment.

After they all left, we went for Another Covid Booster. Our 6th Shot! Hopefully it’ll give us some immunity as we continue to countries where Medical Care is not so easy to 

My latest project is to make/sew a new Boom cover for the Main Sail, as ours is beginning to disintegrate in the Sun as the Sunbrella Canvas is 10 years old.

The start of the new Boom Cover, sewing the Bolt Rope and Zipper.

USA - Florida, MAIMI, No Name Harbor, We’re back in the US of A…..

We arrived in Miami, checked-in with Customs and Immigration, and received our additional Lithium Batteries at Crandon Marina.

It was interesting to see the In Water Kite Boarding Lesson. 

We’ve done that, not my Cup of Tea….

In Black Point, our Hydraulic Motor for our Dinghy Davit stopped working. We have been able to put the dinghy down, but we cannot lift it. So at night we tie the dinghy in the water to Meshugga with Rope and Chain. 

Safety First, I took an Uber to Lifeline Liferaft Servicing in North Miami to have our Liferaft serviced, for our trip to Guatemala onwards.

We’re back in No Name Harbor Key Biscayne and love the walks on the well maintained paths

One of the many Lizards/Iguanas sunning themselves, and scurrying out of my way

Happy Birthday Nicholas

Busy No Name Harbor

My phone rang, and it was Leslie of Now and Zen calling. Once I answered, she said, “Look outside, I’m waving at you”.

How wonderful, we’ve not see Leslie and Ralph this or last year, as both have had medical issues keeping them in their home port Jacksonville, Florida.

We popped over for Sundowners and to say Hi.

Ralph on Now and Zen

Leslie’s son David Jones and Nicholas

Leslie and me

Bon Voyage to Now and Zen, they left early next morning, are on their way to Bahamas for a visit for the rest of the season.

So nice to have fresh Flowers aboard again

Wild life on the shore, Blue Crane and Green Iguana

My e-bike and cart ashore for trips to Winn Dixie and collecting packages

Grey Sunday, with awful weather, High winds and Rain Squalls

And we’re all having a lazy day

Connor reading

Sargasso weed flooding into No Name Harbor with the Westerly winds

USA - Florida, Key Biscayne, No Name Harbor

So, we’re back at Meshugga, and Nicholas is shopping up a storm for maintenance and repair items. We’ve also hired a vehicle and are doing the huge stock up for 1 year of victuals, food, snacks, booze, drinks, propane, diesel. The lists are never ending.

So cool to see dolphins in No Name Harbor, it’s sporadic but most days there is a sighting.

Nicholas helped Stephen, a single handed, retrieve and rerun a halyard. Stephen was most kind in keeping an eye on Meshugga whilst we were in Batavia, Chicago.

I like Pelicans, and we’d often see them at Crandon Marina, where we anchored to receive our new additional Solar Panels.

Returning our trusty Hire Vehicle. It did the job well for all our victualing.

Shopping complete, we headed for Matteson Hammock Marina where Diesel was more than a dollar cheaper than Crandon marina. Seeing we were filling up with almost 300 G, it sounded like a good deal to us.

Whilst Nicholas attended to the Filling Up, I took an Uber to Uhaul, in Dixie Highway to get our Propane tanks filled.

As usual I had the run-around from the staff as our tanks are Viking Composite, and not the ‘normal’ household American steel BBQ tanks. On my insistence, the Manager was called, and reluctantly agreed to get out the Handbook and call American Gas to confirmation that they can fill our tanks.

I’d told him that I’d been to this same facility 4 times previously and every time it was the same saga. But at least I got my 3 x 22Lb tanks filled. Yay! 

Exceptional sunset tonight, almost not a breath of wind