S/V L'ORIENT

OK, so we're liking South Beach a lot. A stupid Tom moment...........I kept seeing "SOBE" on stores and shirts but thought it was referencing a Japanese restaurant chain (it means South Beach). Duh. We've spent zillions on the boat and are slowly making progress. Autopilot repairs underway, most of the lightning strike damage is repaired. The spare parts I was longing for in Bonaire are all now ordered. The boat is clean. All is good. Since we hadn't bought clothes for about a year and a half, we've been shopping. I can now go to sales presentations and look like an overweight businessman (hey, I was aiming realistically low). Kirstin has had a slower go of it on the shopping front.......she's found a dress to go to the ABC holiday party.........and 4 other "hottie" dresses. The typical couple doing dinner here consists of a guy in jeans and a tee shirt (usually saying something in English in a crazy font............"Interstate Transp

Last sunrise of trip - over Bimini We left Bimini early last Wednesday morning.........it was cold (kind of like football weather). We muscled L'ORIENT out of the channel and into deep water.......finally.........hand steering towards Miami (autopilot still gone). The wind was completely missing (again) so we were forced to motor most of the way. We knew our next destination was different by the number of AIS targets that appeared on our screen as we approached. Freighters, tankers, many cruise ships.........dodging them as we approached Miami Beach was necessary as the rules of the sea are similar to the rules that apply everywhere else (big things eat small things). Miami - Here we come... We called the Miami Beach Marina and they cheerfully directed us to our slip........B-13. Their instructions for getting there sounded suspiciously simple. "When you see the large motor yachts, you're almost there". As we zig-zagged deeper into the marina channel, we

Bimini Big Game Club - our marina We arrived in Bimini on Sunday morning, after another windy, wavy sail. Due to the distance (80 miles from Chub Cay Club- or as we affectionately called it, "Club Chub") and the necessity to arrive in the morning here, we left in the late afternoon and sailed all night. Bimini has no shortage of sharks We were worried about this part of the passage because of the depth of the water. We crossed a large bank of water that was only 10-20 ft. deep and prayed that we wouldn't hit a random coral head while going 8 knots. That would be game over for L'ORIENT as we need the bottom of our boat to help keep the water out. Once again, hand steering through big seas made us both tired. We dined throughout the night from our passage menu..........cookies, caffeine, Snickers bars.......basically anything to keep you awake and alert. Telling stupid jokes also keeps us awake.........."How many presidents have sexually inspired names