Biscayne Bay Sailing School (ASA) - March 2007

March 17/18 - On the road and arrival in Miami, Florida

We started driving down to Miami on Saturday, March 17. At the last minute we had to change our route, as we heard a fuel tanker had overturned on I-95 southbound and there were long delays. We went down  I-85 to I-77 instead, but we had a long delay before Charlotte due to road construction, and had to take an alternate route there to avoid sitting in traffic for who knows how long. We ended up with a 45 minute delay anyway, but it was probably less than if we had gone I-95 as originally planned. We stayed in Kingsland, Georgia at the Holiday Inn Express that night.

Sunday we drove the rest of the way to Miami. We ran into heavy traffic in South Florida, and were later told it is like that every day. We still made excellent time because everyone was driving 80MPH. There was plenty of traffic as we approached the downtown area, as there was a Miami Heat game that day, plus a Brazilian festival at the Bayside Marketplace across from the Holiday Inn that we were staying at. We also quickly found out that in Downtown Miami, the main language was Spanish.  It was like being in a foreign country. After checking in, we headed out to explore the area, and find the marina where class would start. It was easy to find, being on the bay side of the Bayside Market, and was only about a 200 yard walk through the open air market to the marina. Here are some views of downtown Miami and the Bayside Market and Miamarina from our hotel room.  You can see some huge cruise ships in the marina.  It was definitely a world apart from our home in the woods of North Carolina!  

We quickly located the catamaran Windward Mark, the 40 foot Manta that would be our home during class. We also investigated long-term parking, as we would need to find a place to leave our car during class. We ended up using the parking garage at Bayside Market, as it was the closest to the marina, and would only cost $50 for the time we were there.  Here are some photos of Windward Mark, and other photos we took at the Bayside Market and of the Brazilian festival.

Ponce de Leon statue

Sunday night we ate at the Bubba Gump restaurant at Bayside Market. We sat in the open air section and had a delightful meal. We also got a few freebies, as Barry's side order of broccoli didn't make it to our table until I was finished with my meal. As a result, they gave us the broccoli for free, and also told us desserts would be free too. Unfortunately we were so full that we were not able to take full advantage of the offer, and only ordered a piece of Key Lime pie to split between us.

This huge banyon tree was growing right in the heart of Bayside Market!

John F. Kennedy Torch of Friendship

Brazilian festival - good dancing music!

March 19 - Class Day 1

Monday morning we stopped at a nearby McDonald's for breakfast before checking out of the HI, parking our car, and heading over to the boat.  We were greeted by our instructor, Capt. Montie, who it turns out grew up near Cleveland, OH, and sailed on Lake Erie in his younger days. We also met the other four students who were also taking courses that week and were living aboard the other boats (both monohulls) in the school's fleet, and we met the other two instructors (Kaz and Will). After Emily and I stowed our gear in our berth on the cat, we started class.  

For the whole week Emily and I had all of the port side hull as our living area. It consisted of a decent sized berth with a real queen-sized mattress. 

We also had a nice head, with a very nicely sized shower stall included. Class was held on our boat, as it had the most room. Believe me, taking class in the open cockpit of a 40-foot catamaran was the nicest classroom I've ever been in! Monday was all classroom work, and we went from 9-5. We covered all the material for ASA 101 (Basic Keelboat) and 103 (Basic Coastal Cruising). For Emily and I, who had already taken US Sailing's version of Basic Keelboat, it was mostly a review of what we had already learned, however we did find that ASA's version went in more depth, and covered a few more things, so it was still an excellent learning experience for us. Kaz was our instructor for the day, and she was excellent.

After class the instructors headed out to get provisions for the week, per our preferences. After they returned, Emily and I loaded the stuff into the refrigerator and freezer, and cabinets. When Montie returned to the boat, he started working on a clogged raw water intake, so Emily and I started working on dinner. We fixed some fish fillets, rice, and salad, getting our first experience at boat cooking. It turned out great. Something about being on a boat really makes food taste especially good. We ended up eating quite late that night - after 9:00PM, and went to bed shortly after. Sleep did not come easy that night, as there is plenty of nightlife at the adjacent Bayside Market. Every night of the week there are live bands playing outdoors until 11:00PM, and the open air bars stay open until 2:30AM. Monday night must have been Karaoke night, as there were some terrible singers going until the bars closed. Even our ear plugs couldn't block that out totally, and it made for a rough night of sleep. 

March 20 - Class Day 2

On Tuesday we woke up tired, caught a quick shower that the marina's facilities, then had a quick breakfast. After breakfast we took two tests, one for ASA 101, and one for ASA 103. Emily and I did not repeat our perfect scores we got on the US Sailing 101 tests, but still scored a respectable 99% (Barry), and 98% (Emily) on the 101 test, and a 98% (Barry) and 97% (Emily) on the 103 test. This took all morning. 


After a quick lunch, we cast off the dock lines and motored out of the marina.  Barry was at the helm and had no problems leaving the dock and motoring out to Biscayne Bay. Once out in the Bay we hoisted the sails and started doing some simple maneuvers to get used to how a catamaran handles. With a self-tacking jib, doing tacks was as simple as turning the steering wheel and watching the boat turn through the wind onto the new tack. Jibes were not much tougher, but did require the usual pulling the boom in before jibing, then letting the mainsheet out. The conditions were excellent for sailing - 15-20 knot winds, and sunny skies. Emily and I took turns at the helm, and quickly got the hang of piloting a catamaran, and using a steering wheel. All our previous experience was on small monohulls with tiller steering, so we were pleased that we were able to adapt quickly to the different boat/steering method. 

Captain Montie

Around 5PM we headed for a local anchorage. Emily was at the helm during the anchoring process, while Montie and I were at the bow dropping the anchor. We got it to set on the first try and then settled in for the night in a nice, quiet anchorage. 

For dinner, Montie made us spaghetti with sausage, and Emily whipped up another salad.  Captain Dave, who is a cruiser and a part-time instructor with the school happened to be anchored nearby, so Montie invited him over for dinner. We enjoyed some of Dave's cruising stories, as he had just cruised on over from St. Pete, Fla., going down around and up the Keys. 

After dinner, Montie taught us things from the ASA 104 course (Bareboat Chartering/Intermediate Coastal Cruising), and ASA 114 (Cruising Catamaran). We then went to bed and had a much better night's sleep in the very quiet anchorage with the lights of Miami in the distance.

March 21 - Class Day 3

Wednesday morning dawned as a beautiful day in the anchorage.

We had breakfast, then raised the anchor. using the electric windlass to pull in the chain and anchor. Once again Emily was at the helm, while Montie and I were at the bow. We then motored out of the anchorage. Once we hit Biscayne Bay, we raised the sails and set course on a broad reach for Key Largo. It was a great day for sailing, temps in the 70's, 20-25 knots of wind - perfect conditions for the catamaran. We sailed along at 7.5-8.5 knots all day long, and that was with a reef in the mainsail.

Montie is a pretty trusting fellow...

A trimaran that sailed by

Once we reached Key Largo, we had to call the bridgekeeper to get him to raise the drawbridge on US 1 at Jewfish Creek.  That was pretty cool!  We also saw some great wildlife as we motored through the creek that cut through the mangroves. 

We then arrived where we would anchor for the night, Blackwater Sound. It just happens to be one sound north of where Emily and I were in December when we were sailing at the Key Lime Sailing Club.  As is typical of the Keys, the water is shallow, and we briefly touched bottom in one area. The Manta has a draft of just 3.5 feet with shoal-draft keels on each hull.  We easily motored off of the bottom and made our approach from a different direction and had no further problems. Our first attempt at anchoring this time didn't hold, with our anchor noticeably dragging, so we tried again in a different spot and it held just fine. 

One of the school's other boats arrived in the anchorage shortly after, and they came over in their dinghy for drinks and conversation. The two students on that boat were a father-son team, and we really hit it off with them. They were originally from Wisconsin, but recently moved to Florida. After they left, Montie made us his famous pork loin with peppers and onions.  With a salad and potato rolls, it really tasted good. After dinner we took the tests for the ASA 104 and 114 courses. Once again I was lucky to beat my genius wife by one point on each test 98% to 97% on the 104, and 98.5% to 97.5% on the 114. She did incredibly well considering she isn't all that interested in the nitty-gritty of all the mechanical systems/engines on a boat, and doesn't have the knack for mechanical stuff like I do. I was very proud of her! 

Our fellow classmates' (Craig and Tim) and instructor Will's Island Packet anchored near us

Montie preparing dinner

By the time we were finished, we were both tired of taking tests. At that time, Montie talked to us about also taking the ASA 105 (Coastal Navigation) course while we were in Miami. We were concerned that it would be too much to absorb in such a short time, but he said he could teach us the techniques while we were there, then we could take the course materials and do all the exercises at home, then take the test at a later time. We thought that sounded ok and agreed. It was around 10PM by then, making for an incredibly long day. We had our best night sleep that night, waking up only once when it started raining a bit and we had to close our berth's hatches.

March 22 - Class Day 4

Thursday morning we awoke to mostly cloudy conditions.  Rain seemed likely....

After breakfast we raised the anchor, then I (Barry) took the wheel to maneuver over to the 44-foot Island Packet monohull where the other students were. Their captain/instructor needed some additional tests, and we had extras on our boat. Other than when I left the marina on Tuesday, I had not done any motoring since, so this would be a good test of my catamaran motoring skills. The twin engines give unbelievable control, and in fact we normally just center the wheel/rudder and use the engines to steer the boat. The winds had picked up, so as I made my approach, I had that to deal with as well. As I got close to the boat I realized I didn't have the right angle of approach, so at the last moment I aborted and immediately reversed course to avoid hitting the Island Packet. Montie said I made the right move. I then made a second approach and got it perfect. Montie handed off the tests and we motored back to the channel. 

Once we got back to the bay, we continued motoring up towards Miami as our course had us going too close to the wind to allow us to sail. For those who don't know, one of the disadvantages of catamarans are that they don't sail well when heading close to the wind.  As a result we were forced to motor, and we made a forward progress of around 5 knots per hour.  We started having off and on rain showers, with totally overcast conditions. The winds kicked up into the 25+ knot range, with gusts exceeding 30 knots at times. This was a far cry from the perfect conditions we had the previous day, and the worst conditions we had ever been out in.  

Emily and I took turns at the helm until lunchtime, when we set the autopilot and had some sandwiches and macaroni salad. After lunch Montie was working with Emily to plot a fix on the charts. To do so requires siting fixed objects to determine your position. As the seas were rough, it was hard to do pounding into the wind and waves, so Montie slowed the boat to an idle to allow Emily to get a fix with the binoculars. We then when to the chart table to plot the fix. The boat was now bobbing like a top in the rough waters. I'm now guessing that the combination of a big lunch, working at the chart table, and the erratic motion of a slow-moving boat had me getting a little queasy. I popped some ginger slices and put on my Sea-bands, but they didn't seem to help much, so I got out to the side of the cockpit to get a better view of the horizon and to get some air blowing in my face. It was shortly after this that we changed course to fall off a little from the wind. This coincided with the Island Packet catching and passing us, as being a monohull, they had been able to sail the whole way close hauled, making better speed over ground than we were able to do motoring. Montie decided now would be a good time to raise the sails, as we could now sail. We put the main up with 2 reefs, and our speed increased to around 7.5-8 knots. Working on raising the sails also helped ease my queasiness. Montie also gave me a Bonine pill, and it wasn't long after that I was feeling fine. Emily was now at the helm, and Montie encouraged her to try and catch the Island Packet. 

Over time we slowly gained on her, narrowing the gap from over a 1/4 mile to about 150 yards. The smile on Emily's face was priceless as she steered the boat to maximum efficiency. Unfortunately, before we caught up to them, we had another course change which was once again too close to the wind, so we had to drop the sails and motor the rest of the way.  The Island Packet soon was well ahead and the race was over. 

As we approached the Miami area, Montie decided it would be too rough to anchor that night, so we headed back to the marina. I'm thinking he also wanted to get back there to start getting things taken care of for their trip up to Charleston, SC, as after we were finished with our courses, they were moving all the boats up there for the summer - they run the school there in the warmer months up north. They had crew coming in from all over to help with the move, and I'm sure he needed to deal with that. It was no problem for us, although I would have liked to get more anchoring practice. 

Montie thought it might be sort of rough getting into the marina under the weather conditions we were experiencing, and as a result he took over the helm as we approached the marina. That was too bad, as I had hoped Emily would have gotten the chance to dock the boat.  After returning to the dock, we decided to take Montie out for dinner, as we were quite tired from the long day's passage. We went to Chili's and had a great meal. We were joined by Cruiser Dave and Al (from SC - he came down to crew on the trip to Charleston), and a good time was had by all.  

After dinner we caught a shower at the marina bathhouse, then watched a DVD that Montie had just bought (Master and Commander, with Russell Crowe - an excellent sailing movie). Unfortunately the DVD crapped out halfway through, so we weren't able to see the end. It was so good that Emily and I plan on renting it soon. Once again we were exhausted after the long journey in rough weather, so we fell asleep quickly this night, and fortunately there was no karaoke to bother us.  We slept great again.

March 23 - Class Day 5

Friday, our last day, we awoke to beautiful weather. Sunny, with winds in the 15-20 knot range. Montie had planned on teaching us some of the ASA 105 course, but we decided to put off taking the course, and instead get out and do more sailing. It was the right choice. 

On today's sail,  we had one more student on our boat. Kaz, our instructor was heading home to California (She only teaches part-time, and only when they are in Miami). She had to catch an earlier flight, so the two students on her monohull got split between the other two boats. We got Keith, who was in his late 20's and had recently gotten out of the Navy after 8 years of service. He now works/lives in South Florida and was taking his first sailing lessons. We enjoyed his company. Starting out, Emily was at the helm. She got us away from the dock just fine, then in the tight confines of the marina waters, Montie tells her to turn the boat in a circle. As if she had been piloting a catamaran all her life, she spun it around on a dime! We then headed out to the bay. We worked on man overboard drills, and plenty of tacking and jibing. It was a great day to be on the water. We even had a dolphin swimming alongside the boat for a while.   This was the warmest day we had all week, and we never wanted it to end.

"Stiltsville"

We then headed back to the marina. I was at the helm, and got my first (and only) try at docking the boat. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous, since I had no practice at this all week, and only one other close quarters maneuvering practice when we pulled up to the Island Packet the day before. I had to get the boat turned around and backed into the concrete dock. Our location was at the far back corner of the marina, so there was concrete on two sides to deal with.  To add an extra degree or two of difficulty to the maneuver, there was a powerboat right in front of where we needed to be, so that added another thing to worry about hitting. They were getting ready to leave as I started backing in, and I wasn't sure what they intended to do.  Fortunately they left just before the critical part of the docking was taking place, giving me one less thing to deal with. Slowly but surely I maneuvered the boat close to the dock. Fortunately a few of the students from the other boat came along and helped out as dockhands. Although it could have been smoother, I didn't ram anything, and the boat was successfully docked, so I'll take that for my first catamaran docking experience. Docking was one of the things I wish we could have practiced more, and in a less crowded place, but I guess they really didn't have a good place where we could do that.

Once we were at the dock, we packed up our belongings and prepared to leave the boat. Montie gave us the textbooks and course materials/charts for the ASA 105 class to study at home. Our plan now is to go to Charleston in May for a weekend, take the course/test there, and also live on and sail the Island Packet 44-foot monohull. After living aboard/sailing a big catamaran, we now want to experience what it is like on a big monohull. There are pluses and minuses of both designs, and we want to see which we prefer. We have been told that they also have a dock that you can use to practice docking/pulling into a slip, so we look forward to getting more experience doing that, along with more anchoring practice.

March 23/24/25 - On the road home

After saying our goodbyes, we walked over to the parking garage to retrieve our car. It was around 4:00PM when we headed out into the terrible South Florida traffic. We inched our way over to I-95, where we found it to be pretty much at a standstill. We had been told it would be better to take the Florida Turnpike, so we decided to take the first exit and head over to it. Unfortunately we didn't bring our atlas, or our GPS, so we had to guess where the Turnpike was. From past experience, we knew that it was somewhere west of I-95, so we headed west on a road that went towards the airport. When we started seeing slowdowns ahead, we exited on US-27 headed north. It eventually crossed an expressway that I thought might be the turnpike, but it didn't say it was the turnpike, so we didn't take it. We continued to head north until road construction brought us to a standstill again. We immediately turned off US-27 and headed on a road going back east. It was almost total gridlock on this road. We eventually came across the same expressway we passed up earlier, and decided to give it a try. It eventually intersected with the turnpike, and we were finally making fast progress to our destination for the night - the Holiday Inn Express in Ft. Pierce. What I thought would only be a 2 hour drive ended up taking 4 hours! We got in just in time to hit the Wendy's next door to the HIX, then back to our room to watch the NCAA tourney.

Saturday we had an uneventful drive to our next stop at the HIX in Yemassee, SC. We did stop at a fruit stand  in Florida to get some oranges and grapefruit.  We saw the stand when we stopped for gas. I sent Emily over to check it out. After fueling, I was driving over and saw tiny Emily lugging two huge bags of citrus over to where I was. It was a site to see - I wished I had the camera to capture that moment.

Sunday's drive home was also uneventful, except when we stopped at a BP station shortly after starting out that morning. There at the station were a huge number of Purple Martins residing in the houses they had provided for them. They provided some nice entertainment while I was pumping gas.

Epilogue

In conclusion, it was a great vacation and a wonderful experience. We had plenty of fun, enjoyed some great sailing conditions, and learned a lot. We still have much to learn and are scheduled to take the ASA 105 course in May in Charleston. When I called the school to tell them what we wanted to do, the owner of the school suggested that we also take the ASA 106 course (Advanced Coastal Cruising) at the same time. So it looks like we will be getting two more certifications in May.