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October 21st, 2009 – Miami, Florida
by Herb McCormick
Boston was great. Newport was awesome. New York was epic. Charleston was wonderful. But Miami? Holy smokes. This sizzling city in Southern Florida has been pretty tough to top.
The ongoing travels of Ocean Watch have continued apace since the last edition of our crew logs – more about the brief lapse in communication in a moment – and today the crew was midway into their final East Coast port of call visit before heading out for San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sunday, October 25th. The folks here in Miami sure seem to be intent on making our last days in America until sometime next spring highly memorable ones.
The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Tourism Bureau have not sponsored today’s log, but they might as well have. Let’s begin with the weather, which on Wednesday morning was a breezy 80 degrees with not the slightest trace of humidity. A cold front rolled through the state late last weekend, accompanied by steady winds out of the north and northeast that have not diminished since.
Remarkably, the locals seem somewhat rattled by the clear, lovely, relentless breeze, and more than a few have inquired as to our welfare and wellbeing, which is actually rather humorous, if not downright ironic. Look, guys, we’ve come from the Arctic Circle and the Labrador Sea. We’ve dug out the shorts and t-shirts, and forgotten where we stashed the fleece. The weather? Honestly. It’s beyond perfect.
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| The Lauderdale Yacht Club welcomed the crew with a standing-room only crowd which included David Rockefeller, Jr., Dan Pingaro and David Guertin from Sailors for the Sea. |
Those fresh northerly winds propelled Ocean Watch quickly down the coast from Charleston after its departure from the genteel Southern town on the afternoon of Friday, October 16th. Your usually faithful correspondent and OW journalist – me – did not accompany the crew on the Charleston-Miami leg of the trip, having returned to Newport for a few days to attend to the shattered remnants of my former, pre-Around the Americas life (just kidding).
My absence from the boat revealed a strange, previously unknown phenomenon: Once I’m gone, apparently, everyone forgets how to type. This, clearly, has to be the only logical reason for the break in crew reports, for which we apologize. Our usual schedule of regular, daily dispatches will re-commence following our weekend departure for San Juan.
Happily for the rest of the team, the trip to Miami – though it did consist of a few bumpy patches, particularly at the outset, while flirting with the boundaries of the Gulf Stream on the roughly 400-mile voyage south – was fast, fun and conducted before a steady, following breeze. Along with skipper Mark Schrader and first mate Dave Logan (who was also re-joining the boat after a brief hiatus), the crew included seasoned offshore sailor Tom Hoymer; full-time photographer David Thoreson; and another first-time OW voyager, Kirsty Moen, who like Thoreson hails from the scow-sailing paradise of Okoboji, Iowa.
The highlight (lowlight?) of Kirsty’s passage – and right up there on the Ocean Watch Top Ten list – was the 14-inch flying fish that sailed into her cabin through an open port while she was trying to catch some shuteye midway the trip. Not without good reason, at first Kirsty reckoned she’d become the victim of some sort of lame practical joke, but in fact, the wayward fish acted on its own accord. Once alerted to the problem, Thoreson managed to get two mitts around the slimy, confused creature and returned him to his element.
“Catch and release,” said Thoreson.
A day later, Ocean Watch sailed out of the Atlantic, into Government Cut and alongside a floating dock at Bicentennial Park, directly adjacent to the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami.
Like almost everything about the stopover thus far, the arrival was spectacular, with two fireboats sending towering arcs of spray into the sky as the crew doused the mainsail aboard Ocean Watch and motored toward her slip (see main photo). “We haven’t seen that sort of welcome since the Queen Mary sailed into town,” said one longtime Miami resident.
Our port visit here in Miami is being hosted by the home of the Hurricanes, the University of Miami, with special emphasis from UM’s fantastic Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and with noteworthy and outstanding support from the fine folks at the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation. Once Ocean Watch was securely tied up, the crew was presented with a Rosenstiel School burgee and a throng of local media gathered for a press conference and then descended on the boat for another round of interviews.
“From the color of the water, to the (water) temperature, to the cars and the people…I have to say that being here in Miami is like being in Cambridge Bay (in the Arctic), but exactly the opposite,” said the skipper.
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| Harry Horgan founded the Shake-a-Leg organization, a world-class sailing and education program. |
The press coverage was terrific, but as it turned out, if was only the first in a string of humbling experiences. On Tuesday, the crew ventured to the outstanding facilities at Shake-A-Leg Miami for a pair of Student Outreach presentations to Miami-area students. For me, particularly, it was an especially important day. Shake-A-Leg Miami was founded by a fellow Newporter, Harry Horgan, who launched the original Shake-A-Leg organization in Rhode Island before moving to South Florida with his wife and partner, Suzy Horgan, and establishing a world-class sailing and educational program on the shores of Biscayne Bay. The Horgans are old friends and very special people, and our time at Shake-A-Leg Miami was one of our best days since leaving Seattle.
Then, on Tuesday evening, Ocean Watch friend and supporter Jean Dolan – who befriended our own David Thoreson when he spoke at the Rosenstiel School last April – organized a speaking engagement at the Lauderdale Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale before a packed, standing-room only crowd. Our partners from Sailors for the Sea – David Rockefeller, Jr., Dan Pingaro and David Guertin – were all in attendance and it was yet another great opportunity to present our messages to a committed audience of fellow sailors and mariners. To say that they made us all feel very welcome would be a mighty understatement.
Going forward, there are two more programs open to all before Ocean Watch departs for points south on the
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| Shake-a-Leg participants pose with Ocean Watch crew members Herb McCormick, Mark Schrader and David Thoreson. |
weekend. On Friday, from 6:30 to 7:30, the crew will present “Sailing in Ice: A Public Presentation” at the UM Rosenstiel School Auditorium located at 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway. And on Saturday, from 12 to 4, a Boat Open House plus Community Fair (featuring local environmental, educational and conservation organizations) will take place at Bicentennial Park in the heart of the city. If you’re in the area for either of these free events, we’ll hope to see you there.
Skipper Schrader, shortly after arriving, said, “Miami is the gateway to the second part of our trip. The north is behind us. Now we’re truly headed south.”
As it’s turning out, Miami is more than a gateway. It’s a place of kind and kindred spirits, who are making us all feel very much at home.
- Herb McCormick with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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