Dolphin watching on the jet ski!

I had the chance to go to the ocean and see some wildlife. I actually got to pet one of the dolphins! This is the best that I could do as far as video goes, enjoy the views!

Roman

A visit to Riva Motorsports...

Today is the Anniversary sale going on at Riva and they had free motorcycle dyno runs and a bunch of other small events. It was mostly geared towards their motorcycle crowd but Louis and I decided to check it out anyways. We were mostly focused on the jet ski's that had arrived. Here are some pictures.













Thanks for checking it out!

1/22/2012 Snorkeling Trip

Just a typical day in South Florida waters. The weather advisory from NOAA called for 2 FT seas and 7-10 knot winds. This is not perfect weather for a Jet Ski but still very bearable for a 50+ mile ride through our waters. Louis and I headed out on the wave runners a bit early in the day. My brother took the boat out (With our friend Denis and my mom on board!)and we decided to meet up at Monument island located near the Miami Beach area. Our first stop on the wave runners was anything but exciting as the island was mainly bare with no one out to our surprise. It is such a beautiful day out here we thought! We met a few friends (Samay and Victor) on the water and stopped by to say hello. They wanted to jump some waves but the ocean was way too flat and a bit choppy to get any air. We soon parted ways and headed out to the light house. The flat conditions in the shallow area near the beach allowed us to cruise at 35MPH vs the 15MPH we were averaging in the ocean conditions. It is one benefit that jet ski's have over other vessels, at planing speeds they only ride on about 2-3 inches of water with the keel up in the air. We ofcourse used this opportunity to do some snorkeling in Biscayne National Park. Enjoy the video!

Since the weather has been a bit chilly in South Florida, I have not spent much time on the water this week. As Saturday and Sunday rolled past us, I did not want the weekend to slip away without at least going out for just a little bit. It would have been a great day to be out on the boat but my brother spent most of the day doing some upgrades to our open fisherman which came out great! Being one of the lucky people to have Monday off, I took advantage of the situation. I called my friend Jose and decided to see if he wanted to hit the water for a bit (Did not take a lot of convincing, he's always ready to hit the ocean!) We fueled up ($48 for me this time as I still had some fuel left over from the other adventure)and met up for a day on the water. I had just put on Yamaha FZR seats on my Yamaha FX HO so it was a good opportunity to see if they held on just like expected. Enjoy the pics and video!




Cruising around the no wake zones I still had a fuel tank on the Yamaha FX HO. Eats considerably less gas then its supercharged counter parts. I chose this model primarily for its 18+ gallon fuel tank. While it is expensive to fill up, it gives me the range I was looking for and the stability in the ocean. I considered the Kawasaki 300X but its reliability was questionable and still is. There have been a few issues with blown engines etc. 15PSI of boost from the factory can really take a toll on a motor.

Jose in his battle gear. We wear 1/2MM or 1MM in colder temperatures. Today's forecast in Miami called for a low in the 50s and a high in the low 70s so it turned out to be great! It was a little bit overcast as you can see but we made the most of it. We made sure to wear our Save Phace masks.

As we got past the no wake zones we were greeted by a beautiful sky. I have to call today a success.


We went out into the ocean near government cut in Miami, today's marine forecast called for 3-5 with 20MPH gusts. It was pretty accurate as we got a little bit offshore. Near the shore it was pretty calm.


These are our skis, 2009 Yamaha FX HO and a 2011 Yamaha FZ-S




I took a couple more shots of the sky just because it looked absolutely beautiful. I love nature and it shows in most of my photographs.


And before we made it back to Haulover Marina we saw a great photo opportunity, the sunset.



I would like to thank you for reading!

Vizcaya Tour 1/8/2012

I woke up this morning and checked the weather report...conditions called for 2 foot seas with a 3 second wave period and 10-14MPH winds. Usually 2 foot seas is enough for us jet ski guys to stock up with snorkeling gear and anchors but the 10-14MPH winds were not very inviting. I cleared out my rear bucket on the Yamaha and stuffed a big mushroom anchor, fins in the front and dive mask. I decided to bring the boat anchor instead of my regular jet ski anchor that I carry. In case you were wondering "Jet Ski" anchor's are pretty much useless. They do a terrible job of holding themselves in place let alone a jet ski. Maybe its due to our current' since we are close to the gulf stream and all. The destination for today: Boca Chita. When we first launched at Haulover Marina in Sunny Isles things were going just as planned. It was dead calm with a minimal amount of boats on the water. This is typical, in Miami people tend to wake up at 12pm and hit the sandbar by 1pm and spend most of the day drinking while police circle around looking at bikini clad women. We headed out of the inlet and that's where we could feel the strong winds. We were doing 20-24 knots due south. As soon as we reached the Key Biscayne Lighthouse I made the decision to head into the inlet instead of continuing on our destination. Since we were battling the waves for most of the trip I felt that gas may run low on the way back and its not something I wanted to risk. My brother was working on our boat today so asking him to deliver some extra gas was out of the question. At this point we had all dropped 1 bar of fuel. There was 4 of us on the water today, Alfonso, Louis, Jose and myself. The three, err Four Musketeers LOL.



When we entered the protected inlet (protected in this case meaning no wind!) things were looking up. The water was calm and the illusion of Vizcaya was starting to form in the distance. Only it was not an illusion.

The guys and I went closer to get a better look. I don't think Alfonso has seen Vizcaya from the water before so I figured what the heck it is a pretty cool place to check out once in a while.

It was pretty interesting actually. In this picture you can see a woman in her wedding dress as she was being photographed. We joked around with Louis about how this was destined to be a fail. Louis wanted to splash her but that was just a joke. Maybe not, who knows LOL

Directly in the back of Vizcaya lies a large figure in the shape of a boat. There are no trespassing signs all over it so I guess were not allowed to touch it. But it looks pretty interesting. Here are some pictures.




For those of you who are not familiar with Vizcaya read below.
"What Is Vizcaya?
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is a Miami-Dade County facility that is accredited by the American Association of Museums and distinguished as a United States National Historic Landmark. Vizcaya serves approximately 174,000 local residents and tourists annually. It is open to the public every day except Tuesdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day and offers guided tours in English and Spanish.

For decades, Vizcaya has been a diplomatic seat of Miami-Dade County, having hosted some of the world’s most renowned dignitaries—such as Queen Elizabeth II, Pope John Paul II, President Ronald Reagan, and King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain—and major international events—such as the Summit of the Americas, the signing of the Free Trade Agreement, and activities associated with Art Basel."

Key Biscayne Lighthouse Tour 1/7/2012

After a long work week I decided to hit the beach today and just enjoy the beautiful South Florida weather. I drove south to Key Biscayne ($1.50 toll road) and entered Crandon Park ($8 per car). Not only is this park filled with great beaches but there was a place that I always wanted to check out. Even though I have lived in Miami for exactly 20 years I have never had the pleasure of going up into this historic building. On many of our jet ski rides the lighthouse finds its way into the pictures so you may have seen this building before. Entrance to the lighthouse is very limited and luckily I arrived just in time. Here are the pictures.

To get to the Lighthouse you must first take a stroll down the board walk. It is filled with fishermen and provides a great view of all of the boats exiting the bay on their way to Stiltsville and the ocean.

The water was clear today so I knew I would find some great views from the Lighthouse

Here it is at just under 100 Feet

As you walk up the never ending staircase you get hints along the way of the view you will get on the top

A look at the staircase

As you reach the top the build date is stamped right into the wall

And the views from up top...(I'm also scared of height's so it was a hmm pleasant experience)





And this is all the way at the top, the actual light


And that is the conclusion of today's tour... tomorrow we hit the water!

Ocean forecast for South Florida...

TODAY (1/7/2012)
NEAR SHORE...VARIABLE WINDS 5 KNOTS OR LESS BECOMING EAST
AROUND 5 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. IN THE GULF STREAM...EAST SOUTHEAST
WINDS 5 TO 8 KNOTS BECOMING EAST NORTHEAST 6 TO 9 KNOTS IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 5 SECONDS. INTRACOASTAL
WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

TONIGHT
NORTHEAST WINDS 8 TO 11 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET. DOMINANT
PERIOD 3 SECONDS. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

SUNDAY(1/8/2012)
EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 11 TO 14 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET. DOMINANT
PERIOD 3 SECONDS. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

SUNDAY NIGHT
EAST WINDS 13 TO 16 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET.
INTRACOASTAL WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

Our trip to the Bahama's in 2011....

Enjoy our video. This was our trip to the Bahama's in 2011. We took 3 jet ski's and a 26ft Dusky Open Fisherman. It was an absolute blast and a trip we will never forget. An adventure that we truly remember forever. On to the video....

January 4, 2012

After I awoke this morning I realized that I'm already half way through the work week, this is great news! The ocean looks absolutely beautiful today but its 43 degrees out there in Miami and a bit colder as you move up the eastern coast. This usually never happens in Miami, let alone the state of Florida. This past year has been a bit different to say the least. Ocean conditions have been quite unpredictable. Last summer when I rode my jet ski to the Bahamas, we faced 4-5 foot seas out in the gulf stream and 2-3 in the bay. I will share those pictures with you guys one day. Winter time usually brings the toughest waves and the coldest temperatures but the ocean has been nearly flat the past few weeks and just 2 days ago the temperatures finally dropped into the 40's. This past weekend everyone was swimming at the sandbar and enjoying the water. Here is a picture that I took from Ft Lauderdale Beach's permanent webcam.




If you are ever interested in seeing our ocean conditions at anytime, check out this website www.seemiamilive.com. It gives you a live look as to what is going on out there. A very good resource to have for anyone traveling to the area or fishermen alike. I never really relied on NOAA statistics because even when they said 20mph gusts were present and 3-5 expected I went out there only to find out that the ocean more closely related to a lake. A live look is a much better tool and honestly much more accurate.

January 1, 2012

Welcome to the new year! After everything is counted, I realized that I have spent 400+ hours in the ocean in 2011. As the new year arrived, I thought the best place to spend it would be in, you guessed it, the ocean! Even though I have been battling a cold/flue, I thought that it should not slow me down (I feel a lot more sick today as I write this LOL). Water temperature on the GPS read 69 degrees F, how great! Well the destination of the day was Boca Chita inside of Key Biscayne National Park. Being that this was a weekend and the amount of boats that would be on the water, I decided to leave the jet ski at home and head out with my brother on our boat. No need for cop trouble, having owned a Ford Mustang before I know how they like to follow those We headed out early in the morning. I won't bore you guys with the pictures of the trip over as it mostly would include marina's and other boaters.

We were lucky, 2-3 foot seas all day long on this adventure!



Our first area that I found interesting was Stiltsville! The name actually accurately describes the homes. They are all built on stilts! They are located just one mile south of Cape Florida and its lighthouse. Being that it is super shallow we had to remain in the channel and could not stray. The homes were built in the 1930's and have survived all of our hurricanes, including Andrew!

Some of the homes






Our next stop was Boca Chita. Unfortunately every single docking location was filled with boats, Winter in Miami let me tell you!





The water is extremely clear in this location and you can easily see the bottom, its a pretty nice adventure!


We were greeted by our new friends along the way!



After finding a non-shallow water way around the islands, we found a way into the ocean. We had to keep the boat on plane or it would draft too much water and we could possibly have lost a lower unit.

Adventure ahead!


Our next stop was the Fowey Rocks Lighthouse. This time I had fins, masks, and other snorkeling gear ready to go!

The lighthouse is absolutely beautiful in its old weathered stage.


And here are the underwater pictures that I took with my camera. I was using an Olympus Stylus 3000 point and shoot.














We were surrounded by beautiful water!

And just like all good things, my time on the water came to an end, we were ready to head home!