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."