“This is why I love Miami!” I heard a guy say to his friends, looking at two girls wearing only a bikini passing him on the street. Even though I don’t care much for other women’s clothing or lack of it, I must admit that I think Miami is fantastic!

Five days in a nice hotel on Ocean Drive surrounded by restaurants and boutiques was a wonderful change to the life on board the boat at a quiet anchorage. Even though I like the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean, there’s something about being in a big city with all the hustle and bustle that follows.

Also it feels safe and familiar to get into a yellow cab with a taximeter, instead of in St. Lucia to be taken to a parking lot outside the town, because the taxi driver who took the ride, can’t drive you anyway, so you need to change to another car - apparently driven by his brother. It’s too dubious for me! Now I’m looking forward to visit Miami again next year, when we plan to do the Intercostal Waterway from New York to Miami.

Miami Boat Show
The Miami Boat Show was huge as everything else is in USA, and we didn’t see it all in spite of the fact that we spent four days at the boat show! The outdoor show reminded me mostly of a civic festival with live music, mascots, and bars, and girls in bikinis were handing out flyers and selling paddle boards.

I guess that using half naked women is now an accepted way of creating an interest in a product, but I wonder if half naked men would have the same effect on women’s willingness to buy something? Maybe it would attract more women to a boat show, if good-looking men in bathing shorts were posing on the deck of sailing boats? (If I agree to buy this boat, I might get a man like this?) But maybe women are wiser. They know that they’ll only get their own husband in his underwear, messing about with the engine, and talking about how important it is to fill up the boat with spares, tools, and wooden bits. They know he would neither get any younger, slimmer, or better looking!

Sailing north
We are now back in Rodney Bay and getting ready to go sailing again. Before we went to Miami, we had planned to sail south one more time, but we must admit that the more civilized islands further north sounds more appealing to us. Sailing north will also mean that there will be no night sailing from now on. Even though I would have liked to visit Grenada, Mustique, and Union Island, I see many advantages of only sailing short distances.

So next stop is now Martinique - À bientôt!