Duke, Lan, and Bill McNulty all came to the dock as Carla and I were rowing back.

The wind was still gusting out over the bay.

We decided to head in the direction of Star Island, the home of some famous people like Gloria Estephan and Enrique Iglesias.

The island is closed to visitors, but I thought that if we were shipwrecked on the island, what choice would they really have?

Gloria might have to let us land.

The wind died on the leeward side of the the island.

We were able to get a look at some of the houses.

We were not the only ones looking, either. There were tour boats filled with people learning all about the stars’ homes.

We found a dock to pull up the boat and take a break.

We wondered if any of the tourists thought that WE were stars.

Back in Bills car, we hatched a plan.

“Hey guys, lets try and get the boat into the pool at the Sagamore Hotel!”

(My house mates were playing a show there that night and I thought it might be possible to get the boat into the pool and row around during the party.)

I called Alexis from the Scope Art Fair and explained our plan. All we needed was a way to get the boat to the other side of Miami Beach.

“I’ll see what I can do.” said Alexis.

Within a few minutes, a truck was on its way to bring us and the boat to the Sagamore.

The drivers had already been briefed on the mission.

We carried the boat down an ally on the side of the hotel, where the bands had been loading in their equipment,

past the bar.

Now there was nothing to do but wait for the right moment.

The party started to fill up with people.

Slowjam’s band played their set; a salute to 46 years of raves and rave culture.

Miami Ice Machine played next.

And then we snuck into the cabana and pulled out the boat.

Duke had fashioned a sail out of a hotel sheet.

We floated around for a while until the hotel management asked us to get out.

They threw us out over the back fence. (here is where the camera went missing)

Luckily Jose Krapp took pictures of the whole thing.

Carla Edwards met me at the dock on Saturday morning.

It was pretty windy, but we rowed out to the monument island.

These are all Carla’s pictures. I took some pictures of our trip, but then I lost my camera later that night. (here’s how I lost it)

Carla noticed that the trees on the island were filled with coconuts.

We tried to knock one of them down.

We took a walk around the island and spotted some strange prints in the sand.

And then we found out what was making them.

There is a monument on the island for Henry Flagler.

He was a real-estate developer.

From what I read on the internet, it seems like he was responsible for most of the development of Miami.

In fact, he is said to be the ‘father’ of Miami.

So they built this island for him in 1920.

We paddled back when Duke and Lan called us from the shore.

On Friday, I had been invited to brunch at the Scholl’s house on Delido Island.

It was very windy on the bay, but I thought we could make it.

We stuck close to shore.

Someone gave us a hand on to the Scholl’s dock.

We walked through their beautiful art collection. My favorites were the William Pope L drawings in the stairwell.

Coming back we were really sailing.

The sail only really works when the boat is sailing with the wind.

I’ll have to come up with a better design if I ever want to tack.

A quick stop at Flagler Memorial Island.

Joe Pavelka met me at the dock on Thursday morning.

It was a sunny day.

But there was not much wind for sailing.

We thought it might be possible to take the boat out of the Bay and into the ocean.

The channel was quite choppy.

Things seemed to be going ok.

The harbor master told us to get out of the way,

a big ship was coming.

We were close to the ocean.

When Joe stood up, he could see it right on the other side of the jetty.

We rounded the jetty, and we were in the ocean.

This was the first time I had ever been out this far in a boat that I made.

We sailed back to the beach.

We passed by something interesting on the way.

A sailing jellyfish.

As we get close, he deflates his sail and rolls over.

We made it to the beach,

but now what?

Duke Riley met me at the beach.

I asked him to help me get the boat back to the Flamingo.

It would be difficult because the tide was still coming out of the Bay.

We would have to row against it in the narrow channel.

It was starting to get dark.

The dock at the Flamingo.

The boat was ready to go.

I wanted to take it out for a short trip to test out the sail.

I made the mast out of driftwood.

The sail seemed to work OK.

I reached the island in just a few minutes.

Grayson, Willem, and Tommy met me on the dock.

They helped me improve a few things on the sail and rudder.

I gave them a little tour of the Flamingo.

RTG – Ready To Go