We left Palm Beach at sunrise and headed the 40 (inlet to inlet) miles to Ft. Lauderdale. Palm Beach is only about 50 miles from The Bahamas. We saw several large, fast boats leaving this morning in that direction. We figure they were probably going over there for breakfast.
The seas were almost smooth, the sky was bright blue and even though the wind was only blowing at about 5 kts, it was out of the east and helped us move at a good speed. Along the way we passed several Florida cities, each one with numerous boats out on the ocean. Some of them were fishing, some had divers, some were sailing, and some were speeding past us.
As we neared Ft. Lauderdale we saw that going into the Port Everglades Inlet was going to be tricky. There were numerous watercraft entering and leaving the inlet but we were the only ones at the time who needed the bridge raised for us. Right after turning the corner from the inlet we have to go under the 56 ft. 17th Street Causeway Bridge which opens on the hour and half hour. We were about 15 minutes early for the 3:00 opening and waited as all the other boats raced around us. The photo to the left was taken after we passed under it and the bridge went down. There were three cruise ships at their docks and these are very closely guarded by police boats as no watercraft are allowed near them. Two Sea-doo riders went almost up to them and the sheriff rushed over, scolding them harshly over his loud speaker, telling them if they did it again they would be arrested and their craft seized.
Also passing by us was a small fleet of sailboats being towed by a power boat. They had been out on the ocean practicing sailing. These happened to have teenage students on them, but in the past we have seen elementary age children taking these classes.
Getting to where we are tied up at a dock requires us to meander up New River, lined on both sides by mansions and then restaurants and condos. As we got closer to the marina area, megayachts are on either side of the narrow river channel. Finally, we arrived at Sailboat Bend. Even though we had been in contact with the dockmaster for the last month, the slip he had given us was taken by another catamaran. However, there was an empty one next to it which we took.
Although this was a relatively easy day, we left Charleston on October 14, 2 1/2 weeks ago, and much of the journey was difficult. Therefore, we were exhausted. However, we felt we deserved to celebrate a little, so we rode our bikes along the Riverwalk and went to dinner, followed by Starbucks. Tomorrow, we will get on the water taxi near us and ride to the boat show.
